UNHCR staff members around the world mourn the loss of UN colleagues

Transcription

1 LATEST DEVELOPMENTS UNHCR mourns loss of Sergio Vieira de Mello and other UN colleagues Colombia Situation An alliance is born in Colombia IDP return in Colombia: Breaking the blockage in Cugucho Child pedagogy and protection project reaches the heart of Colombia United Nations Volunteers in the Colombia operation F1 racer experiences fast-track documentation for displaced Colombians Peruvian Congress approves bill on IDPs Ecuador striving to keep up with growing refugee applications Venezuela establishes Refugee Commission Refugee children can expect to receive greater protection in Venezuela Quick impact projects help refugeereceiving communities Mexico and Central America The Mexican Government commits to promoting refugee legislation UNHCR participates in the regional migration conference UNHCR and Ministry of Labor sign agreement in Costa Rica Public outreach activities for refugees in Costa Rica Southern Latin America New information materials for asylum seekers and refugees in Argentina Resettlement project in Chile: two years later Refugees in Sao Paulo express themselves through art One year into the micro-credit program in Argentina Canada, United States and the Caribbean Reception and integration handbook available in French Separated Minors Advisory Committee is created Mid-year statistical snapshot Resettlement handbook available in French Somali Bantu arrive in the US Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie lobbies for unaccompanied minors act World Refugee Day Activities Media Relations Public Information Service Tel.: (41 22) Fax: (41 22) UNHCR staff members around the world mourn the loss of UN colleagues killed in Baghdad on August 19. High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers expressed his shock and grief at the tragic death of Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello and other colleagues. "Sergio Vieira de Mello and his team were the best the United Nations had to offer, all of them colleagues devoted to the UN's humanitarian mission, paying the ultimate price in the process," High Commissioner Lubbers said. The loss of Sergio Vieira de Mello was particularly painful for UNHCR staff members who shared tough challenges and difficult decisions with him in the field or in Geneva. Mr. Vieira de Mello first joined the UN refugee agency in Bangladesh in 1969, and remained with it for much of his career. In his 33 years with the United Nations, he served in a number of hotspots, including Cambodia, Mozambique, Sudan, the Great Lakes, East Timor and Kosovo, before being appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in He was on a four-month leave of absence from that post while on mission in Iraq. Staff members also grieve the death of former UNHCR colleague Seyed Reza Hosseini, who served as Field Assistant in Iran from 1993 to He had been working for the United Nations Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq No. 5, Fall, 2003 UNHCR mourns loss of Sergio Vieira de Mello and other UN colleagues Sergio Vieira de Mello (OHCHR) (UNOHCI) since last April. UNHCR offices across the Americas joined other UN agencies in organizing memorial ceremonies. In Argentina, nearly 100 people turned up at an ecumenical ceremony held on UNHCR premises. The Brazilian Ambassador and Sergio Vieira de Mello s friends and colleagues also emphasized the need to carry on with the humanitarian legacy he leaves behind. UNHCR Representative Flor Rojas announced a proposal for the creation of a governmentsponsored Sergio Vieira de Mello Chair for the dissemination of human rights, refugee law and international humanitarian law in Brazilian universities, which has been welcomed by Brazilian authorities. In Costa Rica, the University of Costa Rica has agreed to name a new interdisciplinary course which focuses on the protection of civilians during armed conflict and displacement, in Sergio Vieira de Mello's honor. In Venezuela, UNHCR participated in a widely attended religious ceremony in the Caracas Cathedral organized by the Ombudsman's Office and presided over by the Archbishop of Caracas. It also organized an intimate religious ceremony for colleagues within the UN System. Offices in Costa Rica, Colombia (which was opened following Mr. Vieira de Mello's recommendation in December 1997), and Mexico, also organized varied tributes along with other UN agencies. In the US, a memorial was planned for September.

2 An alliance is born in Colombia UNHCR s proposal for the creation of a broad Humanitarian Alliance in Colombia went public this June. UNHCR Representative Francisco Galindo Vélez launched the proposal at the World Social Forum meeting, taking place in Cartagena. The aim of the alliance is to go beyond the boundaries of the United Nations system in coordinating efforts to find ways to alleviate the suffering of millions of internally displaced (IDP) Colombians and of Colombians besieged by the conflict. Mr. Galindo had previously discussed the proposal with several business leaders, government officials and academics. So when it went public, many individuals and organizations quickly expressed interest in joining the alliance. The "General Board", held its first meeting at the beginning of July, less than two weeks after the announcement was made. Academics, non-governmental and business organizations, and even a former Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs participated. The wave continued to move fast, and a coordination committee was formed to plan further actions. When the Board met again at the beginning of August, it decided to create six task groups, each with a different function: "mapping" actions in favor of IDPs by different members of the alliance in order to facilitate future coordination of those actions; strengthening IDP organizations; studying possible initiatives by the private sector; discussing ways of improving the impact of state intervention; and to begin working on the participation of the alliance in awareness-building events like "Peace Week" promoted every year by the Catholic Church and several Colombian nongovernmental organizations. Work is still in the planning stage, but the new Humanitarian Alliance is consolidating itself at an impressive pace. It is too early to tell what the outcome will be, but participants and many onlookers have high hopes. Internally displaced persons in Colombia (UNHCR / G. Fayoux) Breaking the blockage in Cugucho, Colombia Two years ago, eleven communities in the Upper Baudó Basin (department of Chocó in the west of Colombia) were forced out of their towns by the threats of a paramilitary group. Residents living in the community of Cugucho were among the few who stayed after the incidents of June 4, The town has paid a heavy price: a permanent economic blockade imposed by the paramilitaries who want to stop any food flowing to the ELN guerrilla fighters who hold positions at the northern end of the river. This July, the paramilitaries visited Cugucho again. The town s inhabitants also talked to UNHCR and OCHA staff members who were on a joint mission to Upper Baudó at that time. "The fighters arrived at around 9:00 a.m.," one resident recounted. "They locked us in a house, more than 300 people. At 1 p.m. they came with bananas that they cooked and fed us the way pigs are fed. At 6 p.m. they brought 10 pounds of rice for us to cook. At 8 p.m., we were split into three groups to spend the night. The next day they left at 10 a.m. When we went to our houses, they had stolen all our food." The blockade is also affecting other communities. As of September, 2001, there had been several government-organized returns back to the Upper Baudó of people who were in precarious conditions in the places they had fled to. These returnees were guaranteed help from the state (productive projects, health assistance) but received little, and had to suffer from the blockade instead. The UNHCR and OCHA are supporting these communities of Cugucho, Chigorodó, Chachegó, Santa Rita, and Bella Cecilia. Humanitarian staff spoke to those who had returned, those who had stayed, teachers, health workers and community leaders. They heard the same complaints from everyone: there is no fuel, no gas, no sugar, no salt, no cooking oil in Upper Baudó. Most of the towns have electric power plants which stopped running long ago, and which have never been repaired because technicians do not dare to go there. The situation has become so desperate that people may feel forced to flee once again, and soon. UNHCR and OCHA have acted. A workshop was held in April where UNHCR provided Upper Baudó inhabitants with training on techniques for community organization and legal advice on the rights of internally displaced persons in Colombia. A documentation campaign in November is expected to enhance the ability of these citizens to claim their rights. The most important action, however, will be "uncorking" the river through a stronger state presence that is expected in the zone soon. In the meantime, UNHCR is considering providing humanitarian aid by boat to Upper Baudó.

