3. The Role of the UNHCR

The statute which established the UNHCR gave the organisation two main functions: to protect refugees and to promote durable solutions to their problems.

According to its Statute, UNHCR is authorised to assist any person who,

"owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear or for reasons other than personal convenience, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country…"

While this definition with its emphasis on individual persecution still forms the core of UNHCR’s mandate, additional responsibilities have been introduced to accommodate the changing nature of refugee flows in recent decades. In typical situations today, UNHCR provides protection and assistance to groups of refugees fleeing combinations of persecution, conflict and widespread violations of human rights. In such circumstances, UNHCR’s decision to get involved is based on an assessment of conditions in the refugee-producing country rather than on an examination of each person’s individual claim to refugee status.

When UNHCR was first established, material aspects of refugee relief (e.g. housing, food) were seen to be the responsibility of the Government which had granted asylum. However, as many of the world’s more recent major refugee flows have occurred in less developed countries, UNHCR has acquired the additional role of coordinating material assistance for refugees and returnees. Although not mentioned in the organisation’s Statute, this has become one of its principal functions alongside protection and the promotion of solutions.

Initially, UNHCR’s mandate was limited to people outside their country of origin. In recent years, the General Assembly and the Secretary-General have increasingly frequently called upon the UNHCR to protect or assist particular groups of internally displaced people who have not crossed an international border but are in a refugee-like situation inside their own country. For example, the Secretary-General has asked UNHCR to take responsibility for humanitarian assistance to some groups of internally displaced people such as the Kurds in northern Iraq and civilians in parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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The Rights of Refugees and Displaced Persons

Table source: Refugees by Numbers, 2000 Edition