A PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH A TEMPORARY REFUGE SCHEME IN THE CARIBBEAN REGION FOR REFUGEES AND MIGRATION EMERGENCIES
INTRODUCTION
The successful management of or refugee and migration emergencies involves degrees of international cooperation that are achieved relatively rarely in world affairs. Migration policy is often informed primarily by perceptions of national interest and foreign relations. Narrow notions of national self interest thus permeate state action in this area. A notable exception concerns refugees, those persons who are afraid of being persecuted should they return to their home countries. Currently, 128 states are parties to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, or its 1967 Protocol. These United Nations treaties contain a definition of the concept of "refugee" and set out a variety of civil, economic and social rights for those recognized by states as meeting the criteria. This includes a right of individuals not to be returned to a place of possible persecution - a right which has occasionally come under great pressure in refugee and migration emergencies, including in the Caribbean region.
Over the past 30 years, there have been several emergencies in Central America and the Caribbean. States in the region recognized the problem through the promulgation of an instrument, the 1984 Cartegena Declaration, which urges the adoption of a broadened refugee definition, including not only those who might experience individualized persecution, but also those in flight from war, civil strife, and public disorder. Many states in the region have implemented this broadened refugee concept in their national practices. Cooperative arrangements concluded in 1989 for the rehabilitation and reintegration of refugees and displaced persons returning to Central America provided another milestone of cooperation in the region.
This proposal to establish a scheme of temporary refuge in connection with refugee and migration emergencies in the region is offered to promote an informed debate of the issues. The proposal assays recent experience, including the specific cases of Haitian boat people and Cuban balseros. A set of principles is offered on the constituent elements of a temporary refuge scheme, including reception, ceilings, conditions of stay, duration of stay and solutions for those in need of new permanent homes. A regional administrative center is proposed to implement the arrangement, which should be embodied in a treaty. By making this proposal, we seek to encourage policy makers and implementers in this region to fashion a conceptual framework to better manage refugee and migration emergencies. Such a framework could promote stability, and avoid or ameliorate individual hardships.
The assistance of Juliet M. DeMasi, a law student at New York University, in the preparation of this proposal is gratefully acknowledged.
Arthur C. Helton
Director, Forced Migration Projects
December, 1995
