Why do foreign refugees come to China?

The provisions on refugees in international law include the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees. China signed these two documents in 1982, and China has been undertaking the international obligation of accepting refugees. Recently, the 20 15 Report on China's International Migration released by China and Globalization Think Tank (CCG) pointed out that China is becoming a refugee receiving country.

So European refugees can choose to take refuge in China. However, when refugees choose a country of refuge, they should not only consider the national policy, but also consider the distance, so at present, European countries undertake the reception of most refugees. The refugees in our country mainly come from neighboring Southeast Asian countries. A large part of them were North Vietnamese refugees who fled to China during the Sino-Vietnamese War in the late 1970s. There were about 200,000 refugees, most of whom were from China. Many of them voluntarily returned to their own countries, and those who stayed have been well integrated into the local society.

In addition, refugees need screening interviews, because not all people apply for asylum. Some asylum seekers came to our country for economic purposes. According to the Survey Report on Expatriates 20 14 released by the British HSBC Group in June, 20 14, in the ranking of "the most attractive countries or regions for foreigners to live in", China ranks third, only next to Switzerland and Singapore. In addition, some people apply for refugee status for business, school or travel. For example, some businessmen apply for refugee status to avoid being punished when they leave the country. These people will use the internet to search what news events happened in a certain country at a certain time, and then say that they were attacked in the incident, thus defrauding refugee status.

"Screening interviews is usually the responsibility of the host government. However, the China government did not take over this work, so we (UNHCR Representative Office in China) did it. " Screening interviews are conducted on a one-to-one basis by UNHCR staff. The interview mainly focused on "Why did you leave your country?". Questions and answers are very specific, usually lasting more than two hours. UNHCR staff will judge the credibility of applicants' answers according to whether various scenarios and details meet the local conditions and identify whether they really meet the refugee standards.

As for how to identify it, there is no clear stipulation in our current law, which is based on international standards. It is defined as a person who, for provable reasons, fears persecution, stays outside his own country because of race, religion, nationality, belonging to a particular social group or holding certain political views, and is unable or unwilling to be protected by that country because of this fear, or a stateless person, or a person whose country has perished, and who is unable or unwilling to return to that country for the above reasons.

International conventions do not stipulate that people who fled their homes because of war need to be recognized as "refugees". However, Song Jing of UNHCR said that compared with this standard, the current practice of the international community is to identify those who fled their country during the war as "refugees". "UNHCR is naturally the most widely applied standard."

However, it is difficult for China to become a second home for refugees.

Refugees can apply to UNHCR for financial assistance, and UNHCR will assess the financial situation of refugees. If they meet the requirements, UNHCR will provide financial assistance to the refugees. At present, the unified standard in Chinese mainland is 1.200 yuan per person per month.

There are usually three permanent solutions for refugees-voluntary repatriation: generally speaking, if the situation in the source area improves, you can apply to UNHCR for help in returning home; Local integration: that is, settle in the place where you apply for refugee status and become a citizen of that country; Resettlement in a third country: you can apply to countries that are willing to accept refugees and grant them nationality, such as the United States, Canada, France, Sweden, etc.

China is only a temporary refuge for refugees, not a long-term destination. Although China has been fulfilling its international obligations to receive refugees. However, there is no long-term mechanism to accommodate refugees, so many needs such as employment and education cannot be met for refugees who stay in China. Refugees have no right to work in China because this status is not listed in the Regulations on Employment of Foreigners in China.

The only legal provision on refugees that can be found in China is 1982, paragraph 2 of Article 32 of the Constitution: "People's Republic of China (PRC) may grant asylum to foreigners who request it for political reasons." There is also Article 46 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law, which came into effect in July 20 13: Asylum applicants can stay in China with temporary identity certificates; Recognized refugees can stay in China with their refugee identity documents.

Although China continues to fulfill its obligation to accept refugees, there is still much room for growth in relevant institutions, policies and regulations. For example, why does a big country not have its own institution responsible for refugee screening and resettlement? Refugees who come to China are almost obviously protected by law and rely on policies; Children of refugees studying in China cannot take the college entrance examination because they have no citizenship.