June 20 was World Refugee Day, as marked by the UN. On this day each year, many activities are held around the world to draw attention to the plight of refugees and call on people and institutions to give displaced people a helping hand.
According to figures compiled by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are 32.9 million refugees — including internally displaced people — in the world today. In other words, more than one in 200 of the world’s people is a refugee. All such displaced people need attention and aid from the international community.
The Taipei Overseas Peace Service (TOPS), in association with the Chinese Association for Human Rights, has for many years stationed volunteers abroad to serve the needs of refugees. Every year, the TOPS organizes Refugee Day activities in Taiwan to raise awareness of refugees and the hardships they face.
The TOPS has also been active in pressing the government to draw up and pass a law dealing specifically with refugees and the granting of asylum.
The tens of millions of refugees in the world today did not flee their homelands by choice. The UN has laid down a number of international humanitarian laws that seek to uphold their rights. Most developed countries also have laws on refugees and granting asylum, giving displaced and stateless people a chance to find a safe haven.
Some countries, however, are not signatories to the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and do not have asylum laws.
When refugees arrive in such countries, they are often unable to acquire refugee status and may be forcibly deported or arrested and detained. It is a great shame that people who have been forced to flee their homelands after being abandoned or persecuted by incompetent and repressive regimes should then suffer inhumane treatment from the countries where they seek refuge.
Article 14 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights states: “Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.”
Although Taiwan is not a member of the UN, it still has a duty as a member of the global village to show concern for refugees and to assist in upholding their rights.
Taiwan still has no law on refugees and asylum. On occasions when human rights activists have applied for asylum in Taiwan, government departments, stymied by the lack of a legal basis for handling such cases, have detained applicants for long periods or deported them back to the countries from which they came.
Such actions fly in the face of international human rights values and make a mockery of Taiwan’s claim to be a “human rights state.”
During the past couple of years humanitarian concepts have taken firmer root in our society.
The Executive Yuan drew up a draft Refugee Law — a clear indication that Taiwan is catching up with international trends in human rights.
As soon as this bill is passed by the legislature, it will provide government departments with a legal basis to offer asylum and other help to people with confirmed refugee status.
When Taiwan starts shouldering its responsibilities in this respect, it will raise the nation’s international profile and make other countries more aware of the role Taiwan can play on the world stage.
Unfortunately, after passing its first reading in the legislature, the draft Refugee Law has apparently become bogged down in the Internal Administration Committee along with a pile of other bills. As a civic group, we are dismayed by the lack of progress on this piece of legislation.
Before and after World Refugee Day, the TOPS is holding a series of talks at colleges and other venues. Last Friday it held a seminar entitled “Speed up legislation of the Refugee Law to protect refugees’ right to life.”
The UNHCR keeps reminding us that all members of the international community share responsibility for protecting and helping refugees, and that all governments must help find an ultimate solution to the refugee problem by enacting asylum laws.
The TOPS has been lobbying for a refugee law in Taiwan for a long time. At Friday’s symposium, officials from a number of government departments, as well as experts, academics and representatives of organizations with experience in helping refugees in various countries, were invited to take part in discussions on a number of themes.
The symposium confirmed the need for a refugee law and assessed the practical obstacles facing the draft law.
The meeting also called on the legislature to make Taiwan’s claim to be a “human rights nation” a reality by speeding up deliberations and passage of the bill.
Taiwan endured decades of war and repression. In the past, Taiwanese dissidents were given assistance and asylum by other democratic countries. Is it not now Taiwan’s turn to show concern and offer a helping hand to hapless refugees from other lands?
We hope that Taiwan will quickly adopt clear procedures for giving asylum to refugees, including the passage of the Refugee Law, so that we can shoulder our responsibility as a member of the international community and protect human rights.
Lee Yung-ran, a lawyer, is president of the Chinese Association for Human Rights and a director of the Taipei Overseas Peace Service.
TRANSLATED BY JULIAN CLEGG
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