Broad Initiative Would Ban Discrimination for Sexual Orientation
European Union governments should vote in favor of a proposed directive providing protection from discrimination on a broad range of grounds including sexual orientation, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to leaders of all 27 member states. European Union law presently bans discrimination based on sexual orientation, disability, age or religion, in employment only....
2007 Global Trends: Refugees, Asylum-seekers, Returnees, Internally Displaced and Stateless Persons (UNHCR, June 2008) [text]
The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement: Annotations, 2nd ed. (ASIL and Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, 2008) [access]
Policy Plan on Asylum: An Integrated Approach to Protection across the EU (Commission of the European Communities, June 2008)...
Armed Conflict and Schooling: Long-term Evidence from Cambodia and Rwanda (World Bank, May 2008) [text]
Building a Europe of Asylum: UNHCR's Recommendations to France for its European Union Presidency (UNHCR, June 2008) [text]
Critical Review Instead of Complacency: Amnesty International's Ten-Point Human Rights Programme for the French Presidency of the European Union
Iraq - Rhetoric and...
In
Education,
Sudan,
cambodia,
Research,
Rwanda,
Europe,
humanitarian assistance,
asylum,
armed conflict,
refugees,
Iraqis,
statelessness,
European Union
Common EU Guidelines for Processing Country of Origin Information (COI) (European Union, April 2008) [text via Refworld]
Concise Report - Prevention of Sexual and Gender-based Violence against Refugees in Europe: A Participatory Approach (ICRH, April 2008) [text]
Cyclone Nargis: Lessons for Operational Agencies (ALNAP, May 2008) [text]
Indigenous Routes: A Framework for Understanding...
In
Natural Disasters,
children,
conflict,
guidelines,
country of origin conditions,
gender-based persecution,
emergency relief,
assistance programmes,
indigenous groups,
Education,
European Union
Comparative Overview of the Implementation of the Directive 2003/9 of 27 January 2003 Laying Down Minimum Standards for the Reception of Asylum Seekers in the EU Member States (Odysseus Academic Network, 2007) [text]
- Note: This report was formerly confidential but has now been made available to the public on the European Commission web site.
Don't Call it Shangri-La: Economic Programs for...
In
Africa,
Housing,
Nepal,
united kingdom,
reception,
economic self-sufficiency,
Palestine,
rejected asylum seekers,
Kosovo,
humanitarian assistance,
refugees,
European Union
"From Isolation to Integration" Conference, Papers and Presentations, Jan. 2008 [access]
Kenya: Setting the Stage for Durable Peace? (USIP, April 2008) [text]
McAdam, J., ed., Forced Migration, Human Rights and Security, Studies in International Law, no. 17 (Hart Publishing, March 2008) [description & TOC]
Memorandum to the JHA Council - Ending the asylum lottery: Guaranteeing refugee...
In
Iraq,
Security,
kenya,
forced migration,
asylum seekers,
Greece,
elderly,
humanitarian assistance,
disasters,
asylum policy,
European Union
Internally Displaced Persons in Iraq - Update (IDP Working Group, March 2008) [text via Refworld] [text via ReliefWeb]
The Rise and Fall of Asylum: What Happened and Why?, Centre for Economic Policy Research Discussion Paper, no. 577 (Australian National University, March 2008) [text]
Sharing Responsibility for Refugee Protection in Europe: Dublin Reconsidered (ECRE, March 2008) [access]
Stay...
In
Publications,
Malaysia,
Timor-Leste,
internally displaced persons,
safety of humanitarian personnel,
undocumented migrants,
Iraq,
asylum,
refugees,
protection,
European Union
Amnesty International et al., "The Gaza Strip: A Humanitarian Implosion," A Joint Agency Report (Oxfam, March 2008) [access]
Baraka, H., “Palestinians in Lebanon: Chains of Misery (Bound by the Law and the Market),” FMRS Working Paper, no. 9 (Forced Migration & Refugee Studies, American University in Cairo, Feb. 2008) [text]
Gammeltoft-Hansen, T., "The Refugee, the Sovereign and the Sea: EU...
The A to Z Guide to Afghanistan Assistance (AREU, Feb. 2008) [access]
Assessment on psychosocial needs of Iraqis displaced in Jordan and Lebanon: survey report (IOM, Feb. 2008) [text via Eldis]
Civil-Military Guidelines & Reference for Complex Emergencies (IASC and OCHA, March 2008) [text via ReliefWeb]
Claiming Asylum at a Screening Unit as an Unaccompanied Minor (Children's Commissioner,...