3 Child pedagogy and protection project reaches the heart of Colombia United Nations Volunteers in the Colombia operation Two years into a UNHCRsponsored project in Colombia to provide better opportunities to internally displaced children in school, and in a continued bid to expand its scope throughout the country, the project has reached the heart of Colombia. Two hundred and twenty students - all of them displaced - go to the Promundo Activo School in the municipality of Soacha. All of their teachers, themselves students of education acquiring professional practice, are also working with the project. The Salesian Sisters both set up and financed Promundo Activo, as part of their interest in helping Soacha, the municipality next door to Bogotá, to improve educational opportunities for internally displaced persons. A total of 4,300 displaced persons were registered in Soacha in According to the Ombudsman s Office, no more than 30% of the internally displaced children there have access to education, for which they are last in line. The psychological and emotional problems of these children, coupled with the extreme poverty that their families are left in due to displacement, discourages school administrations from accepting them. The project has given Sharleen Romero, one of the forty teachers at Promundo Activo, the tools she needs to educate her class about what they all have in common and, equally important, what they can have in common. Games like "the kite" each one of whose sides symbolize features of the school they dream about - and stories she selects to read in class, help students set goals."it is harder to work with these students", Sharleen says, "but it is also better experience for a teacher". The project has three phases and Soacha is only beginning Phase I. This year, the project is mostly working with individual teachers who volunteer one Saturday a month for project sessions, while their schools contribute by freeing them from work the previous day. Sessions are devoted to studying the effects of displacement on children, alternative pedagogic strategies and different approaches to dealing with psychological and emotional problems. The goal next year is to institutionalize as a priority, the reflection on displacement and attention to its consequences on children s education. Meanwhile, those working on the project derive great satisfaction from knowing that children like Luis Ariel, are now enjoying school. Luis, who is 12, saw armed men kill his uncle in Puerto Rico (department of Meta). He then spent a year and a half out of the educational system. Now he is back at school thanks to the effort of Promundo Activo, and receiving an education focused on giving him and other students like him, hope. Edison (8) enjoys the facilities of Promundo (UNHCR / G. Valdivieso) "When I first came here I fell in love with the place. I thought it would be tough though. I searched in Google for Apartadó, and it did not exist." Those were Ana de la Varga's first impressions when she arrived at UNHCR s Field Office in Apartadó (Urabá) in the northwest of Colombia, where the violence of armed groups has left a deep mark. That was last February, but "now I would not change this for anything," she says. Before Colombia, Anna worked for UNHCR as an intern in Geneva. She was concerned by the plight of internally displaced people, and had read about the organization's work in Colombia. She applied to the United Nations Volunteers Program (UNV), was accepted on their roster and selected for a UNV position in Colombia soon after. Anna and thirteen other volunteers work in UNHCR s six field offices and locations throughout Colombia and at the branch office in Bogotá. UNV is the volunteer agency of the United Nations, created in 1970 to serve as an operational arm in development cooperation. UNVs are required to have a university degree and at least five years of professional experience. The UNVs posted to Colombia carry out very diverse tasks. These range from organizing documentation campaigns, to providing IDPs with advice on legal issues or productive projects, and to the organization of activities as different as breakfasts with journalists and theatrical performances for displaced youth. UNHCR Colombia received its first UNV in Now, the fourteen volunteers working with the agency throughout the country have all become essential to its work. Three more are expected to arrive in the short term. Continued on page 5

4 F1 racer experiences fast-track documentation for displaced Colombians Top Formula 1 racing driver Juan Pablo Montoya recently sat at the wheel of a vehicle very different from those he normally drives a van specially designed to bring fast-track documentation to internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other vulnerable people in the most remote areas of Colombia. The Colombian racing driver, who works with the United Nations to help Colombians affected by four decades of internal conflict, was in Bogotá recently to participate in an exhibition of some key UN programs. It was there that he was introduced to the documentation mobile unit, a key component of a joint project between the UN refugee agency and Colombia s Registry Office that has brought documents to more than 160,000 Colombians since Montoya witnessed what the mobile unit could do when he went through the documentation process and obtained his own ID card in the vehicle. However, he is not the typical target of such campaigns, which are aimed at IDPs and communities at risk, many of whom are subsistence farmers and indigenous people. Some of them have never had documentation. Others lost theirs while fleeing the fighting between various armed groups. "Documents are key in the emergency and the post emergency periods," explained Ana Julieta Arguelles, UNHCR s coordinator for the project. "During emergencies, internally displaced people need ID documents if they want to request support from the government food and money to pay rent. But having documents is also a must when it comes to durable solutions. For example, the campaign has helped IDPs to have access to special housing projects designed for them." Presenting Montoya with his ID card was one way to celebrate the documentation campaign s achievements: More than 60,000 people have benefited so far in 2003, breaking the mark set the previous year. The documentation project launched in 2000 has allowed UNHCR to deal with the complexities of internal displacement in a country where laws and government institutions are in place to handle humanitarian issues, but whose capacities do not match the magnitude of their mission. According to humanitarian organizations, an estimated 50 percent of Colombians who were displaced in 2002 did not receive any government assistance for a number of reasons. UNHCR s partner, the National Registry Office, is legally responsible for providing identity documents for Colombians, but often lacks the means to do so efficiently beyond the main cities, or even in the poor areas outside the heart of those cities. That was the case in Buenaventura, Colombia s most important port, where a massive campaign filled a gap in documentation among IDPs and vulnerable populations in places far from the city center, where the influence of guerrilla and paramilitaries is evident. Under the project, displaced people can complete the whole application process in the mobile unit without having to leave their settlement. The vehicle is equipped to carry out fingerprinting and collection of personal data and to take photos to be used on the ID cards. The local health department performs the required blood typing. After all the information is sent in, the National Registry Office gives priority processing to the applications from the displaced people and provides them with the actual documents in just two months, compared to the usual six to eight months. Not all the campaigns of UNHCRfunded documentation projects are carried out by land. To reach remote communities, registration teams sometimes have to rely on boats and even canoes. Documentation campaigns are about to stop for this year, as there will be elections in October and UNHCR wants to emphasize the nonelectoral nature of its work. There have been 27 documentation campaigns so far in 2003, one for as few as 50 people in the Urabá region, another for more than 18,000 in Buenaventura. Particular needs vary from place to place, but the general need for the documentation effort remains high in the country. The fact that the government acknowledged 100,000 new internally displaced persons in the first half of this year suggests that many more Colombians will need UNHCR s help to get documents so that they can protect their rights amid what has been described as "the most severe humanitarian crisis in the western hemisphere". Montoya at the wheel of UNHCR's mobile unit in Bogotá (UNHCR/W.Spindler) - 4 -

