09 September 2016 – United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Regional Representative James Lynch called on Assistant Secretary Bayani S. Mercado of the Department of Foreign Affairs – United Nations and Other International Organizations (DFA-UNIO) and presented his open letter of credence as non-resident Country Representative of UNHCR to the Philippines on September 06.

During the call, Mr. Lynch commended the Philippines’ continuing efforts to address the plight of refugees, asylum seekers as well as stateless persons and its ongoing programs with the UNHCR, notably the administration of its refugee determination process headed by the Department of Justice’s Refugee and Stateless Persons Processing unit (DOJ-RSPPU); the Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM), a tripartite program managed with the UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) that oversees the immediate evacuation of persons fleeing persecution; and an-ongoing program with the Indonesian Consulate in Mindanao for the confirmation, determination, and registration of Persons of Indonesian Descent (PIDs).

Mr. Lynch will visit UNHCR’s operations in Mindanao to announce the refugee agency’s plan to continue its operations, despite previous announcements of downsizing since 2015 due to other refugee crises in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Mr. Lynch also added that UNHCR will maintain its focus on assisting displaced communities due to armed conflict.

Although based in the UNHCR regional headquarters in Thailand, Mr. Lynch will oversee operations in the Philippines through UNHCR Manila Office Head, Mr. Yasser Saad. END