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

Refugee Archives Update

The last week or so has been a busy one in terms of breaking news stories in regard to refugee and asylum issues.  The following news stories, exhibitions and publications are worthy of note:

News Stories

UK Appeal Court Terrorism Ruling

The Daily Telegraph (11/02/10): Binyam Mohamed: choose human rights or Britain's protection?
The Daily Telegraph (11/02/10): Binyam Mohamed: MI5 and Whitehall in torture 'cover-up'
BBC News (11/02/10): US disappointed at UK Appeal Court torture ruling
The Independent (11/02/10): Britain did know CIA tortured suspect
The Daily Telegraph (10/02/10): Binyam Mohamed torture allegations published
BBC News (10/02/10): Binyam Mohamed torture appeal lost by UK governmentThe Daily Telegraph (10/02/10): Binyam Mohamed: the secret torture file
The Daily Telegraph (10/02/10): Binyam Mohamed torture allegations must be disclosed, day judges

Student Visas

The Guardian (11/02/10): Clampdown on overseas student visas sparks funding concerns
The Guardian (07/02/10): Alan Johnson announces crackdown on student visas
The Daily Telegraph (06/02/10): Foreign student visa numbers to be slashed

Government Immigration Policy

The Daily Telegraph (10/02/10): Labour changes its tune over immigration limit as election looms
The Daily Telehraph (09/02/10): Labour's 'secret plan' to lure migrants
The Daily Telegraph (09/02/10): The deceit of Labour's immigration policy

UK Border Agency

The Daily Telegraph (09/02/10): Border Agency cannot perform basic functions, warns watchdog
BBC News (03/02/10): Whistleblower's claims about Cardiff asylum office


Child Asylum Seekers in the West Midlands

BBC News (08/02/10): Starting afresh in a foreign city

BBC News (08/02/10): Child asylum seeker numbers rise in West Midlands

See Also: BBC West Midlands Inside Out  programme on this issue.  Further details availble on

the Inside Out website and the programme is available to watch in the UK with the BBC iPlayer (29 minutes)

General Refugee and Asylum Related News Stories

The Guardian (11/02/10): 'Every Hindu and Sikh should be praising the BNP'

BBC News (11/02/10): Minister 'admits paying millions to detained migrants'
The Independent (11/02/10): Sri Lanka police fire tear gas on opposition in bid to quell protests
The Independent (11/02/10):  Leading article: Nelson Mandela's greatness transcended nation and tribe
The Independent (11/02/10): Joan Smith: Amnesty shouldn't support men like Moazzam Begg
The Independent (11/02/10):  Rankin in Africa: Images of love in a land of conflict.

See Also:  From Congo with Love exhibition details below.

The Daily Telegraph (10/02/10): Immigration officer rounds on Home Secretary

BBC News (10/02/10): Timeline: Democratic Republic of Congo

ICRC (10/02/10): ICRC activities in Iraq in 2009 – Facts and figures

The Daily Telegaph (10/02/10): Sir Andrew Green: the public are too polite on immigration

The Daily Telegraph (10/02/10: Reading: a Babel of dialects

The Daily Telegraph (10/02/10): Immigrants 'exploiting loophole at Stansted Airport to enter the country'

The Daily Telegraph (09/02/10): Mothers go on hunger strike at immigration centre after being separated from children

The Guardian (09/02/10): Police 'ignore' rights of sex trafficking victims

The Guardian (09/02/10): Yarl's Wood women on hunger strike 'locked up and denied treatment'

The Guardian (08/02/10): Spain sees sixfold increase in immigrants over decade

Amnesty International (08/02/10): Afghanistan: No impunity for war criminals

BBC News (08/02/10): Did immigration transform Britain by accident?

BBC News (08/02/10): Q&A: Sudan's Darfur conflict 

BBC News (07/02/10): French police close down illegal migrant shelter

The Daily Telegraph (07/02/10): Free flights for east Europe homeless

The Observer (07/02/10): Jobless migrants living in shanty towns offered free flights home

The Daily Telegraph (06/02/10): Joanna Lumley re-opens Gurkha battle

Human Rights Watch (05/02/10): Thailand: Cease Intimidation of Karen Refugees

Refugees International (05/02/10): UN Security Council: Progress on Sudan, Stagnancy on Somalia

The Guardian (05/02/10): Hideously diverse Britain: Born-again Britons at a citizenship ceremony 

Human Rights Watch (04/02/10): Kenya: Landmark Ruling on Indigenous Land Rights

The Daily Telegraph (04/02/2010): Nigerian prince would rather be sent back to torture than stay in "useless" Britain 

