Guest Post: African Migrants to Israel Face Refoulement, Discrimination- by Theodore Baird

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?

Furst-Nichols, Rebecca & Jacobsen, Karen (2011) “African Migration to Israel: Debt, Employment and Remittances,” Tufts University and Feinstein International Center, January 2011: Page 15.

On Wednesday January 2^nd 2013 a ceremony was held 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 reiterated that he is committed to returning Sudanese and Eritrean migrants 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.

Earlier, in July 2012, Netanyahu declared the main goal of the fence and Israel’s policy towards asylum-seekers: “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.

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. If Israel completes the fence project along the Golan Heights, it will be completely fenced in. The Golan-Syria border fence 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.

In 2005, Sudanese refugees in Egypt protested 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. The southern border fence is deemed a success, with 36 asylum-seekers crossing in December 2012, compared with 2153 entering the previous year. Netanyahu is campaigning for national election on January 22^nd. Netanyahu reiterated his commitment to return those asylum-seekers who have entered Israel already: “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.”

Photo by: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org

On October 14^th, 2012, Sudanese refugees protested against the building of prisons to detain African refugees, shouting ‘We are refugees, not infiltrators!’ and ‘We need rights right now’. 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. The original law is the 1954 Prevention of Infiltration Law, which was amended in January 2012, to define all irregular border-crossers as ‘infiltrators,’ 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 illegal under international refugee law.

Amendments to the Anti-Infiltration Law include new legislative initiatives as well as a bill from 2006. The amendments which passed on 10 January 2012 include: 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.

Israel does not recognize refugees, and only rarely processes refugee claims. The public as well is skeptical of African migrants. In a poll from 2012, 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.

In preparation for enforcing the new law, a new detention center is being built which can house up to 30,000 people, and hundreds have been deported back to South Sudan. 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, they were rounded up. Numerous difficulties involved in returning migrants have been cited by human rights organizations.

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 are being detained in Israel 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, 40 Eritreans were detained 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.

For more information see:

Physicians for Human Rights – Israel www.phr.org.il

Hotline for Migrant Workers www.hotline.org.il

African Refugee Development Center (ARDC) www.ardc-israel.org

Theodore Baird 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: http://www.diis.dk/sw109325.asp

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Happy Ending for Berlin Refugee Strike?

Image via Der Tagespiegel

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.

The protest, which followed last month's march throughout Germany, aimed in general to call attention to the plight of refugees in Germany but it also had several key specific demands (a full list can be found here.) 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 Residenzpflicht. 

Residenzpflicht 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.

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.

Did it work? Der Tagespiegel reports 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.

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.

Read More:
Refugees End Their Hungerstrike (Der Tagespiegel, in German)
Refugee Tent Action (The website of the Hunger Strikers)
AsylstrikeBerlin (Website with information about the refugee march and protest)
Karawane (Organization for the Rights of Refugees and Migrants)
Pro-Asyl (NGO supporting Refugees in Germany)

And finally, here's a clip from an awesome recent documentary by Denise Garcia Bergt about Germany's refugees and migrants, called "Residenzpflict."

Trailer Residenzpflicht from denisebergt on Vimeo.

The Great Balkan Asylum Seeker Debate Continues

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?

In a letter to the European Commission, 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.

Germany in particular has been harping on this point, faced as they are with a "surge" of asylum-seekers 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.

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."

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?

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, leaves much to be desired, even in comparison to Serbia and Macedonia.

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 put off.

Read More:
How to Solve the Balkan Asylum Crises (Balkan Insight)
Germany and France Demand Reintroduction of Balkan Visas (EU Observer)
EU Ministers to Curb 'Fake' Asylum Seekers (EuroActiv)
Germany Seeks to Halt Influx of Balkan Asylum Seekers (Der Spiegel)

New Report: Unnacompanied Minors on the Rise in Central America

The Women's Refugee Commission has released a new report on unaccompanied minors entitled,
"Forced from Home: The Lost Boys and Girls of Central America". According to the report, the number of child migrants apprehended traveling to the US from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador has almost doubled .

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.

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).

Since the conditions in these countries don't seem to the changing (and let's recall that the US has contributed 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.

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.

The entire report is worth a read, and is available for download here.

