tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16196292489600966792024-03-13T00:11:16.576+01:00(non) Citizens of the WorldA blog about stateless people, undocumented migrants, and refugeesThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-20818967996780485032013-10-14T18:37:00.000+02:002013-10-14T18:42:07.482+02:00Big Data and Migration- What's in Store?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Unless you've been assiduously avoiding the internet the last few years, you've probably heard the term "Big Data" thrown around and witnessed the breathless speculation that generally accompanies its discussion. Interestingly, I haven't yet seen anyone talking about what the implications of the imminent big data revolution will be on migration studies, an area which is defined by a distinct lack of data. By way of starting a conversation, allow me to offer my predictions on what the impact will likely be.<br />
<br />
I posit two main impacts of big data on migration studies/policies/ politics. One positive, one negative.<br />
<br />
<b>Positive: 1. It will allow scholars, NGOs and activists to track flows of migration like never before, making humanitarian interventions easier, allowing us to fight back against fear-mongering false statistics in the media, and providing new ways of preventing statelessness and human trafficking.</b><br />
<b><br /></b><b>Negative: 2. It will allow governments to track undocumented migrants with an unheard of ease, prevent refugee flows from entering their countries, and track remittances and travel in ways that put migrants at new risks.</b><br />
<br />
In short, this proliferation of knowledge could easily cut in both ways. In the following, I will describe the above scenarios in greater detail, and offer my opinions as to how we can (attempt to) avoid the downsides of the impact of big data on migration.<br />
<br />
<b><u>How Big Data Provides Information about Migration</u></b><br />
<br />
In <u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Big-Data-Revolution-Transform-Think/dp/0544002695">Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live Work and Think</a></u>, authors Viktor Mayer-Schonburger and Kenneth Cukier describe how a proliferation of data, thanks largely to the internet, has made new advances in prediction and analysis possible (and exploitable by those quick enough to grasp how to use it.) For example, Google, <a href="http://www.google.org/flutrends/">by analysing search data from past flu outbreaks</a>, is able to make predictions about the next flu outbreaks with more accuracy than the CDC could ever have previously dreamt. Facebook uses your likes and interactions (along with other metrics) to guess what products you might be most interested in, just like Amazon, compiling the buying history of millions of customers, is able to make a much better guess about what you are going to buy than your book club.<br />
<br />
The point is, having access to massive amounts of data can often be a more accurate predictor of behavior than the traditional polls or surveys, which rely on random samples or other means. The power of big data to predict is far from being totally harnessed, but as more people use the internet and offer up information about themselves, their interests, moods, and consumer behavior, the analysis becomes more accurate.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc310/christinaelee/9875966b-1855-45ea-8ae9-94d3f7d2f86a_zps07230c20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc310/christinaelee/9875966b-1855-45ea-8ae9-94d3f7d2f86a_zps07230c20.jpg" /></a>So how exactly does this relate to <u>migration data</u>? In several ways:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><i>Self-provided information</i>: Ever changed your location on facebook or twitter to reflect a move? Tagged pictures from your European vacation with each country and city you visited? Signed into FourSquare?</li>
<li><i>Passively Collected Information</i>: As you've probably realized post-Snowden, information about flights, wired money transfers, international emails and text messages, and even GPS locations are stored, and available to some for analysis. </li>
<li><i>Searches</i>: If you have auto-complete turned on for google, take a look at popular migration-related search chains. "Moving to San Francisco", "USA immigration requirements" "EU asylum lawyers"- all of these could be indicators of intent to migrate or move. This information is also collected and saved.</li>
</ul>
<div>
By using combinations of these data types, it boggles the mind what might be possible. For example, why not compare official state statistics of individuals from say, Romania, registered in say, Berlin. Then compare this against facebook profiles that have hometowns in Romania and current locations in Berlin to see who isn't mentioned.<br />
Or, predict the next refugee wave by tracking purchases, money transfers and search terms prior to the last major wave.<br />
Or connect the locations of recipients of text messages and emails to construct an international network and identify people vulnerable to making the big move to join their family or spouse abroad. (<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/us/nsa-examines-social-networks-of-us-citizens.html?pagewanted=all">If the NSA can do it</a>, why not Frontex?)<br />
Or, an even more sinister possibility- identify undocumented migrant clusters with greater accuracy than ever before by comparing identity and location data with government statistics on who is legally registered.<br />
<br />
<i>I know what you're thinking: </i>this might illuminate the behavior of rich kids with smart phones, but for the most vulnerable and poor among us, their interaction with technology is likely to be far more limited. That certainly may be the case, but even the least technologically connected amongst us might well use cell phones and send text messages, shop at companies that utilize data mining, or send money to family members using wire transfers. Further, the nature of Big Data makes this increasingly unimportant- the masses of data that are available make guesses about the rest of the population possible, and can identify trends that include you, even if you didn't contribute to the "research." As Mayer-Schonburger and Cukier point out, big volumes of data may be "messy" or contain lots of red herrings and inaccuracies, but their size tends to make them more accurate than samples regardless.<br />
<br />
<b>The Good News for Migration Studies</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-84xUtzBI_cE/UlwLnCvZ7BI/AAAAAAAABFw/4Wny7GBqqs4/s1600/tina6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-84xUtzBI_cE/UlwLnCvZ7BI/AAAAAAAABFw/4Wny7GBqqs4/s640/tina6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
All this proliferation of data would be a marked departure in the field of migration studies. As Jeff Crisp wrote in his well-known 1999 article, "<a href="http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/4ff58e4b2.pdf">Who Has Counted the Refugees"</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Despite the centrality of statistics to the field of refugee studies, scholars working in this area have been remarkably inattentive to the issue of quantitative data. While all of the standard works on refugees are replete with numbers, few even begin to question the source or accuracy of those statistics. Scholars have generally been content to rely on figures offered by the two leading producers of refugee statistics - UNHCR and the US Committee for Refugees (USCR) - despite the fact that the figures presented by the two organizations very often differ!</blockquote>
</blockquote>
Now, more than a decade later, a lack of statistics on migration and ethnicity continue to plague the field of migration and human rights more generally. We still rely on UNHCR estimates, and undocumented migrants are no closer to being counted in official registers than before. The <a href="http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/">Open Society Foundation</a> has long been pushing for European governments to collect racially disaggregated statistics in order to comply with European law and illuminate inequality. In a recent blog post for Open Society by Costanza Hermanin ("<a href="http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/making-big-data-work-equality-0">Making 'Big Data' Work for Equality</a>"), she pointed out the irony of the PRISM scandal when European governments can't seem to collect basic data:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
As the recent PRISM program scandal in the United States highlighted, corporations and governments can gather information of any kind about us. Your emails, the foods you like, where you travel, and your shopping preferences are all examples of personal data that can be mined for profiling purposes. It’s ironic, then, that when discussing ethnic minorities or people with disabilities in Europe, “no data available” is a common excuse for not doing more to fight discrimination and inequality.</blockquote>
</div>
In addition to making it more difficult to fight discrimination, a lack of statistics (or just as bad, incomplete and inaccurate data) can easily be exploited by irresponsible media or right wing politicians. As I pointed out in <a href="http://noncitizensoftheworld.blogspot.de/2013/03/poverty-migration-to-germany-social.html">a recent article</a>, when it came to media coverage of a supposed "influx" of Roma from Bulgaria and Romania in Germany, the thrilling headlines and distorted statistics may have had real-world consequences for citizens of the two countries. <br />
<br />
I don't have the space (or will) to elaborate on all the different ways that more accurate quantitative data could impact the study of migration, but I think its no exaggeration to say the impact could be major. In addition to proving evidence of discrimination and taking the air out of anti-immigrant hyperbole, it could mean any number of advances, such as identifying people at risk for human trafficking, determining what is most needed in a refugee camp, and learning much more than we now know about identity, diasporas and remittances.<br />
<br />
Needless to say, much of this information could also be used for less than noble purposes by governments, corporations, and hate groups, so let me now turn to the downsides of big data.<br />
<br />
<b>The Bad News and What to Do About It</b><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.indymedia.ie/cache/imagecache/local/attachments/jun2008/460_0___30_0_0_0_0_0_frontex6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://www.indymedia.ie/cache/imagecache/local/attachments/jun2008/460_0___30_0_0_0_0_0_frontex6.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">via Indymedia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><br /></b>
If you've followed me for this far, I have no doubt that the thought has crossed your mind that this whole Big Data thing could also be <i>really bad news</i> for migrants. After all, one of the reasons that we are lacking statistics is because so many migrants, stateless persons and refugees are forced to live in the shadows, unable to claim recognition at the state-level in fear of deportation under restrictive immigration laws. If its bad now, how bad will it be when governments have practically unlimited means for tracking people and their movements? (<i>I don't want to get into the many possibilities for unethical behavior here, lest I be charged with giving them ideas.</i>)<br />
<br />
Far be it from me to dissuade you from letting the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119177/">Gattaca</a>-like scenario unfold in your head. I certainly do think that this may be where we are heading. But that is why it is so important that the "good guys"- people interested in studying rather than criminalizing migration, as well as human rights advocates- are ahead of the curve and preparing for what Big Data will mean for us.<br />
<br />
I would argue that this unprecedented opportunity to gather real-time information about migration might illuminate all sorts of policy alternatives to detention and deportation. If immigrant-rights advocates get the jump start, we may have the chance to change minds and hearts, even laws, before the data is used in ways that violate human rights.<br />
<br />
And to the extent that isn't possible, it will be necessary to prepare. From a legal perspective, it will be crucial to determine in what ways tracking and identifying of migrants is possible so that we will know what sort of threat big data poses to due process, privacy and the right to freedom of movement. We will need to be familiar with techniques used for tracking migrants or preventing family reunification so that can develop strong arguments against them, even at the same time as we wish to access many of the same stats ourselves for study. We will need to know all the legal justifications for data mining, as well as all the possible legal protections to prevent it. (A few good PhDs on the subject would be a good start.) In short, in order to fight the dangers of big data, it will not do to turn a blind eye and hope that governments do the same.<br />
<br />
Is big data a double edged sword? Absolutely. But we ignore its potential impact on migrants and migration at our own peril. After all, at the end of the day we are just talking information here. Data is neutral, its all in how its used that makes the difference. If we allow ourselves to overtaken by governments and their contractors in the race to access and shape that information, then we are taking a giant risk that governments will use big data for good- a bet that historical experience suggests is extremely naive.<br />
<br />
<i>I'd love to hear your thoughts and criticisms in the comments. </i></div>
Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-79762472962456033582013-04-02T12:18:00.002+02:002013-04-02T12:19:27.183+02:00Europe's Birth Registration Stumbling Blocks<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>Last week, the <a href="http://www.statelessness.eu/">European Network on Statelessness</a> posted a <a href="http://www.statelessness.eu/blog/europe%E2%80%99s-birth-registration-stumbling-blocks">guest blog</a> written by yours truly. I'm re-posting it here for my own records, but definitely go check out ENS! </i><br />
************<br />
It is well-established that one of the best ways of preventing
statelessness is by ensuring universal birth registration of all
children, regardless of the status of their parents. As <a class="ext" href="http://plan-international.org/birthregistration/resources/publications/count-every-child-2009" target="_blank">Plan International</a><span class="ext"></span>
notes, “registration means proof- not only of identity, but of
existence.” Even in countries where being born on the territory of the
state does not confer citizenship this documentation can be crucial to
later gaining nationality, and is a first step towards ensuring basic
human rights.<br />
<br />
For instance, in some countries, citizenship is granted on the basis
of having been born there and then living there for some continuous
amount of time. (For an example of such a policy, see <a class="ext" href="http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/britishcitizenship/eligibility/registration/borninuk/" target="_blank">the UK</a><span class="ext"></span>.) In that case, proof of birth is a crucial step in the process. In addition, countries that have ratified the <a class="ext" href="http://www.unhcr.org/3bbb286d8.html" target="_blank">1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness</a><span class="ext"></span>
have the obligation to grant citizenship to children born on their
territory who would otherwise be stateless (under Article 1.) In this
case as well, birth registration is a crucial piece of evidence for
accessing rights- particularly when the citizenship in question is not
granted until many years after the birth.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, many countries in Europe have “stumbling blocks” to
birth registration for non-citizens or persons lacking complete
documentation. What I mean by that is, although they allow for
undocumented or stateless people to register in theory, in practice they
have bureaucratic procedures established which make it difficult- or in
some cases, expensive or impossible- for people lacking documents to
register. As<a class="ext" href="http://www.unhcr.org/pages/4a02d9346.html" target="_blank"> UNCHR points out</a><span class="ext"></span>, these “inadequate birth registration” measures may be one of the diverse causes of statelessness in Europe.<br />
<br />
Here are some examples of policies which may pose a barrier for
stateless or undocumented persons in registering their children at
birth:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><b>Requiring extensive documentation:</b> Most countries have a list of
documents to be presented at the time of birth registration for proof of
the identity of the parents. When this requirement is mandatory, it
makes it impossible for people lacking those documents to register.