5 Continued from page 3 UNHCR operations in the countries neighboring Colombia benefit from the valuable support of both national and international UNVs: in Ecuador, there are currently three international and two national UNVs, and in Venezuela, three international and five national UNVs are posted as Field, Protection, Public Information and EDP Officers and Assistants. Having to cope with mosquitoes or riding a mule for hours does not bother Anna. She is not intimidated by the heat and humidity of huge regions of Colombia, or by endless boat trips. She is not even intimidated by the conflict whose victims she is trying to help. "All of this becomes acceptable", she says, "when you see the tears in the face of an indigenous woman as you leave her town." Ecuador continues to receive a large portion of the refugee applications presented in the region by Colombian citizens. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of the 19,126 refugee applications received by Ecuador between 2000 and 2003, Colombians lodged 18,863. Faced with a continuous rise in asylum requests, UNHCR and the Ecuadorian Government are working together on improving the efficiency and accessibility of the refugee status determination process. The Ecuadorian Eligibility Commission is responsible for analyzing all asylum requests received by Ecuador over the past three years. Refugee Status is granted to persons meeting conditions set out in the 1951 Convention, its 1967 Protocol, as well as the regulations outlined in Ecuadorian Decree 3301, issued in This Regulation broadens the conventional refugee definition to include any person who has Peruvian Congress approves bill on IDPs The Peruvian Congress Human Rights Commission organized a public hearing to receive input from interested civil society and government groups regarding legislation on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). UNHCR was formally invited to assist the team in presenting the Bill on July 7, to an audience of 250 people from different state institutions, non-governmental organizations and representatives of IDP associations. Two days later, the Bill was presented to Congress by the President of the Commission, Dr. Dora Núñez Dávila, and was approved. To become law, the Bill still needs to receive formal Ecuador striving to keep-up with refugee applications fled his/ her country because his/ her life, security or freedom have been threatened by general violence, foreign aggression, internal conflicts, massive violations of human rights or any other circumstances seriously affecting public order. This year, the commission has met 22 times, and dealt with almost 100 cases in each session. It has granted refugee status to 1,424 people. The commission continues to apply parameters which tend to efficiently improve its procedures. UNHCR is also assisting by providing a training program for migration authorities responsible for refugee status determination. UNHCR and its implementing agencies act as observers within the Eligibility Commission, which is composed of two officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and one official from the Ministry of Government (the equivalent of the Ministry of Interior elsewhere). approval from the executive branch of the government of Peru. Nevertheless, once signed by the President and published in the Official Gazette, this legislative initiative will become a key legal instrument outlining the rights of IDPs in the Republic of Peru. The Bill is expected to provide answers for the thousands of displaced victims of terrorist violence in the 80s and 90s, who in many cases are still suffering from successive processes of forced displacement. Currently, there are approximately 60,000 IDPs in Peru, many of whom reside in marginalized communities on the outskirts of the capital city of Lima. IDP community representatives described the critical situation of these groups in alarming detail during the public congressional hearing. According to the President of the Human Rights Commission of the Peruvian Congress, their desperate situation is what motivated her to undertake this initiative. "The passing of this law is a long due obligation of the Peruvian State vis-à-vis this suffering IDP population," said Dr. Núñez Dávila. Although UNHCR has no assistance programs for IDPs in Peru, the UN refugee agency has played an active role in upholding the rights reinforcement structure of the Bill as well as its operational mechanisms. The Ministry of Women and Social Development will be responsible for the implementation of the IDP law. It will carry out affirmative actions in their favor to re-establish the affected rights of this vulnerable population