Read More:
 Gangs without Borders (SFGate)
National Center for Refugee and Immigrant Children
Gang-Based Asylum Claims (Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota)

Non-Citizen News Roundup

Protestor in Hungary- photo via ENAR

Kuwait: After last week's promise 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.

 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.

Kuwait say stateless protestors carried out criminal acts (via Chicago Trib)

Kuwait asks Baghdad to issue passports for 42,000 Bedoons (via Kuwait Times)

Coverage from this blog

Hungary: 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..)

UN Accuses Hungary of Locking Up Asylum Seekers (via Euronews)

Hungary as a Country of Asylum (PDF via RefWorld)

And in short: 

Israel: Are asylum-seekers, particularly from Africa, facing discrimination and violence?

From Asylum Seeker to Community Leader (via Haaretz)

Australia: 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?

Govt Defends Asylum Seeker Homestay Plan (via Sydney Morning Herald)

Afghanistan: 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?

Countries Agree on 1.9B Afghan Refugee Strategy (via AP)

Non-Citizen News Roundup

Greece police roundup immigrants this week, via LA Times

There's a lot going on in world of non-citizens this week!

Greece: Last week I noted the alarming news out of Athens, where police arrested some 500 people during an "immigration sweep" in the Capitol that they announced would be continued regularly. Amnesty International has added their voice to the growing concern about the practice, noting:

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.

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.

Amnesty: Greece plans sweep of migrants and asylum seekers

USA: Despite the Obama administration's ambitious new immigration guidelines for LGBTI persons, 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.

The case is being brought by a non-profit called Immigration Equality, 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!

Immigration Equality: Taking our Case to Court

NY Times: Noncitizens Sue over US Gay Marriage Ban

Ghana/ Liberia: 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 cessation clause 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. 
Relief Net: Days numbered for Liberian Refugees

Deja Vu: Greek Immigration Crackdown

Last year I wrote about Greece 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.

Evidently, they've taken a different tact.

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.
The majority of those detained were foreign nationals in a sweep of central Athens.

 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. 

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.

There are different ways of getting people off the street than throwing them in jail.

500 Detained in Athens Crackdown

The Way to be in a PSG: Obama's new Guidelines on LGBTI Asylum

As promised, 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"not gay enough for the USA"- 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.

Defining LGBTI

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.

 "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)

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.) 

Havana Social Club- Does being gay put you in a "particular social group?"

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 Matter of Acosta. (I previously reviewed Acosta here.)

The guidelines make a point of adding to Acosta a newer precedent relevant in making immigration decisions for the LGBTI crowd: Matter of Toboso Alfonso (1990), a case involving a Cuban national claiming persecution for being gay. In Cuba, the government 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?

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. Thus we have it: 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.

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.

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 TA or Matter of Acosta.

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.)

 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.

Non-Citizen News Round-Up

Refugee Camp in Boynuyogan, Turkey in June (via MSNBC) 

Italy: The European Court of Human Rights issues a major smackdown to Italy this week, ruling in Hirsi Jamaa and Others v. Italy 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!

Case of Hirsi Jamaa and Others v. Italy (ECtHR) 
Yet Another Mala Figura: Italy Breached Non-Refoulement Obligations (EJIL Blog)

USA: 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 past cases in the US.
Guidance for Adjudicating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Refugee and Asylum Claims (USCIS) (pdf)
LBQT Asylum in US Made a Little Easier (Care 2)


Turkey: 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.
On the Turkish Border, a Stream of Fleeing Syrians (Reuters)
Syria: Army Planting Banned Landmines (Human Rights Watch)
UNHCR appioints regional refugee coordinator for Syrian Refugees (UNHCR)

UK: Compensation for child migrants detained as adults

Good and bad news out the UK today as we learn of  major victory in a case brought against the Home Office on behalf of a class of 40 unaccompanied minors. The children were allegedly compensated 2 million pounds- the biggest single payout for an immigration case in UK history, according to the Guardian. So what did the government do to have to pay such a major settlement?

The case apparently involved "age disputed" asylum seekers-  unaccompanied minors that do not have proof of age, and therefore hover between two types of asylum services- those "appropriate" (at least under international law) for adults, and those for children. Normally those children are assessed by social workers who use a variety of factors. However, the problem seems to be that, rather than being given the benefit of the doubt, children were presumed over 18 until being able to produce evidence, and therefore detained at length awaiting proof.

