The basic meaning of refugees

Refugees refer to those people who have justified fear of staying outside their own country because of their race, religion, nationality, belonging to a certain social group or holding certain political opinions, and are unable or unwilling to be protected by the state because of this fear; Or because the above things have stayed outside the country where they once lived, they have no nationality and are unable or unwilling to return to China.

Strictly speaking, refugees are based on the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees 195 1 signed by the United Nations in Geneva on July 28th and the Refugee Protocol 1967+3 1 revised by the United Nations in new york on July 28th. These two documents define refugees as people who are afraid of persecution for provable reasons and stay outside their own country because of race, religion, nationality, members of a particular social group or political views, and are unable or unwilling to be protected by that country because of this fear, or stateless people who are unable or unwilling to return to that country because they stay outside the country where they once lived.

Geographically speaking, refugees are a special form of population migration. Due to natural disasters, war disasters, class oppression and ethnic oppression, religious and racial discrimination and changes in national boundaries, a large number of people were forced to leave their homes and live in exile, resulting in forced migration. After the Second World War, the world refugee problem has become increasingly prominent, mainly in Asia and Africa. African refugees mainly come from South Africa and the Horn of Africa, while Asian refugees mainly come from Afghanistan, Cambodia and Vietnam. The United Nations 195 1 adopted the Convention on the Status of Refugees on July 28th, and 1967 adopted the Protocol on the Status of Refugees, calling for granting refugees basic human rights and establishing the High Commissioner for Refugees, who is responsible for supervising the implementation of the refugee convention and receiving assistance.

Refugees are a special group in the international community. They are a group unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin due to war, ethnic persecution, tribal conflicts, national territory change, political asylum, natural disasters and economic deterioration. They are characterized by group, helplessness, mobility, spontaneity and passivity.

Refugees are divided into economic refugees, war refugees, ethnic and religious refugees, political refugees, natural disaster refugees and so on. Economic refugees are people who "voluntarily" leave their homes in order to improve their lives, also known as "illegal immigrants". Natural disaster refugees are people who are forced to leave their homes due to earthquakes, severe floods and droughts, and can usually return to their countries of origin through temporary relief. War refugees are people who flee their homes to escape the war. The attributes of each kind of refugees are not single, sometimes war refugees are political refugees, disaster refugees are environmental refugees, and so on. At present, there are generally three ways to solve the refugee problem in the world: voluntary repatriation, local resettlement and resettlement in a third country.

The United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees stipulates that States parties should give certain treatment to refugees within their territory, including national treatment in primary education, public relief, labor and social security. Give preferential treatment at least not lower than that of ordinary foreigners in movable and immovable property, free occupation and housing. ; Countries should respect refugees' right to personal identity, give them identity documents and protect them from deportation, and try their best to facilitate the naturalization and assimilation of refugees.

"The greatest sorrow in the world is the loss of the motherland." This is an ancient Greek poet's lament over the tragic situation of refugees. According to the statistics of UNHCR, over 75 million people around the world have been forced to leave their homes because of wars and disasters in the past 60 years. Africa and the Middle East are the regions that export the most refugees in the world.

June 20th is World Refugee Day. According to article 1 of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees adopted by the United Nations in 195 1, a refugee refers to a person who is unwilling or unable to return to his country of origin or be protected by it because of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a special social group or political opinions, and who has good reasons to fear persecution. Some regional conventions have further expanded and refined the refugee problem on the basis of the above-mentioned United Nations conventions. For example, the Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugees in Africa stipulates: "The term refugee also applies to anyone who is forced to leave his habitual residence and seek refuge outside his country of residence or nationality because his country of residence or nationality has been invaded, occupied or ruled by a foreign country in whole or in part, or because of events that seriously endanger public order."

Regarding the legal status of refugees, the United Nations Conference on the Status of Refugees and Stateless Persons held in Geneva in195/KLOC-0 adopted the Convention on the Status of Refugees on July 28th of that year. The Convention came into force on April 22, 1954, and was recognized and acceded to by 3 1, 1982, 9 1 countries as of February.