The Guardian (04/02/10): Solidarity is not an offence 

The Daily Telegraph (04/02/10): Failure to deport foreign criminals costs £60m a year

Human Rights Watch (04/02/10): Italy: Speed Investigations of Rosarno Attacks 

Human Rights Watch (03/02/10): EU: Follow Swiss Example of Accepting Guantanamo Detainees

BBC News (03/02/10): Timeline: Sudan 

The Guardian (03/02/10): Target apathy to stop the BNP

Exhibitions

An exhibition by the portrait photographer Rankin entitled From Congo with Love is currently featuring in a large exhibition being held at London's South Bank.  The exhibition has been develope din conjunction with Oxfam and displays "images and stories exploring romantic love, love lost, mother's love and the kindness of strangers, as well as photos taken by Congolese villagers with Rankin's guidance, providing an extraordinary insight into their everyday life."  There is also a book to accompany the exhibtion entitled `We Are Congo' which is available to purchase online. 

Image Copyright: Rankin / Oxfam.

Courses

Cultural aspects of working with refugees and asylum seekers, Leeds, 13 May 2010, organised by The Refugee Council, costs apply.  Further Details.  To Book, contact The Refugee Council: training@refugeecouncil.org.uk (Source: The Network).

Publications

Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (09/02/10): Press Release:  Human Rights Commission’s Annual Report 2008-2009  The full and final report in PDF fomrat is also available to download: Here.

Forced Migration Review

A special supplement edition of the Forced Migration Review journal has just been published and is entitled: Islam, human rights and displacement.

Now online at: http://www.fmreview.org/human-rights.htm

Full details form the press release are available as follows and hard copies will me made available in the Refugee Archive in due course:

FMR's 12-page supplement on Islam, human rights and displacement will soon be available in Arabic and English.

We hope it will enhance debate and understanding of the concepts and
instruments of international human rights in the Islamic world. More
information is online at http://www.fmreview.org/human-rights.htm

How to request copies:

All readers who usually receive the Arabic edition (NHQ) of FMR will receive a copy of the supplement in Arabic with their copy of NHQ 31 in January. You therefore do not need to request it UNLESS you would like to receive multiple copies for training purposes and/or onward distribution.

The English version of the supplement will NOT be mailed out to regular readers of FMR. You need to email us to request copies. We are keen to distribute copies to organisations which would find it useful for training and awareness-raising purposes. We would also be happy to send it to libraries and resource centres.

If you would like copies of the supplement, please email us at
fmr@qeh.ox.ac.uk, indicating:
- which language
- how many
- your full postal address
- and, preferably, how you propose using it.

REMINDER
If you have not already done so, we would be extremely grateful if you would complete our reader survey at http://www.fmreview.org/2008survey.htm This will help us make sure FMR is meeting your needs and give us ideas of how we might improve it. Thank you!

Marion Couldrey, Maurice Herson & Musab Hayatli
Forced Migration Review

fmr@qeh.ox.ac.uk www.fmreview.org
+44 1865 280700 Skype: fmreview

Posted in: Refugee Studies and Periodicals.

New Journal Issues

Health and Human Rights, vol. 10, no. 1 (2008) [full-text]
- First issue in the newly-adopted open access format. Includes an article on promoting greater access to biomedical literature to meet the needs of people around the world who cannot afford the subscription costs generally associated with health and medical journals.

(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog - http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/)

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 34, no. 6 (2008) [contents]
- Includes articles on human smuggling and refugee entrepreneurship.
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog - http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/)

Reproductive Health Matters, vol. 16, no. 31 (May 2008) [contents]
- Special issue focusing on reproductive health and conflict-/displacement-affected people.
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog - http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/)

The Researcher, no. 10 (June 2008) [full-text via ecoi.net]
- Mix of articles relating to RSD and protection matters, including an article on the subject of human trafficking.

(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog - http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/)

Posted in: Periodicals.

New Periodcial Issues

The International Federation of Iraqi Refugees has published issue no.5 its paper 'Federation'.
Download the paper at:
http://www.irr.org.uk/pdf/IFIR_Federation_five.pdf (pdf file, 733kb)

(Source: Institute for Race Relations – http://www.irr.org.uk/)

Doughty Street Chambers has published issue no.14 of its 'Human Rights Bulletin' on significant human rights cases and developments at the UK, European and international levels.
Subscribe to the Bulletin at:
http://www.doughtystreet.co.uk/members/join/

(Source: Institute for Race Relations – http://www.irr.org.uk/)

A new volume of the International Journal of Refugee Law has just been released by Oxford Journals. The table of contents for Volume 20, Number 1, (March 2008), is now available online at: http://ijrl.oxfordjournals.org/content/vol20/issue1/index.dtl

The July issue of the Institute for Race Relations’ journal entitled Race and Class has now been published. Further details can be found on the IRR website at: http://www.irr.org.uk/2008/july/ak000003.html

The July edition of the IOM journal entitled Migration is now online and available via the IOM website at: http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/cache/offonce/pid/1674?entryId=17687

Posted in: Periodicals.

