Ukraine: 3 things to know about getting refugees to safety
How do humanitarian corridors work? What is Europe's Temporary Protection Directive and what does it mean for Ukrainians? What role can resettlement play in the current crisis?
To help you place the news in deeper context, we’ve put together some quick explanations and further reading recommendations for ideas and terms being used in the discussion about evacuating and resettling refugees from Ukraine.
1. Humanitarian Corridors
In the news: Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022, there have been multiple calls from the United Nations, the Ukrainian government, and organisations such as Amnesty International and the International Rescue Committee, for Russian forces to allow civilians to flee besieged parts of Ukraine via safe routes known as ‘humanitarian corridors’. On 3 March 2022 Kyiv and Moscow agreed to establish these corridors as a way to facilitate the delivery of essential goods into, and the evacuation of civilians out of, affected areas. Human rights observers and researchers have noted, however, that Russia’s respect for these corridors has thus far been ‘unreliable’, with reports of Russian forces attacking civilians attempting to flee via these routes. As at 17 March 2022, the Ukrainian government has said that tens of thousands of people have been evacuated, and that more corridors will be opened.
What to know: As noted in the Kaldor Centre's Policy Brief no. 5,
- A safe land corridor 'refers either to a route out of the conflict for civilians and non-fighters, or, in the midst of conflict, a way to move around (such as a corridor that allows people to go to a market once a week or to reach a hospital from a village)'.
- Safe corridors ‘are only as safe as the parties to the conflict allow them to be’, and thus while such corridors can never guarantee safety, ‘they may be the best that is available’ in certain circumstances.
What to read: the Kaldor Centre's Policy Brief no. 5 provides an expert analysis of the practical and international legal aspects of humanitarian corridors out of conflict zones. See further: Geoff Gilbert and Anna Magdalena Rusch, ‘Creating safe zones and safe corridors in conflict situations: Providing protection at home or preventing the search for asylum?’ Policy Brief no. 5, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law (June 2017)
What to listen to: Kaldor Centre podcast, ‘5 Questions on Safe Zones with Professor Geoff Gilbert’ (7 June 2017)
2. Temporary Protection in Europe
In the news: The European Union has activated the Temporary Protection Directive for the first time since it was drafted 21 years ago. This move was described by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, as an ‘unprecedented’ decision that would protect millions of people on the move.
What to know: Temporary protection is a pragmatic response to people fleeing areas of conflict, violence or serious human rights abuses. It is a short-term, emergency mechanism that avoids the need for an individual assessment of people’s protection needs, and instead enables large numbers of people to receive protection on the basis of the situation they have fled.
Temporary protection will provide a much-needed lifeline to the millions of people who have fled Ukraine in the past weeks – and the estimated millions to come. Its automatic application means that people will not be forced through the cumbersome and complicated bureaucratic process which normally awaits those seeking asylum.
As Kaldor Centre Director Professor Jane McAdam has noted, this situation ‘is very different from the notion of temporary protection in Australia. Here, it is a diminished form of protection provided to refugees who arrived in Australia without a visa, or who were not permitted to clear immigration at the airport because they expressed an intention to apply for asylum (rather than enter for the purpose on their visa)’.
What to read: Jane McAdam, ‘Europe triggers “temporary protection” for Ukraine war refugees’, The Interpreter, Lowy Institute (4 March 2022)
For a detailed analysis of how temporary protection will work, see: Steve Peers, Temporary Protection for Ukrainians in the EU? Q and A’, EU Law Analysis (27 February 2022; updated 2 March 2022)
What to listen to: Jane McAdam discusses the Temporary Protection Directive on ABC Radio National's Law Report (22 March 2022)
3. Safety in Australia
In the news: On 20 March 2022 the Australian government announced that some 5,000 'mostly temporary' visas have been issued to Ukrainians since 23 February 2022, and once those individuals reach Australia they will be eligible to apply for three-year temporary humanitarian visas through which they can study, work, and access Medicare. The Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated that these visa-holders will 'have the opportunity and be invited to apply for other longer-term visas should they wish to do so'. As at 20 March around 750 of those individuals have arrived in Australia.
Previously, the Prime Minister had announced on 23 February that the Australian government would be working to 'accelerate the conclusion' of visa applications from Ukrainians, and a contrast between this and the government’s delayed response to the displacement of Afghan refugees was criticised as ‘selective compassion’ by members of the Ukrainian and Afghan diasporas in Australia, civil society organisations and religious groups. Ahead of the Australian federal budget on 29 March 2022, a range of stakeholders had urged the Australian government to raise the country’s annual refugee and humanitarian program to previous highs, and to consider ways to offer places for Afghan and Ukrainian refugees in addition to this capped annual intake. As subsequently announced in the budget, the Australian government will provide an additional 16,500 places for Afghan refugees over four years, which will increase Australia’s refugee and humanitarian intake to a ceiling of 17,875 places annually. The Refugee Council of Australia has said this ‘will create greater room for the resettlement of refugees displaced by persecution in other countries... as well as providing options for the permanent protection of Ukrainians if the current conflict continues'.
The Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison had previously indicated that his government may consider offering temporary stay to displaced Ukrainians, in a similar manner to a program for Kosovar refugees in the late 1990s. That program was, however, widely criticised for lacking safeguards for the refugees themselves, many of whom faced deportation and detention when the Australian government refused to allow them to stay beyond their initial three-month admission.
Overseas, in late February and early March 2022 organisations such as Refugees International and the World Refugee & Migration Council were urging the Canadian and United States governments to establish large special humanitarian intakes for Ukrainian refugees. The Canadian government soon announced the 'Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel', which provides a streamlined process through which Ukrainians can fly into Canada and apply to stay for up to three years. On 22 March the Biden administration announced its goal to welcome up to 100,000 displaced Ukrainians 'and others fleeing Russia's aggression'. By late April President Biden had announced a new initiative called 'Uniting for Ukraine', through which individuals in the United States can sponsor Ukrainians to enter the country for a period of up to two years.
What to know: Resettlement is the process of transferring a refugee or other person in humanitarian need from a country where they have initially sought protection to a country that will provide them with permanent residence. In 2021, some 20 countries around the world worked with UNHCR to provide resettlement places for refugees. A special humanitarian intake is usually a one-off arrangement, made in addition to a state's existing commitment to resettle refugees.
As recommended in the Kaldor Centre’s Policy Brief no. 7,
• Special humanitarian intakes should provide a pathway to permanent, durable solutions for the refugees concerned.
• Special humanitarian intakes must be undertaken in consultation and cooperation with UNHCR.
• Once a decision has been taken to implement a special humanitarian intake, the selection of individuals for resettlement from within the target population should focus on identifying refugees with the greatest protection needs.
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