Refugees, Water, and the Law
Scott McKenzie examines the legal framework between host states and international relief agencies that is preventing the provision of water to refugees.
Refugee camps are some of the most vulnerable areas on Earth. These ad hoc encampments house thousands of people and only rudimentarily address human needs, particularly water supply and infrastructure. In many cases, these camps are home to people from other states seeking peace. However this often results in straining the host country’s economic and technical capabilities. In the water sector, the existing legal framework for supplying water is a patchwork between host states and international relief agencies. This arrangement results in concerning gaps that must be addressed to ensure the supply of this vital resource.
Refugee Camps Need Water
Refugee camps struggle to provide enough water for their residents. For example, the Ab Gadam camp located in a semi-arid area of south-east Chad is the home for more than 14,000 people fleeing violence in West Darfur. Unfortunately, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) which oversees the camp can only supply each resident with 2/3rds of the recommended daily amount of water. Now, each resident with only 3 liters above the absolute minimum needed to sustain life.
In many cases, the massive numbers of refugees burden a host country’s domestic water supplies. For example, Jordan’s Za’atari camp has over 144,000 people fleeing violence in Syria. However, Jordan has few natural water resources of its own and is ranked the fourth most water insecure state on Earth. As the camps use more water, Jordanians have begun to deal with their own water shortages and some reports suggest that traditional sources of water in some Jordanian villages have become less reliable.
In addition to people displaced by armed conflict, there are an increasing number of climate refugees. These are people who leave their homes because of adverse environmental factors. Desertification, drought, hurricanes, and other natural disasters increasingly are causing people to seek safety and security elsewhere.
Host States and International Actors Supply of Water
Two groups, host states and international actors, are responsible for supplying water for refugees. Host states often tap their own resources to help the refugees in their territory. Refugee needs are also facilitated by United Nations and NGO’s. Today, the UNHCR “provides protection, shelter, emergency food, water, medical care and other life-saving assistance to 34.5 million people worldwide.” In Kenya, the UNHCR, other UN agencies, and other NGOs have the responsibility to provide water while the government provides overall administration and allows their water to be accessed.
Host states and the UNHCR work together to meet guidelines for water supply. For example, UNHCR guidelines state each person should receive least 20 liters of water per day. Another set of guidelines known as the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response, suggest that water should not be more than 500 meters from residents.
A Fractured Framework of Responsibility
These guidelines do not create legal obligations, but a number of international legal instruments do frame the responsibility of these two groups of actors to provide water for these refugees. These instruments can be divided into two broad categories; protections for refugees and human rights law.
It is important to remember that treaties only create obligations if states ratify them. Some obligations can be created by customary international law. However, customary law is evidenced by consistent state behavior. In the case of supplying refugees with water there does not appear to be any consistent state behavior.
The 1951 Geneva Convention and subsequent 1967 Protocol are the primary tools of refugee law. These instruments are widely accepted and have been signed by over 140 states. The 1951 Convention and Protocol codify customary international law principles and describe refugee rights.
However, the Convention provides few details for state and global community responsibility to provide water. This is consistent with the focus of the document, which gives more attention to issues such as the right of movement than to protecting physical needs. Many African states are signatories to the 1969 Organization of African Unity (OAU) Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, but this also has a limited scope and focus similar to the 1951 Convention and and 1969 Protocol.
The Cartagena Declaration on Refugees is an agreement between states in Central America. These documents do more fully address the needs of refugees requiring for example that signatory states “reinforce programmes for protection of and assistance to refugees, particularly in the areas of health, education, labour and safety.”
International human rights law provides more explicit requirements on states to provide water in the quality and quantity necessary for all people in their territory. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family.” This has been interpreted to establish a human right to water. The right to water is also found in the humanitarian law, Geneva Conventions (III and IV) and their Additional Protocols (I and II).
More recently the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights noted in General Comment 15 to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that states should give “special attention to those individuals and groups who have traditionally faced difficulties...refugees.” General Comment 15 further requires that refugees should be provided access to water in the same manner as host country nationals.
General Comment 15 creates obligations beyond the refugee host states. All states have the responsibility to provide water resources, financial and technical assistance, and necessary aid to assist refugees. Non-state actors involved with the provision of water such as the World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) also have the obligation to work towards the implementation of the human right. This echos the evidence seen in current practice, where states typically allow access to their water, and the international actors such as the UN or NGO’s provide the actual management of infrastructure.
Importantly, these instruments focus on at risk groups. Women, children, elderly, and the disabled all have greater problems accessing water. The task of gathering water often falls to women. Similarly, these camps rarely have support for the disabled or those who are too weak to access water. These human rights instruments suggest that these groups need additional protection and consideration in the planning process.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1208 shows the difficulty addressing the responsibilities of host states, other state, and international actors. This resolution addressed the refugee situation in Africa. It stated that host states were responsible to “to ensure the...humanitarian character of refugee camps...in accordance with international refugee, human rights and humanitarian law.” However, the resolution also calls on coordination with the UNHRC and the international community to maintain the humanitarian charastics of these camps.
As this makes clear the responsibility for providing water to refugees is far from clear. This could result in situations where refugees receive no support because no group takes responsibility. Other risks include host states refusing to provide water if it has a determental effect on their own citizens.
Additional steps must be taken to address these shortcomings. This should include clarifing the rights and responsibilities of host states and international actors in all refugee situations. These steps should make clear at each step of the process which actor is responsible for providing resources for refugees. Further,protections must be established for refugees to access water even if this negatively impacts the host state.
Dedicated host states and international professionals work hard to provide water for refugee camps. Against long odds, conflict, and intense pressure, the managers of the Za’atari camp provide as much as 34 liters a day for each refugee. They deserve more support and a more robust legal framework protecting access to water.