Some of the children were locked up for more than a month. One boy was moved around the country and held in seven different adult centres including Dover, Campsfield and Harmondsworth during his 74-day detention. "I cried myself to sleep every night," he said. "Nobody explained what was going on and I never knew what was going to happen to me when I woke up the next morning."

The case was settled in 2010, but it took a FOIA request by the Guardian to get the information released publicly. 

The bad news? Despite the payout, the practice allegedly continues, bringing to light one of the problems with settling. (Gotta get that precedent, people!) Does this mean we have similar cases on the horizon? Or perhaps at the ECtHR?

£2m paid out over child asylum seekers illegally detained as adults

Non-Citizen News Roundup

U.S. Atty Fein at a press conference announcing the indictment, via AP

US: Federal charges have been brought against members of the police force in East Haven, Connecticut for charges ranging from excessive force and false arrest to conspiracy. The basis for the charges is years of harassment and violence against the immigrant community.

"They stopped and detained people, particularly immigrants, without reason, federal prosecutors said, sometimes slapping, hitting or kicking them when they were handcuffed, and once smashing a man’s head into a wall. They followed and arrested residents, including a local priest, who tried to document their behavior."

So despicable, but sadly common in other small towns in America, where picking on immigrants is a pastime as well as a source of income. (As many immigrants, lacking bank account, carry large sums of cash on their person.) Let's hope this action by the Justice Dept. sends a message to police officers like those in East Haven that their racial profiling and bullying will no longer be tolerated. 
NY Times: Police Gang Tyrannized Latinos, Indictment Says
CT.com: Feds Indict 4 East Haven cops in racial profiling abuse case, more may be on the way

Kuwait: 61 of the bidoon/ stateless protestors (that we discussed last week) are being imprisoned for an additional 3 weeks pending further investigations into the protests. The charges include assaulting police and instigating an illegal gathering, although the news out of Kuwait suggests if anyone turned the protests violent, it was police.
AFP: Kuwait detains Stateless Protestors for 3 Weeks

Australia: More than 50 persons in Australian detention are recognized as refugees but unable to leave due to having failed security tests. The security tests have expanded their definitions of threats in the last years, and having being classified as a threat most countries are unwilling to receive the individuals (understandably.) The refugees are not informed why they failed, nor are they accepted by their home country, leaving them in legal limbo without much hope of a resolution. As the Australian human rights violations stack up, you really have to wonder what their government is thinking.
ABC Sydney: Darwin refugees in limbo after failing ASIO tests

South Africa: Legal Changes Hurt Asylum Seekers

It's another case of a huge backlog of asylum seekers persuading the government to make decisions that are not well thought out.

South Africa has a huge number of asylum seekers- UNHCR estimates just under 230,000- most of whom originate from Zimbabwe, supplemented by others from the Great Lakes region and the Horm of Africa. Starting in 2009, (perhaps overwhelmed by the numbers) the South African government took a generous policy towards Zimbabweans fleeing Mugabe's regime. Under a "special dispensation," refugees were entitled to remain in S.A. for 6 months, seek employment, and take advantage of educational and healthcare opportunities while their asylum applications were being processed, all without any form of documentation. (Although the dispensation was designed to assist Zimbabweans, as you might be able to guess, the "no documents" feature enabled a range of different nationalities to take advantage of the law.)

Now the government is back-tracking, concerned that economic migrants are abusing a system designed to protect "real" refugees. The department of Home Affairs has resumed deportations, and in the following weeks they will launch an inquiry to the minimum rights asylum-seekers are entitled to, and likely lift the dispensation for Zimbabweans as well as block rights to education and employment. The result could be thousands of asylum seekers in legal limbo, awaiting the outcome of their asylum application while unable to work or study. These developments, in conjunction with harsh announcements from the government and the closing of two refugee facilities, seems to signal a shift towards a harsher asylum regime in South Africa. As one government spokesman stated:

"South Africans must feel safe. If we're not able to control our illegal immigration, people won't feel safe."

It is understandable that providing education and/or employment for thousands of refugees is a costly measure. But the opposite can be ultimately be more expensive: thousands of individuals awaiting the outcome of their claim, turning to begging, crime, or black market employment to make ends meet. Which option do you think is safer for the people of South Africa? And in the event that the move forces massive returns to Zimbabwe as some fear it might, there is the question of whether S.A. is meeting its treaty obligations, particularly as pertains to non-refoulement.

