Refugees: legal status, types and characteristics

Refugees

- persons who left the country in which they permanently resided due to emergency circumstances.

Refugee

— mass abandonment of their homes by residents due to war or natural disasters[1]

Definition

Persons who, within the meaning of the 1951 UN Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its special Protocol[2], owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, sexual orientation or political opinion, are outside the country of their nationality and are unable or, owing to such fear, are unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country; or, having no nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or unwilling to return to it owing to such fear.

In the everyday understanding of the word, refugees often also include internally displaced persons; asylum seekers (but who have not yet received refugee status); and in general all persons who were forced to move from one place to another.

Refugees are generally given equal rights to other foreigners, are documented with special travel documents, and receive preferential citizenship. In a number of countries there is a special “humanitarian status” - the so-called. temporary asylum granted in the event of a mass exodus of refugees or persons who do not meet the Convention criteria, but cannot be expelled on humanitarian grounds. Persons who have committed serious crimes of a non-political nature, including acts of terrorism, cannot be recognized as refugees. A refugee or asylum seeker cannot be sent back to their country of origin.

According to Russian law, a refugee

is a person who is not a citizen of the Russian Federation and who, due to a well-founded fear of becoming a victim of persecution on the grounds of race, religion, citizenship, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his citizenship and cannot enjoy the protection of this country or is unwilling to avail itself of such protection due to such fears; or, being of no nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or unwilling to return to it owing to such fear.[3]

The main legal instruments on the status of refugees are the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol. The UN body dealing with refugee issues is the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The [www.icrc.org International Committee of the Red Cross] is also involved in helping refugees and internally displaced persons in armed conflicts.

Since 2001, the world community has celebrated World Refugee Day on June 20.

Article 13. Deprivation of refugee status from a person

1. A person is deprived of refugee status if he:

1) knowingly provided false information or presented false documents that served as the basis for granting refugee status;

2) has been convicted of a crime against peace, a war crime or a crime against humanity as defined by these acts in international instruments concluded for the purpose of taking measures in relation to such crimes;

3) was convicted of a serious crime of a non-political nature committed outside the Republic of Kazakhstan before arriving on its territory;

4) was convicted of committing acts contrary to the goals and principles of the United Nations and international organizations of which Kazakhstan is a member;

5) was convicted of participation in the activities of terrorist, extremist, and banned religious organizations.

2. The authorized body, within five working days from the date of the decision to revoke refugee status, hands or sends to the person a copy of the decision indicating the reasons for this decision and explaining the procedure for appealing the decision.

Story

In the Middle Ages in Europe, the right of refuge in churches was almost universally recognized. However, it only applied to criminals.

Subsequently, the concept of political asylum appeared, which was used by dissidents and revolutionaries. In international law, the concept of refugees appears after the First World War: in 1922, the League of Nations adopted the first agreement (supplemented by agreements of 1924, 1926 and 1928 on the status of Russian and Armenian refugees. For the first time, the rights of refugees were defined, they received travel documents of a special type (Nansen passport, named after polar explorer and first League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Fridtjof Nansen).[4][5] The agreements were subsequently extended to all refugees from Turkey and Nazi Germany.

After World War II, the International Organization for Refugees was created, transformed in 1951 into UNHCR.

Definition of “forced migrant”

A forced migrant is a category of persons that operates only on the territory of Russia, that is, its legal status is not fixed in international law. Thus, based on the legislation, a forced migrant is a citizen of the Russian Federation who left his location due to a threat to the life and safety of him and his family members based on race, nationality, religion, language, political beliefs and other characteristics. There can be three options for recognizing a person as a forced migrant. The first option is when a person is a citizen of the Russian Federation, but lives on the territory of a foreign state and is forced to leave it and arrive on the territory of the Russian Federation due to the reasons listed above. The second option is when a citizen of the Russian Federation is forced, due to the same reasons, to move from one subject of the federation to another subject. There is another option when a person has citizenship of another state, not the Russian Federation, or no citizenship at all (a person recognized as stateless). A person must permanently, legally reside in Russia and change his location within the Russian Federation for the same reasons as stated above.

