News: Conditions Rapidly Deteriorating for Children Detained in Moria Camp on Lesvos

News from ReliefWeb:

Conditions Rapidly Deteriorating for Children Detained in Moria Camp on Lesvos

Media Contact: Media@savechildren.org

FAIRFIELD, CT (April 3, 2016) — Save the Children expressed deep concern today over the deplorable conditions in Moria detention center on the Greek island of Lesvos, where more than 1,000 children, many traveling alone, are detained as part of the EU-Turkey deal.

In addition to concerns around the detention of asylum seekers, the agency is also shocked by the lack of safeguards in place for those likely to be returned to Turkey in less than 24 hours. It calls on European leaders to urgently rethink their proposal and suspend all transfers to Turkey until there is a guarantee that those in need of international protection will receive it.

“The situation inside Moria detention center is deteriorating rapidly,” said Simona Mortolini, Save the Children Team Leader in Greece. “We have spoken to families and children who are sleeping outside on the cold ground on thin blankets because there is nowhere else for them to sleep in the overcrowded accommodation facilities. The camp was initially designed to host a few hundred people transiting through within a day. It now hosts 3,300 people, many have been trapped there for more than a week.”

“People continue to arrive to the island and the number of families detained in the center continues to increase by the day. It is extremely dangerous for children and we are worried about their physical and mental well-being, especially those children travelling alone.”

“There are reports of protests and people have told us they will commit suicide if they are sent back to Turkey. Some said they will jump off the boats. People are absolutely desperate. They have sold all their worldly possessions to pay for the journey from Turkey to Greece, they already risked their lives at sea to make the crossing. There is nothing left for them to return to – in Turkey or in their countries of origin that are marred by wars and widespread violence and insecurity.”

As part of the new EU-Turkey deal, which came into effect on 20 March, newly-arrived vulnerable children and their families, regardless of their status, have been detained in closed facilities on the Greek islands until their individual interview and assessment take place – which could take weeks or months.

Read Full Article – Conditions Rapidly Deteriorating for Children Detained in Moria Camp on Lesvos

 

Eastern Eye News: Detainee died in centre after allegedly waiting 15 minutes for medical help

By Reena Kumar

 

Yarl’s Wood immigration detention centre

THE grieving widow of a man who died at an immigration detention centre where the couple were sent after flying into the UK from India for a holiday, has finally been released.

Bhavisha Patel, who has an eight-year-old son in India, is now staying with relatives in Wembley following the ordeal in Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre.

Her 33-year-old husband, Pinakin Patel, passed away last Monday (20) after allegedly being forced to wait 15 minutes for medical help in the facility.

Read more: Eastern Eye –Detainee died in centre after allegedly waiting 15 minutes for medical help.

Conference: National Refugee Women’s Conference on SET HER FREE and the campaign against detention

National Refugee Women’s Conference on

SET HER FREE

and the campaign against detention

14 January 2015

at the Amnesty International Human Rights Action Centre, London EC2A 3EA, 10.30 to 4pm

Hear from inspirational speakers including:

Meltem Avcil, ex-detainee and campaigner (below at the Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict); Nimko Ali, anti-FGM campaigner; Diana Nammi, campaigner against honour killing and Woman of the Year at the Women on the Move Awards, Zrinka Bralo of the Migrant & Refugee Communities Forum

Join the energy of the London Refugee Women’s Forum, Women Asylum Seekers Together Manchester, Women Asylum Seekers Together London, Hope Projects, Embrace, Why Refugee Women – groups at the forefront of the campaign against detention

Find out what we have done in the campaign so far and how we can work together to end detention

Workshops include campaigning with the arts, working with the media,

Download Conference Flyer (JPG File)

campaigning online and organising protests

Performances from the London Refugee Women’s Forum and WAST Manchester

Includes the launch of our brand new research on the treatment of women in detention

You don’t have to be a refugee woman to come to this conference – this is open to everyone who supports justice and solidarity with women seeking sanctuary

Book here for a day of hope, passion and action

Further details on the Set Her Free Campaign can be found here:  http://refugeewomen.com/campaign/

 

From the Refugee Council: Report uncovers shocking treatment of detained women

From the Refugee Council:

Report uncovers shocking treatment of detained women

Women for Refugee Women have today published a shocking new report into the detention of asylum seeking women.

