World Refugee Day 2006

Published 27th April 2006, 12:21pm

The Cayman Islands Human Rights Committee (HRC) is recognizing and celebrating World Refugee Day 2006, on Tuesday 20th June.

This is the first time that the HRC has chosen to adopt this approach to promoting Human Rights in the Cayman Islands, and is anticipated to represent the start of regular promotions on important human rights dates and anniversaries.

Issues of refugees in the Cayman Islands are increasingly coming to the fore. The HRC’s recent work on the highly publicised case of Cuban National, Dr. Luarca, has helped considerably in raising the profile of the issue locally.

The HRC is currently engaged in a number of cases pertaining to refugees in Cayman. The Committee is committed through its work to fulfil its objective of ensuring that refugees in the Cayman Islands receive the respect and recognition to which, they are entitled under international conventions.

The HRC’s Chairman, Honourable Alden McLaughlin is keen to point out the importance of recognising the plight of those in circumstances of distress. He said, "The Cayman Islands prides itself on being a progressive nation and a good citizen of the global community in which, it plays an increasingly important role. It is a natural progression for us to join the leading nations of the world in the recognition of our responsibility to promote and protect human rights. The issue of refugees bears significant local relevance, and presents us with an opportunity to embrace the spirit and the values of the human rights treaties which have been extended to our islands."

The HRC has organised for a message by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) goodwill ambassador, Angelina Jolie, to air on local radio on World Refugee day. Visitors to the website, www.humanrights.ky, can view the video version as well as the UNHCR leaflet which promotes the occasion.

For many years countries and regions have been holding their own refugee days and weeks, with Africa Refugee Day being one of the most widespread. In 2000, a special UN General Assembly Resolution was unanimously adopted to recognize June 20th as World Refugee Day. This date, which had been used for many years in Africa and in other countries, was chosen as an expression of solidarity with Africa, the continent which, hosts the most refugees in the world.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, responds to questions regarding the validity of this celebration stating, "We see on a daily basis the incredible courage and perseverance of refugees who have lost everything. For them, every day spent in exile or flight is a day too long. This is why World Refugee Day should be, for us all, a time to pause and think. Because if they refuse to give up hope, how can we?"

According to the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, the theme for World Refugee Day 2006 is Keeping the Flame of Hope Alive. The cornerstone of UNCHR’s work is to ensure respect and recognition of the basic human rights for the 19 million refugees, displaced persons, asylum seekers, returnees and stateless people in 117 countries around the globe.

The majority of the world’s refugees are women and children. International law defines a refugee as a person who is unable or unwilling to return to their countries because of a well-founded fear of persecution based on their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or social group. By the end of 2005, Asia hosted more than a third of all the people of concern to UNHCR, 6.9 million (36%), followed by Africa 4.9 million (25%).

As the national body responsible for the promotion and protection of fundamental human rights, the HRC is responsible for enhancing public awareness of human rights issues in the Cayman Islands.

The ultimate goal of the HRC is to promote respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms. To achieve this objective, the Committee is currently working on a public awareness campaign, which is expected to include the provision of information and the organization of educational events and campaigns.

For more information on World Refugee Day, please visit www.unhcr.org or if you would like to contact the Cayman Islands Human Rights Committee, please send written correspondence to PO Box 30664 SMB or alternatively, emails can be sent to committee@humanrights.ky.

For further information contact: Human Rights Committee