On Wednesday, May 20, 2020, the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies-AISS held a virtual roundtable discussion on “Asylum Seeker/Refugee Rights and State Responsibilities in International Law”. Gulam Murtaza Rasouli, Director of Legal Protection at Ministry of Refugee and Repatriation and Mohammad Azim Besharat, Member of Human Rights Research Unit of AIHRC, we the speakers of the program. The event was moderated by Lailuma Nasiri, Vice President of Afghanistan Justice Organization.
At the beginning of the program, Murtaza Rasouli began his speech with examining the situation of Afghan refugees and asylum seekers; he believes that the issue of refugees and migrants should be separated. Rasouli said that the situation of Afghan refugees in some countries due to legal guarantees and the obligations of the host governments is good. However, the situation of some Afghan refugees living in Pakistan and Iran has not improved due to the lack of legal documents for their residency, which has led to violence and human rights abuses, he added. Rasouli emphasized the challenges and problems facing internally displaced persons, saying that all displaced persons have equal rights with other citizens of the country. He elaborated that war, insecurity and natural disasters are among the reasons why some citizens are forced to being displaced. In his opinion, women and children are the most vulnerable among the internally displaced.
Azim Besharat began his speech by talking about the legal responsibilities of governments to protect refugees. He made a number of points in this regard. 1) Human rights protection and fundamental freedom of refugees and asylum seekers is not only supported as a principle in specific human rights instruments, but also in other documents, such as the United Nations Charter. 2) All the Member States of the United Nations, including those which are members of the Convention on Refugee Affairs and those which are not covered by this Convention; in general, they have a duty to provide refugees with access to human rights and fundamental freedoms. He further added that several basic steps must be taken to respect these rights; these include the creation of new protection laws for refugees and amendments of all laws and regulations that are contrary to the principle of protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms of refugees. Moreover, states are responsible for the rights of refugees and asylum seekers and must respect their rights as well as the rights of their citizens, he added.
Dr. Najandimanesh was unable to join the discussion due to some technical problems, so he sent a summary of his speech to us. Throughout his speech, he explains concepts such as immigrants, refugees/asylum seekers, their rights and obligations, as well as the responsibility of governments under international law. Najandimanesh states that all refugees are entitled to protection and respect for their human rights and thus should not be subject to any restrictions other than those provided by law to protect national security, public order, health and public morals, or the rights and freedoms of others. He writes that countries also have some obligations towards immigrants and refugees, which are based on international and national treaties, customs, and jurisprudence, and If these commitments are violated, governments can use diplomatic means such as negotiation, investigation, mediation, and etc.