6 Venezuela establishes Refugee Commission The UN Refugee Agency has welcomed the Venezuelan government s decision to establish the National Commission for Refugees, and its passing of official refugee regulations to support the implementation of the 2001 Organic Law on Refugees and Asylum Seekers. It described these latest developments as "an important step forward in the area of refugee protection, and a sign of the government s commitment to its international obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol." The commission, which was officially inaugurated on August 7, will review individual applications for refugee status. It will also oversee and direct the government s efforts to provide protection, legal aid and assistance to asylum seekers. In July 2003, the cumulative number of Colombians applying for asylum at the Venezuelan border rose to 1,656. The majority of Colombian asylum seekers have entered through the Venezuelan state of Tachira from the Colombian province of Norte de Santander. Most come from the area between the Catatumbo River and Cucuta. Refugees also entered the state of Apure from Arauca and recent reports have noted the entry into Venezuelan territory of some indigenous communities that straddle the border. The establishment of the commission should now allow for official evaluation of formal refugee status for those in need of international protection. UNHCR s mission in Venezuela focuses on supporting host communities situated along the Venezuelan-Colombian border. It works together with nongovernmental organizations such as Caritas of Venezuela, the Jesuit Refugee Service and the Red Cross. UNHCR is strengthening its contacts and information-sharing mechanisms with these and other organizations present at the frontiers in order to continue monitoring the border. Refugee children can expect to receive greater protection in Venezuela Colombia s armed conflict has left thousands of children victims of forced recruitment, anti-personnel mines, sexual abuse, so-called "social cleansing", discrimination, kidnapping, murder, death threats and generalized violence. Many children have also suffered from persecution directed at other members of their family and a very large number have had to flee for safety to other parts of Colombia, or to other countries. Indeed, Venezuela is one of the places Children, some of them seeking refugee status, play outside of their homes in Ureña, Venezuela (UNHCR / D. Rochkind) where Colombian children, displaced by the conflict, continue to arrive in need of assistance. Currently there are 683 refugee children located in the border states of Tachira, Zulia and Apure. Forced recruitment by illegal groups is often cited as one of the main threats faced by the refugee children and youth. Venezuela is party to several international instruments which provide for the protection of refugee children and adolescents. In 1986, it ratified the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees. The country is also party to the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, whose provisions protect refugee children in areas ranging from health and education to social and political rights. At the national level, the Organic Refugee and Asylum Law (LORRAA) which was approved in 2001, stipulates that no person in search of refuge shall be rejected or subjected in any way to forced return to a territory where his/her life, physical integrity or freedom may be endangered. The law also guarantees the unity of refugee families and offers special protection to refugee children or teenagers who are either unaccompanied or have been separated from their nuclear families. Similarly, the 1998 Organic Law for the Protection of Children and Adolescents, ensures that children and teenagers, including refugees who find themselves on national territory, shall have a right to life, to personal identification documents and to an adequate standard of living. Individual freedoms as well as the rights to health, education and legal redress are also protected under the law. In August, President Hugo Chávez presided over the inauguration of the National Commission for Continued on page 7

7 Continued from page 6 Refugees. The creation of the commission is also expected to have important implications in relation to the welfare of refugee children, given that it will be responsible for making decisions regarding individual refugee applications and for issuing the provisional documents for adults and children who fall under the jurisdiction of the basic refugee law, LORRAA. The commission will be working in coordination with local authorities as well as nongovernmental and international organizations, such as UNHCR and UNICEF. Thanks to all these measures, refugee children in Venezuela are expected to be able to exercise their fundamental human rights without running the risk of being returned to their country of origin. Instead, these children will have the opportunity of being relocated away from the uncertainty and violence that often plagues border areas. Their access to education and health services will also be improved, as well as their general socio-economic status given that Article 19 of the Organic Refugee Law enables recognized refugees to receive work permits from the Ministry of Labor. In this manner, adult refugees shall have the opportunity to personally provide for the individual welfare of their families and, more specifically, their children. Recognizing the specific vulnerability of refugee children, the UN refugee agency has directed its effort towards ensuring the welfare of refugee families, and has taken special proactive measures in specific cases involving refugee boys and girls. These measures have included the resettlement of families with children for humanitarian or security reasons. UNHCR also works together with national and regional authorities as well as child-oriented institutions such as UNICEF, Save the Children, and the Council for Children and Adolescents (CEDNA), to help Venezuelan-born children of Colombian refugees obtain access to legal documentation. It enhances children s access to primary education by improving educational facilities, and providing books and uniforms. UNHCR is also developing psychological counseling projects for refugee children in border areas, in coordination with UNICEF and the Jesuit Refugee Service. Quick impact projects help refugee-receiving communities Refugee children in Sucumbíos, Ecuador Beneficiaries of Quick Impact Projects (UNHCR / J. Sieber) Recognizing the difficulties faced by many refugee-receiving communities in responding to the needs of their own population, let alone to those of refugees, UNHCR has designed and supported a number of small projects aimed at contributing to their development. Commonly referred to as Quick Impact Projects (QIP), these ventures do not require very large investments and can be executed in as little as three to six months. The projects are designed to satisfy the needs identified by the communities themselves, and all community members participate in their implementation. To finance QIPs, UNHCR requests contributions from international organizations, foundations and nongovernmental organizations dedicated to community development. Of course, the support of local authorities is also vital to their success. Even though QIPs mainly focus on the reinforcement of educational and health services, they also frequently provide training as well as income-generating initiatives for local residents and refugees. In several communities, training programs have taken place to teach the population handicraft skills, or the organic cultivation of fruits and vegetables. Thanks to these programs, community members have been able to set up small enterprises to sell their products. Several refugee-hosting communities in Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela have welcomed and benefited from QIPs. Since their initiation in November 2002, a total of 35 projects have been executed in the border-states of Tachira, Zulia and Apure in Venezuela. Since April 2003, 9 QIPs have been established in the province of Darien, Panama, and another 12 are currently underway in the provinces of Sucumbíos, Imbabura and Esmeraldas in Ecuador. Thanks to the encouraging results obtained so far, UNHCR is now implementing new projects in many other border provinces throughout the region. The projected number of new QIPs is expected to be known at the end of September, 2003.

