JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla yesterday said the Department of Justice (DOJ) under his watch will implement an empathy-driven approach in addressing the needs of refugees and asylum seekers.
Remulla also called on other government agencies and stakeholders to prioritize compassion alongside action in addressing the welfare of refugees and asylum seekers.
“This work has not been easy, but we do it not only because our legal framework dictates it but because our conscience demands it. Let us remember: the plight of refugees is a global challenge that calls upon key stakeholders to lead with empathy and action,” Remulla said in his keynote address during the second National Refugee Day commemoration.
Remulla said that as a state party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, as well as the 1954 and 1961 Statelessness Conventions, the Philippines remains committed to ensuring protection, inclusion, and opportunities for all forcibly displaced, stateless, and at-risk-of-statelessness individuals.
He added that the DOJ, through its Refugees and Stateless Persons Protection Unit (RSPPU), will remain steadfast in strengthening inclusive and protective spaces for refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons and those at risk of statelessness in the Philippines.
The RSPPU led the commemoration with a Blue Monday Celebration on May 19, followed by a National Refugee Conference featuring plenary and breakout sessions that centered on global and local displacement trends, inclusive community-building, and refugee-led initiatives.
Other activities during the week-long commemoration includes the PhilSys Registration Day in coordination with the Philippine Statistics Authority, Solidarity Bazaar featuring refugee-led businesses, 3rd Refugee Film Festival and Solidarity Football Match in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees- Philippines, Football for Humanity, and San Beda University, and an Orientation on Local Integration and an information session on facilitated naturalization for newly recognized refugees.
The Judiciary was represented in the event by Morong, Rizal Regional Trial Court Branch 89 Judge Maria Josefina San Juan-Torres, and a member of the Special Committee on Facilitated Naturalization for Refugees and Stateless Individuals.
San Juan-Torres said the Judiciary is one with those who seek safety, dignity, and a place to call home.
“The Judiciary will help transform a gray canvas into a more defined and colorful landscape of resilience and hope for refugees and stateless persons by providing a space in the justice system for their protection,” she added.
Delivering a message from the Presidential Communications Office, Assistant Secretary for Legal Affairs Aristotle Valera called upon all government agencies, local government units, civil society, and Filipinos to support National Refugee Day.
“In a global landscape marked by challenges, the Philippines has always provided a home for refugees. We must strengthen our shared responsibility in fostering inclusive and resilient communities,” he said.
Norielyn Tabag, Director for the Community Engagement Center of San Beda University, a partner school under the Philippines’ Complementary Pathways program which has welcomed Rohingya youth refugees from Myanmar to pursue higher education in the country meanwhile urged “all academic institutions in the Philippines to continue this humanitarian tradition of opening doors and to join us and Pathways Pilipinas as we seek to enhance and expand the access of refugees to education and other protective services that will allow refugees to have the opportunity to become productive members of society.”
The country’s welcoming door to refugees and asylum seekers started a long way back, including the Vietnamese when the Saigon government fell to communist forces from Hanoi in 1975, Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi rule before World War II, and the White Russians who escaped their country after the Bolsheviks’ take over and the subsequent civil war there in 1917.
After Kabul fell to Taliban forces in 2021 following the withdrawal of the US-led coalition forces, then-DFA Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said the country also took in Afghans, “including women and kids.”
Early this year, Manila provided a temporary facility for several days to house 200 Afghan nationals whose applications for Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) are being processed by the US Embassy before their final destination in the US.
