RP lauded for agreeing to host 'at-risk refugees'

MANILA, Philippines - The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) lauded the Philippines yesterday for agreeing to provide emergency transit for refugees.

The UNHCR said the Philippines had agreed with the UN to host “at-risk refugees” and provide them temporary sanctuary before final resettlement in a third country.

It said the Philippines’ effort had set “the protection benchmark in Asia.”

The Philippines is the second country in the world to be formally designated as a transit country for at-risk refugees on their way to resettlement elsewhere, it said.

At the same time, the UNHCR expects the Philippines would be burdened more in receiving refugees coming from other neighboring countries in the region as a result of the agreement.

The agreement, signed last week in Manila by the Philippine government, the UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), means individual refugees who are in danger would be allowed a temporary haven in the Philippines while en route to resettlement in a third country.

Under the agreement, the refugees may stay in the Philippines for up to six months before they are resettled elsewhere. Romania forged a similar deal with the UNHCR last March.

Raymond Hall, UNHCR regional coordinator for Southeast Asia, said the Philippines is among the few countries in the region that is a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention.

“It is providing significant space for individual refugees who otherwise would be in danger of refoulement (forced return to a country where a person faces possible persecution) or of other serious threats to their well being,” Hall said.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo signed the agreement with Hall and IOM representative Bruce Reed.