Friday 26 March 2010

Weekly News Round-up by the Refugee Archive

UK News

The Independent (26/03/2010): Ministers are exaggerating the terrorist threat, say MPs

The Daily Telegraph (26/03/2010): Immigrants and asylum seekers face driving licence ban

Refugee Council (25/03/2010): Support for asylum seekers to increase by 1%

The Independent (26/03/2010): Leading article: The time has come for an overhaul of our terror laws

BBC News (25/03/2010): Driving rules tightened for failed asylum seekers

IRR News (25/03/2010): Concerns about abuse by UKBA contractors vindicated

Refugee & Migrant Justice (24/03/2010): RMJ statement on Dame Anne Owers, Chief Inspector of Prisons unannounced inspection of Yarl’s Wood

Refugee Council (24/03/2010): Report states detention ‘unnecessary’ for children at Yarl’s Wood

BBC News (24/03/2010): Children held unnecessarily at Yarl's Wood - inspector 

Refugee & Migrant Justice (23/03/2010): Welcome to the UK: ‘welfare interviews’ by UK Border Agency putting children seeking asylum at risk

IRR News (18/03/2010): 'This country I came to for refuge for peace ...'

Human Rights Watch (18/03/2010): UK: Interrogation Policy Appears to Permit Complicity in Abuse of Detainees

The Daily Telegraph (17/03/2010): Migrant drivers charged higher insurance

Human Rights Watch (17/03/2010): This is Britain’s chance to uphold the Olympic ideal

UKBA (17/03/2010): Refugees' route to settlement


World News

The Independent (26/03/2010): Face to face with Pakistan’s most wanted

BBC News (26/03/2010): UN welcomes Pakistan's move on Afghan refugees

The Daily Telegraph (26/03/2010): David Miliband: Israeli cloning of British passports was 'intolerable' 

The Guardian (25/03/2010): Migrants feel the chill as the French clamp down

The Guardian (25/03/2010): Can Labour 'out-nasty' the Tories on asylum?

Human Rights Watch (25/03/2010): Impossible Choices for Iraqi Refugees in Lebanon

Human Rights Watch (25/03/2010): Tajikistan: Don’t Return Asylum Seeker to Kyrgyzstan

The Guardian (24/03/2010): A non-toxic immigration debate

The Guardian (24/03/2010): Yarl's Wood detained baby for 100 days, damning report reveals

Human Rights Watch (24/03/2010): Bangladesh: Allow Photo Exhibit of Crossfire Killings

Human Rights Watch (24/03/2010): Cambodia: New Regulations Fail Refugees

Human Rights Watch (24/03/2010): Ethiopia: Repression Rising Ahead of May Elections 

Amnesty International (24/03/2010): Malaysia must end abuse of migrant workers
  - See also: Trapped: The exploitation of migrant workers in Malaysia - report summary (ASA 28/006/2010)

BBC News (24/03/2010): Malaysia accused of migrant worker abuse by Amnesty 

Human Rights Watch (24/03/2010): Tunisia Tries to Silence Human Rights Watch

Human Rights watch (24/03/2010): Iran: New Coordinated Attack on Human Rights Groups

UKBA (24/03/2010): New centre opens in Calais to combat border crime

The Guardian (22/03/2010): Three Yarl's Wood doctors investigated over healthcare failings

BBC News (22/03/2010):  Somali refugees told to leave Mogadishu airport 

Migrants' Rights Group (22/03/2010): MRG welcomes report to the Human Rights Council by the UN expert on minorities

BBC News (20/03/2010): Western Sahara activist 'beaten' after talking to BBC 

The Guardian (20/03/2010): Court allows judicial review over Yarl's Wood detention

The Independent (19/03/2010):  New secret agent rules delayed 'after falling foul of torture laws'

BBC News (19/03/2010): Swiss investigate death of Nigerian asylum seeker 

Refugees International (18/03/2010): Iraq: Hill Event Sheds Light on Humanitarian Crisis

BBC News (18/03/2010): Iraq: Key facts and figures 

Human Rights Watch (18/03/2010): Madrid needs to stand up for the forgotten children of Tenerife

