Date Submitted
2015-05-01 16:02:46
First Name
Silvia
Middle Name
Alejandra
Last Name
Perazzo
Country
Argentina
Organization/Institution
ANU-AR
Primary E-mail
Occupation
professor, researcher
Please choose the theme
8 Peace and Good Governance
Please briefly describe your organisation
ANU-AR is a not-for-profit civil association whose main aim is to organize projects and activities to disseminate knowledge about international relations, contemporary history and different cultures in order to achieve a pacific, tolerant and sustainable world.
We seek to raise awareness of current world’s problems and commit every citizen to peace, understanding the world as a big melting pot which can and must share life peacefully and harmoniously
We seek to raise awareness of current world’s problems and commit every citizen to peace, understanding the world as a big melting pot which can and must share life peacefully and harmoniously
Statement Title
Refugees, NGOs and states: we must work together (pannel Rol of SCOs and responsibilities of states authorities)
Statement (600 words limit)
Refugees represent a dramatic reality that we have inherited from the twentieth century. In contemporary armed conflicts, civil population has been target and victim from both States and Non-State armed groups. As a result, dozens of refugees ‘camps have spread in Africa, Asia, America, Europe and Middle East hosting more than 51 million people. Among them, Dadaab (Kenya), Zaatari (Kenya), Melkadida (Ethiopia), Yarmpuk (Syria) and Urfa (Turkey) are examples of this reality frequently forgotten by the International Community.
Moreover, tragedies suffered by hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants looking for arriving in European land must be seen as the other face of the same issue. The figures reported by ACNUR account for thirty five thousand immigrants that have sailed through the Mediterranean Sea this year. This shows the seriousness of this situation.
Frequently, refugees are the scapegoat that finds a lot of States to hide or justify structural issues. They are too the favourite target of armed groups that want to give strong psychological coups to the governments to overturn them. They are also massive victims of trafficking. In addition, refugees are sometimes the currency with which governments put pressure on the International Community looking for aid or to channel policies in their favour. In the middle of this situation, hundreds of thousands of human beings live in the worst imaginable conditions. Women and children are the largest number of this population and the most vulnerable. Strengthening, empowering and giving them special protection becomes one of the most urgent challenges of the current humanitarian assistance.
States, International Organizations and civil society must work together to deal effectively with these challenges. It is necessary to overcome confrontation, competition and differences among these actors. It is also necessary to avoid that desire of leadership of some organizations that obstructs constructive actions. We know different attempts to coordinate joint procedures and protocols; we also know how little progress has been made on this issue. Coordination of procedures and protocols is essential in emergencies, relocation camps, integration related policies, repatriation and registration of refugees. In this sense we consider that we must resume efforts among States, International Agencies and NGOs. We hope that the next World Humanitarian Summit take concrete steps in this sense, but also in ANU-AR we consider that 2015 Istambul Summit can contribute with positive ideas on this matter.
Finally, it is frequent to hear critics about the neglect that suffer some refugees´ camps that are not among the armed conflicts most publicised by international press. For UNA-AR, this is totally unacceptable: humanity equals them. This is the reason why we stress that all refugees´ camps have to receive the attention and concrete actions of civil society and the International Community regardless where they are located. We must not forget any of them.
Moreover, tragedies suffered by hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants looking for arriving in European land must be seen as the other face of the same issue. The figures reported by ACNUR account for thirty five thousand immigrants that have sailed through the Mediterranean Sea this year. This shows the seriousness of this situation.
Frequently, refugees are the scapegoat that finds a lot of States to hide or justify structural issues. They are too the favourite target of armed groups that want to give strong psychological coups to the governments to overturn them. They are also massive victims of trafficking. In addition, refugees are sometimes the currency with which governments put pressure on the International Community looking for aid or to channel policies in their favour. In the middle of this situation, hundreds of thousands of human beings live in the worst imaginable conditions. Women and children are the largest number of this population and the most vulnerable. Strengthening, empowering and giving them special protection becomes one of the most urgent challenges of the current humanitarian assistance.
States, International Organizations and civil society must work together to deal effectively with these challenges. It is necessary to overcome confrontation, competition and differences among these actors. It is also necessary to avoid that desire of leadership of some organizations that obstructs constructive actions. We know different attempts to coordinate joint procedures and protocols; we also know how little progress has been made on this issue. Coordination of procedures and protocols is essential in emergencies, relocation camps, integration related policies, repatriation and registration of refugees. In this sense we consider that we must resume efforts among States, International Agencies and NGOs. We hope that the next World Humanitarian Summit take concrete steps in this sense, but also in ANU-AR we consider that 2015 Istambul Summit can contribute with positive ideas on this matter.
Finally, it is frequent to hear critics about the neglect that suffer some refugees´ camps that are not among the armed conflicts most publicised by international press. For UNA-AR, this is totally unacceptable: humanity equals them. This is the reason why we stress that all refugees´ camps have to receive the attention and concrete actions of civil society and the International Community regardless where they are located. We must not forget any of them.