UNHCR SAYS BRITISH ASYLUM BILL VIOLATES GENEVA CONVENTION ON REFUGEES
In a confidential 1o-page memorandum adressed to the Home Office (British Interior Ministry) the UNHCR criticizes a series of proposed restrictive regulations aimed at stemming the flow of asylum seekers. The UNHCR's remarks are valuable not only for Britain.
The UN High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) has condemned Britain and said that it could be breaking international law with its asylum Bill.
Home secretary Kenneth Baker asserts that the Bill merely aims to stem the flow of false refugees.
But Antonio Fortin, deputy director of the UNHCR's London office asserts that two government proposals break safeguards for genuine victims of persecution in the 1951 Geneva Convention on Refugees.
According to the UNHCR, government plans to reject refugees who arrive in a group violate the UN rule that applications must be assessed individually and on their merit. And the Bill's proposal to allow refugees to be deported back to their countries where they face persecution could also be illegal. The Convention requires that they should be entitled to a proper appeal. Furthermore, Britains secretive system for foreigners branded as national security risks, which denies applicants a lawyer, does not comply with the Convention's standards.
Britain is a signatory of the Geneva Convention and thus legally bound to it.
The Home office said it would consider changing its rules, if necessary, but said it believed, the Bill complied with the Convention.
However, the 10-page memorandum of the UNHCR labels some of the Bill's criteria for deciding who is a genuine refugee as "arbitrary" and "unfortunate".
"The impression conveyed (by the new rules) is one of bias against asylum seekers", it says.
Home secretary Baker has said that an asylum seeker's claim to be a refugee will be adversely affected if he does not submit his application the moment he arrives. The UNHCR replies that the rule is illogical. A refugee may have "very good reasons" for not applying for asylum immediately, it said. He may be frightened or scared of officials.
It quotes the example of a refugee who has permission to stay in Britain for three years as a student, saying that "there is no reason why he should submit a formal asylum application". If he were to claim asylum later, as a last resort, failure to go to the Home office at the moment of arrival at Heathrow "cannot possibly be interpreted as an indication that he is not a genuine refugee".
Regulations in the Bill also make it possible to reject asylum seekers who make false statements or conceal facts. But the UNHCR states that apparent inconsistencies or muddled statements are inevitable, given language problems and refugees' fear of officialdom. They are also under great stress and in poor psychological condition.
Source: "The Independent", 14.12.91