In
Afghanistan,
psycho-social problems,
armed forces,
unaccompanied minors,
manuals,
cooperation,
climate,
community organizations,
directories,
humanitarian assistance,
asylum,
Iraqis,
European Union
The Destitution Tally: an indication of the extent of destitution among asylum seekers and refugees (Asylum Support Programme Inter-Agency Partnership, Jan. 2008) [text]
- Note: If the link doesn't work, alternate access is available through Refblog.]
EXCOM Standing Committee, 41st Meeting, Documents (4-6 March 2008) [access]
- Issues discussed include protracted refugee situations, supporting...
The Statewatch European Monitoring & Documentation Centre on Justice and Home Affairs in the EU (SEMDOC) recently launched its newly updated and re-organized web site. It monitors EU Justice and Home Affairs policy, including measures relating to migration and asylum. Much of the information posted is available for free, but portions of the site require a subscription to access.
Other...
Better outcomes: the way forward, improving the care of unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UK Home Office, Jan. 2008) [text]
Children and armed conflict: report of the Secretary-General, A/62/609–S/2007/757 (UN General Assembly, Security Council, Dec. 2007) [text]
Climate change and forced migration, New Issues in Refugee Research no. 153 (UNHCR, Jan. 2008) [text]
The Externalisation of...
In
National Security,
tanzania,
Angola,
environmental degradation,
reintegration,
unaccompanied minors,
climate,
Africa,
children,
humanitarian assistance,
armed conflict,
asylum policy,
European Union
AWR Bulletin, no. 3/2007 [contents - scroll down]
- Mix of articles with several focusing on asylum in the EU.
Conflict and Health (Dec. 2007) [full-text]
- Three new articles in Dec. 2007.
Conflict Trends, no. 3/2007 [full-text]
- Theme is "Peace Agreements."
Development in Practice, vol. 18, no. 1 (2008) [contents]
- Mix of articles.
International Journal of Migration, Health and Social...
Angering Akujů: Survival and Suffering in Karamoja (Feinstein International Center, Dec. 2007) [text]
- Focuses on livelihoods and human security in the Karamoja Region of Uganda.
Country Information in Asylum Procedures: Quality as a Legal Requirement in the EU (Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Dec. 2007) [text]
Handbook for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons (IASC, Dec. 2007) [text...
In
Sustainable Development,
Uganda,
Afghans,
returnees,
internally displaced persons,
elderly,
country of origin conditions,
asylum,
refugees,
protection,
statistical data,
European Union
Slovenia has assumed the EU presidency for the period January to June 2008. You can read more about its migration-related priorities in the "Home Affairs" policy section of its web site. Both UNHCR and ECRE recently submitted memoranda to the Slovenian presidency outlining their views on and recommendations for EU action on refugee and asylum matters.
Posted in...
As of 12:01 a.m. on Friday, December 21, the European Union expanded its borderless Schengen area to 9 countries that joined the EU in 2004, mostly from the former Soviet bloc. Intra-EU borders have been open to free trade and visa-free travel since the time leading up to the accession, but now the citizens of these new member countries can move across the EU without border controls.
The dismantling of border posts was largely ceremonial, but its historical implications are immense. Peaceful removing of border controls between, for instance, Poland and Germany is something that hardly anyone would have fathomed just a few decades back. 68 years ago bloody struggle raged over this frontier, and only 18 years ago the West and the East remained separated by the seemingly impenetrable...
1st COI Master Class, 19 – 21 June, Vienna: Final Report (Austrian Red Cross & ACCORD, Nov. 2007) [text]
Current Challenges for Returns in the Western Balkans: An NGO Perspective (ECRE, Oct. 2007) [text; launched at Nov. conference in Dubrovnik]
Displacement and Dispossession: Forced Migration and Land Rights in Burma (COHRE, Dec. 2007) [access]
Ending Sexual Violence in Darfur: An Advocacy...
In
Myanmar,
training programmes,
integration,
employment opportunities,
repatriation,
sexual violence,
Balkans,
sovereignty,
country of origin conditions,
Sudan,
European Union
11th European Country of Origin Information Seminar, Vienna, 21-22 June 2007, Country Reports (Nov. 2007) [access]
- Country reports published on Afghanistan and Iraq.
African Migration Workshop, Accra, Ghana, September 2007, Papers (Nov. 2007) [access]
- Abstracts/full-text papers in English and French.