8 The Mexican Government commits to promoting refugee legislation The Mexican Minister of the Interior, Mr. Santiago Creel acknowledged the need to pass new domestic refugee legislation, during the official ceremony organized by the Ministry of Interior to commemorate World Refugee Day, He also committed to studying the withdrawal of reservations made at the time of accession to the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol, particularly the reservation regarding the labor law, which affects refugees right to work. UNHCR and Ministry of Labor sign agreement in Costa Rica UNHCR and the Costa Rican Ministry of Labor signed an Agreement, in August 2003, to alleviate work-related problems faced by refugees in Costa Rica. The agreed activities will focus on identifying further employment opportunities for refugees, and promoting their integration into the country s labor market. Surveys on job opportunities with the local labor market, as well as information campaigns on refugees work rights and the legal conditions for hiring foreigners in Costa Rica, are also foreseen. Woodworking equipment acquired thanks to micro-credits (UNHCR / G. Monge) Guatemalan refugee in Campeche (UNHCR / M. Echandi) "In spite of the fact that refugees in Costa Rica are entitled to work just by showing their refugee identification cards, there is a widespread lack of knowledge amongst employers, and even amongst refugees themselves, about this right," said Costa Rica s Minister of Labor, Mr. Ovidio Pacheco, at the signing ceremony. The high unemployment rate among refugees, as well as these underlying factors, were revealed in a study conducted by the UN refugee agency and by the University of Costa Rica in 2002 to determine the most pervasive problems experienced by refugees in the country. Mr. Pacheco expressed the desire of the government of Costa Rica to promote, along with UNHCR, the integration of refugees, and stressed the importance of access to proper documentation. "Through the signing of this agreement, we will address in an integrated way, the difficulties that refugees face when they try to enter the Costa Rican labor market," he said. He also emphasized that despite the hardship refugees face, they have the attitude and the willingness to continue struggling to earn UNHCR participates in Regional Migration Conference UNHCR attended the 8 th Migration Regional Conference (Puebla Process) as an observer. During the conference which took place on May 29-30, in Cancún, Mexico, UNHCR was invited to participate for the first time in a training session for migration officials, organized by the Governments of Canada, the United States and Mexico. The session took place at two entry points of the border between Honduras and Nicaragua, at the beginning of August. UNHCR s participation aimed to build the capacity of immigration and border officials in the area of refugee protection, with emphasis on identifying asylum seekers among undocumented migrants. their living in a decent way. Andrés Ramírez, UNHCR s Representative in Costa Rica, also stressed that the government s support was fundamental towards achieving the local integration of refugees, and said that the signing of the agreement once again demonstrated "the Costa Rican government s commitment vis-à-vis its international obligations." UNHCR will hire a full-time assistant to work on the implementation of the project at the Ministry of Labor. It will also provide its support through the purchase of computer equipment and office supplies. The number of Colombian refugees has been on the rise since They now make up the largest group of refugees in the country. In July 2003, out of a total of more than 13,500 refugees, the number of Colombian refugees stood at 8,303. This has presented local authorities and UNHCR with significant challenges in terms of the assistance and support needed by the most vulnerable refugees.

9 Public outreach activities for refugees in Costa Rica The UN refugee agency and its local partner, Asociación de Consultores y Asesores Internacionales (ACAI), have organized a number of different outreach activities to provide refugees with additional opportunities to share their culture with the Costa Rican population. Throughout the year, displays at artisan fairs of regional food and handicrafts, and the sharing of music and even jokes, have taken place in public areas of the Costa Rican Central Valley around key celebrations such as Christmas, World Refugee Day and Mother s Day. In September, when Child s Day is commemorated in Costa Rica, special activities were organized to celebrate refugee children and teenagers. The fairs also served to promote refugee products and services, such as: motorcycle repair shops, internet cafés, beauty salons, etc. Many of the participants in these activities are recipients of small loans provided by UNHCR under its micro-credit program. Since 2002, 44 credits have been approved and some 49 others are on the way. UNHCR and ACAI have also organized self-esteem workshops for refugees and classes by specialists in the refugees main areas of business interest. Colombian food business in Costa Rica (UNHCR / G. Monge) UNHCR Representative Andrés Ramírez explains, however, that in spite of these efforts, it is hard for the new entrepreneurs to gain access to local markets. Initiatives like the fairs are meant to motivate the refugees and to promote their services and products. Poster announcing the availability of a handbook for asylum seekers and refugees in Argentina New information materials for asylum seekers and refugees in Argentina UNHCR s regional office in Argentina has produced a handbook providing protection-related information for asylum seekers and refugees, as well as a video for refugees being considered for resettlement in Brazil. The 67-page Handbook for Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Argentina walks asylum seekers through the refugee status determination procedure and enumerates the rights of refugees and asylum seekers respectively. It also provides information on pub- lic services and on opportunities available to refugees in Argentina in the areas of education, labor training, housing, and on the micro-credit program provided by UNHCR and its local partners. The handbook is the first comprehensive information tool of its kind in Argentina. It is the product of a joint effort between the national refugee committee CE- PARE, the Argentine Catholic Commission for Migrations (UNHCR s local partner), UNHCR and a diverse group of refugees and asylum seekers who provided their comments on the first draft. It will be translated into English and French. UNHCR s office in Argentina has also produced the video Bem Vindo Ao Brasil (Welcome to Brazil), which is meant to orient refugees who are potentially under consideration for resettlement in Brazil on the country s political and socio-economic contexts. This, too, is a joint effort between the national refugee committee CONARE, UNHCR s non-governmental partners, and refugees in Brazil who share their experiences. While reflecting Brazil s spirit of diversity and peaceful coexistence between the country's racial and religious groups and its economic potential, the 20-minute video also clearly presents employment and other challenges faced by newly arriving refugees. The refugees testimonials also emphasize that successful integration depends most of all on their own sense of initiative and flexibility. The video is available in Portuguese and Spanish. Work on English and Farsi translations is underway