Detained: Women asylum seekers locked up in the UK is based on detailed interviews with 46 women who have sought asylum and been detained in the UK which finds that contrary to Government policy, victims of rape and torture who seek asylum in the UK are being routinely detained.

The report also finds alarming levels of depression and suicidal thoughts among detained women asylum seekers; and the routine use of male guards to watch women who have been raped and tortured.

Full Article:-  Report uncovers shocking treatment of detained women.

 

FMR 44 now online – Detention, alternatives to detention, and deportation – plus Syria crisis mini-feature

Forced Migration Review issue 44, entitled ‘Detention, alternatives to detention, and deportation’, is now online at www.fmreview.org/detention

Asylum seekers and refugees – men, women and even children – are increasingly detained and interned around the world, as are numbers of other migrants. Sometimes detained indefinitely and often in appalling conditions, they may suffer not only deprivation of their liberty but other abuses of their human rights too. Detention may appear to be a convenient solution to states’ political quest to manage migration (often as a precursor to deportation) but it is an expensive option and has lasting effects on those detained. In the search for a more humane – and cheaper – approach, agencies and government authorities have trialled a variety of alternatives to detention.

FMR 44 includes 36 articles on immigration detention, alternatives to detention, and deportation, plus a mini-feature on the Syria crisis and a selection of other articles.

The full list of contents, with web links, is given at the end of this email.

FMR 44 will be available online and in print in English, French, Spanish and Arabic.

An expanded contents listing for this issue is available at www.fmreview.org/detention/FMR44listing.pdf

If you do not regularly receive a print copy of FMR and would like to receive a print copy of FMR 44 or FMR44 Listing for your organisation, or multiple copies for onward distribution or for use in training or at conferences, please contact us at fmr@qeh.ox.ac.uk

We are very grateful to the Oak Foundation and UNHCR for funding this issue.

See www.fmreview.org/forthcoming for details of forthcoming FMR issues.

 

New Thematic Publications on Detention; Trafficking; and General

Details of these new publications were originally circulated by Elisa Mason on the incredibly useful: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog.  Further details can be found on the website at:  http://fm-cab.blogspot.co.uk/

New Thematic Publications on Detention

Building Empirical Research into Alternatives to Detention: Perceptions of Asylum-Seekers and Refugees in Toronto and Geneva, Legal and Protection Policy Research Series, no. 31 (UNHCR, June 2013) [text]

Detention in the Asylum System (Refugee Council UK, April 2013) [text]

Expecting Change: The Case for Ending the Immigration Detention of Pregnant Women (Medical Justice, June 2013) [text]

“Immigration Detention – Finding Alternatives,” Session at UNHCR Annual Consultations with NGOs, 13 June 2013 [info]

Memorandum of Understanding between the International Detention Coalition and the Office of the Untied Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (IDC & UNHCR, June 2013) [text]

“Realizing Liberty: The Use of International Human Rights Law to Realign Immigration Detention in the United States,” Fordham International Law Journal, vol. 36, no. 2 (2013) [full-text]

New Thematic Publications on Trafficking

The 2013 edition of the U.S. Department of State’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report has been published.  Here’s part of the description:

In the TIP Report, the Department of State places each country onto one of three tiers based on the extent of their governments’ efforts to comply with the “minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking” found in Section 108 of the TVPA. While Tier 1 is the highest ranking, it does not mean that a country has no human trafficking problem. On the contrary, a Tier 1 ranking indicates that a government has acknowledged the existence of human trafficking, made efforts to address the problem, and complies with the TVPA’s minimum standards. Each year, governments need to demonstrate appreciable progress in combating trafficking to maintain a Tier 1 ranking.

More information about the report is available in this briefing.