Some countries will carry out an investigation or require court
intervention when documents are missing, which adds additional barriers
to the process. A better practice is to allow for alternative forms of
proof of identity, such as a sworn statement, the statement of witnesses
or identity information from humanitarian documents.</li>
<li><b>Requiring expensive translations of documents</b>: If a country requires
translation of identity documents prior to registration, this can become
a hidden financial barrier for indigent individuals.</li>
<li><b>Linking Registration to Immigration:</b> If a lack of proper immigration
documents at the time of birth registration can be held as a reason for
parents to be referred to immigration enforcement, this may prove an
impossible choice for parents wishing to register their children who may
be at risk for deportation.</li>
<li><b>Fees or punishments for late registration</b>: When countries have strict
time requirements and pose fees for late registration, even within the
first year, this can have a “chilling effect” on parents who did not
manage to register their children on time, who may decide not to do so
later for lack of funds.
</li>
</ul>
(<i>More specific information on birth registration policies can be found at the website of the <a class="ext" href="http://www.ciec1.org/SommaireAnglais.htm" target="_blank">International Commission on Civil Status</a> and in Statelessness Mapping Projects sponsored by UNHCR</i>.)<br />
<br />
It is not clear whether these “stumbling blocks” have impacted a
large number of people trying to register their children (more research
would be required to determine that.) However, as <a class="ext" href="http://www.unhcr.org/pages/4a02d9346.html" target="_blank">UNHCR well documents</a><span class="ext"></span>,
there are thousands of asylum-seekers, IDP’s, and stateless persons in
Europe and the number is growing as refugee crises in the Middle East
and flows from Southeast Europe increase. These people, like any others,
will continue to have children and need to be able to register them
without facing barriers from complicated birth registration laws.
European countries would do well to face this situation proactively and
ensure that universal birth registration is available to all persons on
their territory, regardless of the immigration status or lack of
documents of the parents. If not, the potential is there for leaving
many children at risk of statelessness.<br />
<br />
Countries must ensure that their birth registration practices provide
an opportunity for all children born in the country to be registered,
and make the process as streamlined and barrier-free as possible for
families, regardless of their legal status. This is required not only by
common sense (isn’t it best for everyone to know how many babies are
being born in the land?) but also by international law. <a class="ext" href="http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CRC.aspx" target="_blank">The Convention on the Rights of the Child</a><span class="ext"></span> requires that states ensure birth registration and the right to an identity under their laws.<br />
<br />
It is understandable that some European states do not wish to enable
fraud by making the birth registration process easy to manipulate.
However, the human rights issues at stake are just too important –and
state obligations too high- to allow fear of misbehavior by a few to
dictate policy for all.</div>
Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-78050008098382417882013-03-06T15:08:00.004+01:002013-03-06T15:11:48.375+01:00Poverty Migration to Germany- Social Problem or Straw Man?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>I wrote a <a href="http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/balkan-migrants-social-problem-or-straw-man-for-germany">brief analysis piece </a>for Balkan Insight on the topic of Romanian and Bulgarian migrants being portrayed as "poverty migrants." Here it is, with added embedded links to most of the documents mentioned. </i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">***************</span><br />
<b>Reports about the number of impoverished migrants from Bulgaria and
Romania are alarming Germany - but how accurate are these claims?</b><br />
<br />
German society is up in arms following an alarming recent report
about a dramatic rise in the immigration of unqualified and unemployed
migrants from Europe’s poor Southeast. <br />
But some experts are now calling the report, and its use by media and politicians, into question.<br />
<br />
The furor started in February, when the media started to publish
stories based on an upcoming report from the German Association of
Cities, the <a href="http://www.staedtetag.de/">Städtetag</a>, an association representing the interests of
German cities at the federal and European Union level. The stories
suggested that the report would contain worrying statistics about a rise
in “poverty-driven” migration from Southeast Europe, in particular from
EU members Romania and Bulgaria.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5guhqXxiVno/UTdNYv8m6AI/AAAAAAAABBo/QT2S7vS5brk/s1600/spiegel.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="347" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5guhqXxiVno/UTdNYv8m6AI/AAAAAAAABBo/QT2S7vS5brk/s640/spiegel.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
Even before the actual report emerged, a flurry of articles
demonstrated the media’s willingness to believe such a narrative, with
titles like “<a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-cities-worried-about-high-immigration-from-romania-and-bulgaria-a-881409.html">Influx from the Southeast: German Cities Complain of High Immigration</a>,” from Der Spiegel.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, following the release of the report, titled “<a href="http://www.staedtetag.de/presse/mitteilungen/064517/index.html">Position Paper of the German Association of Cities on the Question of Migrants from Romania and Bulgaria</a>,” many newspapers gave persuasive coverage to
its central claim, which is that an influx of poor, uneducated
jobseekers pose a threat to Germany cities, many of which already
struggle with high unemployment and problems with the integration of
foreigners. The headlines were provocative: “Migrants: German Cities
Sound the Alarm!”; “The Fight Against Poverty Refugees”; “The Flood?”
and “<a href="http://www.abendblatt.de/politik/deutschland/article113873814/Die-Zahl-armer-Zuwanderer-hat-sich-verdoppelt.html">Number of Poor Migrants Doubles</a>”.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MhH2ihTNkIw/UTdNYUXXP8I/AAAAAAAABBk/-Px4N-mX3HQ/s1600/hamburger.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="343" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MhH2ihTNkIw/UTdNYUXXP8I/AAAAAAAABBk/-Px4N-mX3HQ/s400/hamburger.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
Even more problematically, some newspapers conflated the issue
with the already hot topic of Roma migration, such as Die Welt’s
article, “<a href="http://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article113678340/Roma-Zuwanderung-Grossstaedte-schlagen-Alarm.html">Roma: Big Cities Sound the Alarm about Poverty Migrants</a>.” The
report itself only hinted that some of the migrants were of Roma
ethnicity, since statistics on the subject don’t exist.<br />
<br />
“The federal government must recognize that social balance and
social peace in cities is endangered to the highest degree,” the report
warned.<br />
<br />
Citing statistics from the Ministry for Foreigners, the
Association noted that in 2011 alone some 147,000 new migrants from
Romania or Bulgaria arrived, with the first months of 2012 already
showing an increase of 24 per cent over the previous year.<br />
<br />
This apparently means that the number of Romanians and Bulgarians
migrating yearly more than doubled since 2007, when the combined number
of migrants from both countries was around 64,000.<br />
<br />
Even more troubling, the Association noted, is that a large
number of these migrants were clearly not integrated into their own
country and so arrived in Germany with low educational and job skills,
making them eligible for social assistance and vulnerable to a backlash.
The report raised the possibility of dangerous reactions to migration
from xenophobic, right wing groups. “The first signs of this are
evident,” it states.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hP9Z0VhAf2o/UTdNYHK_GDI/AAAAAAAABBg/nnhRAcp3dZk/s1600/daily+mail.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="182" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hP9Z0VhAf2o/UTdNYHK_GDI/AAAAAAAABBg/nnhRAcp3dZk/s400/daily+mail.PNG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2286534/Left-wing-mayor-German-town-warns-Bulgarian-Romanian-immigrants-sent-crime-soaring.html">Daily Mail</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The report urged the government to take more note of the problem,
formulate a strategy to deal with migrants and push for the greater
integration in the home countries of disadvantaged persons who might
find the prospect of migration tempting. <br />
<br />
Following the loud
declarations of the newspaper headlines, some experts have since
questioned whether these statistics are indeed accurate.<br />
<br />
Some say not, including the director of the Max Planck Institute
for Human Development, the vice-president of the Rhine Westphalia
Institute for Economic Research and the director of the Institute for
Economic and Social Statistics of TU Dortmund. In a joint statement from
February 28th the three called the numbers in the report their
“<a href="http://www.rwi-essen.de/media/content/pages/presse/downloads/Unstatistik_Februar_2013.pdf">Non-Statistic of the Month.</a>”<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, the Integration Media Service, Medien Dienst
Integration, an office dedicated to providing journalists with accurate
information on migration and integration funded by (among others) the
German Ministry for Migration, Refugees and Integration, <a href="http://mediendienst-integration.de/artikel/zuwanderungszahlen-deutlich-geringer.html">pointed out</a>
that the actual numbers were “much less dramatic” than was being
reported.<br />
<br />
Using contextual evidence left out by the German Association of
Cities, the two groups say the way the information was presented within
the report and the media is confusing and incomplete. <br />
<br />
The majority of migrants from Romania and Bulgaria are not
unemployed and uneducated, the “Non-Statistic” Press Release maintains.<br />
<br />
Using micro-census data, they say some 80 per cent of migrants
arriving from the two countries since 2007 are now gainfully employed.
Of these, about 46 per cent are qualified and 22 per cent highly
skilled.<br />
<br />
That’s not counting the number of people entering Germany as
university students; according to the Integration Media Service, some
7,000 from Bulgaria alone in the winter semester of 2011/2012. “A
blanket classification of all migrants from these countries as poverty
migrants, exaggerating the problem of migration for the German social
system, only does harm,” say the release.<br />
<br />
Even without these classifications, the numbers presented in the report and the media appear overblown.<br />
<br />
The number of people entering Germany from Romania and Bulgaria
in 2011 quoted by the report, around 147,000, is accurate, the
Integration Media Service says, but it fails to take account of how many
people left.<br />
<br />
Numbers from the Federal Statistics Office show that a large
number of the former came for temporary employment and since returned to
their home countries, leaving the total number of those who remained in
2011 at about 58,000, it says. In other words, the number of yearly
migration has not doubled from 2007.<br />
<br />
Finally, the idea that these migrants come primarily to take
advantage of German social benefits is also being queried. Whereas the
number of people from Bulgaria and Romania has increased by about a
quarter since 2007, the number of contributions to social insurance rose
in the same period also by about 25 per cent, suggesting that these
persons are paying their share.<br />
<br />
Given the misleading character of the data, it is unfortunate
that so many media outlets published the results of the report without a
thought, sometimes making the issue even less clear by lumping in the
separate debate about Roma integration.<br />
<br />
Germany no doubt faces real problems and issues when it comes to
integrating new migrants from different areas of Europe. But it will
make the task more difficult if the debate takes place in an atmosphere
of unchecked hyperbole and confusion.<br />
<br />
However unintentional the oversight was in creating a poverty-migrant straw man, it now may have real consequences.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/03/07/article-1363752-0D745752000005DC-991_468x359.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/03/07/article-1363752-0D745752000005DC-991_468x359.jpg" width="320" /></a>The German Interior Minister,<b> Hans-Peter Friedrich </b>(pictured), has
acknowledged the report in the case he makes against allowing Romania
and Bulgaria to join the EU’s passport-free Schengen zone.<br />
<br />
“Those who only come to receive social welfare, and thus abuse
the freedom of movement, must be effectively prevented from doing so,“
the <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/interior-minister-friedrich-says-no-schengen-for-bulgaria-and-romania-a-886704.html">minister told Der Spiegel.</a><br />
<br />
Thus, phantom hordes of uneducated, unskilled migrants knocking
on the doors of the Schengen area could turn into another obstacle for
real-world citizens of Romania and Bulgaria as they try to access the
same rights as other countries in the European Union</div>
Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-38884494232575421982013-01-30T12:23:00.000+01:002013-01-30T12:28:40.380+01:00Guest Post: African Migrants to Israel Face Refoulement, Discrimination- by Theodore Baird<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I used to be a
refugee. In Cairo I had a refugee card. Now I am confused. Am I a refugee or am
I with the Israeli government? I just want to know what I am. I need a good
visa, a paper to work or to do something good. I don’t get help in Israel, but
if I am a refugee, shouldn’t I get help?</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Furst-Nichols, Rebecca & Jacobsen, Karen (2011) “<a href="http://sites.tufts.edu/feinstein/2011/african-migration-to-israel">African Migration to Israel: Debt, Employment and Remittances</a>,” Tufts University and
Feinstein International Center, January 2011: Page 15.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On Wednesday January 2<sup>nd</sup> 2013 <a href="http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/01/02/Israel-Egypt-security-fence-nearly-done/UPI-76461357158017/">a ceremony was held</a>
commemorating the completion of the main section of the border fence between
Israel and Egypt.
