Refugee Protection: A Proud Tradtion of UNA-Canada's UNPP Programme.

Three JPCs at UNHCR India

Three UNA-Canada JPCs are currently on the ground in New Delhi. Pictured recently on Canada Day are from left to right (above): Rabea Soofi, Melanie Walker, and Sadaf Tataei. 

UNA-Canada has a long standing history of sending protection workers to New Delhi over the last ten years. India is home to one of the largest urban refugee caseloads in the world. As the Government of India is a non-signatory to the UN Refugee Convention, UNHCR provides critical advice and support (broadly called “protection”) to asylum seekers from countries such as Myanmar, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia to name a few.

Within the protection framework is Refugee Status Determination (or RSD). This is the process by which an asylum seeker is interviewed about why they fled their country of origin in a sensitive manner and a decision is rendered to grant to deny refugee status. Canadian JPCs are doing these interviews and assessments on a daily basis in New Delhi, managing an impressive caseload (like Melanie there with hers on the left).  It is an intensive job in terms of research writing, legal understanding and emotional balance. Both Melanie and Sadaf are in this unit, with Sadaf taking over Melanie’s departure.

Rabea, works with victims of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV), utilizing strategies which can prevent and mitigate it. It goes without saying that this is tremendously important work, which often compliments the RSD process and requires the application of the skills noted above plus those of a specialized social worker.

UNA-Canada has proudly supplied UNHCR with exceptional individuals who quickly augment the offices protection capacities and we know their contributions are well received.

Alumni of the New Delhi office have gone on to UNHCR and other humanitarian operations globally.