This first chapter is designed as an introduction to the theme of refugees . It uses the story of a young African girl who was forced to flee her home because of the violence in her region as an example of why some people leave their homes to seek refuge elsewhere.

Activity 1
The chapter begins by asking the students what they understand by the terms, refugee, asylum and displacement.

Allow the students to work in small groups, discussing amongst themselves what they understand by each term. Get the students to write down their ideas and ask one person from each group to present their conclusions to the rest of the class. This may lead to a deeper discussion and an exchange of views on what are quite complex issues.
As the students will discover, the common usage of a word may not always correspond exactly with the legal or official definition.

To help you to explain the terms to the class, the following may be of use.

• Definition of refugee according to the United Nations Refugee Convention of 1951 (sometimes called the Geneva Convention). A refugee as someone who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to return".
• When a person asks for protection in another country, they are asking for or seeking asylum, and are usually referred to as asylum seekers.
• Displacement is a generic term to describe the situation of someone who has been forced to flee their home. Sometimes a person or group of people can be displaced within their own region or country, usually referred to as an Internally Displaced Person (IDP).
• How are refugees and economic migrants different? Economic migrants normally leave a country voluntarily to seek a better life. Should they elect to return home, they would continue to receive the protection of their government. Refugees flee because of the threat of persecution and cannot return safely to their homes in the prevailing circumstances.

The story

Cecilia's story aims to convey what life is like for a young refugee who has been forced to flee her home because of conflict. It introduces the concept of war, which will be examined in more detail in Chapter 2.
Before reading the story it may be worth supplying students with a map so that they can properly place the regions that are being spoken about.
When the class has read the story, ask them for their reaction to Cecilia’s life experiences. What feelings do the students have following their reading of the text?

The 1951 Refugee Convention: Questions and Answers

The Convention's History
The process of developing a body of international law, conventions and guidelines to protect refugees began in the early part of the 20th century under the League of Nations, the predecessor of the United Nations. It culminated on July 28, 1951, when a special UN conference approved the Convention relating to the status of refugees. The Convention clearly spells out who is a refugee and the kind of legal protection, other assistance and social rights he or she should receive from states party to the document. Equally, it defines a refugee's obligations to host governments and certain categories of persons, such as war criminals, who do not qualify for refugee status.

Several months before the Convention's passage, the fledgling United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees had begun its work on January 01, 1951. In the subsequent decades, the document has been the foundation of the agency's efforts to help and protect millions of refugees. This first instrument was limited to protecting mainly European refugees in the aftermath of World War II, but a 1967 Protocol expanded the scope of the Convention as the problem of displacement spread around the world.

The original document also inspired regional instruments such as the 1969 Africa Refugee Convention and the 1984 Latin American Cartagena Declaration. A total of 143 states have acceded to one or both of the UN instruments.

Why is the Convention important?
It was the first truly international agreement covering the most fundamental aspects of a refugee's life. It spelled out a set of basic human rights which should be at least equivalent to freedoms enjoyed by foreign nationals living legally in a given country, and in many cases those of citizens of that state. It recognised the international scope of refugee crises and the necessity of international cooperation among states, in tackling the problem.

What is contained in the 1951 Convention?
It defines what the term ‘refugee’ means. It outlines a refugee's rights including such things as freedom of religion and movement, the right to work, education and accessibility to travel documents, but it also underscores a refugee's obligations to a host government. A key provision stipulates that a refugee should not be returned to a country where he or she fears persecution. It also spells out people or groups of people who are not covered by the Convention.

What is contained in the 1967 Protocol?
It removes the geographical and time limitations written into the original Convention, under which mainly Europeans involved in events occurring before January 01, 1951 could apply for refugee status.

What is protection?
Governments are responsible for enforcing a country's laws. When they are unable or unwilling to do so, often during a conflict or civil unrest, people whose basic human rights are threatened flee their homes, often to another country, where they may be classed as refugees and be guaranteed basic rights.

Who protects refugees?
Host governments are primarily responsible for protecting refugees and the 143 parties to the Convention and/or the Protocol are obliged to carry out its provisions. UNHCR maintains a ‘watching brief,’ intervening if necessary to ensure bona fide refugees are granted asylum, and are not forcibly returned to countries where their lives may be in danger. The agency seeks ways to help refugees restart their lives, either through local integration, voluntary return to their homeland or, if that is not possible, through resettlement in ‘third’ countries.

Does the Convention cover internally displaced persons?
Not specifically. Refugees are people who have crossed an international border into a second country seeking protection. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) may have fled for similar reasons, but remain within their own territory; therefore are still subject to the laws of that state. In specific crises, UNHCR assists several million, but not all, of the estimated 20-25 million IDPs worldwide. There is widespread international debate currently underway about how this group of uprooted people can be better protected, and by whom.

Can the Convention resolve refugee problems?
People become refugees, either on an individual basis or as part of a mass exodus, because of political, religious, military and other problems in their home country. The Convention was not designed to tackle these root causes, but rather to alleviate their consequences by offering victims a degree of international legal protection, and other assistance, and eventually to help them begin their lives anew. Protection can contribute to an overall solution, but as the number of refugees increased dramatically in recent decades, it has become clear that humanitarian work cannot act as a substitute for political action in avoiding or solving future crises.

What is ‘temporary protection’?
Nations at times offer ‘temporary protection’ when they face a sudden mass influx of people, as happened during the conflict in the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, and their regular asylum systems would be overwhelmed. In such circumstances people can be speedily admitted to safe countries, but without any guarantee of permanent asylum. Thus ‘temporary protection’ can work to the advantage of both governments and asylum-seekers in specific circumstances. This arrangement complements, but does not substitute for the wider protection measures, including refugee asylum, offered by the Convention.

(Source: United Nations High Commission on Refugees. Reprinted with permission.)

Activity 2
The students are asked to think of difficulties and problems faced by refugees who have been forced to flee their homes.

Lack of education opportunities is one of the problems dealt with in Cecilia's story. She mentions that both of her parents were killed in front of her, that she arrived in an unknown country on the advice of strangers and that she now lives in this country without any documents.
Other problems Cecilia may encounter is the inability to find employment in this new country, trying to negotiate the language barrier, or trying to overcome the trauma as a result of her experiences that forced her to flee in the first place.
Ask the students to read out their ideas. Try to discover if they can identify with Cecilia by examining what the students have in their lives that a refugee must go without, such as a large group of friends, home security etc.

Activity 3
Look at the UNHCR figures with the students and try to imprees upon them the scale of such figures. Explain to them how these number compares to the population size of their own country.