From the Refugee Council web site: Protection sensitive borders
Remote Controls: how UK border controls are endangering the lives of refugees [Refugee Council, 2008]
The Refugee Council is concerned that the plethora of UK border controls placed overseas and aimed at preventing irregular migration is preventing refugees fleeing from their own countries and getting to a place of safety. This study is the result of a one year research project by the Refugee Council and explores the various overseas UK border controls and their impact on refugees.
The report includes evidence gathered during a field visit to Turkey, a key country of transit for many refugees coming to the UK. The Refugee Council found that the UK’s overseas border controls may risk refugees being sent back to countries where they face persecution. The report contains recommendations as to protection safeguards the UK should put in place to ensure that refugees are not put at such risk and are able to access protection.
Please find below a list of updated and new publications on refugee studies and related topics.These have been accumulated from a range of online sources and links to the relevant full-text document are given where appropriate.This list will be made available on a regular basis via our Refugee Studies blog (http://refugee-archives.blogspot.com), as new resources become available.
Additional Info:The CzechRepublic will assume the Presidency of the EU on 1 January 2009. UNHCR has prepared a set of recommendations to guide its work on several important issues arising on the Union's asylum agenda during the Czech Republic's six-month term. UNHCR remains seriously concerned that current laws and practice mean that persons in need of international protection are not necessarily able to find it throughout the European Union.
Additional Info:Additional Info:Africa Briefing N°56.The inter-party negotiations that have sought to end Zimbabwe’s political, economic and now full-blown humanitarian crisis following the fraudulent June 2008 presidential election run-off are hopelessly deadlocked. Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF will not accept genuine power sharing, and Morgan Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) are unwilling to join a ZANU-PF dominated administration as a junior partner, responsible for ending international isolation but without authority to implement needed reforms and emergency humanitarian relief.
Additional Info:The final report of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been issued (S/2008/773). The document reports on 12 weeks of field work in the region, in particular in the North and South Kivu provinces. The report makes recommendations and has annexed many examples of evidence.
Additional Info:Available are three texts that provide guidance to attorneys working on human trafficking cases in the U.S.
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Title: Report by Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, following his visit to the Republic of Cyprus on 7-10 July 2008. Issues reviewed: Asylum, Detention of Migrants and Trafficking in Human Beings in the Republic of Cyprus
Please find below a list of updated and new publications on refugee studies and related topics.These have been accumulated from a range of online sources and links to the relevant full-text document are given where appropriate.This list will be made available on a regular basis via our Refugee Studies blog (http://refugee-archives.blogspot.com), as new resources become available.
Additional Info:Refugee Studies Centre Working Paper Series Number 50.
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Title:Must EU Borders Have Doors for Refugees? On the Compatibility of Schengen Visas with EU Member States’ Obligations to Provide International Protection to Refugees.
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Title:Putting the asylum seekers at the heart of a human and fair procedure: the EU Commission proposes to modify the Common European Asylum System.
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Title:Stuck in a Revolving Door: Iraqis and Other Asylum Seekers and Migrants at the Greece/Turkey Entrance to the European Union.
Authors:Development Assistance Research Associates.
Publication Date: November 2008.
Publication URL Address:http://www.hri.daraint.org/what_is_hri/overview
Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog - http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/ (Web).
Additional Info:Access.
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Title:Invisible Civilians: The Challenge of Humanitarian Access in Yemen’s Forgotten War.
Please find below a list of updated and new publications on refugee studies and related topics.These have been accumulated from a range of online sources and links to the relevant full-text document are given where appropriate.This list will be made available on a regular basis via our Refugee Studies blog (http://refugee-archives.blogspot.com), as new resources become available.
Additional Info:The Refugee Council, the Scottish Refugee Council and the Welsh Refugee Council have jointly submitted their concerns about this proposed Bill to the JCHR.The Refugee Councils are concerned that the Bill greatly extends the powers of the Secretary of State to prevent refugees seeking asylum in the UK without ensuring that protection needs are safeguarded. It is also likely to lead to growing criminalisation and use of detention.
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Title:Fair Decisions, Faster Justice: A UKBA Consultation: Joint Response of the Refugee Legal Centre and the Refugee Council
Additional Info:In the lead-up to the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS) has produced, in collaboration with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, a handbook entitled, The United Nations Human Rights System: How to Make it Work for you. Primarily designed for civil society organizations, it offers basic and practical information for understanding how the UN human rights system works. The handbook may be downloaded in English and French from the NGLS web site.
Additional Info:The UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region (UNIAP) has issued a Strategic Information Response Network (SIREN) report, Operation Pentameter 2: Attacking Exploitation in the United Kingdom. According to the UN News Story, "The largest ever police operation to target sex trafficking in the UK recovered some 167 women and girls forced to work in the sex industry, including 13 children – the youngest just 15 years old.".
Additional Info:The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) has released its 10th periodic report (full text, pdf) on the Human Rights situation in the Sudan. According to the summary, "the report focuses on arbitrary arrest and detention, in particular, situations in which members of the security and intellegence services, the military or the police arbitrary arrest or detain individuals."
Additional Info:The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) has released its latest report (full-text, pdf) on human rights in Iraq, covering the period 1 January - 30 June 2008. According to the press release, "Iraq has witnessed substantial improvements in general security conditions, with a marked drop in violent, high-visibility, high-casualty attacks by militias or criminal gangs, but the human rights situation in the country still remains serious."
Additional Info:SAMP Migration Policy Series No 49.The report provides an analysis of migration patterns and remittance flows in Southern Africa from a gendered perspective. The report is based on national household surveys conducted by SAMP in 5 SADC countries. As well as demonstrating the vital importance of remittances to household livelihoods in the region, the report shows how men’s and women’s migration and remittance behavior differs. The report is an important contribution to current debates on South-South remittances and the development potential of remittance flows. In addition, the report shows that Zimbabwean migration now exhibits very different gender characteristics from other countries in the SADC region.
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Title:The Perfect Storm: The Realities of Xenophobia in Contemporary South Africa
Additional Info:The Guidance Note seeks to provide guidance on both substantive and procedural elements to be considered in deciding on refugee claims made
by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals relating to their
sexual orientation and gender identity. The Note supplements and should
be read in conjunction with UNHCR's Guidelines on International
Protection: Gender-Related Persecution Within the Context of Article
1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol Relating to the
Status of Refugees, available at
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3d36f1c64.html. More
specifically, the Note examines the relevant human rights and refugee
legal framework as well as analyses the criteria in the refugee
definition contained in the 1951 Convention, including the concept of
persecution and persecutory practices in the context of sexual
orientation and gender identity. The Note also builds on legislative and
jurisprudential developments at the international, regional and national
level.
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Title:Strategies to Support the HIV-related Needs of Refugees and Host
Populations
Additional Info:The report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been issued (S/2008/693). This is the third report for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and covers the period from June 2007 to September 2008.
A current awareness service highlighting web research and information relating to refugees, IDPs and forced migration; provided on behalf of the Refugee Archives at the UEL by Paul Dudman.The Refugee Archives at UEL are a growing resource for the study of forced migration and the refugee. Further details can be found on our website.