Number of refugees

2007

According to a UNHCR study, at the end of 2007, there were 11.4 million refugees and 26 million other internally displaced persons (IDPs) outside their countries due to conflict and persecution, resulting in an unprecedented number of people experiencing homelessness in the UN Agency's care for refugee affairs[6]. Most of them are concentrated in Africa (usually located in refugee camps); a significant number of asylum seekers (up to several hundred thousand annually) penetrate into Western Europe and the United States. Governments in developed countries are often accused of being too harsh in granting refugee status. Assistance in determining refugee status and assistance to refugees is provided both by the governments of the relevant countries and by UNHCR, whose budget is more than $1 billion.

year 2009

The number of refugees in the world has reached 42 million[7]

ABOUT REFUGEES

This Federal Law defines the grounds and procedure for recognition as a refugee on the territory of the Russian Federation, establishes economic, social and legal guarantees for the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of refugees in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, generally recognized principles and norms of international law and international treaties of the Russian Federation.

The legislation of the Russian Federation on refugees consists of this Federal Law, other federal laws and other regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation, laws and other regulatory legal acts of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation adopted in accordance with it.

Article 1. Basic concepts

Article 2. Scope of this Federal Law

Article 3. Recognition of a person as a refugee

Article 4. A person’s application and preliminary consideration of the application

Article 5. Grounds for refusing a person to consider an application on the merits

Article 6. Rights and obligations of the person who received the certificate

Article 7. Consideration of the application on the merits

Article 8. Rights and obligations of a person recognized as a refugee

Article 8.1. Travel document

Article 9. Loss of refugee status by a person and deprivation of refugee status

Article 10. Guarantees of a person’s rights

Article 11. Housing fund for temporary settlement

Article 12. Providing temporary asylum to a foreign citizen or stateless person

Article 13. Expulsion (deportation) of a person from the territory of the Russian Federation

Article 14. Distribution of persons in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Reception of persons in the event of their emergency mass arrival on the territory of the Russian Federation

Article 15. Financing of expenses for reception, travel and accommodation of persons. Financing expenses related to the expulsion (deportation) of persons from the territory of the Russian Federation

Article 16. Lost force

Article 17. Powers of federal executive authorities and their territorial bodies to implement this Federal Law

Article 18. International cooperation on refugee problems

Article 19. Liability for violation of this Federal Law

Indicators for Europe

Notes

1. [dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/ushakov/744546 Refugee] in Ushakov’s Explanatory Dictionary. 1935-1940.
2. [www.unhcr.ru/page_basics.php?menuid=43&pageid=14 Convention and Protocol relating to the status of refugees. - Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees] (Russian), [www.unhcr.org/protect/PROTECTION/3b66c2aa10.pdf Text of the UN HCR Convention] (English)
3. [www.consultant.ru/online/base/?req=doc;base=law;n=65023 FEDERAL LAW of 02/19/1993 N 4528-1 (as amended on 12/30/2006) “ON REFUGEES”]
4. [his.1september.ru/2002/02/1.htm Zoya BOCHAROVA. Legal status of Russian refugees in the West in the 1920-1930s]
5. [www.pglu.ru/lib/publications/University_Reading/2009/XII/uch_2009_XII_00043.pdf R. V. Lebedenko. Legal status of Russian emigration in France in the 20s]
6. [www.unhcr.ru/page_news.php?menuid=306&pageid=218 The number of refugees and IDPs around the world is growing for the second year in a row]
7. [news.tut.by/world/140390.html The number of refugees in the world has reached 42 million]
8. “Number of asylum application by country. [appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/submitViewTableAction.do?dvsc=4 Eurostat]. 06/21/2013.