10 Resettled refugees in Chile: two years later In August 2001, Chile received its second group of resettled refugees: five young Afghan men all between the ages of 26 and 32, and one Iraqi Kurdish family, who had previously been living in Azerbaijan. Two years later, they have overcome many of the initial hurdles. Most speak Spanish, have made friends and are either working or studying. Said, a 30-year-old construction engineer, was one of the first to find a job a few months after arriving in Chile. He is still with the same construction firm and is working on bringing his wife from Afghanistan. "Chileans are very warm people," he says. "The difficulty here is finding a job. I got lucky." Most of the refugees who arrived with Said are also working, albeit often in different jobs from those they held back home. Thanks to their own resourcefulness and the help of the refugee support network in Chile, they have managed to find a place for themselves in the labor market. Mohammed, a former electrical engineer, has set up a carpet business. Rezgar, who arrived with his wife and two children, a small grocery store. Two of the other Afghan refugees are dentists who are working part-time in a private clinic. Ali, the only one who is not working, is doing his Ph.D. in chemistry, thanks to a scholarship from the National Science and Technology Commission. Rezgar says that his two boys, who are 10 and 11, quickly learned to speak Spanish, and have become used to life in Chile with the help of their teachers and friends. "We are better off being here," he says. "When we left Iraq in 1990, Afghan refugee dentist resettled in Chile (UNHCR / D. Guerrero and I. Carmona) the government killed my wife s aunt and she suffered a lot for it. Now we live calmly and with neighbors who want to help us. I may go back to visit Iraq one day, but not to live there." In 1999, Chile became the first country to begin a resettlement program in Latin America. It was joined by Brazil in Between them, Brazil and Chile have received 74 refugees resettled from the Former Yugoslavia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Iran and India. Refugees in Sao Paulo express themselves through art Thanks to art therapy courses especially developed for refugees in Sao Paulo, refugees of all ages and from many different countries have the possibility of expressing their emotions without having to communicate verbally. In 1998, the State Secretary of Health requested the Psychiatric Institute of Sao Paulo s Clinical Hospital to create a mental health program for refugees. Mental health specialists led by Dr. Carmen Santana used a selfreporting questionnaire, developed by the World Health Organization, descriptive work and speech analysis to identify the refugees most significant emotional problems. These tools revealed feelings of persecution which persisted in the host country, a continuous idealization of the country of origin and associated symbols, verbal communication difficulties and identity crises related to language, cultural, religious, economic and ethnic differences. The loss of social relationships, family separation and the absence of a valuable social role were also found to deeply affect refugees. Based on these results, in 1999 the specialists decided that art therapy - a form of psychotherapy - would be the most adequate response to refugees psychological requirements. "Art therapy is a cathartic tool, a nonverbal language that encourages the expression of extremely painful events and facilitates adaptation to the environment through a symbolic reconstruction of reality", explains Dr. Santana. Since then, Caritas Sao Paulo, UNHCR s local partner has been hosting the classes on its premises and providing the materials. "We wanted to create an area where refugees could come out of their isolation, get in touch with their new situation in a healthy way, and build a new individual identity," explains Caritas social assistant Cezira Fortim. The team of specialists has also organized a public display of the refugees work, providing them with another venue for being in contact with others, thereby contributing to their socialization process. María is a 33 year-old Colombian refugee who has been taking arttherapy classes for a year. Collage and painting are her favorite activities. "I was hoping to find a way to express what I went through and what I now feel. It is my attempt at maintaining mental equilibrium," she says. "I prefer drawing with pencil technique and painting," says a 43-year old refugee from Democratic Republic of Congo. "I come to the class to avoid negative thoughts".

11 One year into the micro-credit program in Argentina One year into the micro-credit program for refugees in Argentina, which was started in August 2002, 139 refugees have received small loans in most cases to strengthen pre-established businesses. Recipients from 19 different countries have used the loans for projects in 29 different areas as diverse as information technology, financial, photographic and limousine services, food or clothes retail, carpentry and handicrafts. The project was started by UNHCR and its local partner, the Argentine Catholic Commission for Migrations (FCCAM), in response to the country s difficult economic conditions. Today, in addition to the refugees who benefit from the project, a number of Argentineans have also found employment in the businesses run by the refugees. Sergio Bertini, and Victor Mayorga are two professionals working in Migrantes y Refugiados en Argentina (MYRAR), the foundation which runs the program in close collaboration with FCCAM. They are both quick to point out the challenge and gratification of ac- commodating the refugees numerous differences: cultural, language and in terms of their personal and professional experiences. Getting the refugees to respect the credit repayment schedule was another challenge for MYRAR s staff, "particularly considering that the refugees had previously received assistance that they did not need to return," Victor explains. Depending on the credit, recipients need to respect a 15, 20 or 24-month payback scheme. He is satisfied with the growing return rate, which for the last of the credit-receiving groups has gone up to over 90%. "Women have proved to be more punctual," he adds. Women make up approximately 25% of the total number of credit recipients (of the total refugee population in Argentina, 44% are women) and MYRAR is making persistent efforts to raise the number of female participants. "Given that the program is largely geared to strengthening pre-established projects, more men have qualified," says Victor. Sergio, who is in Refugee in Argentina expands his grocery business thanks to micro-credit (UNHCR / V. Mayorga) charge of the training courses, has been working hard on including more refugee women by organizing special courses for them, as they "may need that extra push to give free rein to their entrepreneurial spirit," he says. MYRAR s professionals have their sights set on growth in the near future. Plans are being made for stepping up project evaluation trips, for a web site which would serve as a virtual market for the refugees products, and for a regular publication geared to microcredit recipients. UNHCR publishes paper on Statelessness in Canada UNHCR s office in Canada has just published a discussion paper entitled "Statelessness in Canadian Context." The paper is a follow-up to workshops on statelessness organized by UNHCR in Ottawa in 2000 and 2002, in which government officials, parliamentarians, legal practitioners, non-governmental organizations and UNHCR staff participated. It is intended to encourage further discussion of how problems relating to nationality and statelessness are dealt with in Canadian law and practice. The paper looks at specific aspects of Canadian policy with respect to both avoidance of statelessness and the protection of those who are already stateless. Case studies taken from government refugee decisions and from UNHCR s own files offer concrete examples. It specifically calls attention to the difficulties encountered by stateless persons who are not refugees. While stateless persons recognized as refugees in Canada are able to apply for permanent residence and eventually for Canadian citizenship, those not found to be refugees are offered no specific protection. As is the case with any rejected asylum seeker, the focus is on their removal, even though removal presents particular problems in the case of stateless persons. A number of recommendations on how to strengthen protection of stateless persons are provided in the discussion paper. Some are directed at specific provisions in the proposed new Canadian citizenship law, Bill C-18, and in Canada s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The report concludes by urging Canada to accede to the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. It also urges consideration of the establishment of an international body to adjudicate citizenship disputes and to set clear international standards regarding nationality