OHCHR Commitee Meeting Publications

Committee on Migrant Workers: Concluding Observations (8th session)

We are pleased to provide you herewith the sixth 2008 distribution of treaty body recommendations through the listserve administered by the Human RightsTreaties Branch, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Please, do not reply to this message.

For your information, we attach the concluding observations adopted by the Committee on Migrant Workers at its 8th session, held from 14 to 25 April 2008. The documents are provided in their unedited version and in the original language of adoption. The final versions, in all six official languages of the United Nations, will be available on the Treaty Body Database of the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (http://www.ohchr.org).

Under the Convention on Migrant Workers, the Committee adopted concluding observations in respect of the following State parties:

Bolivia http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/mwc/Bolivia.pdf

Syrian Arab Republic http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/mwc/Syria.pdf


Full information relating to the session can be found at the following webpage:
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cmw/cmws08.htm

At its 9th session from 24-28 November 2008, the Committee will consider the report of El Salvador. Full information relating to the 9th session can be found at the following webpage:
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cmw/cmws09.htm

Human Rights Treaties Branch
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

====

Decisions of the Human Rights Committee (Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights)

Dear Subscribers,

We are pleased to provide you herewith the seventh 2008 distribution of treaty body recommendations through the listserve administered by the Human RightsTreaties Branch, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Please, do not reply to this message.

For your information, we attach the final decisions of the Human Rights Committee, adopted at its 92nd session, held in New York from 17 March to 4 April 2008, in respect of individual complaints presented under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The decisions are provided in the original language of adoption, with translations into additional languages to be found in due course on the Treaty Body Database of the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (http://www.ohchr.org).

In the following six cases, the Committee found, in its decision on the merits of the case, one or more violations of the Covenant.

Susser_v_Czech Republic http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/ccpr/Susser_v_Czech_Republic.pdf
Rakhmatov_et_al_v_Tajikistan http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/ccpr/Rakhmatov_et_al_v_Tajikistan.pdf
Lumanog_v_Philippines http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/ccpr/Lumanog_v_Philippines.pdf
Lnenicka_v_Czech_Republic http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/ccpr/Lnenicka_v_Czech_Republic.pdf
Hens_Corujo_v_Spain http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/ccpr/Hens_Corujo_v_Spain.pdf
Babkin_v_Russian_Federation http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/ccpr/Babkin_v_Russian_Federation.pdf

In the following three cases, the Committee found, in its decision on the merits of the cases, no violation of the Covenant.

Asensi_v_Spain http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/ccpr/Asensi_v_Spain.pdf
Bauetdinov_v_Uzbekistan http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/ccpr/Bauetdinov_v_Uzbekistan.pdf
Oubina_v_Spain http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/ccpr/Oubina_v_Spain.pdf

In the following eleven cases, the Committee found the complaint to be inadmissible.

Ahmad_ Abdol-Hamid_v_Denmark http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/ccpr/Ahmad_Abdol_Hamid_v_Denmark.pdf
Conde_v_Spain http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/ccpr/Conde_v_Spain.pdf
Fernandez_v_Spain http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/ccpr/Fernandez_v_Spain.pdf
Gougnin Karimov_v_Uzbequistan http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/ccpr/Gougnin_Karimov_v_Uzbequistan.pdf
Kool_v_Netherlands http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/ccpr/Kool_v_Netherlands.pdf
Korneenko_v_Belarus http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/ccpr/Korneenko_v_Belarus.pdf
Londono Soto_et_al_v_Australia http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/ccpr/Londono_Soto_et_al_v_Australia.pdf
Mazon Costa _v_Spain http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/ccpr/Mazon_Costa_v_Spain.pdf
Schmidl_v_Czech_Republic http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/ccpr/Schmidl_v_Czech_Republic.pdf
Stow_Gai_v_Portugal http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/ccpr/Stow_Gai_v_Portugal.pdf
Subero_v_Spain http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/ccpr/Subero_v_Spain.pdf


Further attached is the revised global Reporting Schedule setting out the State reports, received in the Secretariat and tentatively scheduled for consideration in 2008 and 2009, by treaty and session. The schedule, correct as of 5 May, is subject to change without notice.

http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/Reporting_Schedule.pdf

Human Rights Treaties Branch
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights


Posted in: Publications.