The total length of the border fence is 230 km and reaches a height of 7 meters
in parts. The cost of the fence is 1.4 billion shekels, or around 372 million
US dollars. It is made of 44,000 tons of building material. It took two and a
half years to build. The fence has barbed wire, a dirt road and patrol path,
cameras, and radar. The final piece of the border fence is due to be completed
in May 2013, and is located near the Taba crossing in a mountainous region near
Eilat. The terrain is difficult and is a complex engineering project. Netanyahu
<a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/touting-completion-of-main-part-of-egypt-border-fence-pm-vows-to-track-down-migrants/">reiterated that he is committed to returning Sudanese and Eritrean migrants</a> regardless of international law on non-refoulement. Israel does not have
diplomatic relations with either Sudan or Eritrea. Sudan is technically an
enemy state of Israel.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Earlier, in July 2012, Netanyahu <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/netanyahu-orders-to-expedite-construction-of-israel-egypt-border-fence-1.449728">declared the main goal of the fence</a> and Israel’s policy towards asylum-seekers: <span style="background: white;">“The
goal is to turn the tables, and take all necessary actions to have the number
of illegal immigrants that leave Israel be larger than the number entering
Israel.” Netanyahu was politely reminded by UNHCR in Geneva that returning
Eritrean migrants would threaten their lives, and that no country has returned
Eritrean refugees from their territory.</span></span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Echoing the fears over foreign ‘infiltrators’ in the south,
Netanyahu declared that an identical border fence would be built along the
Syrian border in the Golan Heights. Fears over jihadists armed with chemical
weapons or pro-Palestinian fighters crossing into Israel from Syria, not
asylum-seekers, instigated the plans to construct the fence. Armed with the
success of preventing African asylum-seekers from entering Israel in the south
through the lawless Sinai, the new border is intended to prevent the entrance
of foreign fighters coming from Syria or exodus resulting from the collapse of
the Assad regime. <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If Israel completes the <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/01/20131615255472448.html">fence project along the Golan Heights</a>, it
will be completely fenced in.</span>
The <a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/israel-build-syrian-border-fense/1578554.html">Golan-Syria border fence </a>would span about 70 km, with a height of five
meters, and fortified with trenches, barbed wire and a patrol road, similar to
the Sinai-Negev border in the south.</span>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In 2005, Sudanese <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/31/international/africa/31egypt.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">refugees in Egypt protested</a> against their poor
treatment by Mubarak’s regime.
The protest was ended violently by the government and the environment in Egypt
for Sudanese refugees became increasingly hostile. In response, Sudanese
refugees migrated to Israel from Egypt. Since 2005, the number of African
refugees entering Israel has increased to more than 60,000, with 17,000 people
crossing in 2011. </span>The southern border fence is deemed a <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">success,
with 36 asylum-seekers crossing in December 2012, compared with 2153 entering
the previous year. </span>Netanyahu is campaigning for national election on
January 22<sup>nd</sup>. <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Netanyahu <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/01/201312174331942777.html">reiterated his commitment to return those asylum-seekers</a>
who have entered Israel already: <span style="background: white;">“Just as we
stopped completely the infiltration into Israeli cities, we will succeed in the
next mission - the repatriation of tens of thousands of infiltrators already in
Israel to their home countries.”</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a6jositJfLA/UQj6CYFaERI/AAAAAAAABAs/-F9_bzNEu7w/s1600/tedblog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a6jositJfLA/UQj6CYFaERI/AAAAAAAABAs/-F9_bzNEu7w/s1600/tedblog.jpg" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Photo by: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">On October 14<sup>th</sup>, 2012, <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/sudanese-asylum-seekers-protest-israel-s-plan-to-incarcerate-in-tel-aviv.premium-1.470006">Sudanese refugees protested </a>against the building of prisons to detain African refugees, shouting ‘We are
refugees, not infiltrators!’ and ‘We need rights right now’.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to the recent Anti-Infiltration Law
from January 2012, anyone crossing from Sinai is deemed an ‘infiltrator’ by the
Israeli state and is treated as a threat. <span style="background: white;">The
original law is the 1954 Prevention of Infiltration Law, which was amended in
January 2012, to define all irregular border-crossers as ‘infiltrators,’ </span>subject
to detention and deportation, with limited or no access to the asylum
procedure. Asylum-seekers may be detained for three years or more without
charge or access to legal representation. Punishing asylum-seekers for unlawful
entry is <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/06/10/israel-amend-anti-infiltration-law">illegal under international refugee law</a>.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Amendments to the Anti-Infiltration Law
include new legislative initiatives as well as a bill from 2006. The <a href="http://www.hotline.org.il/english/pdf/HotlineReport080812LegislationEng.pdf">amendments which passed on 10 January 2012 include</a>: preventing the sending of remittances,
taxing employers of asylum-seekers, monthly deposits for each asylum-seeker
employed to ensure they have funds to leave Israel, expanding police authority
over legally resident asylum-seekers, preventing the appeal of a deportation
order, and barring asylum-seekers from filing lawsuits in Israeli courts. These
amendments are designed to increase the difficulty in employing asylum-seekers
and to make incorporation into Israeli society difficult in order to pressure
asylum-seekers to leave Israel. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Israel does not recognize refugees, and only <a href="http://www.hotline.org.il/english/pdf/asylum_procedures_2012_eng.pdf">rarely processes refugee claims</a>.<span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span></span>The public as well is skeptical of African migrants. <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/06/poll-jewish-israelis-african-migrants.html">In a poll from 2012,</a> a
majority (52%) of Jewish Israelis regarded Africans as a ‘cancer’ on society.
Only 19% of Arab-Israelis considered African migrants to be harmful to society.
Most of the Jewish Israelis responded that they did not live near refugees or
lived only near a few.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1619629248960096679#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn12;" title=""></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In preparation for enforcing the new law, a new detention center
is being built <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/detention-camp-for-african-migrants-in-israel-s-south-to-hold-up-to-30-000-people-1.455632">which can house up to 30,000 people</a>, and hundreds have been
deported back to South Sudan.
</span>After South Sudan announced independence, hundreds of Sudanese migrants
were returned there from Israel in 2011. After an Israeli court judged that
1500 South Sudanese were safe to return home, <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2012/06/2012613163617736193.html">they were rounded up</a>.
Numerous difficulties involved in returning migrants have been <a href="http://www.hotline.org.il/english">cited by human rights organizations</a>.</span>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sinai is extremely dangerous to transit, with multiple evidence
pointing to hostage-taking, abuse, and torture of refugees for money by
unscrupulous traffickers. Refugees have been criminalized in Israel, in direct
contravention of international refugee and Israeli domestic law, and are also vulnerable
to torture and trafficking in Sinai. Survivors of torture and abuse <a href="http://www.hotline.org.il/english/pdf/TorturedInSinaiJailedInsraelENG.pdf">are being detained in Israel </a>since the implementation of the new laws in June 2012.
Dozens of Eritrean and Sudanese migrants have been prevented from entering
Israel or from asking for asylum, and have been illegally refouled back to
Egypt, into the lawless Sinai. In July, <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/10/28/israel-asylum-seekers-blocked-border">40 Eritreans were detained </a>just inside
the border and then forcibly returned to Egyptian authorities. Others waited at
the fence itself and provided with some water and food by NGOs, and some waited
inside drainage pipes in the area to escape the difficult weather. Those
crossing Sinai face serious abuse at the hands of traffickers holding them for
ransom.</span></span></div>
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><u><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">For more information see:</span></u></span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Physicians for Human Rights – Israel </span><a href="http://www.phr.org.il/"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">www.phr.org.il</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hotline for Migrant Workers </span><a href="http://www.hotline.org.il/"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">www.hotline.org.il</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">African Refugee Development Center
(ARDC) </span><a href="http://www.ardc-israel.org/"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">www.ardc-israel.org</span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Theodore Baird</span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> is a PhD fellow at the Danish Institute for
International Studies (DIIS) and Roskilde University (RUC). His thesis
investigates refugee smuggling from Sudan and Somalia to the Middle East. More
information about his project can be found on the DIIS website at: </span><a href="http://www.diis.dk/sw109325.asp"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">http://www.diis.dk/sw109325.asp</span></a></b></span></div>
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<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
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Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-852291600298064512012-11-06T14:01:00.001+01:002012-11-06T14:01:23.410+01:00New Report Draws Attention to UK's Stateless Children<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://m.ruvr.ru/data/2012/11/05/1275441869/4DEVA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="372" src="http://m.ruvr.ru/data/2012/11/05/1275441869/4DEVA.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Via <a href="http://ruvr.co.uk/2012_11_05/Hundreds-of-stateless-children-live-in-the-UK/">Voice of Russia</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A new <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01nr50q/Inside_Out_London_05_11_2012/">BBC Inside Out</a> episode is causing a flurry in UK news outlets after uncovering a hidden problem: hundreds of stateless children living on London's streets, at risk of exploitation or turning to crime. The report identifies migrant children whom possess no means of identification and are unable to take advantage of social programs, forcing some to turn to crime or prostitution.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
One 17-year-old, who fled Libya without her family in 2009, said: “I
have to do things that make me sick and ashamed for a few pounds,
sometimes even pennies - just so I can eat or get somewhere to sleep for
one night.” (<a href="http://www.theweek.co.uk/uk-news/49918/hundreds-stateless-children-live-uk-city-streets#ixzz2BRX9GDZn">The Week</a>)</blockquote>
(If you live in the UK you can watch the clip <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01nr50q/Inside_Out_London_05_11_2012/">here</a>.)<br />
<br />
This is obviously a horrible problem, but I can't help but wonder: what is the deal with calling all of these kids stateless? <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
New figures show at least 600 children in the capital are stateless —
<b>without a passport or official documentation linking them to their
country of residence</b> — and campaigners fear that number is rising.<br />
Many
of London’s stateless youths came to the UK legally but were never
officially registered, meaning they cannot access education or apply for
social housing. For teenagers like 17-year-old Ugandan-born Tony,
attempting to become a legal citizen retrospectively can be virtually
impossible. (<a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/no-home-no-country-and-no-future-the-600-stateless-children-living-rough-on-londons-streets-8282158.html">London Evening Standard</a>)</blockquote>
As we know from the <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/3bbb25729.html">1954 Statelessness Convention</a>, the definition of a stateless person is "<b>a person who is not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law</b>" (Art. 1). Not possessing a passport or documents might be a feature of statelessness, but its not enough. For example, Ugandan boy Tony, above, has a Ugandan father who kicked him out of his home at age 14. So although he is in an awful, heart-wrenching situation, Ugandan boy Tony is not "stateless", he is more likely Ugandan, and undocumented.<br />
<br />
I bring this up because it may hurt the cause to call all these children stateless when in fact they are more likely "legally invisible," at risk of statelessness, or undocumented. The international human rights laws and UK immigrations laws applying to those groups are different, and are not as generous. If Tony were in fact stateless, and born in the UK, he would have a right to citizenship there that would simplify his problems tremendously. However, being legally invisible or undocumented he has limited options, at least under migration law. And that is a real problem- one that deserves more attention given the human rights issues at stake for these children. <br />
<br />
The presence in each of these pieces of a disclaimer that most of the kids <i>actually arrived in the UK legally</i> suggests the reason for such a misnomer. If the kids were "illegal immigrant" homeless, would it be a news story? Does anyone feel sorry for kids with more complicated immigration issues, who aren't refugees or stateless?<br />
<br />
If the public is outraged or concerned about this problem, it certainly doesn't help to call it something else to arouse additional sympathy. Its not necessarily the UK's "Homeless Stateless Kids" problem... might be more like the UK's "Homeless Kids" problem. And whether these children are actually stateless, legally invisible, or undocumented, don't they deserve some help in getting off the streets?<br />
<br />
Read More:<br />
<a href="http://www.asylumaid.org.uk/data/files/publications/mapping_statelessness.pdf">Mapping Statelessness in the UK </a>(Report from UNHCR and Asylum Aid)<br />
<a href="http://ruvr.co.uk/2012_11_05/Hundreds-of-stateless-children-live-in-the-UK/">Interview: Nando Sigona of Refugee Studies Centre</a> (The Voice of Russia) <br />
<a href="http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/no-home-no-country-and-no-future-the-600-stateless-children-living-rough-on-londons-streets-8282158.html">No Home, No Country, No Future: The 600 Stateless Children Living on London's Rough Streets</a> (Evening Standard)<br />
<a href="http://www.theweek.co.uk/uk-news/49918/hundreds-stateless-children-live-uk-city-streets">Hundreds of Stateless Children Live on UK City Streets</a> (The Week)<br />
<br />
And meanwhile, a report from Greece doesn't mince words: <a href="http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96568/MIGRATION-Teenage-migrants-trapped-in-Greece">Teenage Migrants Trapped in Greece</a> (IRIN)</div>
Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-84050269826855398822012-11-02T13:27:00.001+01:002012-11-04T14:12:23.970+01:00Happy Ending for Berlin Refugee Strike?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.tagesspiegel.de/images/fluechtlinge-untersruetzer-mittwoch-dpa/7332526/5-format35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="http://www.tagesspiegel.de/images/fluechtlinge-untersruetzer-mittwoch-dpa/7332526/5-format35.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image via <a href="http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/protest-am-brandenburger-tor-fluechtlinge-beenden-ihren-hungerstreik/7334284.html">Der Tagespiegel</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The hunger strike of asylum seekers/ refugees at Berlin's famous Brandenberg Gate has come to an end after 8 days, following a long discussion yesterday evening between strikers and politicians. This is a highpoint but hopefully not the conclusion, of over a year of hardcore activism on refugee issues in Germany.<br />
<br />
The protest, which followed<a href="http://noncitizensoftheworld.blogspot.de/2012/10/images-from-berlins-refugee-march.html"> last month's march</a> throughout Germany, aimed in general to call attention to the plight of refugees in Germany but it also had several key specific demands (<a href="http://asylstrikeberlin.wordpress.com/donwloadsmaterial/">a full list can be found here</a>.) Namely, to stop deportations, close refugee "camps" (holding facilities for asylum seekers, often in the middle of nowhere), recieve working permits and permission to learn German, and above all, to abolish the <i>Residenzpflicht</i>. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://d-a-s-h.org/dossier/01/01_was_ist_residenzpflicht-en.html"><i>Residenzpflicht</i></a> is a long standing policy applying to asylum seekers that limits their freedom of movement while their asylum applications are being processed. They may not leave the administrative zone where they have first registered in Germany without a permit until their asylum status has been sorted out- which in extreme cases can take up to 10 years. Naturally, this policy keeps refugees in a sort of limbo, preventing them from fully integrating into society, traveling to visit relatives, studying at university, or finding work. This nasty law also means the state controls whether you can attend meetings or protests- limiting freedom of speech and the right to assemble.<br />
<br />
With the recent refugee march from Wurzburg to Berlin, the refugees and their allies practiced non-violent resistence to these and similar policies, and sought to make the invisible visible.<br />
<br />
Did it work? <a href="http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/protest-am-brandenburger-tor-fluechtlinge-beenden-ihren-hungerstreik/7334284.html">Der Tagespiegel reports</a> today that the Berlin Senator for Integration Dilek Kolat and Refugee Commissioner Maria Böhmer visited the strikers and had a 4 hour discussion with them about their demands. Although the resulting quotes are basically platitudes, the politicians expressed their support of the protest and stated that they supported the desires of the protestors to learn German and start working. Böhmer apparently questioned whether the Residenzpflicht is still "up-to-date," and hinted that they would write a letter discouraging the arrest of the protestors for violating their residence restrictions by travelling to Berlin.<br />
<br />
We'll have to keep an eye on the situation to see whether any changes are made to refugee housing, work permits, or the draconian Residenzpflicht. In the meantime, I think the protestors can cautiously celebrate a success.<br />
<br />
<u><b>Read More:</b></u><br />
<a href="http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/protest-am-brandenburger-tor-fluechtlinge-beenden-ihren-hungerstreik/7334284.html">Refugees End Their Hungerstrike</a> (Der Tagespiegel, in German) <br />
<a href="http://refugeetentaction.net/index.php?Itemid=117&lang=en">Refugee Tent Action</a> (The website of the Hunger Strikers)<br />
<a href="http://asylstrikeberlin.wordpress.com/">AsylstrikeBerlin</a> (Website with information about the refugee march and protest)<br />
<a href="http://www.thecaravan.org/taxonomy/term/1">Karawane</a> (Organization for the Rights of Refugees and Migrants)<br />
<a href="http://www.proasyl.de/de/">Pro-Asyl </a>(NGO supporting Refugees in Germany)<br />
<br />
And finally, here's a clip from an awesome <a href="http://residenzpflichtdoc.com/">recent documentary</a> by Denise Garcia Bergt about Germany's refugees and migrants, called "Residenzpflict."<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/31754539?badge=0" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/31754539">Trailer Residenzpflicht</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/denisegarcia">denisebergt</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-35835068090677850622012-10-29T13:51:00.001+01:002012-10-29T13:55:11.261+01:00The Great Balkan Asylum Seeker Debate Continues<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The last few weeks have brought a flurry of attention to the visa-free regime of the Balkans. Will the EU shut the whole thing down because of so-called "fake" asylum seekers?<br />
<br />
<a href="http://euobserver.com/justice/117869">In a letter to the European Commission</a>, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands claimed that a flood of asylum seekers from ex-Yugoslavia have been slowing down their systems with false asylum claims. The idea of reintroducing visas in the region to prevent such exploitation has now been raised several times, but this has been the most serious request.<br />
<br />
Germany in particular has been harping on this point, faced as they are with a <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/germany-seeks-to-halt-influx-of-balkans-asylum-seekers-a-863345.html">"surge" of asylum-seekers </a>from Serbia and Macedonia. Interior Minister Hans Peter Friedrich has stated that the influx "must be stopped immediately" and has advised that asylum seekers recieve vouchers for products rather than funds as one measure to reduce the attractiveness of Germany as a destination.<br />
<br />
While the media often points out that such false asylum claims represent a small portion of the populations of the sending countries (and that most have come from Roma) there seems to be no attempt to verify that all the claims are fake, or, "economic based."<br />
<br />
If the influx is so heavy that it has clogged asylum systems, then how can governments have possibly managed to properly evaluate the claims to determine that they are not legitimate under the refugee convention? Considering the many human rights problems in the sending countries- the same human rights issues preventing them from joining the EU in the first place- isn't it possible that some of the claims are legit?<br />
<br />
The EU countries on the receiving end of such claims seem to be in a catch-22 here. If they admit that the claims are legit, than they have to provide refuge (and funds) to asylum seekers, as well as anger the governments which are currently trying to project a human rights friendly image. If they send them back, because there are no legitimate human rights claims emerging from these countries, then what is the hold-up from letting them into the EU? In a particular bind are countries like France and Belgium, who don't have such an amazing track record of their own when it comes to minority rights. France's record on Roma, in particular,<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11020429"> leaves much to be desired</a>, even in comparison to Serbia and Macedonia. <br />
<br />
A thin line is being walked by these states when it comes to the Balkans, and if the free visa regime is indeed revoked, its going to be more than just asylum seekers who are <a href="http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/populism-in-brussels-how-to-solve-the-balkan-asylum-crisis">put off</a>.<br />
<br />
Read More:<br />
<a href="http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/populism-in-brussels-how-to-solve-the-balkan-asylum-crisis">How to Solve the Balkan Asylum Crises</a> (Balkan Insight)<br />
<a href="http://euobserver.com/justice/117869">Germany and France Demand Reintroduction of Balkan Visas</a> (EU Observer)<br />
<a href="http://www.euractiv.com/enlargement/eu-curb-abuse-fake-asylum-seeker-news-515663">EU Ministers to Curb 'Fake' Asylum Seekers</a> (EuroActiv)<br />
<a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/germany-seeks-to-halt-influx-of-balkans-asylum-seekers-a-863345.html">Germany Seeks to Halt Influx of Balkan Asylum Seekers</a> (Der Spiegel)<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-38719918881488394432012-10-15T12:58:00.000+02:002012-10-31T12:59:07.459+01:00New Report: Unnacompanied Minors on the Rise in Central America<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/media/k2/items/cache/b1cc825394d7a5adcb9da38dae1abb51_XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://www.texasobserver.org/media/k2/items/cache/b1cc825394d7a5adcb9da38dae1abb51_XL.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
The Women's Refugee Commission has released a new report on unaccompanied minors entitled, <br />
"<a href="http://womensrefugeecommission.org/forced-from-home-press-kit/forced-from-home-press-release">Forced from Home: The Lost Boys and Girls of Central America</a>". According to the report, the number of child migrants apprehended traveling to the US from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador has almost doubled .<br />
<br />
The research conducted by the WRC confirms that the continuing problem of gang violence, coupled with heavy-handed tactics of police that tend to consider all youngsters potential gang members, has led to the upswing and created a "lost generation." In addition, girls are at a particular disadvantage since they are vulnerable to both gang violence and gender-based violence. Although there is also poverty in these countries, the majority of children seem to be fleeing from violence.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The conditions in Central America have deteriorated to such a point that, when the WRC asked the children if they would risk the dangerous journey north through Mexico all over again now that they had direct knowledge of its risks, most replied that they would. They said that staying in their country would guarantee death, and that making the dangerous journey would at least give them a chance to survive. Many of them expressed a longing for their homelands, stating that they would not have left but for fear for their lives (at 7).</blockquote>
</blockquote>
Since the conditions in these countries don't seem to the changing (and let's recall that the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mara_Salvatrucha">US has contributed </a>to the Central American gang problem significantly) it makes sense for the Government to adjust certain measures to ensure the human rights of these children are protected.<br />
<br />
The report outlines a number of ways for the government to improve its response, but I would like to emphasize one in particular: unnacompanied minors are not entitled to legal assistance or lawyers, and often have to defend themselves from deportation in court. This is just patently unfair and should be the first thing to change. When a child's life is in the balance, he or she should have a better shot than an elementary grasp of a foreign legal system and 15 minutes in front of an impatient judge.<br />
<br />
The entire report is worth a read, and is available for download <a href="http://womensrefugeecommission.org/forced-from-home-press-kit/forced-from-home-press-release">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Read More:<br />
<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Gangs-without-borders-Violent-Central-American-2520854.php">Gangs without Borders</a> (SFGate)<br />
<a href="http://www.refugees.org/our-work/child-migrants/">National Center for Refugee and Immigrant Children</a><br />
<a href="http://www.ilcm.org/index.php?option=com_flexicontent&view=category&cid=100&Itemid=177&lang=us">Gang-Based Asylum Claims</a> (Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota)</div>
Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-78540040897652910682012-10-13T19:00:00.000+02:002012-10-29T14:34:45.278+01:00Images from Berlin's Refugee March<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This weekend in Berlin was the culmination of a long-organized Refugee
Protest March, wherein Asylum Seekers protested against deportation and
especially the conditions of "Residenzpflicht"- the policy preventing
asylum seekers in Germany from travel or work. Here are some images from
the March, which I attended.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://distilleryimage4.s3.amazonaws.com/a8ab4890155c11e2a7f7123138049171_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://distilleryimage4.s3.amazonaws.com/a8ab4890155c11e2a7f7123138049171_7.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Right to Stay for All"- Youth Without Borders</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://distilleryimage10.s3.amazonaws.com/e8a25f56155c11e2818e22000a1c42f3_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://distilleryimage10.s3.amazonaws.com/e8a25f56155c11e2818e22000a1c42f3_7.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"No Deportation for Refugees! Same Rights for All"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GVlpp98my7k/UI5-RjHbR6I/AAAAAAAAA-c/woJ9GMjqRZM/s1600/Scenes+from+today%27s+%23refugee+solidarity+march+in+Berlin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GVlpp98my7k/UI5-RjHbR6I/AAAAAAAAA-c/woJ9GMjqRZM/s640/Scenes+from+today%27s+%23refugee+solidarity+march+in+Berlin.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Stop Deportation- Shut down Refugee Camps"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YnfHzLPvSWM/UI5-TAtkyHI/AAAAAAAAA-g/_rq8Vx3qni4/s1600/Today%27s+refugee+solidarity+march+in+Berlin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YnfHzLPvSWM/UI5-TAtkyHI/AAAAAAAAA-g/_rq8Vx3qni4/s640/Today%27s+refugee+solidarity+march+in+Berlin.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://distilleryimage1.s3.amazonaws.com/68a3fb74155d11e2a47b22000a1c8666_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://distilleryimage1.s3.amazonaws.com/68a3fb74155d11e2a47b22000a1c8666_7.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even the police came by to show their support :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-25347066382533539432012-09-02T12:52:00.000+02:002012-10-29T12:53:15.830+01:00Video: Your ID, Your Rights<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://1.gvt0.com/vi/J_hrgcSjtp0/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/J_hrgcSjtp0&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/J_hrgcSjtp0&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
This is a neat video from UN Women showing Egyptian women claiming rights such as healthcare, inheritance, marriage and education after obtaining a national ID. The video also shows how the campaign was successful organized as a cooperation between the government and NGOs. <br />
<br />
Kind of dry but definitely drives the point home. Check it out!</div>
Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-59339742181381127682012-08-10T12:15:00.000+02:002012-08-10T12:19:46.303+02:00New Israeli Regulation Bars Some Non-Citizens from Filing Lawsuits<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/gp3_small_article/IsraelMigrantChildren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.globalpost.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/gp3_small_article/IsraelMigrantChildren.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Child of a migrant worker in Israel, photo via <a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/israel-and-palestine/101007/foreign-workers-israel-has-its-cake-and-eats-it-too">Global Post</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The <a href="http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=280328">Jerusalem Post</a> reported Tuesday that the Israeli Justice Minister has signed a new regulation requiring an Israeli ID or a foreign passport number to anyone wishing to file a lawsuit. If true, this law would seem to flagrantly violate many international human rights norms by preventing stateless persons, refugees and asylum seekers from having their day in Court.<br />
<br />
Just to refresh your memory, the <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/3bbb25729.html">1954 Statelessness Convention</a>, to which Israel is a signatory, touches on the topic at article 16. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Article 16: 1. A stateless person shall have free access to the Courts of Law on the territory<br />
of all Contracting States.<br />
2.
