UN Summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants

At the UN Summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants on 19th September 2016, the General Assembly is expected to adopt a set of commitments to enhance the protection of migrants and refugees.  

Once adopted, these commitments - which were agreed to on 2 August - will be known as the New York Declaration. The Declaration also contains two annexes intended to pave the way the adoption of Global Compacts in 2018: one on refugees, and the other on migrants. (Annex 1: Comprehensive Refugee Response (CRR) Framework; and Annex 2: Towards a Global compact for Safe Orderly and Regular Migration.)

Why does this matter?

At a time of multiple global crises, and when large-scale movements of refugees and migrants are challenging many countries – even stoking xenophobia in some quarters – it is very significant that 194  Member States of the United Nations are coming together to agree on a way forward to manage the challenges better, together.

Once adopted, the New York Declaration will be a significant milestone.  In it, States declare profound solidarity for people who are forced to flee their homes; reaffirm their obligations to full respect of the human rights of refugees and migrants; and States pledge robust support to those countries affected by large movements of refugees and migrants. 

The Declaration includes commitments common to refugees and migrants, including: combating exploitation, racism and xenophobia, savings lives en route, ensuring border procedures follow due process and are in line with international law. It also includes paying attention to the needs of women, children and those with health care needs, recognising and facilitating the positive contributions of migrants and refugees, ensuring they are part of development priorities, and ensuring adequate, flexible and predictable funding.

In addition, the Declaration sets out specific commitments in relation to refugees and to migrants. 

On the refugee side, some of the specific commitments include increasing support to the countries and communities hosting the largest number of refugees.  There are related commitments to boosting early childhood and primary and secondary education for refugees, and creating jobs and income generation schemes for refugees and host communities. There is also an emphasis on expanding opportunities for resettlement or other forms of admission to third countries. 

The Declaration also provides for a Comprehensive Refugee Response (CRR) Framework to be applied in response to large scale refugee influxes or protracted situations. This will be broader than a typical refugee response, bringing in a range of stakeholders from the outset including local and national authorities, humanitarian and development actors, the private sector and civil society.   The Framework also emphasises the importance of refugees becoming self-reliant and addressing the needs of local host communities. 

What does this mean for refugee protection?

The New York Declaration is a reaffirmation of the importance and application of the international protection regime -- the 1951 Refugee Convention, human rights and humanitarian law – at a time when there are record levels of forced displacement. 

Governments specifically acknowledge that the protection of refugees and assistance to host states is a shared international responsibility, and not to be borne by host countries alone.  This is a critical development.

The New York Declaration also signals a shift beyond a mainly humanitarian response to refugee movements – usually in itself, severely underfunded – to a broader, systematic and more sustainable response to help refugees and the communities hosting them.  This will mean working on several fronts at once: addressing humanitarian needs, bringing in development actors sooner to help refugees and their hosts, and starting the longer term planning for solutions beyond the emergency phase. 

UNHCR also very much welcomes the Leaders’ Summit on the Global Refugee Crisis on 20 September convened by President Obama, which provides an opportunity for governments to make concrete commitments in funding to humanitarian appeals and international organisations, to admitting more refugees through resettlement and other pathways, and increasing refugees’ self-reliance and inclusion through work and education opportunities. 

Format of the Summit

The Summit will begin on 19 September with an opening plenary chaired by the Secretary General and statements from high-level UN officials, including the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. There will be two parallel plenary sessions for statements by Member States.

There will be six roundtables dedicated to various refugee and migrant themes and a closing plenary. A concurrent civil society meeting will be held from 10 – 12.30pm.

In addition to the formal one day formal session, a series of side events are being organized between 13 and 23 September. 

Entire text of the New York Declaration

Further information on the Summit 

Media contacts:

• In Geneva, Ariane Rummery [email protected] +41 79 200 7617
• In Geneva, Melissa Fleming [email protected] +41 22 739 7965
• In New York, Jenifer Fenton [email protected]   +1 646 255 3054

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