UNHRC COSTA RICA

By ANA MARÍA VASCONEZ, THE GUARDIAN

Costa Rican delegate on Statelessness

-

According to documentation the term refugee defines any human who is stateless, has no true citizenship and has been forced out of their own land, due to war, famine, political strife, amongst other catastrophes.

The Costa Rican delegation for the United Nations Human Rights Council, in consistent talks with other nations of the committee, granted us an interview regarding her delegation’s position on the issue of statelessness.

Taking in consideration the accords of  1957 on refugees, the talks on the committee have been intense. Costa Rica believes that the most important topic to discuss is the issue of misidentification. Identification is essential, not just for the sake of the refugee, but for the sake of the organizations that are doing the work to manage the wellbeing of the stateless individuals.

Certain criteria needs to be evaluated, and reinforced. The exact number of refugees is not yet known, but in order for big nations, such as United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, Germany to be able to donate funds, manage or petition help from existing NGOs, there needs to be concise, factual numbers. How many children, women, elders?

The main issue for refugees is that they are not being recognized. Though work is being done, the approach can be a bit rough around the edges. Costa Rica believes that the aforementioned issues are things that need to be considered, in order to start any projects.

Costa Rica is not “trying to reinvent the wheel, rather, to contribute to the Non-Governmental Organizations that we already count with. Jobs are important, and our delegation solely believes that the implementation of skill sets will impact them in a positive way.”