12 Separated Minors Advisory Committee is created The Department of Citizenship and Immigration in Canada (CIC) has created a national advisory committee on separated minors, which includes UNHCR, the Canadian Red Cross, and representatives of child welfare agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). This is a very positive development and comes at a time when the number of separated children who seek asylum in Canada has more than doubled in the last few years. The issue of separated refugee and asylum-seeking minors first drew the attention of UNHCR in Canada in 1999 following the arrival that year of 600 Chinese "boat-people" off Canada s West Coast. The group included over 100 separated youths aged between 11 and 17 years. The Canadian experience with the Chinese minors revealed certain gaps and inconsistencies in the level of care and protection offered to separated asylumseeking children across Canada. For instance, the age range for child protection in Canada varies from province to province, with each operating under its own child welfare legislation. In Ontario, only children 16 years and under receive care from child welfare agencies. Separated minors aged 16 to 17 are, therefore, not eligible Thusanth, a McGill University Student, helps young Sri Lankans refugees with their homework/montreal (UNHCR/S. Colvey) to be referred to a Children s Aid Society. They are left to fend for themselves, and rendered vulnerable to exploitation. In order to improve awareness of the problem, UNHCR published a report in July 2001 titled Separated Children Seeking Asylum in Canada and used the report as a basis for discussion at a national roundtable it cosponsored a few months later. The aim was to bring together immigration officials, child welfare professionals and refugee advocates to help develop a more consistent approach in meeting these children s care and protection concerns. A regional working-group led by CIC and UNHCR was immediately set up to address the issues raised in the report. In a related initiative, the International Bureau for Children s Rights released in early 2003 its Best Practice Statement on Separated Children in Canada. UNHCR played a key advisory role in this initiative. The report serves as a new guide for policy makers and is available online at These initiatives on child protection issues culminated in the creation of the advisory committee. Priorities for the committee include development of policies for reception and care of separated children arriving in Canada and child custody/abduction issues within the immigration processes. The committee is also reviewing the development of a resettlement policy for separated children and considering drafting training materials for CIC officers on assessment of best interests of the Child Canada: statistical snapshot As of July 2003, a total of 19,973 persons had requested asylum in Canada, a 9% increase over the 18,674 asylum requests registered during the same period last year. This increase can be partially explained by the high number of refugee claims made at the Canada-USA border at the start of the year, sparked by the US requirements that men of certain nationalities register with the INS by stipulated deadlines. This led to a surge of over 2,600 requests by Pakistani nationals during the January to March period, compared to 3,500 for all of April saw the end of the registration program, resulting in a steep decline in the number of Pakistani asylum claimants. In July, 123 requests were made, in comparison to 996 in January. This has affected the overall monthly total of asylum claims, which reflects a 21% decrease in the period of April- June. Pakistan nevertheless continued to rank first as originating country, with 17%, followed by Mexico (7%), Colombia (5%) and Costa Rica (5%). By mid-year, the Immigration and Refugee Board had finalized 20,327 decisions, a 26% increase over the same period last year. The backlog of claims has fallen slightly, to 49,756 from 52,761 at the start of the year. Of all claims decided, 41.7% were recognized, 42% were rejected, 9.2% declared abandoned and 10% withdrawn. By mid-year, 3,912 people had been resettled to Canada, reflecting a 16% decrease over the 4,659 refugees resettled during the same period in Refugees from Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq accounted for 40% of resettled refugees. Refugees from Africa accounted for 37%.

13 The First Somali Bantu Arrive in the US More than 200 Somali Bantu refugees were resettled in 22 cities across the United States in the summer of They were the first arrivals among more than 12,000 Somali Bantu currently living in Kakuma camp in Kenya who will be resettled to the US during the next year. The Somali Bantu are one of the largest groups to be resettled by the US government in recent years and would be the largest single group of African refugees ever admitted to the USA. The Somali Bantu, who originated from southern Africa were enslaved and disenfranchised by Somali clans. With the eruption of the civil war, they left Somalia and vowed never to return. Tens of thousands have since been displaced. Many finally reached remote, desolate Dadaab camp in Kenya, where they lived for the past decade or longer until they were moved to Kakuma camp for screening and interviews by the US Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Service (BCIS). The US government has increasingly focused on Africa, which traditionally has hosted and produced large numbers of refugees. By 2001, nearly 30% of all refugees resettled to the US were African, as compared to a mere 3% in Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, however, refugee resettlement into the US decreased dramatically due to the increased security requirements and suspended international diplomatic missions by the US government. Traditionally, the US government resettled some 70,000 refugees a year, but following the events of September 11, resettlement figures dropped to approximately 27,000 in During financial year 2003, some 20,000 refugees have been admitted to date. The completion of the Somali Bantu resettlement would signal a shift towards returning to higher resettlement figures. The US government hoped to resettle over 1,000 Somali Bantu by September 30, Families have arrived in 22 cities throughout the US, from Buffalo, New York to Tucson, Arizona. The US government tried to identify those cities where Somali Bantu might encounter more entry-level jobs and lower cost of living to ease their integration into American communities. US newspapers have described the culture shock that both Somali Bantu and local community members are experiencing with the arrival of the mainly rural farmers into typical US town and cities. These articles have also noted, however, the commitment and gratitude of the Somali Bantu Continued on page 14 Resettled Somali Bantus in the US (UNHCR/H. Caux) Reception and integration handbook available in French Refugee Resettlement: An International Handbook to Guide Reception and Integration, is now available in French (La réinstallation des réfugiés: Un manuel international pour guider l accueil et l intégration). This handbook is a resource to help in the development of sound programs for the integration of resettled refugees. It addresses issues such as initial reception of resettled refugees, ways to prepare receiving communities, language training, education, employment, and the special needs of children. The handbook is targeted primarily at program planners. The book provides practical examples of "best practices" in various countries. Communities considering refugee resettlement for the first time will find it particularly useful. The handbook also supports the Agenda for Protection, which calls for developing capacity with new resettlement countries and ensuring that resettlement "runs in tandem with a more vigorous integration policy." It is written in a user-friendly style, and is interspersed with comments from resettled refugees, reflecting their own experiences The Handbook was an outcome of the April 2001 International Conference on the Reception and Integration of Resettled Refugees, hosted by the Swedish government. It was originally developed by the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture (VFST), an Australian non-governmental organization (NGO), with financial support from the government of Australia. Substantive advice was provided by UNHCR and by a task force consisting of governmental and NGO representatives from a dozen countries. It was released in English during the 2002 EX- COM. Citizenship and Immigration Canada funded the French translation. The handbook is also in the process of being translated into Spanish. It is available on UNHCR s website at