Human Rights Watch (17/03/2010): Bangladesh: Hundreds Held One Year After Massacre

BBC News (17/03/2010): Australian coroner finds asylum boat blast 'deliberate' 

Human Rights Watch (17/03/2010): Human Rights Watch Memorandum for the Resumed Eighth Session of the International Criminal Court Assembly of States Parties

BBC News (16/03/2010): Sad return for Serbia's failed asylum seekers

The Guardian (16/03/2010): Artists and academics regularly refused UK entry, say campaigners

The Guardian (16/03/2010): English language schools plan legal challenge on tightening of visa rules

Human Rights Watch (16/03/2010): Human Rights Watch Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Burma

Human Rights Watch (16/03/2010): Serbia: 9 Arrested for Kosovo War Crimes

ICRC (16/03/2010): ICRC president has talks with new European commissioner for humanitarian aid

Wednesday 17 March 2010

Selected Publications from Different Sources

A selection of recently produced publications.

Publications Produced by UNHCR:

UNHCR Action to Address Statelessness: A Strategy Note
March 2010
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4b9e0c3d2.html

Country of Origin Research and Information (CORI), Country Report:
Ethiopia
January 2010
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4b9e03f92.html

UNHCR Country Briefing Folder on Central African Republic
March 2010
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4b8f93642.html

Publications Made Available Through ReliefWeb:

Title - Framework on Durable Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons
(A/HRC/13/21/Add.4)
Source - UN Human Rights Council
Date - Feb 2010
URL Address -
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/lib.nsf/db900SID/VVOS-83CN95?OpenDocument

Title - Home alone? A review of the relationship between repatriation,
mobility and durable solutions for refugees
Source - UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Date - Mar 2010
URL Address -
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/lib.nsf/db900SID/EGUA-83ERRC?OpenDocument

Title - Refugees, internally displaced persons and the 'responsibility to
protect'
Source - UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Date - Mar 2010
URL Address -
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/lib.nsf/db900SID/EGUA-83ERYW?OpenDocument

Title - Uncharted Territory: Land, Conflict and Humanitarian Action
Source - ODI - Humanitarian Policy Group
Date - Nov 2009
URL Address -
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/lib.nsf/db900SID/ASAZ-7Y4SB2?OpenDocument


Title - Evidence-Based Decision-Making in Humanitarian Assistance
Source - ODI - Humanitarian Practice Network
Date - Dec 2009
URL Address -
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/lib.nsf/db900SID/VVOS-826N8U?OpenDocument




Title - Aid Effectiveness through the Recipient Lens
Source - Overseas Development Institute
Date - Nov 2009
URL Address -
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/lib.nsf/db900SID/ASAZ-835GSM?OpenDocument



Publications Listed by the Institute of Race Relations:

Action on Rights for Children has published a report on: 'Unaccompanied Children Seeking Asylum: Privacy, Consent and Data Protection'.
Download the report at:
http://www.archrights.org.uk/docs/ARCH%20UASCreport%20100215FINAL.pdf (pdf file, 288kb)

Asylum Aid has published the tenth anniversary edition of: 'Women's Asylum News'.
Download the issue at:
http://t.ymlp84.com/ybagamueanauqwbaoauwb/click.php (pdf file, 196kb)

HM Chief Inspector of Prisons has published a: 'Report on an announced inspection of Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre'.
Download the report at:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/inspectorates/hmi-prisons/docs/Campsfield_House_2009_rps.pdf (pdf file, 424kb)

The Home Office has published: 'Control of Immigration: Quarterly Statistical Summary, United Kingdom - Fourth Quarter 2009',
Download the statistics at:
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs10/immiq409.pdf (pdf file, 472kb)

Human Rights Watch has published a report: 'Fast-Tracked Unfairness: Detention and Denial of Women Asylum Seekers in the UK'.
Download the report at:
http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/uk0210webwcover.pdf (pdf file, 712kb)


Other Publications:

The APCI Legacy: A Critical Assessment
Click here for full report.
In July 2008 the Advisory Panel on Country Information (APCI) was disbanded and its functions subsumed under the Office of the Chief Inspector of the UKBA. In March 2009 the Chief Inspector established the Independent Advisory Group on Country Information (IAGCI) to assist him with monitoring the UKBA Country of Origin Information Service (COIS) reports. 

Tuesday 16 March 2010

Weekly News Round Up

United Kingdom

UKBA (15/03/10): Brentford company faces fine of £90,000

IRR News (15/03/10): Fighting anti-Muslim racism: an interview with A. Sivanandan

The Independent (15/03/10): Yasmin Alibhai-Brown: Our asylum policy is a national disgrace

The Observer (14/03/10): UK 'ignoring' systemic evidence of torture among asylum seekers

The Observer (14/03/10): We punish those we should protect

The Observer (14/03/10): Asylum deportation flights need rights monitors, EU says

The Daily Telegraph (13/03/10): Backlash at the mosque

The Guardian (13/03/10): 'I'm not a slave, I just can't speak English' – life in the meat industry

The Guardian (13/03/10): Violence and abuse rife in food factories

The Guardian (13/03/10): Sky-high Glasgow dreams that turned into a nightmare

BBC News (13/03/10): Hundreds attend tower block 'suicide' rally 

The Daily Telegraph (13/03/10): Ian McEwan: Criticising Islam is not racist

The Daily Telegraph (12/03/10): Asylum seekers complaints of assaults by Home Office security staff 'not properly investigated'

BBC News (12/03/10): Handcuff restraint of asylum seekers criticised 

The Guardian (12/03/10): The bigger picture on asylum

The Guardian (12/03/10): Officials failed to investigate asylum detainee abuse claims – report

The Independent (12/03/10): Forced Deportations Report: Asylum-seekers abused by security guards, says report

UKBA (12/03/10): Three illegal workers arrested at a car wash in Maidstone

UKBA (12/03/10):  Government ramps up passenger screening

The Guardian (12/03/10): Red Road deaths: a tragedy of asylum, mental health and Russian intrigue

UKBA (11/03/10): E-Borders system helps identify drug smuggler at Gatwick Airport

Refugee and Migrant Justice (11/03/10): Process for removing asylum seekers lacks accountability and ‘will get worse’

The Daily Telegraph (11/03/10): 'Gaping hole' in rules on foreign doctors, GMC says

The Daily Telegraph (11/03/10): House of Lords employed illegal immigrant as catering worker

The Guardian (10/03/10): Our asylum system's fatal failures

The Independent (10/03/10): Lumley named in row over Gurkha charity

The Independent (10/03/10): Call for inquiry into Glasgow tower suicidesThe Independent 

UKBA (09/03/10): Refugees' route to citizenship

Refugee and Migrant Justice (09/03/10): Detainees at Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre held unlawfully

Refugee Council (09/03/10): Government publishes consultation on charging foreign nationals for healthcare – some refused asylum seekers will now be exempt

BBC News (09/03/10): Vigil held for tower block deaths

BBC News (08/03/10): 'I fear every knock on my door' 

UKBA (08/03/10):  Minister attends immigration debate in Wakefield


World

ICRC (15/03/10): Bangladesh: aid for victims of violence

BBC News (13/03/10): Mogadishu residents told to leave Somali capital 

Amnesty International (11/03/10): Italian authorities urged to stop forced evictions of Roma  See Also: Amnesty' snew briefing paper - Italy: The wrong answer: Italy's 'Nomad Plan' violates the housing rights of Roma in Rome (EUR 30/001/2010 - 11 March 2010).

ICRC (10/03/10): Sudan: violence threatens civilians in the south

BBC News (09/03/10): Bangladesh 'ignoring plight' of starving Burma refugees
Refugees International (03/03/10): The Global Implications of Climate Migration

Monday 8 March 2010

A Selection of News Stories (08 February 2010).

