By Jim Lobe
WASHNGTON, Jun 15 2005 (IPS)

Seven of every 10 of the world’s roughly 11.5 million refugees have been “warehoused” for five years or more in countries that have denied them basic rights guaranteed under the 1951 Refugee Convention, according to the 2005 edition of the “World Refugee Survey” released Wednesday by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI).

As a result, many of the world’s refugees are unable to work, move freely within countries, own property, or even receive an education, according to the report, which also found that the total number of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the world actually fell during 2004 for the second year in a row.

The new report, which grades some 40 countries on their treatment of refugees, also marks a new phase of USCRI’s year-old campaign to focus attention on the plight of warehoused refugees, those who are kept in situations of enforced idleness and dependency over protracted periods of time.

“We are failing those who need us most,” said Lavinia Limon, the president of USCRI, which was formerly known as the U.S. Committee for Refugees. “Millions of these refugees are children who are growing up to nothing.”

Among the worst offenders, according to the 126-page report, are Tanzania, Malaysia, and Iran, all of which received failing “F” grades in USCRI’s report card. “A” grades were awarded to Chad, Iraq, and the United States.

The grades were based on the assessments of the performance of host governments in four areas: the fairness of their asylum procedures and protections against deportation or repatriation; whether refugees were detained and, if so, under what conditions; whether and to what extent refugees may earn a livelihood, own property and enjoy the protection of national labour and social legislation; whether and to what extent they enjoyed freedom to travel both within and outside their host countries. The more refugees were restricted by governments in each area, the worse the grade.

During 2004, the report estimated that a net of some 400,000 Afghan refugees returned home, as did some 100,000 Angolans, 75,000 Eritreans, and 60,000 Liberians, during 2004.

On the other hand, the number of Sudanese refugees actually increased by about 100,000 during the year – due mainly to the violence in Darfur. Outflows of 80,000 or more were also found in Myanmar, Burundi, and, significantly, Iraq where the number of refugees believed to be living in other countries rose from 280,000 to 366,000.

Consistent with the overall decline in the global refugee population, the net number of IDPs – that is, people who have fled their homes due to persecution or violence but have not crossed international borders – also fell, from an estimated 23.6 million at the end of 2003 to 21.6 million as of Jan. 1 this year.

Most of the difference was attributable to the return to their homes of hundreds of thousands of people in war-torn Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). On the other hand, significant new displacements took place in Sudan, where as many as 2.5 people have been displaced by violence in Darfur over the past two years, even as the peace agreement between Khartoum and the Sudanese Peoples’ Liberation Movement/Army has spurred tens of thousands of IDPs to return home.

Sudan holds more IDPs – 5.3-6.7 million – than any other country by far. Colombia, with nearly three million, has moved to second place, ahead of the DRC, which, at the end of 2004 had 2.33 million IDPs, compared to 3.2 million the year before, according to the report. At the same time, USCRI stressed that IDPs are far more difficult to track than refugees.

With a total of nearly three million refugees, Palestinians constituted the world’s largest refugee population. Some 1.635 million Palestinians live as refugees in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, while another 701,000 live in Syria, and 265,000 in Lebanon. Those two countries also have the world’s highest ratio of refugees to their national populations – one in 18 people living in Lebanon is a refugee; one in 26, in neighbouring Syria.

Palestinians also have by far the oldest “warehoused” refugee populations. In Gaza, Lebanon, and the West Bank, according to the report, the warehousing of Palestinians – defined as refugees restricted to camps or segregated settlements or otherwise deprived of basic Convention rights for more than five years – began 56 years ago.

There are now 1.65 million living in those areas under those conditions. In Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, Palestinians have been warehoused for 37 years. There are now 454,000 warehoused Palestinians in those three countries.

The other large population – currently nearly two million – that has been most affected has been Afghans in Iran and Pakistan who have been warehoused there for 25 years. But Eritreans in Sudan; Angolans in Zambia and Namibia; Sahrawis in Algeria, and Filipinos in Malaysia; Iraqis in Iran; Palestinians in Kuwait; Sri Lankans in India, and Burmese in Thailand; have all suffered some deprivation of their Convention rights for 20 years or more. A total of nearly seven million refugees have been warehoused for 10 years or more.

As to specific areas of Convention compliance, USCRI gave the best grades for asylum and repatriation practices to Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Liberia, Venezuela. Failing grades went to China, Iran, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, and the U.S.

On detention and confinement, best grades went again to Algeria and Liberia, as well as Burundi and Sierra Leone. “F”s were awarded to Bangladesh, China, Iran, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, Thailand and Yemen.

On the right to earn a livelhood, Chad, DRC, Ecuador, Iraq, Israel and the Occupied Territories, and the U.S. topped the list; Algeria, Iran, Lebanon, Malaysia, Russia and Tanzania all got failing grades.

And of freedom of movement and residence, Ecuador, the European Union, Sierra Leone, Syria, the U.S. and Venezuela were awarded an “A”, while Algeria, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Israel and the Occupied Territories, Kenya, Malaysia, Russia, Tanzania, and Thailand all flunked.

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