14 Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie lobbies for unaccompanied minors act UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie joined Senators Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California, and Sam Brownback, a Republican from Kansas, in June to publicly call on US Senate members to support a bipartisan bill to reform the treatment of unaccompanied minors, including refugee children. Currently, unaccompanied minors are held in detention facilities under the existing federal immigration custody program, and lack lawyers or guardians to assist them with complex immigration Continued from page 13 to become productive members of their communities. Many resettled refugees have said they have never truly had a home before coming to America and that although the transition is difficult, they value their opportunity to make a new life and home for themselves. Every Somali Bantu family is assigned to a local resettlement agency that is responsible for receiving the refugee/s, finding housing, employment, social and other essential services. Resettled refugees receive financial aid through a federal program, medical insurance for several months and are also eligible for other benefits, including welfare services. In addition to the resettlement of Somali Bantu from Kenya, UNHCR and the US government are closely co-operating on the resettlement program for approximately 6,000 of at-risk Liberian refugees in Cote d Ivoire. BCIS officers began interviewing this group in Abidjan during the last week of July. These at-risk refugees have been identified as particularly vulnerable persons, such as women heads of households, unaccompanied minors, elderly and disabled refugees. proceedings. In 2002, following the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, Congress transferred the authority for the care and custody of unaccompanied children from the Immigration and Naturalization Service to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the Department of Health and Human Services. Senators Feinstein and Brownback worked to ensure this positive development. But further measures are necessary to ensure that these children are properly protected. This new legislation (Bill S1129) would guarantee that refugee children arriving alone to the US would have full access to legal counsel and be awarded a guardian throughout their immigration proceedings. At the June 19 event on Capitol Hill, Jolie told US Senators and press that she was "really surprised when I found out that even in the United States, the protection of refugee children is not fully adequate." "Several thousand children, many in need of refugee protection, arrive in the United States each year, alone, with no family to count on," she said. "It is unreasonable to expect these children, who are already traumatized, to face the very legalized and complex immigration court hearings on their own". "I strongly support S. 1129, which would provide these vulnerable children with legal assistance and guardians that they so desperately need in order to apply for protection in the United States," Jolie continued. "As Americans, we defend our human rights, we defend our freedoms, and we will help the innocent, especially the children, who need our support to protect their rights and their freedoms." UNHCR Regional Representative Guenet Guebre-Christos and Jolie also met with three senators separately to personally lobby for their support on S1129: Orin Hatch, Republican representing Utah, Arlen Specter, Republican from Pennsylvania, and Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat representing New York. Both Senators Specter and Clinton agreed to co-sponsor the bill during the course of their meeting with UNHCR. Senator Hatch promised to review the legislation to see how he could best support it. The bill has already gained the support of 16 co-sponsors in the US Senate and was to be introduced to in the House of Representatives in September. Any US legislation must be vetted through both houses of the US Congress before it is voted into law. The extensive media coverage of UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Jolie s heartfelt plea on behalf of refugee children arriving in the US has already had a huge impact on the visibility of and support for this bill, and is sure to facilitate its progress through the US Congress. Angelina Jolie with Senator Diane Feinstein and Senator Sam Brownback (UNHCR / H. Farhad)

15 World Refugee Day in the Americas Throughout the Americas, refugees joined their receiving communities in commemorating World Refugee Day, dedicated this year to refugee youth. Concerts, plays, marathons, fairs, conferences and media campaigns took place from the US to Chile. Photo exhibits were also a regular feature. "Arrancados de Raíz" (Pulled Up By the Roots), a collection of photos of Colombian refugees in Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela taken by UNHCR staff members was simultaneously displayed in Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela and Canada. In Colombia, it was visited by 600 people at the World Social Forum gathering in Cartagena. Following is a selection of events organized to mark the day. Canada: UNHCR, together with the Canadian Red Cross, Amnesty International, the Canadian Center for Victims of Torture, Médecins Sans Frontières, Cultureslink and Right to Play, organized an event at a theatre in the heart of downtown Toronto for 500 people, many of them refugees. The audience was treated to a free screening of an IMAX film, musical entertainment and games animated by Right To Play. The Toronto City Councilor also read the City of Toronto s proclamation of June 20 as World Refugee Day. Actors send a message of courage to young people in Barrancabermeja, Colombia (UNHCR / M.Cárdenas) United States: In Washington DC, June 20 was officially recognized as World Refugee Day by the City Council. Highlights included statements by Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie, and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, a sold-out performance of US director/producer Ping Chong s "Children of War," the stories of five refugee youth who have been resettled to the US, and a performance by the Silk Road Dance Company at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Mexico and Central America: At a festival in the Mexico City refugee park, refugees were treated to musical performances, storytelling, and a puppet show by international artists and refugees. Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua organized round tables, forums, workshops and an essay contest. Costa Rica: A special Mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral in San José was attended by many Colombian refugees and Costa Ricans. Biblical readings made reference to the situation of immigrants and the uprooted, and the need to help foreigners in need of protection and assistance. The homily called for a reflection on the needs of refugees in Costa Rica. A fair with refugee artisans, round tables and television programs also took place. Venezuela: In Caracas, a concert and marathon were dedicated to refugees. In San Cristóbal, the capital of the state of Tachira and a key host community for Colombians seeking asylum, activities were organized to raise public support for the increasing number of refugees crossing the border into Venezuela. Ecuador: In Quito, UNHCR screened films of acclaimed refugee directors such as Roman Polanski, Milos Forman and Billy Wilder. The documentary, "Displaced," "Desplazados", which relates the experiences of UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie during her June 2002 visit with refugees in Ecuador, was also shown for the first time. Panama: World Refugee Day activities centered on providing psychological support and motivation to 84 Colombian families currently seeking refuge in the communities of Jaqué, Boca de Cupe and Meteti in the province of Darien. A community fair and several sports tournaments were also held to help strengthen ties between the Colombian and Panamanian communities. Colombia: In Bogotá, MAMA-U, a group of young dancers performed with the street singers group "Invisibles Invencibles" (Invincible Invisibles). Many of the artists, both in MAMA-U and Invisible are internally displaced persons. UNHCR also exhibited the works of young artists participating in the project "Disparando Cámaras para la Paz", which teaches displaced children to be photographers of their own reality. Bolivia: Six refugees shared their experiences with journalists at a working breakfast organized by UNHCR s local partner, the Bolivian Episcopal Conference (CEB). Argentina: A refugee and immigrant women s association organized a conference at the National Congress with presentations by government authorities, nongovernmental organization representatives, refugees and UNHCR. The Argentine Catholic Commission for Migrations, organized its annual celebration attended by 600 refugees, who shared an ecumenical service and a typical Argentine barbecue. Chile: A resettled refugee, together with the staff of UNHCR s local partner, Vicaría de Pastoral Social, wrote and performed the play "So That Dreams Never Die" on the refugee experience.