Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Chanelle Taoi Associate Legal Officer Canberra Girls’ Grammar School 2 September 2013

UNHCR’s Role  UNHCR’s role (mandate) is to: protect refugees; and seek solutions for refugees.

1951 Refugee Convention  Defines the term “refugee”.  Provides for minimum standards of treatment of refugees.  Not sending people back into danger.

Who is a refugee?  Any person who: owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.

 Asylum-seekers  Returnees Other people UNHCR helps  Stateless persons  Internally Displaced Persons

Average number of newly displaced persons

Refugees and IDPs assisted by UNHCR

Top 10 refugee hosting countries

Top 10 source countries of refugees

Where does UNHCR work?

What we do: legal protection  Registering asylum- seekers.  Determining refugee claims.  Working with governments & communities.

What we do: physical protection  Shelter  Health care  Education  Water  Food

What we do: helping children  Half of displaced people are children.  UNHCR’s priorities for children: Family unity Preventing exploitation & violence Preventing military recruitment Education Helping adolescents

Faces of the children UNHCR help

What we do: long-term solutions  Voluntary Repatriation  Local Integration  Resettlement

UNHCR’s Regional Office in Canberra

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