A stateless person shall enjoy in the Contracting State in which he has
his habitual residence the same treatment as a national in matters
pertaining to access to the Courts, including legal assistance and
exemption from cautio judicatum solvi.</blockquote>
The <a href="http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/">Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a> also discusses access to Courts in several articles (see, e.g. Art.6-10), and the sentiment of right to legal personhood is echoed continuously throughout the human rights cannon. In other words, Israel could not possibly have failed to notice that a law like this would raise eyebrows, to say the least.<br />
<br />
When pressed, the government has responded that,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"amendments were purely technical in nature, and ensured that litigants
in possession of an Israeli ID number or foreign passport specified those
details on court documents so that court registrars could be certain that they
were dealing with the correct individuals.<br />
<br />
“The regulation does not alter
therefore the current legal situation regarding the basic right to access the
courts,” wrote Dr. Peretz Segal, head of the Justice Ministry’s Legal
Counsel department. (<i>JPost</i>)</blockquote>
</blockquote>
Hmm. So either we have a regulation that would prohibit Palestinians, who de facto do no often possess a government-issued passport, along with a host of other non-citizens, from accessing basic Court procedures, OR we have a meaningless administrative hurdle that does not change the law. If so, why pass it in the first place?<br />
<br />
After a few days of back and forth with the government (while Israel steadily garnered increasing attention from the media for this rule, see <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/08/201287162320401362.html">here</a>, <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2012/08/07/activists_israel_stopping_palestinians_from_suing/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+World+news">here</a> and<a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gGHOQypZdWtC2N1sV00Erw2p9_BQ?docId=b50c0de13f624d719da80fcae7f5a5ca"> here</a>) the <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/justice-ministry-to-review-new-regulations-that-may-ban-palestinians-migrants-from-filing-suits-in-israeli-courts-1.456436">Justice Ministry has agreed to review the rule</a>, but is sticking to the story that this does not change anything, really. <br />
<br />
Au contraire, says the <a href="http://www.acri.org.il/en/">Association for Civil Rights in Israel</a>, among others.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Attorney Oded Feller of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel
warned Neeman the regulations will immediately deprive Palestinian
residents of the territories, migrant workers and stateless individuals
who have no passports the right to file claims in Israeli courts. ..."Technical matters become fundamental when they specify explicitly who will not be able to file claims in court."</blockquote>
Hopefully the negative attention this rule has attracted in advance of its debut in September will force the Israeli government to reconsider whether this is a step they really want to take. If not, I predict we will see continuing major action on the subject in the Fall. </div>Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-11455392926779225802012-08-07T16:51:00.000+02:002012-08-10T12:20:05.619+02:00Greece is at it Again: Mass Deportation Raids Over the Weekend<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/World/660/371/Greece%20Migrants_Angu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="356" src="http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/World/660/371/Greece%20Migrants_Angu.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Via FoxNews</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Very depressing news from Greece in the last few days, as the government has rounded up thousands for deportation and shamelessly sought to shift blame for financial issues onto the shoulders of non-citizens.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The minister, Nikos Dendias, defended the mass detentions, saying that a
failure to curb a relentless flow of immigrants into Greece would lead
the country, which is surviving on foreign loans, to collapse. “Our
social fabric is at risk of unraveling,” Mr. Dendias told a private
television channel, Skai. “The <a class="meta-classifier" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/i/immigration_and_refugees/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="More articles about immigration.">immigration</a> problem is perhaps even greater than the financial one.”(<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/07/world/europe/vast-police-operation-targets-migrants-in-athens.html">NYT</a>)</blockquote>
Oh, if only that were true.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, it is far more likely that this is a cynical move to distract from the country's actual financial problems- reliance on foreign debt, risky lending, artificial inflation- by suggesting that this is an outsider problem, caused by foreigners.<br />
<br />
As we have discussed <a href="http://noncitizensoftheworld.blogspot.de/search/label/Greece">previously in this blog</a>, Greece's asylum system is dangerously backed up, with asylum seekers waiting for years to get a (mandatory) interview or possibly receive refugee status if they are entitled to. With Greece being an entry point into the EU, and with the masses of refugees pouring out of countries effected by the recent tumult in the Middle East, this has meant a compounding of problems- larger numbers of people waiting larger amounts of time to have their status regularized (or, alternatively, to reach a determination that they are not refugees and may legally be deported.) This means some people have been living in Greece <a href="http://noncitizensoftheworld.blogspot.de/2011/11/greece-pressure-is-on-to-fix-failing.html">for years</a>, waiting to get their status regularized. <br />
<br />
It is understandable that the Greek government is anxious to clear up this issue. However, the solution is not to utterly disregard human rights obligations, both under EU and international human rights law, by arbitrarily deporting anyone found during mass "immigration raids" to not possess papers. Not only are some of these individuals likely to be waiting for their appointment with the immigration services, but more to the point, <b>deporting an individual who qualifies as a refugee is refoulement, and is reprehensible and illegal. </b>And you can't tell whether a person is a refugee by a brief glance at their papers, or lack thereof. <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2184455/Greeces-purge-illegal-immigrants-Thousands-rounded-ready-deportation.html">When 6,000 people are detained</a> over one weekend, it is hard to believe that anyone received a fair shake at a refugee status determination interview.<br />
<br />
As history has often demonstrated, in times of economic and social strife it is tempting to rely on xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment as a tool of distraction. But that doesn't mean they should get away with it. <br />
<br />
Come on, Greece, you can do better. <br />
<br />
Previously:<br />
<a href="http://noncitizensoftheworld.blogspot.de/2011/11/greece-pressure-is-on-to-fix-failing.html">Greece: The Pressure is on to Fix an Failing Asylum System </a><br />
<a href="http://noncitizensoftheworld.blogspot.de/2012/03/deja-vu-greek-immigration-crackdown.html">Deja Vu: Greek Immigration Crackdown</a><br />
<br />
<br /></div>Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-47300562406228407662012-08-01T13:03:00.000+02:002012-08-01T13:03:49.674+02:00Go Guor! Stateless Marathoner to Compete in Olympics<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://d1.stern.de/bilder/import/dpa/2012/07/19/jpeg-1481E600BD0614E8-20120719-img_37520990.original.large-4-3-800-0-584-1403-1632_fitwidth_420.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="475" src="http://d1.stern.de/bilder/import/dpa/2012/07/19/jpeg-1481E600BD0614E8-20120719-img_37520990.original.large-4-3-800-0-584-1403-1632_fitwidth_420.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
The Olympics is typically a time when even the most timid of citizens become flag-wavers for their country, counting the medals their home country racks up and paying close attention when their country faces off against historical or modern rivals. But one Olympian is drawing media attention not because of his nationality but because of a lack thereof- stateless marathoner <b>Guor Marial.</b><br />
<br />
Marial was born in South Sudan, where he was one of countless children kidnapped and forced into labor during the Sudanese Civil War. As a refugee in Egypt, and later the United States, he left behind many deceased family members and has not seen his parents in 20 years (the complete story can be found <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-07-18/sports/chi-for-south-sudanese-marathoner-olympics-would-be-the-ultimate-refugee-20120717_1_south-sudan-london-olympic-ioc">here</a>). Marial wouldn't be the first refugee of the Sudan conflict to compete in the Olympics. However, unlike Lopez Lemong, a Sudanese refugee who was a flag-bearer in the Beijing Olympics, Marial does not possess US Citizenship, and will be competing under the Olympic Flag. Despite being offered to compete for Sudan, Marial <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-07-18/sports/chi-for-south-sudanese-marathoner-olympics-would-be-the-ultimate-refugee-20120717_1_south-sudan-london-olympic-ioc">declined</a>, “It’s not right for me to do that. It’s not right for me to represent the country I refuged from.”<br />
<br />
Media reports have been presenting the case as an uplifting, if bewildering, human interest story. <a href="http://olympics.time.com/2012/07/26/no-country-no-problem-how-to-make-the-games-without-a-nation/">Time</a> noted that if he wins, Marial will stand on the podium while the Olympic hymn (rather than a national anthem) is played. Die Welt ran their article on him with the headline "<a href="http://www.welt.de/print/welt_kompakt/print_sport/article108358122/Ohne-Flagge-und-Hymne.html">No Flag and No Hymn</a>." These Olympic trappings are so common that their lack is as headline-making as the shocking story that put him in this situation. <br />
<br />
Other <a href="http://www.boston.com/sports/other_sports/olympics/articles/2012/07/22/guor_marial_ran_for_his_life/">articles</a> refer to him simply as a refugee, portraying him as an unoffficial Sudanese representative despite his strong declarations to the contrary.<br />
<br />
With an estimated 12 million stateless and 43 million refugees worldwide, belonging to either group is not so remarkable in and of itself. More remarkable to me is the ability of the Olympics, a bastion of nationalism, to allow for some ambiguity in their ceremonial trappings in a way that represents the true nature of a world that is composed of citizens, stateless people, and everything in between. Its obvious that rather than being a disadvantage, being stateless will only cause Mr. Marial to receive even more support when he competes on August 12th. <br />
<br /></div>Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-54687867796422110912012-06-01T14:34:00.000+02:002012-08-01T14:37:24.184+02:00European Network on Statelessness Launches<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Exciting news! The long awaited <a href="http://www.statelessness.eu/">European Network on Statelessness</a> has launched, and has a new website packed with blogs and resources. The aim of the Network is to draw attention to the estimated 600,000 stateless person in Europe, while presenting news and resources useful to people interested in the subject. They'll also have a <a href="http://www.statelessness.eu/blog">blog</a> presenting views from the different Network members. Membership is open to organizations, and already many great organizations have joined, such as the Equal Rights Trust, Hungarian Helsinki Committee, and Praxis Serbia. All are dedicated to the aim of promoting accurate information about the problem of statelessness in Europe.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
With both government and civil society organisations often unaware of
the problem, many stateless persons find themselves stuck in the margins
of society without respect for their basic human rights. ENS was set up
against this backdrop and to fill a perceived gap by acting as a
coordinating body and expert resource for organisations across Europe
who work with or come into contact with stateless persons.</blockquote>
Sounds great, right? So go check out the <a href="http://www.statelessness.eu/">website</a>, and encourage your organization to join!</div>Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-24623167022452707052012-05-04T10:03:00.000+02:002012-05-04T11:52:20.862+02:00Non-Citizen News Roundup<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cms.horus.be/files/99935/MediaArchive/asylum%20seeker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="404" src="http://cms.horus.be/files/99935/MediaArchive/asylum%20seeker.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Protestor in Hungary- photo via <a href="http://www.enar-eu.org/Page.asp?docid=29896&langue=EN">ENAR</a></td></tr>
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<u>Kuwait</u>: After last week's<a href="http://www.arabianbusiness.com/kuwait-vows-citizenship-for-3-000-stateless-arabs-454995.html"> promise </a>to grant citizenship to 3000 of the 100,000 stateless residents of Kuwait, the Bidoons are in the spotlight again for protests against the government. At a protest on Tuesday police used force, including batons, to disperse the crowd of over 200 and accused the protestors of violence against the police. The protestors were angered by a promise of identification that would have indicated their stateless status, thereby ensuring discrimination.</div>
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Meanwhile, still convinced that this is not really their problem, the Kuwaiti government has requested some 42,000 passports for Bidoons from Iraq so that they can be issued work documents. (I'm sure Iraq was all, "Totally, we'll just send those right over!") Facing arrests, deportation and jail time the protestors continue on, which demonstrates that this problem is not going to go away without serious efforts by the government.</div>
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<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-kuwait-protestbre84111e-20120502,0,1898192.story">Kuwait say stateless protestors carried out criminal acts</a> (<i>via Chicago Trib</i>)</div>
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<a href="http://news.kuwaittimes.net/2012/05/02/kuwait-asks-baghdad-to-issue-passports-for-42000-bedoons/">Kuwait asks Baghdad to issue passports for 42,000 Bedoons </a>(<i>via Kuwait Times</i>) </div>
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<a href="http://noncitizensoftheworld.blogspot.com/search/label/Kuwait">Coverage from this blog</a></div>
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<u>Hungary:</u> As part of the continuing effort to shock the EU with their human-rights deviant behavior, Hungary is now being accused of locking up asylum seekers alongside criminals for months after arrival. Some have apparently been beaten and denied the opportunity to apply for asylum. If Hungary is indeed violating human rights norms on detention and refoulement, let's hope they manage to straighten out the system before 800 more ECtHR cases are filed against them. (Strasbourg must be SO sick of getting cases from Hungary..)</div>
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<a href="http://www.euronews.com/2012/04/25/un-accuses-hungary-of-locking-up-asylum-seekers/#.T6KlEoBJokN.facebook">UN Accuses Hungary of Locking Up Asylum Seekers</a> (<i>via Euronews</i>)</div>
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<a href="http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4f9167db2.html">Hungary as a Country of Asylum</a> (<i>PDF via RefWorld</i>)</div>
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<i>And in short:</i> </div>
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<u>Israel:</u> Are asylum-seekers, particularly from Africa, facing discrimination and violence?</div>
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<a href="http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/anglo-file/from-asylum-seeker-to-community-leader-1.428178">From Asylum Seeker to Community Leader </a>(<i>via Haaretz</i>)</div>
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<u>Australia</u>: Politicians offer an idea for their asylum woes: Pay citizens to host asylum families. Well, its a better idea than detention or return, but will Aussies go for it?</div>
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<a href="http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/govt-defends-asylum-seeker-homestay-plan-20120503-1xzzt.html">Govt Defends Asylum Seeker Homestay Plan</a> (<i>via Sydney Morning Herald</i>)</div>
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<u>Afghanistan:</u> Following a (fund-raising) conference in Geneva held by UNHCR, several countries have agreed to contribute $1.9 billion to support the return of refugees to Afghanistan. Wonder how much the US chipped in?</div>
<a href="http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/countries-agree-on-1-1430517.html" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Countries Agree on 1.9B Afghan Refugee Strategy</a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> (</span><i style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">via AP</i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">)</span><br />
<br /></div>Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-82217292388228765432012-05-01T00:32:00.000+02:002012-05-01T00:35:07.087+02:00Excerpts from Arizona V. US<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;">Last week the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case Arizona, et. al, v US concerning the god-awful Arizona immigration law <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_SB_1070">SB 1070</a>. You can now read the <a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/11-182.pdf">whole transcript online</a>, but in case you're not in the mood to read the whole, depressing thing, I thought I would provide some salient excerpts below.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The first issue that the justices really pounced on was the section of the law pertaining to holding a person for suspected immigration violation. The justices were concerned that the time taken to check on the suspect's immigration status could result in them being imprisoned for unreasonable stretches of time, and Paul Clement, atty for Arizona, emphasized that length of imprisonment would still be governed under the 4th amendment. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">"JUSTICE GINSBURG: But how would the State officer know if the person is removable? I mean, that's sometimes a complex inquiry.<br />MR. CLEMENT: Well, Justice Ginsburg, I think there's two answers to that. One is, you're right, sometimes it's a complex inquiry, sometimes it's a straightforward inquiry. It could be murder, it could be a drug crime. But I think the practical answer to the question is by hypothesis, there's going to be inquiry made to the Federal immigration authorities, either the Law Enforcement Support Center or a 287(g) officer.<br />And presumably, as a part of that inquiry, they can figure out whether or not this is a removable offense, or at least a substantially likely removable offense.<br />JUSTICE KENNEDY: Suppose it takes 2 weeks to make that determination, can the alien be held by the State for that whole period of time -MR.<br />CLEMENT: Oh, I don't think -<br />JUSTICE KENNEDY: -- just under section 6?<br />MR. CLEMENT:I don't think so, Your Honor, and I think that, you know, what -- in all of these provisions, you have the Fourth Amendment backing up the limits..."</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Next, Clement had a chance to make his argument on<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_preemption"> federal preemption</a>. Whenever states get into areas of governance that usually dominated by the federal government, there is the potential for a claim that the federal law "pre-empts" and overrules the state level law. Let's see Clement's argument.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">"I do think as to section 3, the question is really -- it's a provision that is parallel to the Federal requirements, and imposes the same punishments as the Federal requirement.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">So it's generally not a fertile ground for preemption. But of course, there are cases that find preemption even in those analogous circumstances. They're the cases that the government is forced to rely on."</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;">He then goes on to differentiate the AZ law from the ones in other federal preemption cases that the government is likely to bring up. However, the gist of the argument is always that the law is duplicated, so its hard to say that it conflicts with the federal requirements.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">"And so I think the right analysis is really the analysis that this Court laid out in its <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/chamber-of-commerce-of-the-united-states-v-candelaria/">Whiting decision</a>, which says that in these kinds of cases, what you look for is whether or not the State scheme directly interferes with the operation of the Federal scheme."</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Next up to bat we had the atty for the government, our hero Donald Verrilli. Verrilli comes out immediately with the main federal preemption argument:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">"GENERAL VERRILLI: Mr. Clement is working hard this morning to portray S.B. 1070 as an aid to Federal immigration enforcement. But the very first provision of the statute declares that Arizona is pursuing its own policy of attrition through enforcement, and that the provisions of this law are designed to work together to drive unlawfully present aliens out of the State.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">That is something Arizona cannot do, because the Constitution vests exclusive -JUSTICE</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">SOTOMAYOR: General, could you answer Justice Scalia's earlier question to your adversary? He asked whether it would be the Government's position that Arizona doesn't have the power to exclude or remove -- to exclude from its borders a person who's here illegally.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">GENERAL VERRILLI: That is our position, Your Honor. It is our position because the Constitution vests exclusive authority over immigration matters with the national government."</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;">After the assist from Sotomayor, Verrilli spends the rest of the time getting picked apart by Roberts and Scalia. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: You think there are individual cases in which the State can call the Federal Government and say: Is this person here illegally?<br />GENERAL VERRILLI: Yes, certainly. But that doesn't make -CHIEF<br />JUSTICE ROBERTS: Okay. So doesn't that defeat the facial challenge to the Act?</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Problematically for the government, they didn't rely on the possibility of racial profiling as a reason to challenge the law, although that was the constant "elephant in the room" of the argument.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">GENERAL VERRILLI: ... Now, we are not making an allegation of racial profiling. Nevertheless, there are already tens of thousands of stops that result in inquiries in Arizona, even in the absence of S.B. 1070. It stands to reason that the legislature thought that that wasn't sufficient and there needed to be more.<br />And given that you have a population in Arizona of 2 million Latinos, of whom only 400,000 at most are there unlawfully -</span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">JUSTICE SCALIA: Sounds like racial profiling to me.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;">From here, it gets really messy. After failing to sell the preemption claim (Scalia and Roberts interpreted the Arizona statute as "helping" the federal government) Verrilli focused on the foreign relations aspect.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">VERRILLI: What they're going to do is engage, effectively, in mass incarceration, because the obligation ...[is]...to enforce Federal immigration law, which is what they claim they are doing .... And so -- so you're going to have a situation of mass incarceration of people who are unlawfully present. That ... poses a very serious risk of raising significant foreign relations problems.And these problems are real. That is the problem of reciprocal treatment of United States citizens in other countries.<br />JUSTICE KENNEDY: So you're saying the government has a legitimate interest in not enforcing its laws?<br />GENERAL VERRILLI: No.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">UGH. As we can see, this did not turn out well. The real problem at stake in SB 1070 is that police can just pull over any Latino, incarcerate them for a while and ask the government to figure out their immigration status. Problematically, due to VAWA, TPS, and asylum, this isn't always the straightforward question that one might think. So, because of our complex immigration laws in combination with this terrible statute, the result is a situation that allows for the incarceration and punishment of a section of the population to the extent that, even if they are legally here, they won't want to live in Arizona any more. And that is the point of the law. "Attrition through enforcement."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Harassing and annoying every Latino citizen of Arizona is racist, inhumane, and embarrassing for the US. But is it unconstitutional? </span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Its going to take some fancy footwork to make that claim from the arguments in this case.</span></span><br />
<br /></div>Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-40702324848001599722012-04-26T13:34:00.000+02:002012-04-26T13:39:24.186+02:00Freedom of Movement Restrictions: Coming to a European Country Near You<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://cybertraveltips.com/images/Applying-For-A-Germany-Visa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://cybertraveltips.com/images/Applying-For-A-Germany-Visa.jpg" width="246" /></a>This week has brought some distressing news for fans of freedom of movement. </div>
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German newspaper <a href="http://www.sueddeutsche.de/">Süddeutsche Zeitung</a> has published a report revealing that the German and French Ministers of the Interior are seeking to modify the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement">Schengen Agreemment</a>, the treaty that allows for passport and visa-free travel throughout most of the territory of the EU. According to the letter, they seek to reintroduce border controls for temporary periods of 30 days in order to "curb illegal immigration". This comes on the heels of some German admonishments of Greece in failing to protect its borders (instead opting for <a href="http://noncitizensoftheworld.blogspot.com/2012/03/deja-vu-greek-immigration-crackdown.html">creepy immigrant round-ups</a> that violate human rights) AND results of immigration surveys showing that many persons from Southern Europe and elsewhere continue to seek asylum in Western European countries.</div>
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<a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,828676,00.html">Der Spiegel</a> quotes sources speculating that this is all political posturing to appeal to far-right voters in time for the French election. But is it? Following Sarkozy's adventures in <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11020429">deporting Roma from France</a> (which, as you'll recall, drew comparisons to Nazi Germany's deportations of persons on the basis of ethnic background) its not so clear that conservative politicians aren't willing to put their money where their mouth is and disregard Schengen.(Just look at <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13366047">Denmark</a>!)</div>
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And while we have Germany and France promising not to let people out, we have Macedonia promising to keep certain kinds of people in. What kind of people, you ask? </div>
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<i>In 2011, the ERRC documented at least 10 cases in which Romani people
were denied the right to exit the country at Macedonian border crossings
to Bulgaria and Serbia. Border guards regularly stop Romani individuals
who they believe may be seeking asylum abroad, denying them the right
to leave the countries. </i></div>
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<a href="http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-ash2/27540_133226246706488_1632_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-ash2/27540_133226246706488_1632_n.jpg" /></a></div>
..You guessed it. The <a href="http://www.errc.org/article/roma-face-barriers-to-freedom-of-movement-in-macedonia/3982">European Roma Rights Centre is calling</a> on the Macedonian government to end discrimination against Roma people seeking to travel outside of their country. (Which, if I remember correctly, is a basic human right.) But this baseline discrimination might be just the beginning- the government <a href="http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15865850,00.html">has announced </a>that it will introduce measures to prevent persons from leaving the country who have once claimed asylum in another state. This measure as well is more than likely to heavily target Roma.<br />
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Between Southern Europe cracking down on immigrant and refugee rights and making it harder to move north, and Northern European countries disregarding their own treaties for politically opportunistic reasons, we have a real problem in Europe right now. The question is, what do the citizens of Europe value more? Their freedom of movement, or their freedom from foreigners? </div>
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<a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,828676,00.html">Germany and France Seek Reintroduction of Controls</a></div>
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</div>Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-73735007797429203472012-04-11T11:30:00.000+02:002012-04-11T11:43:25.742+02:00ECtHR backs deportation of settled migrant in Balogun v. UK<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;">Yesterday the European Court of Human Rights released a disappointing decision in the case <a href="http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?action=html&documentId=905769&portal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649">Balogun v. UK.</a> <b>The headline out of the case is that the UK may deport long-term settled migrants for sufficiently serious offenses without violating Article 8</b>. Let's dig a little deeper and see what the implications of this ruling may be. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><u><b>Facts: </b></u>The applicant, B, is a Nigerian immigrant who was born in '86 and has been in the UK since the age of 3 (this is debated a bit, but at least since age 5.) He lived with an allegedly abusive Aunt and was granted indefinite leave to remain after being kicked out of her house, and entered the foster care system until age 18 when he began to live by himself. From then on he has a criminal record of several counts of theft and possession of controlled substances (all occurring before he reached the age of 21). After a final count of possession with intent to distribute, he was sentenced to 3 years in prison and put into deportation proceedings. He appealed on human rights ground, and the first instance court found that, since he didn't have a significant private life in the UK, his deportation was proportional to the crime.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> With regard to his
private life, while it was accepted that he had been in the country
since a young age and had been educated there, as well as gaining some
work experience, it was not considered that these ties were sufficiently
strong to render his deportation an interference with his private life.
