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|  | Liaison Newsletter > LIAISON Vol. 3, No. 4, July 1999 - Articles
UNHCR-Argentina. "What, there are refugees in Argentina?!" As a recent UNA-Canada intern with the Youth International Internship programme (YIIP) financed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, I had the opportunity to work for a three-month period in the Department of Public Information at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) regional Office located in Buenos Aires, the federal capital of Argentina. These 12 weeks were very intense partly because my Spanish skills were fairly poor, but I learned a great deal about the refugees’ situation in the world, as well as in the Southern Cone of South America. I also learned learn about media, and I had the occasion to meet wonderful and inspiring people. The UNHCR regional Office, located in Buenos Aires, includes the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) countries; Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay as well as Bolivia and Chile as the two MERSOSUR associated members. The regional Office covers many of the more economically developed countries of South America. These are the ones with greater political and institutional stability which refugees can benefit from. Latin America receives approximately 13,500 persons, of whom 2,500 are assisted by the UNHCR. Argentina itself receives about 1,000 refugees from 35 different countries: Columbia, Peru, Cuba, Eastern European and African countries (especially the Former Republic of Yugoslavia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola and Algeria) are a few examples. While UNHCR-Canada has no official role in Canada’s refugee status determination and serves more as an advisor and a promotional tool to ensure consistency in the application of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol, UNHCR-Argentina is still directly involved in refugees’programmes of resettlement. Also, UNHCR-Argentina deals with claims of almost every individual asking for his/her refugee status by determining if a person is a Convention refugee based, in part, on a oral hearing. However, in order to reach the UNHCR’s mandate, most of the programmes and activities in the Southern Cone region of Latin America are implemented by partnership with different national agencies. Civil society is now playing a more important role in helping UNHCR to cope with the severe financial cuts that this UN agency has had to face over the years. In Canada, not only the NGOs are crucial in assisting refugees, but also community groups. It is also because of the strong input coming from the local level that Canada has been able to receive around 5,000 Kosovars at the peak of the Humanitarian Evacuation programme from Macedonia last April. In Argentina, the national Eligibility Commission (CEPARE) is the branch in the Immigration Department which works closely with the UNHCR regional Office taking the legal decisions in most refugee cases. In Canada, the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), a tribunal independant of Citizenship and Immigration established by an act of the Parliament 10 years ago, is responsible for the persons located in Canada asking for their refugee status. In 1998, from the 23,838 oral hearings for refugee status claims at the Immigration and Refugee Board, 12,884 persons from different countries such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan, China. Mexico, India were granted status. Citizenship and Immigration Canada for its part plays a twofold role. First of all, it determines if a person asking for refugee status in Canada meets the requirements of a refugee status before the case gets presented to the Board. Also, Citizenship and Immigration Canada deals with the external refugee status claims, including the ones received at the Canadian missions as well as from the UNHCR. Approximately 7,300 refugees are accepted by Citizenship and Immigration Canada annually. Finally, a pilot project will start shortly in the 1999-2000 period during which Argentina and Chile will receive more than 120 refugees from the former Yugoslavia and Equatorial Guinea. After two decades (the 70’s and 80’s) of military dictatorship and then a severe transitional period, the 90’s were the years when the democratic structures were strengthened. Consequently, the countries in the Southern Cone region of South America are now reopening their doors and are ready to greet refugees in need from across the world, and offer them more secured lands. Being one of the first countries to develop guidelines for assessing gender-related refugee claims (consisting of a specific recognition of violations which target women) as well as the first country to receive the Nansen medal (awarded annually by the UNHCR for outstanding services on behalf of refugees) in 1986 for its assistance to the Boat People in South-East Asia in the 70’s, Canada will keep up its humanitarian tradition of assisting and protecting refugees which it has maintained over the years. Interesting websites: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada: http://www.irb.gc.ca Immigration and Citizenship Canada: http://cicnet.ci.gc.ca United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: http://www.unhcr.ch |
