Denial of Access to Protection in the Commonwealth

The notion of refugee protection - the duty to offer refuge to those fleeing from persecution and suffering - has been recognised as a cornerstoneof international law for several decades. Yet, a number of Commonwealth governments are increasingly shirking this duty claiming security concerns and the need to control migration flows, often failing to distinguish between economic migrants and those in need of international protection.

Numbers of those seeking asylum are generally decreasing but there is a suspicion that, rather than signifying a lesser need for protection, these numbers are decreasing due to severe restrictions on potential asylum seekers to gain access to territory of protection. Whilst every country has the right to control the flow of migration in its own territory, all actions to exert this right must be compatible with the country’s human rights responsibilities.

Many states are fortifying their borders, indiscriminately impeding access to their territory to all migrants, whilst doing nothing to provide refugees with alternatives to using unscrupulous traffickers and smugglers to reach safety. Unfortunately, the consequences of this approach are often tragic.

Malta has been encouraging the European Union to invest millions of Euros to patrol its borders and keep irregular migrants out, without considering that those in need of refuge are often forced to travel without documents. Indiscriminate and inhumane border controls force desperate people to take even greater risks to flee extreme poverty, persecution and war.

In recent years, thousands of migrants have drowned attempting to cross the Mediterranean by boat in desperate conditions, whilst those surviving the journey are often detained for lengthy periods of time. In late May, Malta refused to help 27 stranded people clinging on to tuna nets on the high seas south of its shores. This was not an isolated incident. Malta is one of the Mediterranean countries which are turning the sea between them into a place in which human life has lost its value.

The situation is not much better across the globe, where constant naval patrols off the coast of Australia prevent boats carrying potential asylum seekers from entering Australian waters. Those few who reach Australian territory are transferred to offshore processing centres where their access to legal and community support is severely limited.

In the first three months of 2007, South Africa deported over 50,000 Zimbabweans back to rapidly degenerating conditions. In view of the crisis in Zimbabwe, a former Commonwealth country, South Africa needs to adopt a more humanitarian approach to those fleeing the poverty and violence. Crossing the border to escape the hardships in Zimbabwe is not an easy task. Some drown or are killed by crocodiles trying to reach South Africa across the river which separates the two countries. Moreover, there is a danger that immigration authorities in their haste to return Zimbabweans will not give due consideration to the claims of those eligible for refugee status.

Kenya has closed its border with Somalia since December 2006 following the escalation in conflict, causing suffering to thousands of Somali refugees - mainly women and children who have fled the capital city of Somalia, Mogadishu. The closure of the border is also impeding cross-border relief, including thousands of tonnes of food, for the several thousands of persons stranded on the Somali side of the border.

Barriers are also being built between Commonwealth countries. For the past seven years, India has been closing itself off from Bangladesh claiming security concerns. So far, India has built about 1,550 miles of a fence studded with spikes and wrapped in barbed wire which will extend all the way around the 2,050-mile border with its much poorer neighbour. With yet another Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) just around the corner, it is sad to see such lack of solidarity and trust between two Commonwealth countries.  

The cumulative effect of this negative approach on the part of governments is to send the message that refugees are not welcome. It is inconsistent for states to continue denying access to asylum whilst claiming to support refugee protection under international law. It is vital that governments respect their legal obligations towards refugees and seek ways, such as positive migration policies, to help the most vulnerable access territory and procedures of protection without undue hardship.