Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter

AFRICA
CAMEROON: Penal code revision adds to existing penalties for homosexuality
COMOROS: Conditions of detention centre on Mayotte island are a violation of human dignity
DRC: Army spokesman blames Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda for deaths of at least 26 people in South Kivu province
ETHIOPIA: International Press Institute condemns conviction of three Ethiopian journalists on terrorism-related charges, opposition leader and an acquaintance also jailed
KENYA: Men and women being hunted down and killed over allegations of witchcraft
NIGERIA: Immigration Service signs working arrangement with Frontex which extends to other Nigerian authorities and agencies involved in border and migration management; UN warns of possible crimes against humanity in Nigeria; Militant group Boko Haram carries out series of attacks that kill at least 150 in city of Kano, and dozens of others in other cities, as faction of the group warns all southerners to leave the north  
RWANDA: Three journalists arrested in one week; Media freedoms and the right to freedom of expression not safeguarded in revised media law
SOMALIA: Dramatic rise in rapes of women and girls
SOMALILAND: Authorities refoule 15 registered refugees and five asylum seekers to Ethiopia
SOUTH AFRICA: Half a million asylum seekers may lose right to work or study while their status is being determined; Asylum seekers entering the country no longer being issued with the necessary documents to apply for refugee status, government accused of actively preventing asylum seekers from seeking protection; Zimbabwean rights group accuses South African authorities of inhumane treatment of asylum seekers
SOUTH SUDAN: National identity cards and passports now available; Disaster zone declared in Jonglei state after around 100,000 flee ethnic clashes, hundreds of women and children brutally killed and towns and villages burnt down
SUDAN: Despite peace agreement, shootings, rapes, looting and arson continue in Darfur; Individuals with ties to South Sudan stripped of their nationality and rendered stateless; Armed people smugglers exploit, abduct and even kill Eritrean refugees in Sudanese desert
UGANDA: Another Rwandan refugee murdered in Kampala

AMERICAS
CANADA: More than half of current refugee judges fail re-appointment exam; Advocate denies Canadian government’s claims that most Hungarian Roma asylum seekers are economic migrants, describes ‘repressive government laws disproportionately affecting Roma and a generalised hatred toward them’; Roma refugees seek class action lawsuit against the federal government
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Many individuals born to Haitian parents risk becoming stateless
USA: New guidance on work authorisation for aslyum seekers provides no systemic change; Government erecting fence in the ocean along border with Mexico; Immigrants in New York in dire need of increased pro bono representation; Government announces proposal to improve immigration law to avoid prolonged separations of families with undocumented members; New memorandum released regarding the role of private attorneys and other representatives who appear before USCIS

ASIA-PACIFIC
AUSTRALIA: Both major parties united in support of offshore processing of asylum seekers; Social media project, #ReportingRefugees, helps shift attitudes towards refugees; Opposition leader’s policy to ‘send boats back’ draws international criticism; Number of refugees in Australia actually a ‘tiny fraction of the worldwide total’
BANGLADESH: Opposition protesters shot by police
BURMA: ‘Plight and suffering’ of refugees in Kachin State is ‘immense’, 40,000 unregistered Rohingya children living in Burma affected
INDIA: Video footage released of Border Security Force soldiers abusing Bangladeshi man along the along the Indo-Bangladesh border
INDONESIA: Boat believed to be carrying over 250 migrants sinks off Java coast
NEPAL: Bhutanese refugees left in limbo; 90 Tibetans arrested and handed over to Department of Immigration
PAKISTAN: Women in northwestern Pakistan live in terror of the Taliban
SRI LANKA: Tamil refugees slowly return from India, although conditions for return
are ‘not yet right’
THAILAND: After 1.5 years, stateless family released from Immigration Detention Centre in Bangkok
TIBET: Three Tibetans shot dead on first day of Chinese new year

EUROPE
BELGIUM: European Court of Human Rights concludes Belgium violated European Convention on Human Rights by detaining a mother and three children during asylum procedure
DENMARK: New government introduces major reforms of asylum and integration policy; Cases of children facing deportation to be acted on more quickly
GREECE: Due to economic crisis, number of asylum seekers declines
ITALY: 57 Egyptians, rescued from sinking fishing boat off the Italian coast, sent back to Cairo
MACEDONIA: Authorities take strong measures to prevent citizens from leaving the country and seeking asylum
POLAND: Government announces amnesty for illegal migrants
UK: Rejected asylum seekers sent back to Congo being tortured; Couple facing deportation to Cameroon released from detention after campaign by writers
UKRAINE: Somalis go on hunger strike to protest planned deportation

GLOBAL
Staggering numbers, serious plight of displaced in Latin America
Nearly 2,000 perished in the Mediterranean while trying to reach Europe, making 2011 the ‘deadliest year for boatpeople’
European Commission seeks solidarity in the field of asylum among EU member states 
NGOs urge Asia-Pacific governments to end immigration detention of children
2011 international LGBT round-up on asylum and refugees
UNHCR releases its recommendations for Denmark’s EU presidency
Asylum countries do not have enough information on repatriation process of Rwandan refugees once Cessation Clause is invoked
Iran, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea among countries with least freedom of press, according to Reporters Without Borders’ Press Freedom Index 2011–2012
UNHCR’s recommends that, throughout 2012, states begin implementing ‘all aspects of cessation of refugee status’ for Rwandan refugees
To escape danger, minors walk from Afghanistan to Europe

MIDDLE EAST
EGYPT: Police detain 52 migrants trying to cross into Israel, kill two in separate incident; Human Rights Watch calls on new Egyptian parliament to abolish laws restricting freedoms
IRAN: Amnesty International calls on government to halt execution of web programmer
IRAQ: Refugees fear returning home
ISRAEL: Prime Minister reveals plans for border fence with Jordan to deter migrants; Committee to Protect Journalists expresses alarm over ongoing attacks on and detention of journalists in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well as a series of recent developments that restrict freedom of the press in Israel; With new Prevention of Infiltration Law, government employs same tactics as human smugglers, Amnesty International calls it ‘an affront to international law’; Government unveils plans to reduce number of African migrants entering and working in the country
JORDAN: 65,000 Jordanian women have husbands and children who are not recognised as citizens
LEBANON: Number of Syrian refugees increases sharply, as 600 register in just one week
LIBYA: Somali asylum seekers rescued from boat and taken to Malta speak of widespread lootings, beatings and rape in Libya, with some saying the lack of security in the country reminds them of Somalia; Doctors Without Borders suspends work in Libyan prisons, citing torture and denial of urgent medical care to detainees
SAUDI ARABIA: Woman executed for ‘sorcery’ (For more information on witchcraft allegations in asylum claims, visit the Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Network page, ‘Victims of accusations of witchcraft’)
SYRIA: Dozens of religious scholars defect from Syrian regime and flee to neighbouring countries; Arab League cancels monitoring mission as violence and deaths continue
YEMEN: Number of refugees arriving from Horn of Africa reaches record high