PH Endorses Global Compact on Refugees 

GENEVA 10 July 2018 — The Philippines endorsed the draft Global Compact on Refugees during formal global consultations held in Geneva on 03-04 July 2018, as the international community drew closer to the adoption of an instrument which, while non-binding, would provide a framework for strengthening response to refugee situations.

The Philippine Mission to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva advocated for the inclusion of relevant UN human rights treaties and instruments in the draft as essential to its eventual application.

It also highlighted the status of the Philippines as one of only two countries with a partnership with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for the implementation of a mechanism that facilitates the transit of refugees where there is threat of refoulement—the forcible return to a country where they might be persecuted—while their onward settlement in a third country was still being processed.

“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,” shared Permanent Representative to the UN and Other International Organizations Evan P. Garcia.

The draft Global Compact in Refugees is expected to be adopted in New York during the UN General Assembly in September 2018. END

For more information, visit www.genevapm.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHinGenevaUN/