Resources
UNHCR re-issues RSD Handbook
In December 2011, UNHCR’s Division of International Protection re-printed the Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, incorporating eight Guidelines on International Protection, and so changing the title of the document to HandbookandGuidelinesonProceduresandCriteriaforDeterminingRefugeeStatusunderthe 1951 Conventionandthe 1967 ProtocolRelatingtotheStatusofRefugees.
The original text remains unchanged, although the annexes have been updated. According to the publication’s foreword, ‘The Handbook and the Guidelines are intended to guide government officials, judges, practitioners, as well as UNHCR staff applying the refugee definition. It is hoped that they will continue to provide an important reference for refugee status determination around the world and help resolve variations in interpretation.’
Video on interpretation in asylum interviews, for instructional use
The Center for Applied Legal Studies at Georgetown University has produced a short video on the issue of interpretation in asylum interviews. The video, intended as an instructional tool, showcases a simulated asylum case interview in which the client has brought her cousin to interpret because she speaks only Spanish; the interpreter’s failure to interpret phrase by phrase negatively affects the interview, as the lawyer is unaware of this flaw in the interpretation process. To access the password-protected video and show it in training sessions with lawyers and interpreters, send a request to Dr Philip Schrag, stating your professional status and describing the intended audience.
Supplement to forced migration casebook
The authors of the Forced Migration: Law and Policy casebook have produced a January 2012 Update to supplement the information in the book. The Update includes the most recent statistical information concerning refugees and other forced migrants, 15 new edited cases, excerpts from secondary sources, and additional Notes and Questions. Instructors who adopt the casebook have permission to reproduce part or all of the Update. To obtain a copy, send an email to Beth Pollastro at this address.
Questions and/or suggestions can be sent to the authors:
David A. Martin, Hiroshi Motomura, or Maryellen Fullerton.
New issue of the IRJ
The International Journal of Refugee Law’s latest issue (vol. 24, no. 1, February2012) is now out, including articles on: the intersection of refugee claims, criminal law and ‘guilty asylum seekers’; supervision of immigration and asylum appeals in the UK; and whether non-state entities can provide protection under international refugee law.
Online database of European refugee and asylum case law
The European Database of Asylum Law (EDAL) is an online database containing case law from 11 European Union Member States interpreting refugee and asylum law. EDAL summarises relevant case law in English and the Member State’s national language and provides a link to, and/or pdf of, the full text of the original judgment where available.
International Detention Coalition (IDC) launches UK detention action website
On the IDC’s new UK website, DetentionAction, you will find: a free phone number for detention support (0800 587 2096); information on Harmondsworth and Colnbrook detention centres; a list of useful organisations; a list of publications; links to take action on the ‘End Indefinite Detention’ and ‘End the “Fast Track to Despair”’ campaigns; a section featuring stories of detainees, as well as a gallery of art from detention; and the latest relevant news.
Documentary exposing immigration detention limbo in the UK now available on DVD
‘Howlongisindefinite?’, the first documentary to expose detention without a time limit being exercised on thousands of immigrants in Britain every day, isnowavailableonDVD. The film follows the lives of three people caught in immigration limbo at the hands of the Home Office, detained for almost four years between them. They cannot be removed from the UK, yet they remain detained in prisons with no end in sight at an average cost of GBP40,150 each, per year. To obtain a copy, send an email to thisaddress.
Video on gay rights in Uganda
A PBS Religion and Ethics video segment on ‘Gay Rights in Uganda’ recently highlighted the work of 2011 RobertF. KennedyCenter Human Rights Award Laureate and Executive Director of SexualMinoritiesUganda Frank Mugisha. In the segment, Mugisha explains how he could be jailed in Uganda simply ‘for saying I am a homosexual and for being out.’ Watch the videohere.
Australian documentary about detained asylum seeker’s desperate act and the asylum system
‘The man who jumped’ is a 52-minute documentary that examines the famous case of the asylum seeker who jumped off the perimeter fence of Woomera detention centre, onto coils of razor wire, in 2002. The film not only uncovers this one man’s tragic story, but also questions the treatment of asylum seekers in Australia.