New Thematic Publications on General

Global Analysis 2012-2013: UNHCR Accountability Frameworks for Age, Gender and Diversity Mainstreaming and Targeted Actions (UNHCR, 2013) [text]

Global Peace Index 2013 (Institute for Economics and Peace, June 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

International Migration Outlook 2013 (OECD, June 2013) [text]

Stranded Migrants: Giving Structure to a Multifaceted Notion, Global Migration Research Paper, no. 5 (Programme for the Study of Global Migration, 2013) [text]

World Refugee Day: Honoring Refugees, Resolving to Prevent Further Displacement (UpFront Blog, June 2013) [text]

Yearbook on Peace Processes 2013 (School for a Culture of Peace, 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

 

New Thematic Publications on Detetention and Regional Publications on the Americas

Details of these new publications were originally circulated by Elisa Mason on the incredibly useful: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog.  Further details can be found on the website at:  http://fm-cab.blogspot.co.uk/

New Publications on Detention

Assessing the U.S. Government’s Detention of Asylum Seekers: Further Action Needed to Fully Implement Reforms (U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, April 2013) [text]

Fractured Childhoods: The Separation of Families by Immigration Detention (Bail for Immigration Detainees, April 2013) [text via Migrants’ Rights Network]

“Over-detention: Asylum-seekers, International Law, and Path Dependency,” Brooklyn Journal of International Law, vol. 38, no. 1 (2012) [full-text]
– Scroll to p. 451.

UK’s Scale of Immigration Detention 2010-2012 (Detention Forum, March 2013) [text]

New Publications on the Americas

The Case for Mexican Asylum Seekers Fleeing Cartel Violence (ExpressO, 2013) [text]

Ecuador’s Frontiers: Recommendations for Border Management within a Human Rights Framework (Duke University, April 2013) [text]

Key Measures in Immigration Bill that Would Advance U.S. Values (Human Rights First, April 2013) [text]

Refugee Status Determination in Latin America: Regional Challenges and Opportunities – The National Systems in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Mexico (Asylum Access Ecuador & USCRI, Jan. 2013) [text] [exec. summ.]

Researching Rural Refugees (IowaNow, April 2013) [text]

“Somali Bantus in a State of Refuge,” Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies, vol. 12 (2012) [full-text]

Event: ‘A Future without Immigration Detention?’ 26th & 27th of April 2013 at SOAS

SDS proud to host the conference:

‘A Future without Immigration Detention?’
26th & 27th of April 2013 at SOAS

The conference is primarily aimed at those who already have some understanding, expertise and/or experience with migration and immigration detention, such as ex-detainees, students of migration, immigration law practitioners, members of civil society organizations and academics in the field. We also encourage participants with no previous experience of working with immigration detention to take part and get informed. We expect 150 participants who will be asked to pay a registration fee to attend.

The conference will be organised in two parts: On Friday a speaker will give a keynote that provides the inspiration and framework for the conference. On Saturday, we will focus on controversies related to immigration detention, such as medical concerns, political impact, legal rights and economic effects and a variety of viable alternatives to immigration detention. This will be done through in-depth discussions, group debates and workshops.

Our objectives for the conference are:

• To consider the roots and current situation of immigration detention in the UK and Europe and to place immigration detention within the wider context of the global migration regime.
• To give insight into different alternatives to immigration detention through lectures, discussions and workshops and to critically discuss these.
• To provide a platform for networking and idea exchange between different organizations and individuals who are interested in working towards an end to immigration detention.
• To consider the possibility of a future entirely without immigration detention and other invasive immigration controls.

For more information, or to share your ideas, get involved or participate, please contact: sds_conference@soas.ac.uk

For event updates and tickets visit: www.sdsconference.wordpress.com

 

New Thematic Publications on Migration; Detention; and Human Trafficking

Details of these new publications were originally circulated by Elisa Mason on the incredibly useful: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog.  Further details can be found on the website at:  http://fm-cab.blogspot.co.uk/

New Publications on Migration

“Collapsing Societies and Forced Migration,” Forced Migration Review 25th Anniversary Collection (March 2013) [text]
– “Looking through a displacement lens at environmental, technological, anthropological, political and other factors affecting societies now and in the past provides food for thought both on how we interpret the past and on how we envisage the future.”

Conceptualizing ‘Crisis Migration’ (SSRN, March 2013) [text]
– “…Does framing different types of migration as ‘crisis migration’ – for example, movement spurred by natural disasters, civil war, the impacts of climate change, or nuclear and industrial accidents – help to illuminate the nature of such movement and the kinds of policy responses required to address it? Or is this just another term for ‘forced migration’?…

Global Hearing on Refugees and Migration, The Hague, 4-5 June 2012 [text]
– Discussions focused on five key themes: “the impact of future demographic changes related to labour migration and refugees; political and social changes; the impact of the global economy; the urbanization of displaced people; and the impact of environmental and climate change on human mobility.”