Contents of Russian laws on temporary asylum and refugee status

The Federal Law “On Refugees” defines the basic theoretical concepts, the procedure for recognizing an individual as a refugee and establishes various guarantees for the protection of foreign citizens on the territory of our country. In total, the document contains 16 articles. For example, Art. 12 directs local governments and state authorities to act together in providing assistance to displaced persons in need. The law of the Russian Federation also provides for the procedure for issuing refugee status, determines the list of required documents and the deadlines for receipt.

The first paragraph 5 of the article of the law in question contains several reasons why government authorities may refuse recognition as a refugee. For example, Ukrainians who did not receive a migration card when hastily fleeing a military conflict zone may be denied permits. The sad thing is that the regulations do not provide for cases of consideration of applications if the applicant lost all his documents during the bombing.

During the consideration of an application for refugee status, any visitor has the right to financial assistance, the amount of which was established by the Government of the Russian Federation on May 23, 1998 No. 484.

Excerpt characterizing Refugees

That night Denisov celebrated his promotion to major, and Rostov, already quite drunk at the end of the feast, proposed a toast to the health of the sovereign, but “not the sovereign emperor, as they say at official dinners,” he said, “but to the health of the good sovereign, a charming and great man; We drink to his health and to a certain victory over the French!” “If we fought before,” he said, “and did not give way to the French, as at Shengraben, what will happen now that he is ahead?” We will all die, we will die with pleasure for him. So, gentlemen? Maybe I'm not saying that, I drank a lot; Yes, I feel that way, and so do you. For the health of Alexander the First! Hurray! - Hurray! – the inspired voices of the officers sounded. And old captain Kirsten shouted with enthusiasm and no less sincerely than twenty-year-old Rostov. When the officers drank and broke their glasses, Kirsten poured others and, in only a shirt and leggings, with a glass in his hand, approached the soldiers' fires and in a majestic pose, waving his hand upward, with his long gray mustache and white chest visible from behind his open shirt, stopped in the light of the fire. - Guys, for the health of the Emperor, for victory over the enemies, hurrah! - he shouted in his brave, senile, hussar baritone. The hussars crowded together and responded with a loud cry. Late at night, when everyone had left, Denisov patted his favorite Rostov on the shoulder with his short hand. “There’s no one to fall in love with on a hike, so he fell in love with Tsa’ya,” he said. “Denisov, don’t joke about this,” Rostov shouted, “this is such a high, such a wonderful feeling, such... - I feel, I feel, I share and approve...” “No, you don’t understand!” And Rostov got up and went to wander between the fires, dreaming about what happiness it would be to die without saving a life (he did not dare to dream about this), but simply to die in the eyes of the sovereign. He really was in love with the Tsar, and with the glory of Russian weapons, and with the hope of future triumph. And he was not the only one who experienced this feeling in those memorable days preceding the Battle of Austerlitz: nine-tenths of the people of the Russian army at that time were in love, although less enthusiastically, with their Tsar and with the glory of Russian weapons. The next day the sovereign stopped in Wischau. Life physician Villiers was called to him several times. News spread in the main apartment and among the nearby troops that the sovereign was unwell. He did not eat anything and slept poorly that night, as those close to him said. The reason for this ill health was the strong impression made on the sensitive soul of the sovereign by the sight of the wounded and killed. At dawn on the 17th, a French officer was escorted from the outposts to Wischau, who had arrived under a parliamentary flag, demanding a meeting with the Russian emperor. This officer was Savary. The Emperor had just fallen asleep, and therefore Savary had to wait. At noon he was admitted to the sovereign and an hour later he went with Prince Dolgorukov to the outposts of the French army. As was heard, the purpose of sending Savary was to offer a meeting between Emperor Alexander and Napoleon. A personal meeting, to the joy and pride of the entire army, was denied, and instead of the sovereign, Prince Dolgorukov, the winner at Wischau, was sent along with Savary to negotiate with Napoleon, if these negotiations, contrary to