Abuja – Mr Volker Türk, the Assistant High Commissioner, UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), has expressed concern over what he described as the appalling situation of vulnerable people in the Lake Chad Basin.
Türk said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the Regional Protection Dialogue on the Lake Chad Basin on Wednesday in Abuja.
He urged the Lake Chad Basin delegation to help the organisation meet specific targets in the overall drive to strengthen the protection of the millions of people who are of concern to UNHCR.
“UNHCR is particularly concerned about the increasing use of detention in some countries, including of children, at times in conditions that are inhumane or where release is conditional on leaving the territory.
“Could we not collectively strive to ensure that there are no asylum-seeking children in detention within the next five years?” Türk asked.
He said the UNHCR was commited to the protection of refugees, the stateless and internally displaced people (IDPs), to ensure that they enjoy their full human rights.
According to Türk, protection is the core responsibility of the UNHCR.
“it means that refugees, the stateless, IDPs and other persons of concern are able to enjoy the widest possible array of human rights and fundamental freedoms without discrimination.
“This focus must permeate all our interactions with persons of concern.”
He said providing prompt, quality services, such as care to victims of sexual violence, legal assistance and support for their voluntary return to their countries or their resettlement to their homes.
“It also means advocating for and intervening on behalf of refugees and other persons of concern when they are at risk; for example, when in detention or in danger of forced return.
“UNHCR is committed to exercising our supervisory role in relation to relevant international treaties,” he said.
UNHCR’s focus on protection of individuals must be incorporated in every aspect of its work, he said, from providing education to ensuring that refugee camps are located away from threatening borders and designed so that women do not face dangerous routes to collect water.
“To be effective, we need to understand their particular needs, not as homogenous groups, but as individuals with specific backgrounds, aspirations and hopes,” he said.
He said the UNHCR was implementing that approach through policies such as improving child protection, preventing sexual and gender-based violence and increasing education. (NAN)
