Date/Time:
June 13, 2013 - 9:30am - 11:00am
Location:
Online, United States
Website:

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Description:

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The growing tension between adherence to international humanitarian law and the practical realities of delivering assistance to vulnerable populations in complex and volatile humanitarian contexts, such as in Syria, represents a significant challenge for the humanitarian community.

Humanitarian assistance is traditionally managed as a state-centric system, requiring aid agencies to cooperate with state authorities for the provision of relief to its citizens. While Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions authorizes an impartial humanitarian actor to offer its services to the parties to the conflict, international humanitarian law does not grant humanitarian agencies the legal right to enter a sovereign territory without the consent of the state.

In circumstances in which the state actively interferes with humanitarian operations, or in which the state is unable to grant access to areas controlled by non-state actors, certain humanitarian agencies have argued that it is possible, if not obligatory, to engage in humanitarian operations across state borders, circumventing the legal requirement of state consent for access.

In such situations, humanitarian agencies differ as to the legitimacy, feasibility, and need for cross-border operations. Some agencies call for cross-border operations, alleging that limitations in access create imbalances in the delivery of aid in certain vulnerable areas. Other agencies support cross-border operations but only after negotiating the consent of the government. Meanwhile, still others defend strictly cross-line operations, heeding the legal requirements to operate only with the consent of governments.

HPCR’s live web seminar will examine the following questions to address this debate:

1. To what extent can coordination between humanitarian organizations and national authorities remain consistent with humanitarian principles? What limitations can member states place on humanitarian actors?
2. What practical measures can humanitarian agencies take to prevent access restrictions from occurring?
3. When do these restrictions amount to arbitrary denial of consent, thus requiring humanitarian organizations to resort to cross-border operations without the authorization of central authorities?
4. What advocacy options are available to agencies when governments restrict access? How can agencies negotiate the tension between access and advocacy?

Expert Panelists:

• Dr. Hugo Slim, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict.
• Dr. Mego Terzian, President, Médecins Sans Frontières France.
• Mr. Balthasar Staehelin, Deputy Director General, International Committee of the Red Cross.

Moderators:

• Mr. Ofilio Mayorga, Legal Associate, Harvard Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research.
• Mr. Rob Grace, Program Associate, Harvard Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research.

Background Materials

Opinion Pieces:

• “Expert Q&A: Syria's Humanitarian Crisis Has No End in Sight" (Brookings, 25 April, Elizabeth Ferris, Megan Bradley)
• “Camps are Not the Answer to Syria’s Displacement Crisis” (Brookings, 19 April, Megan Bradley)
• “Is Obama’s Red Line a Green Light ?” (Foreign Policy, 29 April)
• The Dangerous Price of Ignoring Syria (New York Times, 15 April)
• “Syria Claims Disruption of a Rebel Supply Line” (New York Times, 25 April)
• “UN chief urges Syria to allow UN experts to investigate allegations of chemical weapons use” (Washington Post, 29 April)
• “Obama should remember Rwanda as he weighs action in Syria” (Washington Post, April 26 - AM Slaughter)
• “At least three allegations of chemical weapons use in Syria” (LA Times, 28 April)

Overview with up to date Resources:

• Appeal by UN
• Global Overview 2012: People internally displaced by conflict and violence (29 April)

United Nations:

• UN Officials on Syria “catastrophe” – Amos, Guterres, others brief on Syria plus Syrian, Lebanese and Turkish envoys (18 April)
• UNHCR: INTER-AGENCY REGIONAL RESPONSE FOR SYRIAN REFUGEES, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, (11 - 17 April)
• UN OCHA: AMOS: "We need to get aid into these hard to reach areas. It is difficult to do cross-line [missions] because of these bureaucratic constraints. The council needs to consider alternative forms of aid delivery including cross border operations because too many lives are being lost ... This Council must also request the parties to ensure the safe and unimpeded access of aid organizations to those in need in all areas of Syria.” Full Text
• OCHA: Valerie Amos: Security Council Briefing on Syria (18 April)
• UNRWA: Situation update (14 April)
• Appeal by heads of leading UN humanitarian agencies for the people of Syria (World Health Organization, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, World Food Programme, UN Children's Fund, UN High Commissioner for Refugees) (15 April)

NGOs / Roundtables:

• Hugo Slim: Legal and Ethical to Pursue Cross-Border Humanitarian Aid , Jerémie Labbé (19 April 2013)
• “Syria’s Mess Causes Soul Searching in Humanitarian Aid World”, Jérémie Labbé (8 March 2013)
• “Syria crisis: the humanitarian response” Roundtable, London. (15 June 2012)
• “Syria crisis: the humanitarian response” Roundtable 2, London (31 August 2012)
• Yves Daccord “Humanitarian action in a changing landscape: fit for purpose?”, ICRC (February 2013)
• Pierre Krähenbühl, “There are no 'good' or 'bad' civilians in Syria – we must help all who need aid”, ICRC, “The Red Cross is working across frontlines inside Syria; not everyone who needs assistance is near a border or can get out.” (3 March 2013)
• “SPECIAL REPORT: Syria Two Years On: The Failure of International Aid” (6 March 2013)
• MSF Teleconference: The Humanitarian Situation in Syria (7 March 2013)
• “Syria: donors must address aid imbalance” (29 January 2013)
• “Syria: Authorize Cross-Border Humanitarian Aid” (11 February 2013)
• “Is Turkey's approach to Syrian refugees sustainable?” : recent changes, longer term vision (15 April)

 

• Foreign Policy “It's Time to Act in Syria: American values and interests are at stake in stopping the country's slow-motion destruction” , Dennis Ross (18 April)
• Foreign Affairs “Humanitarian Intervention Comes of Age: Lessons From Somalia to Libya”, Jon Western and Joshua S. Goldstein (November/December 2011)
• Foreign Affairs “R2P After Syria: To Save the Doctrine, Forget Regime Change”, Jon Western and Joshua S. Goldstein (26 March 2013)
• “From Peaceful Demonstrations to Armed Conflict: Considering Humanitarian Intervention in the Case of Syria” , Elayne Hannon, Hannah Russell (4 February 2013)
• “Humanitarian Imperatives are Transforming Sovereignty”, Roberta Cohen, Brookings Institute (Winter 2008)
• “The Changing Understanding of State Sovereignty: Sovereignty, Failing States and International Organizations”, Hans-Joachim Heintze, Associate Professor, Ruhr University Bochum, Editor of “International Humanitarian Law” (14 June 2012)
• “Towards a Typology of Humanitarian Access Denial”, Melissa T Labonte & Anne C Edgerton, Third World Quarterly (01 Feb 2013)
• “Humanitarian intervention in the post-Cold War era: a provisional balance-sheet in light of Libya, Syria and Mali”, Jolyon Howorth, Yale University (Syria case p. 23) March 2013