It appeared that his mother still lived in Nigeria and, even if contact
had been lost, as claimed by the applicant, there was no reason why
it could not be re-established. Whilst the applicant would have practical
difficulties in relocating to Nigeria, he could re-establish his private
life there.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Several appeals and a suicide attempt later, we end up at Strasbourg debating whether this deportation violates article 3 (prohibition against torture) or article 8 (freedom from interference with family life).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><u><b>Ruling</b></u>: Article 3 is thrown out for being "manifestly unfounded" and I don't care to debate that since this is not an issue involving refoulement. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Article 8, on the other hand, is where it gets interesting. Both the applicant and the UK spend their time arguing about the nature of the applicants connections to the UK. B claims that he has a long-term girlfriend, his Aunt is like a mother to him, and he has friends and employment connections that he may utilize now that he out of jail and off of drugs. The UK meanwhile contends that B has no significant friends and family interests, at least nothing serious enough to outweigh the public interest served by deporting a threat to public order.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The Court more or less agrees. Having a girlfriend and a few scattered relatives with whom you are on bad terms does not amount to a family life (um, guys, isn't that what most families look like?) but it does make a private life. And importantly, the Court recognizes that the length of time spent in the UK, and having grown up almost exlusively in the care of UK social services means that he has significant ties to the country and will be strongly effected by deportation. However, his criminal record ultimately outweighs these considerations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">He was left at the age
of three with an aunt who, according to the applicant and to social
services, ill-treated the applicant. He was thrown out by this aunt
at the age of fifteen and was thereafter taken into foster care. He
has therefore not only spent by far the greater part of his childhood
in the United Kingdom and been entirely educated in that country, but
has been partly brought up in the care of the United Kingdom’s social
services. These elements of the applicant’s background contribute
significantly to the Court’s finding that his ties to the United Kingdom
are stronger than those to Nigeria.<b> However, while the Court views with
sympathy the circumstances of the applicant’s formative years, the
fact remains that he is responsible for his own actions</b>. Particularly
in light of the fact that the majority of the applicant’s offences
were committed when he was already an adult, the Court finds that the
applicant cannot excuse his past criminal conduct by reference to his
upbringing.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> Even with the impact on his private life, the UK's deportation of B does not violate article 8.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><u><b>Response</b></u>: It is obvious from the slant of this blog that I would disagree with this ruling. Legally, I don't think this is a totally outrageous ruling (reasonable people can always disagree), but the underlying premise is one that I think is extremely damaging and unfair.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Someone that lived in the UK since the age of 3, and was raised more or less by the system, is a <i>product of that country</i>. Deporting them to Nigeria is a non-sequitor and obliterates the chance for such a troubled individual to ever lead a normal life. It punishes him for the actions of his parents or parents in moving illegally to the UK, that he could not help or influence. It punishes Nigeria by sending back a bitter individual with a criminal history that will have a hard time adjusting to a completely foreign life. It violates the individual's right to a private life, and it encourages the UK to dump problematic foreigners back to countries they have hardly any connections with.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Its a bad decision and is not justified by out-dated drug charges for which the individual has already served time. B was not a drug dealer at age 3, but became one after spending his entire childhood in the UK. This is a home-grown problem, and regardless how many criminals the UK deports, they will find new ones that they cannot.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">As ever, it is my opinion that deportation is not the only, nor the best solution.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">ECtHR: <a href="http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?action=html&documentId=905769&portal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649">Case of Balogun v. the United Kingdom </a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">And <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9196279/Hundreds-of-foreign-criminals-are-still-not-being-deported.html">here's</a> a nice fear-mongering Telegraph article pushing for more deportations.</span></div>
<br /></div>Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-27442584868347476052012-04-09T15:26:00.002+02:002012-04-09T16:13:45.132+02:00Serbia: MoU on birth registration of legally invisible Roma<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sandzaknews.com/slike/vijest-3846.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.sandzaknews.com/slike/vijest-3846.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Min. of Human and Minority Rights Milan Markovic</td></tr>
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Between being weeks away from an election and locked into an EU accession process, Serbian politicians are in major suck-up mode, especially on transparency and human rights. However, there's no reason not to take today's news optimistically:</div>
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<span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps">Office of the</span> <span class="hps">United Nations High Commissioner</span> <span class="hps">for Refugees</span>, Ministry <span class="hps">of Human</span> <span class="hps">and Minority</span> <span class="hps">Rights</span>, <span class="hps">Public Administration and Local</span> <span class="hps">Self-Government</span> <span class="hps">of the Republic</span> <span class="hps">of Serbia and the</span> <span class="hps">Ombudsman</span> <b><span class="hps">signed a</span> <span class="hps">Memorandum</span> <span class="hps">of Understanding</span> <span class="hps">establishing the</span> <span class="hps">basis for</span> <span class="hps">closer cooperation</span> <span class="hps">to</span> <span class="hps">address the issue</span> <span class="hps">of birth registration</span> <span class="hps">of Roma</span> <span class="hps">ethnic</span> </b><span class="hps"><b>minorit</b>y <b>who</b></span><b> <span class="hps">are not</span> <span class="hps">registered in</span> <span class="hps">official</span> <span class="hps">records</span></b><span class="">.</span></span> -(<i>google translate of UNHCR Serbia's release)</i></blockquote>
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The deputy head of EU delegation to Serbia, Adriano Martins, <a href="http://www.srbija.gov.rs/vesti/dogadjaji.php?id=1608#85065">was also in attendance</a>. Serbia has been under major pressure to advance the human rights situation of the Roma, and pledged back in December to try to make citizenship more widely available <a href="http://noncitizensoftheworld.blogspot.com/2011/12/landmark-stateless-conference-in-geneva.html">at the UNHCR conference of ministers</a>. So far, however, they have done exactly nothing to implement the 1961 Convention or improve their poorly organized birth registration laws. As it stands, persons are required to present an identity to card to register the birth of their child and therefore, children of legally invisible persons are rendered legally invisible themselves. Since I am working on this issue right now, I have some unofficial, opinionated recommendations for what they should attempt do with this MoU:</div>
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1.)With the help of UNHCR, establish a procedure for determining statelessness of parents in order to comply with Article 1 of the 1961 Convention (requiring that children born stateless are granted citizenship.)</div>
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2.) Allow all persons giving birth on the territory of Serbia- with or without documents- to register their children at birth, as required by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This should apply to all persons giving birth on the territory without any discrimination. </div>
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3.) Allow for late registration of persons who never made it into the birth registry books. Allow for a range of evidence to prove the fact of birth, including use of witnesses and/ or DNA tests.</div>
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4.) Make birth registration and late registration mandatory and free, and disseminate information about the benefits of the procedure through various means, such as radio ads.</div>
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These steps may be more difficult to implement after elections and the accompanying shuffle in characters, but it does seem as though the time is right for focusing on improvements to human rights standards. I think NGO's and stakeholders should use this momentum and the spotlight of the EU to mount additional pressure on the government to do something other than signing agreements and publicizing them. </div>
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Regardless, its great to see the Serbian government paying attention to this issue and ostensibly moving forward towards a solution. </div>
</div>Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-74391436988703005712012-04-03T20:29:00.000+02:002012-04-03T20:37:01.687+02:00Non-Citizen News Roundup<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0163039d931c970d-pi" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="376" src="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0163039d931c970d-pi" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Greece police roundup immigrants this week, via </span><a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">LA Time</span>s</a></td></tr>
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There's a lot going on in world of non-citizens this week!</div>
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<u>Greece</u>: <a href="http://noncitizensoftheworld.blogspot.com/2012/03/deja-vu-greek-immigration-crackdown.html">Last week </a>I noted the alarming news out of Athens, where police arrested some 500 people during an "immigration sweep" in the Capitol that they <a href="http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/500-detained-in-athens-crackdown-16138089.html#ixzz1qaO5GEJx">announced</a> would be continued regularly. Amnesty International has added their voice to the growing concern about the practice, noting:</div>
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There are no appropriate facilities at Greece's borders for the
identification of those in need of international protection, such as
victims of torture and unaccompanied or separated asylum-seeking
children.</blockquote>
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Detaining people arbitrarily in massive "sweeps" without the necessary protective measures for persons entitled to different forms of protection violates Greece's international obligations and contributes to stigmatization of a group that is already at risk in the country. I said it before and I'll see it again: Greece would be far better off using the resources needed for such massive police actions on clearing through their backlog of immigration cases and regularizing the status of those who are entitled to it.</div>
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<i>Amnesty</i>: <a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/greece-plans-sweep-migrants-and-asylum-seekers-2012-04-02">Greece plans sweep of migrants and asylum seekers</a></div>
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<u>USA</u>: Despite the Obama administration's ambitious <a href="http://noncitizensoftheworld.blogspot.com/2012/03/way-to-be-in-psg-obamas-new-guidelines.html">new immigration guidelines for LGBTI persons</a>, they aren't out of the water on gay immigration issues yet. A class action suit filed Monday by 5 same-sex couples will challenge DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act) - a 1996 law that bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. Since immigration and citizenship are the realm of the federal government, the impact is that even couples who marry legally (e.g., in NY) cannot access immigration benefits such as a green card for the foreign partner. Obviously this causes many heart-rending situations where a married couple may have to constantly fear that one spouse will be deported.</div>
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The case is being brought by a non-profit called <a href="http://www.immigrationequality.org/">Immigration Equality</a>, and I will definitely be following it closely here as it proceeds through the legal system. This could be a landmark case for immigration equality in the United States and since the Obama administration has already announced that they consider DOMA to be unconstitutional it could be a slam dunk. I'm excited about this one, guys!</div>
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<i>Immigration Equality</i>: <a href="http://www.immigrationequality.org/lawsuit/">Taking our Case to Court</a></div>
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<i>NY Times</i>: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/us/noncitizens-sue-over-us-defense-of-marriage-act.html?_r=1&src=tp">Noncitizens Sue over US Gay Marriage Ban</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><u>Ghana/ Liberia</u>: There's been talk for years (at least since 2008) of Ghana activating the cessation clause and closing down refugee camps housing Liberians who fled during years of civil war. (Recall that they <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/47fdfaf1d.html">cessation clause </a>of the 1951 Convention comes into effect when the situation that produced the potential for refoulement to the home country ceases to exist.) Annnnd now the talk continues, with the Ghanaian government planning to activate the cessation clause June 30th but hoping that most refugees will opt for voluntary repatriation before then. For many of the refugees who have lived in the country for years, returning to Liberia is simply not an option, and they will seek options to regularize their status before being kicked out. I'll be sure to post developments. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>Relief Net</i>: <a href="http://reliefweb.int/node/481805">Days numbered for Liberian Refugees </a></span></div>Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-11696668086334176932012-04-02T13:28:00.000+02:002012-10-29T14:35:16.117+01:00"Nowhere People" Opening in Belgrade Highlights Statelessness<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://distilleryimage2.instagram.com/01666a0e7d7e11e181bd12313817987b_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://distilleryimage2.instagram.com/01666a0e7d7e11e181bd12313817987b_7.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Serbian Speaker of the House introducing the "Nowhere People" exhibit</td></tr>
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Monday in Belgrade was the opening of "Nowhere People"- an exhibit of photographs by Greg Constantine whose beautiful and haunting photos of stateless persons have been <a href="http://noncitizensoftheworld.blogspot.com/2011/10/nubians-in-kenya-new-case-on-birth.html">featured</a> on the blog before. The opening was hosted by the Speaker of the House, Ms. Dejanovic, and by UNHCR who both congratulated Serbia on taking major steps to reduce statelessness by signing the 1961 Convention as well as pledging to help the legally invisible with the law on non-contentious procedure (that would allow legally invisible persons to be registered.)<br />
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As could be expected the photographs were amazing, and well-curated with small explanations next to each in English and Serbian. However the proceedings were just a teensy bit odd in my opinion. After all, its exciting to sign a convention and draft a law, but it doesn't mean much if the convention isn't implemented and the law isn't even put up for a vote. The speeches made it seem as though reducing statelessness in Serbia is a done deal, when in fact the real work hasn't even begun.<br />
