Media Contact: Heidi Altman
Email: altmanh@lchr.org
Tel.: (212) 845 5259

The Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (LCHR) urges all State parties to the war in Iraq and all neighboring states to ensure that refugees fleeing fighting and persecution there are protected. States must abide by their international legal obligations to provide protection to those seeking safety across international borders, as well as to those who remain in Iraq but who are displaced from their homes. In particular, refugees who seek to flee across the Iraqi border to find safety should be permitted to do so. All States are bound by international law to -- at a minimum -- temporarily admit fleeing refugees to their territory. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has appealed to all governments neighboring Iraq to keep their borders open to those seeking temporary protection and assistance. We echo that call and set forth the following principles which govern the treatment of refugees and displaced persons.

1. International law provides special protection to those fleeing war and persecution

Past war and persecution in Iraq have driven millions to flee their homes. Some have sought protection across international borders as refugees; others remain within Iraqi territory. International law provides for the protection of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).

2. Binding international agreements protect the rights of refugees

Refugees are people who have fled persecution or war and so have lost, or are unable to rely upon, the protection of their own country or residence. As such they require special international protection. The cornerstone of the international system of refugee protection is the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and its 1967 Protocol. The Convention and its Protocol are supplemented by various regional agreements and a wider body of human rights and humanitarian law to create the folder of rights which may be claimed by refugees. Through the auspices of the host country, the international community takes on the role of providing protection to the refugee where national protection can no longer be relied upon. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is the international body which has the mandate to help States fulfill their obligation to protect and assist refugees around the world.

3. Core Principles of Refugee Protection

The core principles of refugee protection of particular relevance to the war in Iraq include the following:

• Refugees have a right to flee persecution: Refugees must be permitted to seek protection outside their country. In no circumstances may they be summarily turned back at the frontier of a potential host territory. Even in situations of large-scale influx, refugees must be admitted across the border to receive at least temporary protection and assistance, before a more long term solution may be found.
  
  
• Refugees have a right not to be returned to situations where they would be in danger of persecution and serious violations of their human rights: This principle is a norm of international law considered to be of universal application.
  
  
• Granting refuge is a strictly humanitarian act: Allowing refugees access to safety should not be viewed as a hostile act by any government whose nationals are received. A corollary to this principle is that fleeing or retreating combatants should not be granted protection as refugees. Separating them from the general refugee population is vital to preserving the security of refugee settlements—among other reasons, in order to prevent refugees from becoming targets of attack.
  
  
• Refugees must be settled in a safe location: The movement of camps well away from the borders of the host country and the neighboring theater of hostilities protects settlements from attack, and makes them much less attractive to combatants as rearguard bases, sanctuaries, staging areas, or recruitment centers.
  
  
• Refugees must have their rights protected, including those relating to physical safety, and access to food, water, health care, and shelter.
  
  
• Parties to an armed conflict should respect the right of humanitarian access to organizations committed to assisting refugees and the internally displaced to meet their basic needs.

4. The Protection of Internally Displaced Persons

The internally displaced face many of the same problems that refugees face, and are protected by international human rights and humanitarian law. Because they have not crossed an international border their protection is still the primary responsibility of their home country—although the government in question is often either unwilling or unable to provide for their safety. Increasingly the international community has recognized that it should also seek to play a part in protecting the internally displaced. The United Nations has adopted the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement to guide States and others in responding to the plight of the internally displaced through the application of existing principles of international human rights and humanitarian law.

5. Who are the Refugees?

Decades of war and the relentless persecution of political opponents and various ethnic and religious groups have made Iraqis one of the largest refugee populations in the world - over 400,000 are in exile around the globe. Many are members of ethnic or religious groups that have been targeted for repression by the Iraqi government.

It is too early to estimate the number of people who will be displaced from their homes as a result of the war. UNHCR says that it is helping countries in the region make contingency plans for the reception of 600,000 refugees. But as many as two million Iraqis who may be forced to abandon their homes during the conflict may not be able to leave the country. These IDPs will remain within Iraqi territory—either because they are hopeful of finding safety internally, or because their entry into neighboring countries will be barred.

5. The Obligations of Neighboring States

States bordering Iraq have accepted international obligations relating to the protection of refugee rights to varying extents. Iran is alone among Iraq’s neighbors in having ratified the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention and its Protocol. Turkey, while a party to the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention, restricts recognition of refugee status to refugees of European origin. It is required, however, to extend protection to individuals who are threatened with serious violations of their human rights because of its accession to the European Convention on Human Rights. Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Syria have not signed the 1951 UN Refugee Convention or its Protocol but are similarly bound to provide basic safeguards to those fleeing war and persecution under human rights law and customary international law.

Thus although not all are parties to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, all States are bound by international law, at a minimum, to temporarily admit fleeing refugees to their territory. In a statement on the first day of the conflict the U.N. High Commission for Refugees urgently appealed to all governments neighboring Iraq to keep their borders open to those seeking temporary protection and assistance.

States may, of course, take measures to control access to their territory, provided that this does not result in refugees being returned to danger. This may include screening for armed fighters, identifying those who may be a threat to their national security, declaring restrictions on the freedom of movement of refugees and asylum seekers, and putting in place detailed refugee registration processes. States are also required by international law to ensure that those who have committed serious crimes are identified and eventually excluded from protection as refugees, with a view to combating impunity. UNHCR staff must be permitted access to border areas to monitor these arrival procedures.

6. Closing Doors to Refugees

Governments in the region have expressed apprehensions about the economic, political, and security implications of large numbers of refugees crossing from Iraq into their territory. Syria, for example, has already sealed its border with Iraq and is turning back refugee families. Kuwait, Jordan, and Turkey have all declared their borders closed. But there are also conflicting and more encouraging signals. Iran has made preparations for receiving refugees in its border region despite the fact that its Head of Refugee Affairs was recently quoted as saying, "in this new era we will help refugees, but in their territory." Refugee camps are also under construction on Turkish territory, although Turkey too has said that it will attempt to coral potential refugees in twelve camps on the Iraqi side of the border.

People displaced during the conflict who seek to flee from Iraq to seek protection in neighboring countries should have the right to do so. Force should not be employed by any party to the conflict to halt entry by refugees into neighboring states or to assist these countries to seal their borders to those fleeing persecution. Iraq is a country at war, a territory where protection from danger cannot be guaranteed. Refugees should not be denied access to safety across borders on the premise that, for example, US and allied forces have pledged to minimize civilian casualties, or that they may hope to be able to prevent persecution of civilians by the Iraqi government.

7. International Responsibilities

Protection of refugees is a collective international responsibility. But on the ground it will be those countries neighboring Iraq which will be called upon to protect the majority of refugees who succeed in fleeing the conflict in the immediate term. Many of the region’s governments have legitimate concerns about the effects which these arriving populations may have on their countries. These must be addressed by the international community. Iran, for example, already hosts 2.55 million refugees, including more than 200,000 Iraqis, in a country where an estimated 53 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.

The international community should contribute to supporting the humanitarian efforts of host countries throughout the region, especially through support for UNHCR’s emergency appeal for the crisis. In the past, even where security and other concerns obstructed the efforts of humanitarian agencies to meet the basic needs of massive refugee populations, the United States has insisted that governments keep borders open to fleeing refugees. Support from the United States and other governments to enhance border security measures and to provide material assistance has helped many governments to cope with refugee inflows and ensure respect for the principle that refugees not be forcibly returned to places where their safety would be endangered.

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