Victims of violence: A review of the Protection of Civilians concept and its relevance to UNHCR?s mandate

. In April 1998, against a background of disillusionment with the international
community?s inability to act in defense of civilians as borne out by the genocide in Rwanda
(1994) and the ongoing civil war in Sierra Leone (1991-2002), the then Secretary-General, Kofi
Annan, introduced, in a far-ranging report on Africa,1 the “humanitarian imperative” of
Protecting Civilians in Situations of Armed Conflict (PoC).
2. Other themes listed under the heading “humanitarian imperatives” were: addressing
refugee security issues; mitigating the social and economic impact of refugees on host
countries; and humanitarian coordination. From the outset, PoC discourse proceeded hand
in hand with issues related to refugees, a category of civilians, especially those who are
women and children, most affected by conflict.2
3. As an objective, like the notion of the humanitarian imperative, the concept of PoC is
anchored in the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols. In the United Nations
discourse, PoC, in addition to being an objective, is as an overarching concept, although
never clearly defined, which embraces a range of issues which are of particular significance
for UNHCR, both in its capacity as the UN mandated protection organization for refugees,
and as the Lead of the Global Protection Cluster.
4. However, the discourse on PoC is seen by some as having neglected topics pertaining
to refugees and asylum: “[W]hile the protection of civilians – and IDPs in particular – is now
a regular item before the Security Council, and in the policy statements of aid agencies and
donors, refugee protection and asylum policy has been strikingly absent from these
deliberations.
5. As international awareness and recognition of the protection needs of IDPs and other
civilians has increased, concern with refugee protection appears to have waned, despite the
fact that refugee protection is supported by a far more elaborate and developed regime of
international laws and institutions. Increasingly, questions related to the treatment of
refugees, including access to asylum, non-refoulement and burden-sharing, are considered in
policy fora concerned with matters of immigration control rather than civilian protection.”3
6. This interesting observation is true in part about the tendency for issues related to
refugees to be increasingly relegated to discussions about the asylum/migration nexus and
migration control; however, it is too sweeping a statement in regard to the place of refugees
in the discourse about protection of civilians in armed conflict, especially in the Security Council. There is the regular inclusion of the subject of refugees in the Reports of the
Secretary-General to the Security Council on this theme.4
7. The statement does prompt, however, the question as to the degree of UNHCR?s
involvement and interest in the theme of PoC, both as the UN refugee agency and in its role
as Lead of the Global Protection Cluster. This paper looks at this issue and makes some
proposals as to how UNHCR might position itself in relation to PoC, so as to benefit more
from the current focus on this issue, especially in the context of UN peacekeeping.