The Convention provides that:

1. Regardless of race, religion or nationality, the State party should treat the refugees within its territory as follows: ① give national treatment in primary education, public relief, labor and social security, religious freedom, financial expropriation, industrial property rights, copyright of literary, artistic and scientific works, and litigation rights;

(2) In movable and immovable property, self-employment, agriculture, commerce, freelancing, housing, education above primary education, choice of residence and freedom of movement. , as far as possible to give preferential treatment, in any case not less than the treatment enjoyed by ordinary foreigners;

③ MFN treatment should be given to employment and non-political and non-profit associations.

2. The State Party shall respect the rights previously acquired by refugees because of their personal status, especially the right to marriage, and provide refugees with identity documents, travel documents and other administrative assistance. When refugees settle in another country, the State Party should allow them to transfer their assets.

3. The State Party shall not punish a refugee who comes directly from the territory where his life or freedom is threatened and enters or stays in the territory of the State Party without an illegal entry or residence permit, as long as the refugee explains to the authorities the legitimate reasons for his illegal entry or residence without delay.

Except for reasons of national security or public order, a State Party shall not expel refugees lawfully within its territory, nor shall it expel or return ("push back") refugees in any way to the territorial border where their life or freedom is threatened.

5. The State Party shall, as far as possible, facilitate the naturalization and assimilation of refugees.

6. States Parties shall cooperate with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or any other institution that has succeeded it to facilitate the performance of their official duties.

7. Refugees should abide by the laws and regulations of the host country and the measures taken to maintain public order.

In view of the fact that the provisions of the above convention only apply to refugees who appeared before 195 1 and 1, and new refugee situations have emerged since then, the protocol on the status of refugees was signed at 1967 and 1. The Protocol came into force on 196714 October. By the end of 1982, 90 countries had ratified and acceded to it. According to the Protocol, the above-mentioned conventions are no longer only applicable to those who became refugees because of what happened before 195 1 1, thus making all refugees in the State party enjoy equal status. Refugee law (mainly including 195 1 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa) and the mission of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees provide a basic framework for protecting and assisting refugees. In addition, refugees are also protected by general human rights law; When their country is in armed conflict, refugees are also protected by international humanitarian law.

According to international humanitarian law, people should be protected from displacement; During the period of displacement, they should be protected as civilians as long as they are not directly involved in hostilities. International humanitarian law also guarantees relief and humanitarian organizations access to refugees and internally displaced persons in situations of armed conflict. All parties to the conflict must facilitate the supply of relief materials such as medicines, food, blankets and tents.

Regrettably, in many recent conflicts, these rules were ignored, which put refugees and internally displaced persons at risk. The International Committee of the Red Cross has repeatedly called on States and non-State armed groups to abide by and ensure compliance with international law and basic principles of humanity when dealing with civilians. Only by observing the rules of these armed conflicts can we prevent the flow of refugees and internal migration; Similarly, only by observing international humanitarian law can people who are forced to flee their homes be protected. June 20th every year is World Refugee Day. In order to protect the basic rights of refugees, the United Nations convened a conference of plenipotentiaries on the status of refugees and stateless persons in 195 1 and adopted the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, which stipulated that the contracting States should give certain treatment to refugees within their territory, including national treatment in primary education, public relief, labor and social security. Give at least no less preferential treatment than ordinary foreigners in movable and immovable property, free occupation, migration, etc. ; Countries should respect refugees' right to obtain identity, give them identity documents and protect them from deportation, and try their best to facilitate refugees' naturalization.

The theme of commemorating World Refugee Day in 2009 is "Living people, living needs". The full name of UNHCR is the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It was established by the United Nations General Assembly on 1950, 12 and 14, and started its work on 195 1. The organization helps displaced people all over the world, providing them with necessities such as tents, food, water and medicine in an emergency, and seeking long-term solutions to problems, including voluntary repatriation or starting a new life in a new country. For more than 50 years, the organization has helped more than 50 million people to start a new life. Now, more than 5,000 staff members in more than 65,438+020 countries continue to help about 22 million people.