In the end, the real question for South Africa is: is there a middle ground between all or nothing for Zimbabwe's asylum seekers?

Non-Citizen News Roundup

Photo via AP

Israel: On Sunday, hundreds of immigrants and allies protested at the Israeli Immigrant Absorption Ministry after a recent government recommendation to reduce the number of Ethiopian Jews accepted monthly as part of aliyah. The idea comes at a time when the government claims it is having trouble keeping up with the pace of immigration and assimilation needs. Opponents of the plan claim that there are already close to 4,000 recognized Ethiopian Jews waiting to immigrate and that the Government is looking for excuses to avoid its obligations. (There's probably a little truth to both positions.)
Ethiopians Protest Govt's Proposal to Reduce Aliyah (via Jerusalem Post)

UK: The United Kingdom is getting some increased (and probably unwanted) attention in the wake of a new report by UNHCR describing the legal limbo that stateless persons there live in. Many have been denied asylum or any right to remain, but are also un-deportable because no country will accept them. Therefore, they live on the street or hang out in detention centers- not a good situation.
Mapping Statelessness in the UK (via UNHCR)
What its like to be Stateless in Britain- Nischal's Story (via Alertnet)

Australia: Shockingly, Australia has more asylum trouble this week, as 3 Kurdish aslyum-seekers have sewn their lips together in the wake of having their asylum applications denied. Due to the fact that the young men are stateless, they cannot be repatriated anywhere and instead have remained in detention for between 18 and 22 months each. Much like the UK problems described above- it sounds like governments are going to need to reevaluate how they handle non-deportable stateless persons- endless detention and legal limbo are not the answer!
3 Kurdish Men Sew lips together in Protest (via Courier Mail)
Asylum Seekers sew lips together in Australia Protest (via AsiaOne)

Greece: The pressure is on to fix a failing aslyum system

Asylum seekers wait in Greece, photo by Moises Saman

 In addition to the problems Greece's government seems to be having of late with corruption, there are several factors compounding their migration woes. On the one hand, the border between Greece and Turkey is the main entrance point for people fleeing to Europe, making Greece a reluctant EU gatekeeper (alongside a disincentivized Turkey.) On the other hand, you have Dublin II which makes it EU policy to send asylum seekers back to their first entry point in the Union to be processed. In other words, even if plenty of people make it out of the country, Greece can't realistically escape from being a major asylum-seeker center.

The government currently has a giant backlog of asylum applications, a small percentage of which have a chance of being reviewed any time soon if past numbers are anything to go by. As of January 2011 , UNHCR set the number of asylum seekers at over 55,000, and rumor has it that a many people have been waiting more than 10 years to be reviewed. In January the government promised to streamline procedures and set deadlines for decisions, but its not clear that much progress has been made. The events of the last few weeks suggest that the problem is actually getting worse.

On October 26, UNHCR called for a monetary intervention on the border in language that pretty clearly accused the government of wrongdoing (and possibly torture?)

The humanitarian situation on the Greek side of the border is critical, with large numbers of persons detained in extremely difficult conditions, as recently highlighted by the UN's Special Rapporteur on Torture Mr. Manfred Nowak after a visit to the area. Shelter, medical care and psycho-social support are all needed in this situation.

In addition, the press release implied that the current asylum in procedure in Greece is unavailable to most asylum seekers and unable to identify individuals at risk of refoulement.

Quickly coming to the rescue, Norway announced on November 3rd that they would inject 160 million kroner (c.a $28 mil) into Greece's asylum system, to be funneled through the UN. The Memorandum of Understanding, which also involved IOM and other NGOs in Greece, apparently targets the funds for reception centers, in particular for health care for arrivals.

But in the meantime, those asylum-seekers who have been residing in Greece for the last decade face legal limbo, discrimination, and arbitrary procedures. According to a press release this week from the Greek Council for Refugees, there have been recent mass arrests in Athens, leading to abbreviated asylum procedures that violate Greece's own procedural safeguards. It seems that these actions were an attempt to speed up procedures after recieving so much negative attention for their backlog. However, I think the Greek Council for Refugees puts it best:

The attempt of the Ministry of Citizen’s Protection to complete the asylum procedures of as many asylum seekers as possible in the briefest possible time period is obvious. But these actions must not only be aimed at finalizing the procedure but they should be in accordance with the law and protect these people and their rights.