“Measures to Ensure Respect for and Protection of the Human Rights of all Migrants, with Particular Reference to Women and Children, as well as to Prevent and Combat Smuggling of Migrants and Trafficking in Persons, and to Ensure Regular, Orderly, and Safe Migration,” Roundtable 2: 2013 High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development Series, New York, 20 Feb. 2013 [access]
– Follow link for agenda, background info., summary report, and video.

Migrants in Times of Crisis: An Emerging Protection Challenge (International Peace Institute, Feb. 2013) [text]
– Meeting note for “Migrants in Times of Crisis: An Emerging Protection Challenge,” New York, 9 Oct. 2012.

*More Migration & More Mixed? Trends to Watch in 2013 (Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat, Feb. 2013) [text]

New Publications on Detention

The Greek Authorities Must Urgently Accelerate the Asylum System Reforms and End Detention of asylum Seekers (Amnesty International, March 2013) [text via Refworld]

Immigration Detention in Australia (Parliamentary Library of Australia, updated March 2013) [text]

Q&A: Immigration Detention (CERIS Blog, Feb. 2013) [text]

Successful Immigration Detention Seminar Held on 1st February 2013 (Asylum-Network, Feb. 2013) [access]
– Follow link for audio files of presentations at “Supporting Immigration Detainees,” London, 1 Feb. 2013.

U.S. Looks to Overhaul Massive Immigration Detention System (IPS, March 2013) [text]

New Publications on Human Trafficking

Ad-hoc Query on Trafficking in Human Beings (EMN, Feb. 2013) [text]

Forced Labour and Human Trafficking (ECHR, Nov. 2012) [text]

Human Trafficking: Should be a Recognized Ground for Asylum (Birdsong’s Law Blog, March 2013) [text]

Methodological Debates in Human Rights Research: A Case Study of Human Trafficking in South Africa, MMG Working Paper 12-07 (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, 2012) [text]

The People Smugglers’ Business Model, Research Paper no. 2, 2012–13 (Parliamentary Library of Australia, Feb. 2013) [text]

Trafficking in Persons: International Dimensions and Foreign Policy Issues for Congress (U.S. Congressional Research Service, Jan. 2013) [text via Refworld]

Trafficking in Persons: U.S. Policy and Issues for Congress (U.S. Congressional Research Service, Feb. 2013) [text via Refworld]

Trafficking of Migrant Workers for Forced Labour (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Jan. 2013) [text via Refworld]

 

 

Events: The Politics of Detention, York, 1 July 2013

Event:

THE POLITICS OF DETENTION

The second seminar of the Exploring Everyday Practice and Resistance in Detention series (http://immigration-detention-seminar-series.org/)

National Centre for Early Music, York

1 July 2013

Seminar Abstract:

Detention has become a key technique through which liberal states secure their borders, manage risk and control mobility. The use of detention to govern ‘illegal’ immigrants, asylum seekers, and people deemed risky is proliferating internationally. Detention is often framed as a response to illicit or threatening forms of mobility, but it is more accurately viewed as a means through which categories of citizenship, exclusion and security are shaped and performed. Detention is increasingly preventative and pre-emptive: it interrupts the movement of people seeking humanitarian protection, it exports the sovereign border away from territorial boundaries and it constrains the mobility of suspects in the name of national security. Contemporary detention produces flexible spaces of control where multiple aims of protection, policing and punishment coalesce, and where public authorities, private organisations and civil society groups cooperate and clash in the delivery of detention. Scholars and activists working on detention have increasingly emphasised the political challenges that the detention of immigrants poses to liberal states, and the ambiguous relationship between mobility, freedom and security that contemporary detention practices embody.

This seminar aims to examine the ways in which the routinisation and normalisation of detention occludes multiple relationships of power, control and subjugation. Questions will include, but not be limited to: What kinds of subjects are produced by detention? How, precisely, do detention practices differentially value people and lives?  What kinds of authority, knowledge and expertise shape detention? Through what devices does detention constrain dissent and protestation? How are these devices experienced? What challenges face those who wish to open spaces for the political contestation of detention? To what extent does contemporary detention blur the lines between protection, prevention and punishment?

