Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
As we gather here, there is a pervasive epidemic that is plaguing almost every refugee camp around the world: sexual and gender-based violence against women. Female refugees across the world are highly vulnerable to all forms of sexual and physical violence. Staying in a refugee camp within the country of origin or seeking protection elsewhere brings serious threats to women’s security, freedom and health as they face specific forms of violence: from rape to abduction and sexual slavery, trafficking, sexual exploitation and abuse. They enter these camps hoping to escape the horrors that have overtaken their homes but are met with continued violence.
During my field missions, refugees from Somalia to Syria, Sudan, Iraq and many other places share with me harrowing stories of abuse and suffering. They are also unanimous in telling me that what happened to them could have been prevented citing physical design and location of refugee camps undermining rather than enhancing their physical security and advocating for secured housing for unaccompanied women and girls and female heads of household; energy-efficient stoves to reduce their exposure when collecting firewood in isolated areas; improved lighting, locks in sleeping and washing facilities, more security personnel and security patrols and their involvement in camp leadership structures. Indeed, while physical displacement is an inevitable “by-product” of armed conflict, the sexual violence and other human rights violations are not inevitable. They are preventable.
The international community has long resolved to end this scourge. Yet, despite declarations, resolutions and guidelines, current reports show that protecting female refugees from gender-based violence remains a complex problem. The 2022 annual report of the Secretary General on CRSV, compiled by my Office, paints a bleak picture of life in refugee camps:
In Syria, the situation at al-Hawl camp, in which some 56,000 people remain, 94 per cent of whom are women and children, continued to deteriorate. In November, the bodies of two girls, who were reportedly killed a few days after being abducted and raped, were found discarded in a sewage ditch of the camp. In Sudan, attacks of displaced women and girls leaving camps in order to attend school or engaging in essential livelihood activities, are rife. In Libya, patterns of sexual violence, including rape and forced prostitution against migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, continued to be perpetrated by traffickers, smugglers, armed men and State actors. In the Tazerbu camp in eastern Libya, which holds some 200 asylum seekers, of which over 100 are women and children, female detainees reported being raped by Libyan officials and foreign nationals. In the volatile political and security context of Iraq, cases of sexual violence continued to be reported. In 2022, the United Nations provided gender-based violence services to over 3,750 refugees and 4,000 displaced persons.
Today, the world is experiencing a reversal of generational gains in women’s rights while violent conflicts, military coups, displacements, and hunger continue to increase. This meeting could not have been timelier for the Arab world to come together in One Voice to stand with women and girls, who are at greater risk of sexual and gender-based violence in situations of asylum and displacement. We meet at a time when while the world’s attention is rightly turned towards the fastest and largest displacement triggered by the war in Ukraine, unfortunately other crises are failing to capture the same international attention, outrage, resources and action. I commend the League of Arab States and UNHCR for shining the spotlight on the issue of refugee protection and the search for solutions. I am sure that you all agree, with desperate urgency, the need for the international community to cooperate in order to reverse the current trajectory and find solutions. I am here to join forces with the League of Arab States with which my Office has a Framework of Cooperation since 2016.
As the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, I am guided by the firm belief that through active efforts to address the root causes of conflict-related sexual violence, we can sow the seeds necessary to stop this crime from occurring ever again. Last September, I accordingly launched a Prevention Framework on CRSV. UNHCR a founding member of the UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict Network, which I chair, brought the critical perspectives of the protection of refugees and displaced persons to the said Prevention Framework. The truth is while solidarity remains strong and many host countries speak with commitment about keeping their borders open and receiving and protecting those in need, I also hear about fatigue from host countries with large refugee populations weighing heavily on them, their schools, their health services and their public purse. Let’s not forget that host countries and communities are, after all, the biggest donors to refugees and such support in the absence of the prospect of solutions can be difficult to sustain.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We have a collective duty to safeguard the human rights and dignity of displaced and refugee women and girls. It is our responsibility to ensure that those who have made the terrible choice of leaving everything behind and flee; those living with the anguish of exile; those who look at the future with fear, are protected, helped, and empowered, so that we can help turn deprivation into opportunity, and despair into hope.