The panelists included Nordic government officials: (left) UNHCR Regional Representative, Hans ten Feld, Rósa Dögg Flosadóttir(ICL), Gustav Lind (SWE), Sissil M. Pettersen (NOR), Thomas vom Brauke (DEN) and Ritva Viljanen (FIN). Photo: UNHCR

Nordics violating international law?

Are the Nordics violating international law when they refuse to protect persons fleeing generalized and group-targeted violence, moderator and Humanitarian Law Professor, Gregor Noll, asked Nordic top officials in the “Keep Them Safe” conference in Stockholm.

Several Nordic authorities insist that persons fleeing conflict have to prove individualized persecution to get asylum. Whether this is a violation of international conventions became the sticking point in the December 2007 conference in Stockholm. 

Nordic officials immediately refused any talk of a breach of international law, whilst the Nordic NGOs behind the conference maintain this to be the case:

“What we see in the Nordics is basically a misinterpretation of the refugee definition in the Refugee Convention,” argues Kim Kjær, Senior Research Fellow at the Danish Institute for Human Rights and spokesperson for the Danish NGO group.

According to Mr Kjær, most people fleeing conflict and violence would receive effective protection and convention status if there was a change of spirit in the application of the refugee definition.

Moderator Gregor Noll meanwhile referred to a recent decision in the European Court of Human Rights suggesting that the high showing of so-called “individual risk or threat” required conflicts with Article 3 in the European Convention on Human Rights.

Mr Noll also questioned the restricted definition of “armed conflict”, disqualifying countries such as Iraq in some Nordic countries and as a result, excluding persons fleeing the country from receiving international protection on these grounds.

	The audience comprised mostly Nordic decision-makers and NGOs.

The Nordic NGOs were satisfied with the conference.

“By coming and engaging in the discussion, the top officials should now have recognized the protection gap and the importance of looking for solutions for persons fleeing conflict and violence”, says Lise Bergh, Secretary General of Amnesty International Sweden.

 “This is not the end but the beginning of a dialogue and regional cooperation between Nordic NGOs that will continue”, Lise Bergh said ending the conference.

	Panelists received a huge Christmas present carrying thousands of petition signatures and a gingerbread cookie formed as a lifebelt, symbolising the Nordic "Keep them Safe" campaign.

The Nordic conference concluded the Nordic campaign “Keep Them Safe”, in which twenty NGOs from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, jointly urged governments and practitioners to reconsider their policies and legal practice towards asylum seekers fleeing generalized and group-targeted violence.

By Anna Leer, UNHCR