December 2011
20 posts
DECEMBER 2011
FAHAMU REFUGEE LEGAL AID NEWSLETTER
ISSN 2049-2650
a monthly forum for news and discussion on refugee legal aid
Editorial Team: Nora Danielson, Themba Lewis, Yara Romariz Maasri, Sara Gonzalez Devant, Darshini Yoganathan
Proofreaders: Annemarie Hulbert, Mina Naguib, Rebecka Jonsson, Ian Ackerman
In this issue:
The Bangkok Principles on the Status and Treatment of Refugees
Resolution...
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The Bangkok Principles on the Status and Treatment...
Merrill Smith, Advisor to the Fahamu Refugee Trust, contributed this article highlighting the usefulness of the Bangkok Principles.
The Bangkok Principles. Never heard of them? Don’t feel too bad. Many seasoned refugee advocates haven’t either but they should soon, so now might be a good time to read up!
The 1966 Bangkok Principles on the Status and Treatment of Refugees, or ‘Bangkok...
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Model pledge towards upholding refugee rights...
As part of its commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN) has asked governments in the Asia Pacific region to make these pledges towards the upholding of refugee rights. The 60th anniversary commemoration of the 1951 Refugee Convention presents an opportunity to focus states’ attention on various problems that refugees,...
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Resolution on the rights of refugees, asylum...
Justice without Borders for Migrants brought to our attention this rights advocacy resolution, adopted by the Forum of African NGOs at the 50th session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in October this year. We, the civil society organizations (CSOs) meeting in Banjul on 17 October 2011;
Noting keenly the dizzying increase of violations of migrants’ rights, in particular in...
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MIGREUROP explores readmission instruments
Contributor Claudia Charles submitted this report exploring readmission agreements, drafted by MIGREUROP.
Readmission is a legal technique enabling the expulsion of foreigners through international agreements in an efficient and expedient manner. In principle, states can expel aliens who entered the country illegally or whose stay became irregular according to national law. However, the said...
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The situation of refugees in Israel
Contributed by Maddalena Zaccaro, MA in Near and Middle Eastern Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. She is grateful to Adv. Tally Kritzman-Amir for her comments.
The smuggling of African refugees to Israel from Egypt has been ongoing for the last decade, but there has been a sharp increase since 2007. For refugees, Israel represents the only...
REQUESTS
Urgent request: COI on the Gambia The Immigrant Rights Clinic (IRC) in New York University School of Law is preparing a political asylum application for a Gambian client. Please email the IRC if you can recommend an expert who can provide COI on the Gambia for the case. Request: the situation of Afghans in Iran If anyone has information on the situation of Afghans in Iran, please send an email,...
Question & answer: the Cessation Clause examined
Contributor Merrill Smith responds to a question about governmental and organizational compliance with the legal framework of the Cessation Clause that was emailed by a Rwandan refugee.
Question from Rwandan refugee, entitled ‘I am confused’:
The ExCom Conclusion No. 69, 2nd paragraph, says that the application of the cessation clause in the 1951 Convention ‘rests exclusively with the...
ECtHR allows extradition to Rwanda of alleged Hutu...
Martin Jones, lecturer in International Human Rights Law at the University of York, United Kingdom, sent the following comments regarding the extradition from Sweden of an alleged Hutu genocidaire to Rwanda, in the case of Ahorugeze v. Sweden (Application no. 37075/09). The judgment by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) was dated 27 October 2011.
The European Court of Human Rights has...
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The Cessation Clause: a primer
This article examines motivations behind the implementation of the Cessation Clause and is contributed by M. Angela Buenaventura, a recent volunteer legal advocate with Asylum Access in Quito, Ecuador, where she represented refugees’ rights to refugee status, employment, security, education and social services. She previously worked with the National Immigrant Justice Center and the Midwest...
‘Is this Caribbean idyll the worst place in the...
Contributed by Jackie Cartwright, MA student at Oxford Brookes University and intern at Fahamu Refugee Programme.
This is the headline to a video article in the Toronto Star on 12 November 2011. In the short clip, Keturah Cupid, one of many women seeking asylum in Canada, speaks of violence and fear. Her homeland, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a series of islands, is a mix of high end...
WikiLeaks diplomatic cables: a tool for refugee...
The editors received a letter from Marina Nemat, a Canadian-Iranian author of international best sellers Prisoner of Tehran and After Tehran, who fled Iran after having been imprisoned for two years and sentenced to death. She writes:
I was at a meeting a while ago and a journalist from Iraq was there. I didn’t mention that I knew Julian Assange, but the journalist talked about...
In limbo in Latvia
Contributed by Jackie Cartwright, MA student at Oxford Brookes University and intern at Fahamu Refugee Programme.
‘I have no friends here and I don`t understand the language. I am here without freedom to move in the country.’- email„ May 2011
An article in Refugees International comments that Latvia ‘has been historically resistant to inbound migration’ and is a country ‘where asylum...
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN & LEGAL NEWS
AFRICA
CAMEROON: Three LGBTI individuals jailed for ‘indecent behaviour’ KENYA: Lack of clarity and capacity undermine new Kenyan urban refugee legislation, providing greater opportunities for abuse of refugee rights SOUTH AFRICA: Rwandan refugees in South Africa reluctant to repatriate in anticipation of Cessation Clause
SUDAN: AFP reports Sudan deported 300 Eritrean asylum seekers to ‘almost...
PUBLICATIONS
return, Amnesty International, 2 November 2011.
‘On October 17, 2011, Sudan handed over 300 Eritreans to the Eritrean military without screening them for refugee status … The mass deportation follows dozens of other unlawful deportations by Sudan since May of Eritrean asylum seekers and of Eritreans who had been denied access to asylum.’ - Sudan: End Mass Summary Deportations...
Resources
‘The Fifth Edition of The Refugee is here. The Refugee is a bi-monthly newspaper written by refugee youth in Dadaab for the refugee community. It is the only locally produced newspaper and serves a population in Dadaab which is now more than 450,000.’ The Refugee Newspaper - Edition Five and Online, FilmAid Blog.
‘The research maps the number and profile of stateless persons...
ANNOUNCEMENTS
LGBTI issues in refugee legal aid: a new resource on the Southern Refugee Legal Aid Network website The website of the Fahamu Refugee Programme (FRP) now has a special page, managed by Eddie Bruce-Jones, to provide legal advisers with credible, country-specific resources in representing LGBTI asylum claims. Attached to the LGBTI page on SRLAN is a list of countries. On each country page a team of...
OPPORTUNITIES
Opening for Legal Assistance Centre Programme Manager at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Thailand
The IRC in Thailand is seeking a Legal Assistance Centre Programme Manager to be based in Mae Sot, along the Thai-Burma border. The position will involve managing and supporting the Legal Assistance Center staff on all aspects of their work, including legal counseling, case management and...
Resources