Refugees with disabilities, especially refugee women and girls with disabilities, face double discrimination as both refugee and one with disability
There is no exact data on the number of refugees and displaced people with disabilities, although the World Health Organisation estimates that 16 per cent of the world's population lives with significant disability.
Refugees with disabilities, especially refugee women and girls with disabilities, experience many forms of violence. Violence against refugee women with disabilities has unique forms, unique causes and unique consequences.
These negative impacts are felt all over the world and in every sphere of life.
Now consider the impact of refugee stereotyping on persons with disabilities, especially women and girls with disabilities – this can be greatly tormenting because generally legal and policy analysis fails to take this aspect into consideration.
Article 8 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Article 5 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) emphasise the negative role that stereotypes can play in the lives of persons with disabilities, including women with disabilities and women in general.
Under CEDAW, states hold the responsibility to combat stereotypes, prejudices and harmful practices.
Article 8 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) lists ways in which a state may combat stereotypes against women and persons with disabilities. It recommends that states employ programmes to raise awareness throughout society, including at the family level... and to foster respect for the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities.
Article 11 of the CRPD is often referred to in relation to asylum-seekers and refugees with disabilities as it reinforces the obligations of states to ensure protection and safety in situations of risk, including armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters. Also, the protection of asylum-seekers and refugees with disabilities fall on the state party or host country in ensuring reasonable accommodation as well as accessibility measures.
The CPRD outlines the rights of refugees, such as the right to access to court, housing, education and employment. The state par-ties are to ensure that refugees have the same treatment and access to social security with respect to disability as nationals in their host country.
Barriers faced by persons with disabilities in the asylum process, including attitudinal barriers and lack of support, might lead to lack of consistency and difficulties in articulating the refugee claim. Applicants with disabilities may have great difficulty in recalling andrecount what happened to them or what they fear upon return to their country of origin. This may be due to fear or distrust of authorities, impaired memory, the traumatic nature of the events underlying his/ her claim, reduced attention and concentration, mood disturbances, diminished cognitive functions, and lack of accommodation to address these challenges.
Our government has yet to campaign or providepolicy information on disabled refugee people, including their human rights, improving the education system and regulation of their welfare.
As an Institute of International Education (IIE) Centennial Fellow, I conducted research on "Overcoming the Barriers That Refugee and Internally Displaced People with Disabilities Face in Ensuring Human Rights in Nepal". During interviews, refugee persons with disabilities argued that identifying persons with disabilities was a systematic barrier in addressing the needs of applicants with disabilities, as asylum-seekers with disabilities remain under-reported.
For example, a blind or visually impaired person faces procedural barriers when completing the written forms and receiving written communication, which would exacerbate the challenges in participating in the refugee status determination process. To accommodate this, it is recommended to identify communication preferences, in consultation with the applicant, and provide the individual with information in accordance with these preferences, for example, via Braille or a screen reader.
For an asylum-seeker with intellectual disability and difficulties understanding questions and instructions, adaptations may include accessing information in easy-to-read and digestible formats.
During the interviews and hearings, the case officer may also have to extend the time with regular breaks or do multiple/shorter interviews.
This could also benefit applicants with psychosocial disabilities.
For individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, adjustments may include the provision of quality and qualified sign language interpreters from the initial interviews, if that is their preference. It should be noted that if deaf asylum-seekers communicate in their national sign language, the allocated sign language interpreter must be able to communicate in the corresponding national sign language.
Refugees with disabilities, especially refugee women and girls with disabilities, face double discrimination as both refugee and one with disability (as well as other identities such as race, sexuality and indigenous status). Stereotypical attitudes towards women in general and persons with disabilities contribute to misconceptions and derogations of the opportunities, abilities and potential of refugees with disabilities, re-enforcing patriarchal attitudes and assumptions, and depriving them of even the most basic human rights.
Refugees and asylum-seekers with disabilities are placed between two fundamental legal instruments: the 1951 Refugee Convention and the CRPD that seek to protect this group.
They are entitled to claim international protection and be protected as refugees.
The refugees' rights community should expand its dialogue with persons with disabilities to ensure that they are included in dialogues on stereotyping and that the evolving jurisprudence is comprehensive and inclusive.
Joshi is executive director, Equip for Equality Nepal
