Wanted, a legislation for refugees
Over 1.2 million refugees cohabit South Asia, yet refugee laws remain a most neglected area here.
Despite the generosity the South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation shows in granting asylum to refugees, none of its member countries have adopted a national legislation on the subject yet.
Nor have these countries acceded to the 1951 United Nations convention and the 1967 protocol relating to the status of refugees, the international instruments for protecting refugee rights.
Consequently, there are no procedures for establishing refugee status. "Refugees are now handled under the provisions for foreigners -- there are no privileges for them on humanitarian grounds," say officials at the United Nations High Commission for
Refugees. The UNHCR looks after the problems of some 26 million refugees around the world.
The need for refugee laws emanate since refugees, as aliens, are highly vulnerable in the host country. The international law provides for a special status based on humanitarian consideration (as also certain obligations). Which refugees of south Asia do not enjoy in the abscence of a legislation to protect their rights.
Today, India hosts over 50,000 Chakmas from Bangladesh, 66,000 Sri
Lankan Tamils and nearly 20,000 refugees of other
nationalities.
"The intermingling and migratory movements of the refugees make it
particularly important a legal definition be adopted," observe UNHCR officials.
Now, several prominent judges,
lawyers and human rights experts from the SAARC
countries are finally getting together to remedy the situation.
On May 2 and 3, they will meet in New Delhi to debate issues
of asylum, treatment,
repatriation and reintegration of refugees. Further, they will discuss the common principles of a draft
model law for refugees, prepared by a human rights panel under former Supreme Court Chief Justice P N Bhagwati.
India's experience of coping with refugee problems dates back to
the Partition of the subcontinent. Then, over eight million refugees had moved into the country, and were successfully integrated.
In the late 1950s India received a large influx of Tibetans. And in 1971, the country provided
shelter to more than 10 million refugees -- the largest refugee
movement ever -- until they could return home to an
independent Bangladesh.
Pakistan too hosted more than three million Afghan refugees
for almost 15 years from 1979. While the majority returned home
after the soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, over a million
still remain in Pakistan.
In Nepal over 90,000 refugees from Bhutan await a solution to their plight.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, prepares
to receive back Chakma refugees from Tripura, and is finalising plans to repatriate the remaining 24,000 of
the 250,000 Rohingya refugees to Myanmar.
UNI
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