Asylum Deaths: What to do Next (Institute of Race Relations, Nov. 2007) [access]
Asylum...
In
Policy,
public health,
women,
Aids,
refugee status determination procedures,
suicide,
Migration,
Afghanistan,
Iraq,
asylum seekers,
Africa,
conflict,
country of origin conditions,
European Union
Asylum in the European Union: A Study of the Implementation of the Qualification Directive (UNHCR, Nov. 2007) [text]Law and legal issues in international disaster response: a desk study (IFRC, Nov. 2007) [text]Persécutions des femmes: Savoirs, mobilisations et protections (Editions Du Croquant, Nov. 2007) [access contents, summary, preface and full-text of the introduction]
Refugee Issues...
Asylum:
Comments on the European Commission's Green Paper on the Future of the Common European Asylum System (CEAR) have been gathered together and made available online. Replies through 30 September 2007 were received from member governments, other governments, regional authorities, NGOs, and IGOs.
A recent New Issues in Refugee Research paper, entitled "Fortress Europe and the Iraqi...
Accountability and Peace Agreements: Mapping Trends from 1980 to 2006 (Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, Sept. 2007) [text via ReliefWeb]
Africa’s missing billions: International arms flows and the cost of conflict (Oxfam, Oct. 2007) [text]
"Asylum applications in the European Union," Statistics in Focus 110/2007 (Eurostat, Sept. 2007) [text]
Fortress Europe and the Iraqi ‘intruders’: Iraqi...
The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) offers a useful weekly round-up of news on developments in Europe, at both the regional and national levels. The service was discontinued temporarily during the summer, but has now resumed operation once again with a September 15 update.
Here are links to some of the reports referenced in the update:
Country Reports (European Committee for the...
Expert Seminar on Protracted IDP Situations (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, June 2007; posted August 2007) [text]
Guidelines for Relations between U.S. Armed Forces and Non-Governmental Humanitarian Organizations in Hostile or Potentially Hostile Environments (InterAction, posted August 2007) [text]
On Migration and the Policy Process, Working Paper no. T20 (Development...
DR Congo: A Regional Analysis (WriteNet, July 2007) [text]
EU needs common policy on asylum (ISN Security Watch, 31 July 2007) [text]
The New Myth about Climate Change (Foreign Policy, August 2007) [text]
Peace and Conflict 2008 (CIDCM, 27 July 2007) [access]
- Chapter extracts, supplemental materials, and executive summary provided.
Real-time evaluation of UNHCR's IDP operation in Uganda...
In
Annual Reports,
evaluation,
refugee camps,
Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Uganda,
climate,
Lebanon,
Palestinians,
internally displaced persons,
conflict,
asylum,
European Union
In 2006, the Council of Europe established a Working Group "to examine the question of human rights protection in the context of accelerated asylum procedures and, as appropriate, to draft guidelines in this field." The group held its first meeting in December 2006. Draft Terms of Reference for the group's mandate are provided in English as Appendix III to the report of the meeting. (A final...
Contribution à une sociologie politique du HCR: le cas des politiques européennes et du HCR au Maroc (TERRA, mai 2007) [text]
Green Paper on the Future of the Common European Asylum System (European Commission, June 2007) [text]
Iraqi Refugees in the Syrian Arab Republic: A Field-Based Snapshot (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, June 2007) [text]
“No One Has the Liberty to...
In
Morocco,
international security,
Ugandans,
development induced displacement,
UNHCR,
unaccompanied minors,
asylum seekers,
asylum,
refugees,
Iraqis,
European Union
The European Parliament should condemn European complicity in the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) program of “extraordinary renditions” and secret detention of prisoners, Human Rights Watch said today....
‘Diplomatic Assurances’ Against Torture Provide No Protection From Abuse
The European Parliament report adopted today on the role of EU states in CIA renditions tells only half the story when it comes to European complicity in torture, Human Rights Watch said in a new briefing paper on how some EU governments have also directly undermined the global ban on torture....
Report Stresses Further Need to Investigate Secret Detention and Rendition to Torture
A new report by the European Parliament’s Temporary Committee on illegal CIA activity in Europe is a powerful indictment of European governments’ complicity in CIA abuses, Human Rights Watch said today....
Policies Should Ensure Rights Protection for Migrants, Asylum Seekers
European Union efforts to shift responsibility for migration to countries beyond EU borders threaten the human rights of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today. On Friday, European leaders are expected to discuss migration at an EU informal summit in Lahti, Finland....