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Nevertheless, the exhibit was well-attended and certainly brought attention to the issue, as seen by the plethora of stories in the Serbian press on the subject. That's all good... but now let's see less talk and more action!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://distilleryimage6.instagram.com/08c96ffa7caf11e18cf91231380fd29b_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://distilleryimage6.instagram.com/08c96ffa7caf11e18cf91231380fd29b_7.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photographs and attendees</td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2012&mm=04&dd=03&nav_id=79581">B92: 30,000 People in Serbia have no personal ID</a></div>
Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-55297096039026328012012-03-30T16:47:00.000+02:002012-03-30T16:47:59.608+02:00Updates: Statelessness<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://tinyvices.vaesite.net/__data/aeedd8327bc9b44ec64b16cc16956b1d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://tinyvices.vaesite.net/__data/aeedd8327bc9b44ec64b16cc16956b1d.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Balarama Heller, check out the full portfolio <a href="http://tinyvices.com/gallery/balarama-heller">here</a></td></tr>
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As we noticed yesterday with Greece, states tend to repeat their mistakes when it comes to immigrants. Well, what goes around, comes around. Here's some more updates on issues that have previously been addressed on this blog that are back in the limelight:<br />
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<i>Issue</i>: <a href="http://noncitizensoftheworld.blogspot.com/2011/10/retro-active-denationalization-of.html">Retroactive De-Nationalization of Haitians in the Dominican Republic</a><br />
<i>Update</i>: <a href="http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/stateless-dominicans-seek-recognition">Jesuit Refugee Service</a> Calls for an end to the retroactive application of the citizenship law and immediate re-issuance of birth certificates to people effected.<br />
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<i>Issue:</i> <a href="http://noncitizensoftheworld.blogspot.com/search/label/Kuwait">Kuwait deals harshly with its Stateless Bidoons</a><br />
<i>Update</i>: According to<a href="http://statelessprog.blogspot.com/2012/03/bidoon-solution-in-sight.html"> Zahra Albarazi at the Statelessness Programme Blog</a>, the issue is creeping into parliamentary debate and there is some talk of granting rights.<br />
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<i>Issue:</i> On the border of India and Bangladesh live many stateless <a href="http://noncitizensoftheworld.blogspot.com/2011/10/non-citizen-news-roundup.html">"enclave people"</a> without access to basic rights<br />
<i>Update</i>: Some ethnic Indians living in Bangladesh demand merging with the country of their residence and receiving Bangladeshi citizenship- they <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Stateless-enclave-dwellers-observe-Bangla-Independence-Day/articleshow/12421450.cms">even celebrated Independence Day.</a><br />
<br /></div>Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-52092776199742305382012-03-29T10:29:00.000+02:002012-03-30T10:30:11.418+02:00Deja Vu: Greek Immigration Crackdown<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last year I wrote about <a href="http://noncitizensoftheworld.blogspot.com/search/label/Greece">Greece </a>and the pressure they are facing to get their immigration system to conform with international standards, while dealing with a giant backlog of asylum cases and daily influx of new immigrants. I noted at the time that the current system was at the same time too slow and too cursory to be able to properly consider asylum claims, and that a large new grant from Norway might help them attempt to reform this system.<br />
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Evidently, they've taken a different tact.<br />
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Police in the Greek capital said they have detained 501 people in an
operation they say will be repeated "on a daily basis" to combat illicit
trade, illegal immigration, drug dealing and other criminal activities.<br />
The majority of those detained were foreign nationals in a sweep of central Athens.<br />
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As was noted previously, hundreds of asylum seekers in Athens sit in legal limbo waiting for their applications to be processed, some having waited 10 years or more. More than likely, some of these individuals have been caught up in the mass arrests and detained. <br />
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This may be a popular activity among anti-immigrant crowds, who think all crime derives from foreigners, but it doesn't do anything to solve the essential issues: a huge back-log, arbitrary procedures, and wrongful detention. Not to mention its hugely expensive and engages tons of government employees who could be, just to pick an example at random, going through asylum claims or granting residence permits to those entitled to one.<br />
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There are different ways of getting people off the street than throwing them in jail.<br />
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<a href="http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/500-detained-in-athens-crackdown-16138089.html#ixzz1qaO5GEJx">500 Detained in Athens Crackdown</a><br />
<br /></div>Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-90219548539667768222012-03-23T14:06:00.003+01:002012-03-23T14:09:56.127+01:00The Way to be in a PSG: Obama's new Guidelines on LGBTI Asylum<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://platform.ak.fbcdn.net/www/app_full_proxy.php?app=149617611727514&v=1&size=o&cksum=a9da362e8f9b208c4379ccc5caae40ce&src=http%3A%2F%2Fiine.us%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F02%2F4003420495_c96522fcf8_b-480x321.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="427" src="http://platform.ak.fbcdn.net/www/app_full_proxy.php?app=149617611727514&v=1&size=o&cksum=a9da362e8f9b208c4379ccc5caae40ce&src=http%3A%2F%2Fiine.us%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F02%2F4003420495_c96522fcf8_b-480x321.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://noncitizensoftheworld.blogspot.com/2012/03/non-citizen-new-round-up.html">As promised</a>, I wanted to highlight some of the guidelines offered by USCIS in their new training module on handling asylum claims of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Intersex persons. I've discussed LBQT (but not Intersex) asylum claims on this blog before, and one of the big themes encountered was the phenom of being"<a href="http://noncitizensoftheworld.blogspot.com/2010/10/lgbtq-asylum-iicase-law-usa.html">not gay enough for the USA</a>"- individuals being turned down for asylum claims because their outward behavior did not match preconceived notions of what gay people act like. (For example, a lesbian with a child from a previous marriage, a man not "out" to his friends or family.) Let's check out how the new training addresses these and other important issues.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Defining LGBTI</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Towards the beginning of the guidelines there is a set of definitions which does an excellent job of dispelling certain myths and the LGBTI community. For example, the section differentiates between sexual orientation, sex, and gender identity, and defines intersex and transgender deftly as well, being sure to not lump all categories into one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> "Transgender is a gender identity, not a sexual orientation. Thus, like any other man or woman, a transgender person may have a heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual sexual orientation." (at 13)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Additionally, the module lumps in HIV and AIDs issues- both because persons with AIDs are sometimes persecuted for being gay (even when they are not) and persons who are gay are sometimes persecuted for having AIDs (even when they do not.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Havana Social Club- Does being gay put you in a "particular social group?"</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">As you may recall, to qualify as a refugee under the 1951 convention you must demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution in your home country on the basis of your race, national origin, religion, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. LGBTI asylum claims have long been handled under the "membership in a particular social group" (PSG) portion of 1951, and the case that is most relied on is <i>Matter of Acosta.</i> (I previously reviewed <i>Acosta</i> <a href="http://noncitizensoftheworld.blogspot.com/2010/10/lgbtq-asylum-iicase-law-usa.html">here.</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The guidelines make a point of adding to<i> Acosta</i> a newer precedent relevant in making immigration decisions for the LGBTI crowd: <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6b6b84.html"><i>Matter of Toboso Alfonso</i></a> (1990), a case involving a Cuban national claiming persecution for being gay. In Cuba, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Cuba">the government</a> would force him to appear for forced exams where he was probed about his sex life, detain him
on occasion, and tolerate harassment and violence against him and
other gays, culminating in being chased out of Cuba by what amounted to
an angry mob. In the case, TA had been convicted of several crimes making him ineligible for asylum, but the judge granted "leave from deportation" (which has similar criteria) on the basis of his past persecution in Cuba, where he was overtly targeted as a homosexual. The INS appealed, stating (rather heartlessly, even for back then),"socially deviant behavior, ie, homosexual activity is not a basis for finding a social group within the contemplation of the act." They went on to explain that such a decision would pave the way for people to be awarded protection for deviant, even illegal behavior in their home country. Are we going to start granting asylum to people that broke their country's law and don't want to go to jail?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The BIA disagreed, finding that TA was targeted not so much due to his illegal or deviant behavior, but because of his status as a homosexual, an "immutable characteristic" that he could not, and should not be required to change. <i>Thus we have it:</i> a game-changing BIA decision filing "gay" as a potential particular social group under the refugee convention as well as the US's own laws.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Now, this was a specific case with a man whose story left very little room for doubt that he was being persecuted on the basis of his "status" as a gay man. However, the guidelines now set out to make it crystal clear that this decision was not just about gay male Cubans. PSGs might be also be comprised of transgendered persons (gay or straight), "closeted" gays and lesbians, HIV+ persons, persons viewed by society as not fitting gender roles (eg, being an effeminate male) AND (in case you aren't getting it) people who are NOT EVEN from Cuba. (at 15.) The point is, the kind of neanderthals that want to beat up sexual minorities are not going to care if you're not actually a sexual minority. And that doesn't mean you shouldn't get protection.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So it covers people that might look or act gay (through the persecutor's eyes) but aren't. But it also effectively states that you don't have to "look or act gay"to fit into the precedents of <i>TA</i> or <i>Matter of Acosta</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">When analyzing the PSG issue, you must not only make a finding regarding immutability or fundamentality, you must also determine social visibility or social distinction, i.e., whether the actual or imputed characteristic is "easily recognizable and understood by others to constitute a social group." Some adjudicators mistakenly believe that social visibility or distinction requires that the applicant “look gay or act gay.” In this context, social visibility or distinction does not mean visible to the eye. Rather, this means that the society in question distinguishes individuals who share this trait from individuals who do not. (at 16.)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> In other words, the Obama administration is promulgating as US law an important, and possibly life-saving principle: when it comes to the LGBTI community, one's membership in a PSG is all in the eyes of the persecutor.</span></div>
</div>Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1619629248960096679.post-37736350983359090362012-03-14T16:45:00.003+01:002012-03-15T11:01:26.775+01:00Non-Citizen News Round-Up<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/pb-110616-refugee-camp.photoblog900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="474" src="http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/pb-110616-refugee-camp.photoblog900.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Refugee Camp in Boynuyogan, Turkey in June (via <a href="http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/06/16/6875237-life-goes-on-for-syrian-refugees-in-turkey">MSNBC</a>) </td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><u>Italy:</u> The European Court of Human Rights issues a major smackdown to Italy this week, ruling in <i>Hirsi Jamaa and Others v. Italy</i> that the policy of intercepting migrant boats at sea and returning them (most often to Libya) breached their various obligations of non-refoulement. (Not exactly tough to see why.) This case is HUGE because its one of the rare instances the Court has ruled on the prohibition against mass-expulsion, as well as adding to already strong migrants and refugee rights jurisprudence at the court. Check it out!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?action=html&documentId=901565&portal=hbkm&source=externalbydocnumber&table=F69A27FD8FB86142BF01C1166DEA398649">Case of Hirsi Jamaa and Others v. Italy</a> (ECtHR) </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.ejiltalk.org/yet-another-mala-figura-italy-breached-non-refoulement-obligations-by-intercepting-migrants-boats-at-sea-says-ecthr/">Yet Another Mala Figura: Italy Breached Non-Refoulement Obligations</a> (EJIL Blog)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><u>USA</u>: In news welcomed by LGBQT Refugee advocates, the Obama administration has published clarified rules for courts and asylum officers on adjudicating asylum claims based on membership in one of these persecuted social group. I will probably do a full post on this later but for now there is every reason to be pleased at this news, particularly since the glance I've taken shows the gov moving away from the "married/pregnant/ straight-looking people can't be persecuted as gay" techniques that characterized <a href="http://noncitizensoftheworld.blogspot.com/2010/10/lgbtq-asylum-iicase-law-usa.html">past cases in the US</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.immigrationequality.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Microsoft-Word-RAIO-Trng_LGBTI_LP_Final-2011-12-27-_2_.pdf">Guidance for Adjudicating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Refugee and Asylum Claims</a> (USCIS) (pdf)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.care2.com/causes/lgbt-asylum-in-us-just-got-a-little-easier.html">LBQT Asylum in US Made a Little Easier </a>(Care 2)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><u>Turkey:</u> Of course, more than any other story this week, focus should be on the Syrians streaming into Turkey fleeing increasing violence. There are now reports that landmines have been laid across escape routes to prevent would-be refugees from escaping. Meanwhile, in response to the emergency UNHCR has appointed a special coordinator for the region's refugees and internally displaced.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/14/us-turkey-syria-refugees-idUSBRE82D0JC20120314">On the Turkish Border, a Stream of Fleeing Syrians</a> (Reuters)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/03/13/syria-army-planting-banned-landmines">Syria: Army Planting Banned Landmines </a>(Human Rights Watch)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.unhcr.org/4f5f48156.html">UNHCR appioints regional refugee coordinator for Syrian Refugees</a> (UNHCR)</span></div>
</div>Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01789340756441897159noreply@blogger.com0