ISLAMABAD, Oct 4: The Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), in collaboration with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), will offer a distance learning course on refugee law.

In this regard, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the UNHCR and the AIOU was signed here on Saturday. Under the MoU, a three-month course will be offered to the students from early next year, an official statement said.

It said the course had been designed as part of efforts to increase understanding of global refugee problems, especially in Pakistan’s perspective.

The AIOU will facilitate this programme through its countrywide network of offices in major cities of the country and six Gulf states — Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Bahrain and Qatar.

The agreement, initially for 12 months, is extendible. The UNHCR will supply course material, give support to university staff running the course and finance the cost of printing books.

The AIOU, on its part, will provide books to the students. These books will also be in its book shops. The university will also be responsible to conduct the actual instructions with regard to the course and evaluation of students’ performances.

The statement said asylum policies were increasingly restrictive due to internal political conditions and in many cases states did not honour their international obligations toward refugees.

Hence, the UNHCR feels there is an urgent need to provide education in refugee law and increase public support for the protection of refugees, it added.

The UNHCR is best known in Pakistan for taking care of Afghan refugees and the current voluntary repatriation programme. However, it is also engaged in efforts to increase understanding among Pakistanis of the worldwide refugee problem.

The proposed curriculum for the refugee law course includes the history of the legal framework, details of the international agreements governing refugees and discussion of specific areas of action by the UNHCR.