By Filane Mikee Cervantes | Philippine News Agency
President Rodrigo Duterte has issued an executive order (EO) institutionalizing access to protection services for refugees, stateless persons, and asylum seekers.
Duterte signed EO No. 163 on February 28 to ensure the full protection of persons of concern’s (POCs) rights to liberty, security, and freedom of movement.
“These shall include the provision of access to socioeconomic services, social security benefits, gainful employment and humane working conditions, education, participation in judicial and administrative citizenship proceedings, legal assistance and access to courts, and freedom of religion,” the order read.
The EO is in accordance with the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, the 1954 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Person, and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
The POCs have the “concomitant obligation to abide by the laws and regulations of the country, including measures relating to the protection of public health, and maintenance of public order and national security.”
Under the EO, the Inter-Agency Committee on the Protection of Refugees, Stateless Persons and Asylum Seekers is established to provide services and assistance to POCs.
The local government units (LGUs) are encouraged to support the integration of the POCs within their communities, conduct information and awareness campaigns, and make available the necessary programs and services to facilitate such integration in local development frameworks, including development programming and emergency response and recovery frameworks.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has limited the ability of refugees, stateless persons and asylum seekers to cross borders to seek protection, bringing to fore the need to integrate and institutionalize relevant policies and programs of government agencies and ensure that these communities of people are properly protected and accorded the widest possible exercise of fundamental rights and freedoms,” the EO read.
The Philippines is one of the few countries in the region to have acceded to the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 protocol, according to the website of the UN refugee agency.
The country also has a long history of accepting refugees long before it became a State party to the 1951 Convention. It was among the first to offer asylum to waves of refugees since the end of World War I. (PNA)
