By Roy Mabasa
In view of the country's rich experience in accommodating refugees way beyond its borders, the Philippines has endorsed the adoption of an instrument that would provide a framework for strengthening global response on refugee situations.
The Philippines’ endorsement of the draft Global Compact on Refugees was made during the international consultations held at the United Nations in Geneva last week as the international community drew closer to the adoption of the non-binding instrument.
The United Nations headquarters building is pictured through a window with the UN logo in the foreground in the Manhattan borough of New York.
(REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/Manila Bulletin) Together with the United Nations and Other International Organizations, the Philippine mission in Geneva advocated for the inclusion of relevant UN human rights treaties and instruments in the draft as essential to its eventual application. In a statement, the Philippines is also calling for the implementation of a mechanism that facilitates the transit of refugees where there is a threat of the forcible return of refugees to a country where they might be persecuted, while their onward settlement in a third country was still being processed. This is in line with the country’s partnership with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The draft Global Compact in Refugees is expected to be adopted at the UN General Assembly in New York this coming September. “The Philippines has a long history of accommodating refugees way beyond its borders—from the White Russians during the 1917 Revolution, the Jews from Europe during World War II, the Vietnamese in the late 1960s, and the Iranians displaced by the 1979 Revolution. These refugees were accepted despite racial, cultural and religious differences with Filipinos,” said Evan Garcia, Philippines Permanent Representative to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva. Even the UNHCR has recognized the Philippines’ historical tradition of accepting refugees with open arms. Fleeing the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 and the rise of communism in China 1949, some 6,000 White Russian refugees settled in eastern Samar. Only the Philippines gave them sanctuary at that time. From 1937 to 1941, about 1,300 European Jews fled to the Philippines escaping the atrocities of the Nazis. They were welcomed to the Philippines under the “open door policy” of then President Manuel L. Quezon. From 1975 to 1992, about 2,700 Vietnamese “boat people” or refugees fleeing the Vietnam War and reunification of the North and South Vietnam were admitted and lived in refugee processing centers in Palawan. At the close of the 1970s, the Iranian Revolution forced several thousands of Iranian nationals studying and working in Manila to seek refugee status in the Philippines rather than go home to a new government that took over by force and violence.
The United Nations headquarters building is pictured through a window with the UN logo in the foreground in the Manhattan borough of New York.(REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/Manila Bulletin) Together with the United Nations and Other International Organizations, the Philippine mission in Geneva advocated for the inclusion of relevant UN human rights treaties and instruments in the draft as essential to its eventual application. In a statement, the Philippines is also calling for the implementation of a mechanism that facilitates the transit of refugees where there is a threat of the forcible return of refugees to a country where they might be persecuted, while their onward settlement in a third country was still being processed. This is in line with the country’s partnership with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The draft Global Compact in Refugees is expected to be adopted at the UN General Assembly in New York this coming September. “The Philippines has a long history of accommodating refugees way beyond its borders—from the White Russians during the 1917 Revolution, the Jews from Europe during World War II, the Vietnamese in the late 1960s, and the Iranians displaced by the 1979 Revolution. These refugees were accepted despite racial, cultural and religious differences with Filipinos,” said Evan Garcia, Philippines Permanent Representative to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva. Even the UNHCR has recognized the Philippines’ historical tradition of accepting refugees with open arms. Fleeing the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 and the rise of communism in China 1949, some 6,000 White Russian refugees settled in eastern Samar. Only the Philippines gave them sanctuary at that time. From 1937 to 1941, about 1,300 European Jews fled to the Philippines escaping the atrocities of the Nazis. They were welcomed to the Philippines under the “open door policy” of then President Manuel L. Quezon. From 1975 to 1992, about 2,700 Vietnamese “boat people” or refugees fleeing the Vietnam War and reunification of the North and South Vietnam were admitted and lived in refugee processing centers in Palawan. At the close of the 1970s, the Iranian Revolution forced several thousands of Iranian nationals studying and working in Manila to seek refugee status in the Philippines rather than go home to a new government that took over by force and violence.