Speakers include:

Caroline Fleay (Curtin University, Australia) Melanie Friend (University of Sussex) Chowra Makaremi (L’ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris) Jerome Phelps (Detention Action, London) Anna Pratt (York University, Canada) Vicki Squire (University of Warwick)

The seminar is free to attend, but places are limited. Please contact alexandra.hall@york.ac.uk if you would like to come along.

 

New Publications on Climate Change; Statelessness and Detention

Details of these new publications were originally circulated by Elisa Mason on the incredibly useful: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog.  Further details can be found on the website at:  http://fm-cab.blogspot.co.uk/

Publications on Climate Change

Arctic Indigenous Peoples, Displacement, and Climate Change: Tracing the Connections, Washington, DC, 30 Jan. 2013 [access]
– Follow the link for a background paper and three case studies on indigenous communities in Alaska, the Russian North and Scandinavia.

The Big Thaw (Brookings Institution, Jan. 2013) [text]
– Memorandum written as part of “Big Bets and Black Swans: A Presidential Briefing Book.”

*”Challenges Relating to Climate Change Induced Displacement,” UNHCR remarks given at conference on Millions of People without Protection: Climate Change Induced Displacement in Developing Countries, Berlin, 29 January 2013 [text]

Climate Refugees in the 21st Century (Regional Academy on the United Nations, Dec. 2012) [text]

Displacement, Migration, and Climate Change: The Discussion at COP18 (Yale Climate & Energy Institute, Dec. 2012) [text]

Does International Law Provide Adequate Protections to Refugees? Climate Change, Displacement and International Law: The Protection Gap and How to Close It (e-IR, Dec. 2012) [text]

“Policy Arena: Environmentally Induced Migration, Vulnerability and Human Security: Consensus, Controversies and Conceptual Gaps for Policy Analysis,” Feature section in Journal of International Development, vol. 24, no. 8 (Nov. 2012) [contents]

Toward Resilience: A Guide to Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation (Catholic Relief Services, 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

Publications on Statelessness

Addressing Statelessness in Europe: Kick-off Seminar of the European Network on Statelessness, Budapest, 19-21 Nov. 2012 [info]
– Follow the link for the programme, a factsheet on protecting stateless persons, and five presentations.

Engaging the Human Rights World on Statelessness (ENS Blog, Jan. 2013) [text]

Recommendations of the African Union Symposium on “Citizenship in Africa: Preventing Statelessness, Preventing Conflicts,” Nairobi, 22-24 October 2012 [textvia Refworld]

A Responsibility to Protect: UNHCR and Statelessness in Egypt, New Issues in Refugee Research, no. 250 (UNHCR, Jan. 2013) [text]

Solving Statelessness in Southern Africa (IRIN, Jan. 2013) [text]
– See also related profile of stateless man in South Africa.

“Statelessness and Economic and Social Rights,” Chapter 9 in The State of Economic and Social Human Rights: A Global Overview (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming Feb. 2013) [info]

Statelessness Status Determination in Italy: Quality Assurance Needed! (ENS Blog, Jan. 2013) [text]

Publications on Detention

The Detention of Vulnerable People: Human Rights Breaches in the UK (Detention Forum, Dec. 2012) [text]

Immigration Detention Working Group, Asia Pacific Regional Workshop, Bangkok, 23-24 October 2012 [text]

“Island Detentions,” Special issue of Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures, vol. 6, no. 2 (2012) [full-text]

“Migration, Nationality and Detention,” Special issue ofPrison Service Journal, no. 205 (Jan. 2013) [full-text]

Roadmap for Change – How We Will Challenge Immigration Detention  (Detention Forum, Dec. 2012) [text]

 

New Publication: Prison Service Journal – Special Edition Migration, Nationality and Detention

A special volume of the Prison Service Journal has just been published on the subject of `Migration, Nationality and Detention.’  The Prison Service Journal (PSJ) is published by HM Prison Service. Its purpose is to promote discussion on issues related to the work of the Prison Service, the wider Criminal Justice System and associated fields. The PSJ is hosted by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies following the re-structure of the Prison service and the loss of the Prison service website.

