UNHCR Convention Plus Debriefing on the Resettlement Meeting of 24 November 2003

ICVA Note to NGOs

1 December 2003

On 24 November, the Government of Canada and UNHCR hosted a day-long meeting with select resettlement country governments and host country governments to develop a generic "undertaking" on resettlement based on a paper prepared by Canada and with significant input from the NGO community. This meeting was the first of three processes currently being followed up on as Forum initiatives building on the High Commissioner's Convention Plus and the Agenda for Protection. The other two processes currently moving forward albeit with different time frames are 1) secondary movement (led by Switzerland and South Africa) and 2) targeting development aid (led by Denmark and Japan).

On 28 Nov., the representative from Canada leading the resettlement follow-up, William Lundy, together with UNHCR staff from the Convention Plus Unit, held a de-briefing meeting for interested NGOs. Mr. Lundy explained that the draft paper developed by Canada and circulated prior to the meeting on 24 Nov. was merely a background document for the development of a more generic "undertaking". Such an "undertaking" would be a means to identify elements that need to be included in the specific bi- or multi-lateral agreements to be developed later to address specific refugee populations - whether as a nationality regardless of where hosted or within a host country or host region. The paper itself will no longer be worked on, but is now simply an historical document. The group that met on 24 Nov. decided on which elements to take forward to develop this generic undertaking or framework document.

The meeting on 24 Nov. was described as productive with good discussion and broad agreement on most issues. Host country governments were said to be fully engaged in the conversations. (Of note, the meeting on 24 Nov. included only invited States, the European Union, UNHCR and IOM. NGOs were not invited.) It was reported that the NGO input was referred to, when appropriate, and while none of it was irrelevant to the process, some of it referred to broader Convention Plus initiatives and, hence, those items were not included in either the discussion or undertaking. However, other NGO input was directly discussed and agreement reached to include some of the language and additional subject areas directly into the framework being developed. Such input included: "consulting refugees" which NGOs added as a specific additional point under "General Principles and Joint Undertakings" in the Canadian document; and items # 6 & 7 under "UNHCR" - 6) Provide structured training to UNHCR Branch Offices and to NGO implementing partners' field staff on the strategic use of resettlement and 7) Create field positions for Durable Solutions Officers, similar to Protection Officers. Additionally, added to the document was a suggestion by IOM on including infrastructure needs of resettlement that States could contribute to, even if they are not participating directly in the resettlement process (to accommodate a country such as Japan, for example).

The views of host countries presented at the meeting did not just represent typical host country views. For example, one host country said that the bar should not be set too high for resettlement as doing so might dissuade new resettlement countries. There was discussion about the use of flexible criteria and registration, as well as sharing of responsibility and the issue of fraud. NGO comments on the integrity of the process were seen as helpful. The whole issue of consultation also got a lot of discussion at two levels: 1) the strategic consultations necessary before the start of actual resettlement and 2) ongoing consultations on operational issues so that all involved are aware of what is going on.

Lastly, the group that met on 24 Nov. agreed to simple terms of reference for the group and will meet again in late January to finalise the "undertaking." Once the final document is produced, the group will cease to exist.

Next steps will be:
Two documents will be developed and circulated, including to NGOs via ICVA, just prior to the holiday break (a summary of outcomes and points of convergence and a draft framework/undertaking document that begins to draft the specific language to be used in the document). NGOs will be invited to comment on the specific language and provide suggestions for improvements. NGOs should also take the opportunity to do some legwork with participating States prior to the meeting to ensure that NGO considerations are taken into account. These documents will be reviewed and discussed at the group's follow-up meeting in January and a final document will hopefully be produced by March 2004. The results will be presented at the next UNHCR Forum meeting.

This particular group on resettlement will not be engaged in the application of the document to specific refugee settings - a process that will be led by UNHCR following their survey of all protracted refugee situations (which will be presented at the June 2004 UNHCR Standing Committee meeting as a follow-up to the Agenda for Protection). There was a call in the group that none of the work that they do should stop UNHCR's work on durable solutions. In fact, there are thoughts floating of a comprehensive plan of action for Somali refugees. UNHCR's Africa Bureau has agreed to do a feasibility study on this plan of action. The Convention Plus Unit will try to maintain a "bird's eye view" of everything that is going on in terms of durable solutions, but will not control everything.

At present, it remains unclear how this or any of the other Forum processes will feed into the UNHCR Executive Committee although it is foreseen that reporting to and perhaps an endorsement from the Executive Committee, perhaps even in the form of an EXCOM Conclusion, is probable.

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