CAIRO, April 19, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – People fleeing persecution and civil wars are becoming the hidden victims of the West's so-called war on terror, a UN report said on Wednesday, April 19.
"More and more, asylum-seekers are portrayed not as refugees fleeing persecution and entitled to sanctuary, but rather as illegal migrants, potential terrorists and criminals - or at a minimum, as 'bogus'," reads a new report by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The report, The State of the World's Refugees: Human Displacement in the New Millennium, said refugees are increasingly being treated like criminals over barriers set by rich countries to keep out alleged terrorists and economic migrants.
"Increasingly, asylum policies are being driven by security concerns and the need for enhanced migration management."
The UN agency said rich and poor countries alike were using a host of methods to dodge due process in their handling of refugees.
It accused some developed states of obstructing or deterring the arrival of asylum seekers, by demanding documentation, or stopping them at sea before they set foot in their destination country.
The UNHCR cited attempts by Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands to introduce a new policy under which asylum-seekers would be removed to centers outside Europe while their cases are processed.
There are some 9.2 million refugees around the world; the lowest level for 25 years.
The number of asylum-seekers is also at its lowest for many years.
The total number of migrants of all kinds around the world is about 175 million, barely one in 20 of whom is a refugee.
Failure
Antonio Guterrres, the UN High Commissioner, said the total drop of asylum-seekers in the developed countries may mask the increasing difficulties facing the displaced people in finding any form of sanctuary, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.
"Though many factors may contribute to this drop, one apparent cause is the increasingly restrictive measures states have taken to limit access to asylum as they attempt to manage migration and safeguard their security," he wrote in his foreword to the report.
"Asylum seekers are often using the same illicit channels as illegal migrants, and as a result are denied access to asylum procedures that states are obliged to provide under international law."
Guterrres lamented the plight of the world's estimated 25 million internally displaced people as today's "biggest failure in terms of humanitarian action".
"This is the biggest failure of world humanitarian efforts," he said.
"People who would otherwise seek safety in neighboring states are more frequently compelled to remain within the borders of their own country, most often in similar conditions as refugees."
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in full