This volume is available to download here:   January 2013 No. 205

New Publications on Immigration Rules & Bail Hearings; Employment; Bill of Rights; Migration & Mobility; Detention; and Witness Annual Report 2012

Witness Annual Report 2012

Changes to Immigration Rules for family members
A House of Commons Library Standard Note by Melanie Gower

The Immigration Rules for non-EEA nationals seeking permission to stay in the UK as a family member of a British citizen or person settled here have changed. The changes mostly affect persons making new applications on or after 9 July 2012.

The changes affecting spouse/partner/fiancé(e) visa applications are particularly significant. British/settled persons wishing to sponsor their non-EEA national partner to join them in the UK must now demonstrate a minimum gross annual income of £18,600 (more if dependent children are also being sponsored). There are various permitted ways to satisfy the requirement, such as through evidence of employment and non-employment income and/or cash savings. However, the foreign spouse’s overseas employment income cannot be taken into account. Sponsors in receipt of certain disability benefits and HM Forces personnel are currently exempt from the new financial requirement, although these exceptions will be reviewed.

[Download Full Report]
(Source: Migrants Rights’ Network)
See Also – Changes to Immigration Rules for family members – Commons Library Standard Note

 

Meat and poultry processing inquiry review: report of the findings and recommendations.
Report produced by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
[Download Full Report]
(Source: Migrants Rights’ Network)

The liberty deficit: long-term detention& bail decision-making. A study of immigration bail hearings in the First Tier Tribunal report.
A new report by Bail for Immigration Detainees, (BID).
From the Migrants’ Rights’ Network:

According to the press statement annoucing the launch of the report, the research was motivated by the need “to examine whether the immigration bail system serves the needs of the long term detainees who form the majority of BID’s clients.” Long-term’ in this report means continuous administrative detention of a period of 6 months or more.

The report express the concern that:

• The First Tier Tribunal Immigration & Asylum Chamber is not equipped to deal with matters of criminal risk and release, which are central issues since the foreign national prisoner scandal and the introduction of ‘automatic’ deportation.
• There is an “overwhelming failure” on the part of the UK Border Agency to substantiate assertions made before the Tribunal in relation to the risk of re-offending, serious harm, or absconding, matched by a failure of the Tribunal to seek this evidence from the Border Agency.
• The amount of time made available by the Tribunals Service for barristers to take instructions, for the hearings themselves, and for comprehensive interpretation has not responded to the increasing number of detainees with complex and lengthy immigration histories.
• The First Tier Tribunal IAC is not using its powers sufficiently to ensure that detention does not become unnecessarily prolonged; for example to adjourn with directions to parties to avoid the need for a further bail application.

[Download Full Report]
(Source: Migrants Rights’ Network)
See Also – BID Press Release: New BID research report on bail decision making and long-term detention, ‘The Liberty Deficit: long-term detention and bail decision-making.’

The Commission on a Bill of Rights Final Report

The Commission on a Bill of Rights, set up in March 2011 by the government, has issued its final report today. The Commission was established to investigate the desirability and feasibility of replacing the Human Rights Act, which effectively codifies the protections in the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law, with a UK-specific Bill of Rights.

Today’s report marks an end to a lengthy and controversial process undertaking by the Commission. Commission initially issued a public consultation to which a majority of respondents asserted their opposition to a UK Bill of Rights. MRN’s response can be found here. A second public consultation was then launched, to which those who had initially responded were expressly not invited to take part. Nevertheless, the final report shows that an overwhelming majority (around 75%) of respondents to both consultations did not support the proposal to replace the Human Rights Act.

A UK Bill of Rights? – The Choice Before Us – news release

The Commission on a Bill of Rights’ report– A UK Bill of Rights? – The Choice Before Us – Volume 1 (PDF 2mb)
Published 18 December 2012

The Commission on a Bill of Rights’ report– A UK Bill of Rights? – The Choice Before Us – Volume 2 (PDF 3mb)
Published 18 December 2012
(Source: Migrants Rights’ Network)

Roadmap for change – how we will challenge immigration detention.
By the Detention Forum.
[Download Full Report]
(Source: Migrants Rights’ Network)

The EU’s Global Approach to Migration and Mobility
House of Lords European Union Committee

In its report, The EU’s Global Approach to Migration and Mobility, the Committee considers the Commission’s 2011 Communication on the Global Approach to Migration and Mobility (‘the GAMM’) and the UK’s participation in EU asylum and immigration measures. The report points out that as the UK and other countries in Europe face an ageing population and a declining birth rate, legal third country immigration into the EU will be needed to keep the economy on track and retain Europe’s competitiveness in a global market.