Iraq Elections

The Independent (08/03/10): New wave of fear sweeps Baghdad as Iraqis vote

The Independent (08/03/10): Robert Fisk: Once again, a nation walks through fire to give the West its 'democracy'

The Times (08/03/10): Millions of Iraqis defy bomb and rocket attacks to vote

The Daily Telegraph (07/03/10): Iraq Election: World leaders praise bravery of Iraqi voters after election 

BBC News (06/03/10): Deadly Iraq car bomb near Shia shrine in Najaf 

The Independent (05/03/10): Leading article: Iraq steps into a fragile and uncertain future

Human Rights Watch (01/03/10): Iraq: Candidates Should Promote Human Rights



United Kingdom


UKBA (11/03/10): Man jailed for trying to sell his own sister

Amnesty International (08/03/10): Cambodia's government must protect victims of sexual violence as reports of rape increase A full PDF file of this report is also available to download - [ASA 23/001/2010 - PDF].

BBC News (08/03/10): Police inquire into identity of Glasgow flat deaths

The Observer (07/03/10): A happy ending for the Gurkhas? Think again

The Observer (07/03/10): Migrant children face ordeal after lone journey to Britain

The Daily Telegraph (07/03/10): Three die after falling from Glasgow block of flats

The Daily Telegraph (06/03/10): The strange case of the vanishing hunger strike

UKBA (05/03/10): Expensive week for Bedfordshire businesses

UKBA (05/03/10): Restaurant staff from Waterlooville arrested for illegal working

The Guardian (05/03/10): Snoop Dogg wins battle with Border Agency to re-enter UK

The Guardian (04/03/10): Unskilled Britain

The Guardian (04/03/10): Asda and Unite to tackle migrant discrimination

The Daily Telegraph (03/03/10): Muslim woman barred from flight after refusing body scan

The Daily Telegraph (02/03/10): Fatwa issued against suicide bombing

The Guardian (02/03/10): The return of the Irish brain drain

UKBA (02/03/10): Officers smash bogus marriage ring in Bolton

Human Rights Watch (02/03/10): Women, Asylum and the UK Border Agency

The Guardian (01/03/10): The real distress at Yarl's Wood

BBC News (01/03/10): Oxford bid for 'Sanctuary City' status

BBC News (01/03/10): Advice pack for migrants and refugees in Wales 

UKBA (01/03/10): Protecting the UK border by boosting overseas cooperation

UKBA (01/03/10): Hartlepool Chinese takeaways face fines of £40,000 over illegal workers


World

The Independent (08/03/10): Film awakens France's shame in the Holocaust

The Independent (08/03/10): Paul Collier: The crisis in Haiti shows we need a new approach to NGOs

Survival International (04/03/10): Guatemala adopts indigenous rights into Constitution

The Daily Telegraph (04/03/10): US labels Turkish killing 'genocide'

Survival International (03/03/10): UN report condemns Botswana’s treatment of Bushmen

UKBA (03/03/10): Illegal workers face being deported

UKBA (03/03/10): Tier 4 changes from 3 March 2010 - information for education providers

The Guardian (02/03/10): We work, we strike

BBC News (02/03/10): Probe into border staff 'racial prejudice' claims

BBC News (02/03/10): Chad gives UN peacekeeping force extra two months

UKBA (02/03/10): Illegal workers jailed for using fake passports

BBC News (01/03/10): Big rise in Afghan child migrants

Tuesday 2 March 2010

A Selection of Recent Publications


New Publications

The Children’s Commissioner has recently published a new report entitled “The Children’s Commissioner for England's follow up report to: The arrest and detention of children subject to immigration control.”  A full report and an executive summary are available to download in PDF format as follows:



 New Home Office statistics have just been released and details are available on the Home Office RDS What’s New website:


 A report from the Institute for the Study of European Transformations (London Metropolitan University) by Dr. Nick Mai and entitled “Migrant Workers in the UK Sex Industry Policy-Relevant Findings.”  The full report is available to download in full at:


New UK Border Agency report by John Vine, the Independent Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency entitled “Asylum: Getting the Balance Right? A Thematic Inspection: July – November 2009.”

