UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi praised Austria’s reception of refugees. About 130,000 people have been admitted since 2015. In addition, payments have increased. According to Grandi, many lessons can be learned from the crisis at the moment, for example that a liberal approach relieves states.
In an interview with Stefan Vospernik of the APA, he spoke about the adopted EU temporary protection directive, which is now being applied for the first time in 21 years. In particular, these refugees are given extended rights such as full freedom of movement, meaning they can go “wherever they have relatives to take them in”. In Europe, the “fear of dropping everything and jumping in the car” has never been known before. 14 million Ukrainians are currently on the run. This corresponds to 15 percent of all refugees worldwide.
Disagree with differences
Unfortunately, differences are made based on the origin of the refugees, which Grandi disagrees. The Ukrainians may be easier to integrate, but they have no greater right to protection than people from Syria, Afghanistan or other war zones. In these cases, neighboring countries are already being heavily taxed and therefore European states have a duty to help and accommodate a small part of the Afghan or Syrian population. In this regard, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees welcomes the European Commission’s proposal to better distribute refugees in Europe.
The Geneva Refugee Convention does not need to be amended
Grandi largely agrees with the Geneva Refugee Convention, recognizing that it can be adapted to new phenomena such as sexual persecution or climate change. In principle, however, the treaty applies to all people “who lose the protection of their country” by being persecuted by it or by being unable to protect them, as in the case of Ukraine.
Grandi assumes that many Ukrainians want to return later. However, this requires appropriate security perspectives. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was recently in Africa and Afghanistan and will travel to Bangladesh next week. Crises other than the war in Ukraine should not be forgotten.
Source: Krone
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