[Download Full Report]
(Source: Migrants Rights’ Network)
See Also – Lords call for flexible approach to managing migration

Witness Annual Report 2012: July 1, 2011 – June 30, 2012
Produced by Witness
[Download Full Report]

 

 

New Publications on International Aid; Afghanistan; International Humanitarian and Development Organisations; Employment Trends; Sri Lanka; Refused Asylum Seekers; Racism; and Detention

Time to Listen: Hearing People on the Receiving End of International Aid

Time to Listen: Hearing People on the Receiving End of International Aid
By Mary B. Anderson, Dayna Brown, Isabella Jean, Dec 2012.

Time to Listen represents the cumulative evidence of five years gathering evidence from people living in societies that are recipients of international aid.

CDA’s Listening Project organized teams of “listeners” across 20 countries and contexts to gather the voices, insights,andlessons from people both inside an outside the aid system. This publication represents the lessons that have come forth through conversations with nearly 6,000 people. Using their words, their experiences, and their ideas, we describe why the cumulative impacts of aid have not met expectations and describe a way forward to make changes that, according to those on the receiving end, will lead to more effective results.

[Download Full Report]
(Source: IRIN – Report calls on aid agencies to listen to, work with, beneficiaries)

Treatment of Conflict-Related Detainees in Afghan Custody:  One Year On.
Produced by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, and the
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, January 2013.
[Download Full Report]
(Source: UN News Centre – New UN report highlights ongoing problem of torture in Afghan detention facilities).

The State of HR in International Humanitarian and Development Organisations 2013.
Produced by People In Aid, January 2013.
[Download Full Report]
(Source: ALNAP).

Global Employment Trends 2013

Global Employment Trends 2013: Recovering from a second jobs dip.
New report produced by the International Labour Office.
[Download the Full Report and the Executive Summary](Source: UN News Centre – World’s youth facing worsening unemployment, warns new UN report).

Briefing: Sri Lanka’s Muslim IDPs 25 years on.
By IRIN humanitarian news and analysis.
[Access]

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: the dilemma facing refused asylum seekers [December 2012].
A new report by the Refugee Council

Thousands of people who have been refused asylum here but who fear returning to their home countries, are being left to live in poverty with no rights while they remain in the UK. The new Refugee Council report, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, highlights examples of the human rights abuses and persecution facing many refused asylum seekers on return to DRC, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and Zimbabwe. The findings include:

• Mass rape and sexual violence against women and girls at the hands of the army, the police and non-state militia groups in the DRC
• Severe punishment of those who evade compulsory national service including long-term imprisonment or the death penalty in Eritrea
• In Somalia, indiscriminate attacks on civilians by government and para-military Al-Shabaab forces, and extrajudicial killings of opposition members
• In Zimbabwe, the torture and death of people seen to oppose the powerful Zanu-PF party, and ongoing political violence in the run up to the elections next year.
• In Sudan, human rights activists, journalists, and opponents of the ruling party being harassed, arrested and tortured by state military and police forces.

[Download Full Report]
(Source: The Independent – Refugees ‘are forced into destitution’ in Britain because they cannot be sent back).

Race Equality and Racism in Wales

A Report on Race Equality and Racism in Wales: An Exploratory Study.
Report produced by Race Council Cymru.
[Access Full Report]
(Source: Wales Online: Racism is still a ‘significant issue’ in Wales, warns new report).

‘The effectiveness and impact of immigration detention casework: a joint thematic review’
By the HM Chief Inspector of Prisons and Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration.
[Download Full Report]
(Source: IRR – Revealing the impact of immigration detention).

 

Call for Papers: FMR Special Issue on Detention and Deportation

Call for Papers: FMR Special Issue on Detention and Deportation

Deadline for submission of articles: April 15^th

Link: http://www.fmreview.org/detention

Detention is used by many states in dealing with different categories of migrants, including refugees and stateless people, migrants who are undocumented or in an irregular situation, asylum seekers awaiting the outcome of their asylum application and failed asylum seekers awaiting removal.