Full details and downloads are available as follows:  http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/aboutus/workingwithus/indbodies/chiefinspector/

New Human Rights Watch Report:

Fast-Tracked Unfairness :Detention and Denial of Women Asylum Seekers in the UK
February 23, 2010
The 69-page report documents how women asylum seekers with complex claims are being routed into a system designed for much simpler claims. The women are held in detention largely for the UK’s administrative convenience, have very little time to prepare a legal case, and have only a few days to appeal if refused. But the claims often involve such sensitive and difficult issues as sexual violence, female genital mutilation, trafficking, and domestic abuse.

A Tough Road Home: Uprooted Irqis in Jordan, Syria and Iraq.  Produced by the International Rescue Committee. (February 2010).  Full details:  http://www.theirc.org/special-reports/iraqi-refugees

ICAR have recently published a new report entitled `Citizenship for Refugees in the UK: Key Issues and Research.  Published in February 2010 and available to download from the link below:


A New Report produced by the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement and  entitled: Resolving Iraqi Displacement: Humanitarian and Development Perspectives.  Available to download in PDF format as follows:

Monday 1 March 2010

News Stories - Updated 01 March 2010

News Stories - Updated 01 March 2010

Yarl's Wood

The Guardian Online (01/03/10): Legal challenge over Yarl's Wood women

Bristol No Borders (01/02/10): Yarl’s Wood Hunger Strike Continues – Interview with Striker

The Guardain Online ([28]/02/10): Yarl's Wood immigration centre faces abuse claims

The Guardian Online (28/02/10): Immigration bosses to be quizzed after asylum seekers were 'beaten' by guards


General Stories - UK

BBC News (01/03/100: Big rise in Afghan child migrants 

The Guardian Online (28/02/10): Tories caught up in new immigration storm

The Guardian Online(28/02/10): For the record

The Guardian Online (27/02/10): Our borders are porous. Why can't our politicians admit the problems of immigration?

The Daily Telegraph (27/02/10): One in ten students at suspect colleges

The Daily Telegraph Online (27/02/10): Islamic radicals 'infiltrate' the Labour Party

IRR News (26/02/10): Segregation policy for foreign national prisoners condemned

The Guardian Online (26/02/10): Huge rise in unresolved asylum cases revealed

BBC News (26/02/10): UK Border Agency asylum case target 'unachievable' 

The Daily Telegraph Online (26/02/10): British citizenship figures: inattention, incompetence or design?

The Guardian Online (26/02/10): The BNP's appeal to those left behind

The Guardian Online (26/02/10): Women fast-tracked to asylum denial

BBC News (26/02/10): 'Health tourists' face crackdown under new proposals

BBC News (25/02/10): UK immigration from Eastern and Central Europe falls

The Daily Telegraph Online (25/02/10): Latvians workers heading for Britain hits record high

The Daily Telegraph Online (25/02/10): Woolas admits even his children have suffered from immigration

Human Rights Watch (23/02/10): UK: ‘Fast Track’ Asylum System Fails Women.
See Also: The 69-page report, “Fast-Tracked Unfairness: Detention and Denial of Women Asylum Seekers in the UK

Human Rights Watch (23/02/10): Women fast-tracked to asylum denial


General Stories - World

The Daily Star (01/03/10): ISPR clarifies media reports on CHT violence


BBC News (01/03/10): Karadzic defends Bosnian Serb 'holy' cause at trial


BBC News (28/02/10): Somali militants 'block UN food aid'

BBC News (27/02/10): Building the first 'Palestinian settlement' 

Human Rights Watch (24/02/10): A reform-minded government should end abuses against migrant workers

Human Rights Watch (24/02/10): The Burden is on Thais to Re-think Their Migrant Strategy
See also: From the Tiger to the Corcodile.

Human Rights Watch (24/02/10): Slow Progress on Rights in Kosovo

BBC News (25/02/10): Rwanda country profile


Torture

The Daily Telegraph Online (01/03/10): Sir Ian Blair's deal with Islamic radical

The Daily Telegraph Online (01/03/10): Guantanamo: £30m torture case bill for taxpayers

The Daily Telegaph Online (26/02/10): Gordon Brown: Britain is not involved in torture

The Daily Telegraph Online (26/02/10): Security services' 'dubious record' over Binyam Mohamed criticised by top judge