expectations, were aimed at a real desire for peace. In the evening Dolgorukov returned, went straight to the sovereign and spent a long time alone with him. On November 18 and 19, the troops made two more marches forward, and the enemy outposts retreated after short skirmishes. In the highest spheres of the army, from midday on the 19th, a strong, fussily excited movement began, which continued until the morning of the next day, November 20, on which the so memorable Battle of Austerlitz was fought. Until noon on the 19th, movement, lively conversations, running around, sending adjutants were limited to one main apartment of the emperors; in the afternoon of the same day, the movement was transmitted to Kutuzov’s main apartment and to the headquarters of the column commanders. In the evening, this movement spread through the adjutants to all ends and parts of the army, and on the night of the 19th to the 20th, the 80 thousandth mass of the allied army rose from their sleeping quarters, hummed with conversation and swayed and began to move in a huge nine-verst canvas. The concentrated movement that began in the morning in the main apartment of the emperors and gave impetus to all further movement was similar to the first movement of the middle wheel of a large tower clock. One wheel moved slowly, another turned, a third, and the wheels, blocks, and gears began to spin faster and faster, chimes began to play, figures jumped out, and the arrows began to move regularly, showing the result of the movement. As in the mechanism of a watch, so in the mechanism of military affairs, the once given movement is just as irresistible until the last result, and just as indifferently motionless, the moment before the transfer of movement, are the parts of the mechanism that have not yet been reached. The wheels whistle on the axles, clinging with teeth, the rotating blocks hiss from the speed, and the neighboring wheel is just as calm and motionless, as if it is ready to stand for hundreds of years with this motionlessness; but the moment came - he hooked the lever, and, submitting to the movement, the wheel crackled, turning and merged into one action, the result and purpose of which was incomprehensible to him. Just as in a clock the result of the complex movement of countless different wheels and blocks is only the slow and steady movement of the hand indicating the time, so the result of all the complex human movements of these 1000 Russians and French - all the passions, desires, remorse, humiliation, suffering, impulses of pride, fear , the delight of these people - there was only the loss of the Battle of Austerlitz, the so-called battle of the three emperors, that is, the slow movement of the world historical hand on the dial of human history. Prince Andrei was on duty that day and constantly with the commander-in-chief. At 6 o'clock in the evening, Kutuzov arrived at the main apartment of the emperors and, after staying with the sovereign for a short time, went to see Chief Marshal Count Tolstoy. Bolkonsky took advantage of this time to go to Dolgorukov to find out about the details of the case. Prince Andrei felt that Kutuzov was upset and dissatisfied with something, and that they were dissatisfied with him in the main apartment, and that all the persons in the imperial main apartment had the tone of people with him who knew something that others did not know; and that’s why he wanted to talk to Dolgorukov. “Well, hello, mon cher,” said Dolgorukov, who was sitting with Bilibin over tea. - Holiday for tomorrow. What's your old man? out of sorts? “I won’t say that he was out of sorts, but he seemed to want to be listened to.” - Yes, they listened to him at the military council and will listen to him when he speaks his mind; but it is impossible to hesitate and wait for something now, when Bonaparte fears more than anything else a general battle. -Have you seen him? - said Prince Andrei. - Well, what about Bonaparte? What impression did he make on you? “Yes, I saw it and was convinced that he was afraid of a general battle more than anything else in the world,” Dolgorukov repeated, apparently valuing this general conclusion he had drawn from his meeting with Napoleon. – If he were not afraid of battle, why would he demand this meeting, negotiate and, most importantly, retreat, while retreat is so contrary to his entire method of waging war? Believe me: he is afraid, afraid of a general battle, his time has come. This is what I'm telling you. - But tell me how he is, what? – Prince Andrey asked again. “He is a man in a gray frock coat, who really wanted me to say “Your Majesty” to him, but, to his chagrin, he did not receive any title from me. This is the kind of person he is, and nothing more,” answered Dolgorukov, looking back at Bilibin with a smile.