There are practical, political, financial, moral and legal reasons for (and against) detention in the context of immigration/asylum-seeking. States cite a variety of reasons to justify this practice; irregular migration in particular is seen by some as a national security problem or a criminal issue. Many states regard detention as a deterrent against undesired migratory flows, although research by UNHCR and the International Detention Coalition has found that there is no empirical evidence that detention deters irregular migration or discourages persons from seeking asylum. The practice of the use of detention is often linked by commentators and critics either to a state’s more general lack of respect for human rights or to an agenda of securitisation in response to perceived threats. The practice of detention is often linked to the practices of forcible return and deportation for irregular or illegal migrants and failed asylum seekers.

Detention or restricted movement arrangements for the purposes of migration control can take many forms, including detaining people in penal institutions, specialised detention centres or closed camp settings. In some countries detention in such situations is mandatory, and can be for prolonged or indefinite periods. In other countries detention can be arbitrary or otherwise contrary to the relevant international standards or international legal instruments accepted by the states concerned.

People in detention are at risk of emotional and psychological damage, and are in effect criminalised often without legal recourse. In some countries children and trafficked persons and other vulnerable people are also confined in detention. The consequences for the cognitive and emotional development of children may be lifelong. The media and civil society are routinely denied access to detention centres, meaning that it is very difficult for the world to know about or understand the plight of children in detention in particular.

There are increasingly widespread claims that detention and removal are not only damaging to the individuals concerned, abusive and possibly illegal but that they are more expensive than community-based alternatives; that detention is not effective in deterring asylum seekers, refugees and irregular migrants; that it is counterproductive in achieving compliance with final decisions on asylum; and that there are humane, reliable and cost-effective alternatives to detention and to deportation. Yet some states are even intensifying their detention and deportation practices.

UNHCR has announced that in the years ahead it will embark on a global campaign to promote alternatives to the detention of asylum seekers and refugees, and humane reception conditions, and that this will be one of its priorities for 2013. UNHCR is launching its revised guidelines on detention at its Executive Committee meeting at the end of 2012.

This issue of FMR will provide a forum for practitioners, advocates, policymakers and researchers to share experience, debate perspectives and offer recommendations. In particular, the FMR Editors are looking for practice-oriented submissions, reflecting a diverse range of experience and opinions, which address questions such as the following:

• Under what circumstances is detention legally permissible and with what consequences?
• What are the impacts of detention on children and other particularly vulnerable people?
• What are the practical and political reasons for restricting the freedom of movement of refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants, and what are the human rights issues at stake?
• What are the experiences in states developing alternatives to detention in these circumstances? What civil society-led initiatives are there? What pilots have there been? How can they be promoted?
• What evidence is there of the effectiveness of alternatives to detention in meeting the needs and aims of states and the wellbeing and dignity of individuals? What prevents governments from seeking or implementing alternatives?
• What examples exist of alternatives to detention in transit contexts?
• Could the processing of asylum seekers externally bring an improvement over current practices of detention and deportation?
• What factors are necessary for the success of alternatives to detention?
• What resources are available to support states and civil society in advocating against detention or for alternatives?
• If detention as a policy continues, what scope is there for improving the rights of detainees, the conditions of detention and the monitoring of detention facilities?
• What is the political and/or legal relationship between detention and deportation and various statuses such as temporary or exceptional right to stay?
• What mechanisms and processes are in place to monitor the fate of deportees after deportation? Can the evidence from such monitoring be used to change states’ deportation practices?

We are particularly keen to reflect the experiences and knowledge of communities and individuals directly affected by detention and/or deportation.

Please email the Editors at fmr@qeh.ox.ac.uk if you are interested in contributing or have suggestions of colleagues or community representatives who may wish to contribute.

Please consider writing for us even if you have not written an article before. We would be happy to work with you to develop an article about your experience.

If you are planning to write, we would be grateful if you would take note of our Guidelines for Contributors at: www.fmreview.org/you/writing-fmr .

Maximum length: 2,500 words.

Please note that space is always at a premium in FMR and that published articles are usually shorter than this maximum length. Your article, if accepted for publication, may well be shortened but you will of course be consulted about any editing changes.