UNHCR calls for concrete steps to protect refugees through Bali Process
The steps include the development of protocols on rescue and interception at sea to support more predictable and effective ways to disembark, process and help maritime arrivals.
BALI, Indonesia, April 2 (UNHCR) - UNHCR's top protection official on Tuesday welcomed a pledge by government ministers in the Asia-Pacific region to strengthen cooperation to manage irregular maritime movements in a protection-sensitive regional approach.
The pledge came in a statement issued at the 5th Ministerial Meeting of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime. Ministers and other high-level officials from more than 40 countries in the region participated in the event on Tuesday together with representatives of the UN refugee agency, the International Organization for Migration and other groups.
Addressing the event, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Erika Feller noted the progress made on several fronts within the Bali Process, including the creation of the Regional Cooperation Framework and the Regional Support Office to build state capacity to respond to asylum challenges in the region. She cautioned, however, that much more remains to be done "to move beyond the language of cooperation to practical and concrete action."
She acknowledged that issues such as irregular maritime movements bring complex challenges. On the one hand, growing numbers of people are taking to the seas, risking their lives and facing exploitation in the process. On the other hand, receiving countries feel they are left to shoulder the responsibility alone.
Summing up lessons from a recent regional roundtable on irregular movements by sea, co-organized by Indonesia and UNHCR, Feller noted that unilateral action by individual countries does not work. "Refusal to assist persons in distress at sea, regardless of who they are and how they came to be there, can lead to terrible consequences which represent a collective humanitarian failure," she emphasized.
Among the concrete steps proposed, the Assistant High Commissioner called for the development of protocols on rescue and interception at sea to support more predictable and effective ways to disembark, process and seek solutions for maritime arrivals. She recommended that resources be pre-positioned and joint support services provided, such as mobile response teams that could be deployed upon the request of states.
Above all, Feller encouraged states to support these practical actions at the highest political levels. "To be effective and sustainable, a comprehensive approach must accommodate both the state security as well as the human security dimensions of the problem," she said. "The momentum towards including asylum and refugee protection objectives as an integral part of the Bali Process agenda must not be lost."
Related news and stories
UNHCR seeks comprehensive regional response to address rise in deadly South-East Asia sea journeys
Seven-month ordeal at sea takes toll on Rohingya refugees in Indonesia
UNHCR welcomes the life-saving disembarkation of 300 Rohingya refugees in Indonesia
Refugees get a chance to start over in style in Jakarta
Jakarta, A Fashion Thread
Tents bring Indonesia quake survivors out of the rain
Your search for « Bali process » matched 350 results. Displaying page 14 of 39 pages.
-
UNHCR calls for safer alternatives to deadly Bay of Bengal voyages
23 Feb 2016 ... ... Next month's Bali Process Ministerial Meeting will be a timely opportunity to make progress on these issues. Root causes need to be addressed concurrently. A lifting of existing restrictions on ...... -
Statement of Australia
3 Oct 2017 ... ... The Bali Process, which Australia is proud to co-chair with Indonesia and of which the UNHCR is a key member, is a good example of the positive contribution of such regional frameworks. We recognise ...... -
Keynote address by Ms. Erika Feller, Director, Department of International Protection, UNHCR, to the Regional Conference on Current Issues of Border Co-Operation, Asylum Management and Responsibility Sharing (Prague, 7-8 April 2003)
7 Apr 2003 ... ... As some of you may be aware, UNHCR is currently engaged in a dialogue with countries in different regions (e.g. Bali process countries, but also those within the EU) on how to improve the availability ...... -
UNHCR Country Operations Plan 2004 - Indonesia
1 Sep 2003 ... ... The Office will ensure follow-up to the Bali Regional Ministerial Conference on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and related Trans-national Crime (Bali I and II process). Being a regional ...... -
Draft Report of the Forty-fifth Meeting of the Standing Committee (23-25 June 2009)
31 Aug 2009 ... ... on UNHCR to expand its partnerships in regional fora such as the Inter-governmental Consultations on Asylum, Refugee and Migration Policies, the Bali Process and the Organization of American States. ...... -
Report of the forty-fifth meeting of the Standing Committee (23-25 June 2009)
17 Sep 2009 ... ... on UNHCR to expand its partnerships in regional fora such as the Inter-governmental Consultations on Asylum, Refugee and Migration Policies, the Bali Process and the Organization of American States. ...... -
77th meeting of the Standing Committee - regional update Asia and Pacific
12 Mar 2020 ... ... UNHCR provided technical support on mixed movements in the context of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime. In collaboration with the Regional ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 2014 - Asia and the Pacific regional summary
1 Jun 2015 ... ... they have resulted in unilateral action by some individual countries, undermining the principles of cooperation promoted by regional initiatives such as the Bali Process and ASEAN meetings. ...... -
Draft report of the 53rd meeting of the Standing Committee (13-15 March 2012)
5 Jun 2012 ... ... in Bangkok whose role would be to coordinate practical implementation of the principles agreed upon at the Bali Process Ministerial Conference in March 2011 under the Regional Cooperation Framework. ......