Non-Citizen News Roundup

Dia de los Muertos in Mexico City

Mexico: Maybe its not strictly relevant, but it is timely: Brujas and Brujos in Mexico find themselves in high demand for problems related to drug cartels. Some witches charge for protection from extortion, or use their senses to find a missing kidnapped relative. And its not just victims turning to the craft: some of the wizards and witches report visits by cartel members and police officers as well.
Mexicans turn to witchcraft to ward off drug cartels (via NY Times)

Australia: Sad news this morning as a capsized  boat carrying asylum seekers left at least 8 dead and 10 still missing,. The boat carried some 70 Iranian, Afghan, and Pakistani asylum seekers determined to make the passage from Indonesia to reach Australia's shores. The incident is causing a big rehashing of the Malaysian swap deal. As Immigration Minister Chris Bowen stated, "it is a fact that when you have more boats coming to Australia you will see more deaths." (So it's either flout the 1951 Convention OR death at sea? Is there possibly a third option?)
10 asylum seekers still missing off Java  (via Sydney Morning Herald)
Australia shock at asylum boat tragedy off Indonesia (via BBC)

Croatia: At a meeting in Zagreb on birth and civil registration, the UNHCR urged Southeastern European countries to accede to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Currently, both Croatia and Bosnia and Herzogovina have acceded, but many other nations in the region have not. Among other protection, the 1961 convention provides that a child born in the country who would otherwise be stateless receives the nationality of the birth country. The UNCHR argued this would help the plight of the region's Roma, who currently represent a majority of the stateless and legally invisible. I couldn't agree more.
UNCHR drives effort to reduce statelessness in Southeast Europe (via Alert Net)

UNHCR Report: Trends for the first half of 2011

Serbian asylum seekers, via Serbian Herald

Today UNHCR released a report detailing asylum trends in 44 countries for the first half of 2011. It by no means offers a complete picture, given that it basically covers the Council of Europe plus a handful of other industrialized countries, but it is still packed with interesting findings. Among them:

• Asylum applications are up overall by 17%, with the large majority (73%) being filed in Europe, but the USA accounting for the one single country receiving the most applications.

• Asylum trends are not consistent over Europe, with applications down by 27% in the Nordic region (Danish immigration crackdown, anyone?) and asylum claims jumping by 57% in Southern Europe, especially in Turkey, Malta and Italy.

• Afghanistan leads asylum seeker sending states, followed by China, Serbia (incl. Kosovo), Iraq and Iran.

• The next 5 biggest sending states are Russia, Pakistan, Somalia, Eritrea and Nigeria

• The top 5 receiving countries; USA, France, Germany, Sweden and the UK, received 53% of all the applications.

There are plenty of interesting findings within the report, but to me there are two big take-aways. First, "Arab Spring" didn't have the tremendous overall impact that one would expect- none of those countries involved made it into the top 10 asylum-seeker sending states, at least not for industrialized countries. On the other hand, Southern Europe's big jump in applications are partially attributable to Tunisia and Libya, which adds verification to the region's reputation as Europe's gatekeeper, and perhaps explains the upswing in anti-migrant violence we saw in Italy earlier this year.

The second interesting fact is Serbia's continued presence in the top 5 asylum-sending countries. Keeping in mind that Serbia has just been given the go-ahead for EU Applicant status, possibly to be agreed upon as soon as December, one can only hope that this will increase scrutiny of Serbia's human rights situation. Especially when it comes to the Roma, whom for my money probably make up the majority of asylum seekers.

You can read the whole report here:  Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries

Non-Citizen News Roundup

Map showing border enclaves, via The Economist

 India/ Bangladesh: People living on the border region's "enclaves" have been stateless and living in destitute poverty for nearly 60 years, but have seen their living conditions deteriorate even further as river waters rise and engulf their villages. Now, villagers from both sides are protesting to ask the government to implement a border enclaves exchange that will swap territories and make it possible for people to gain citizenship and access to basic public services.
People Stateless at India-Bangladesh border (with video) (via IBN)
Border Agreements- The End of the Enclaves  (via The Economist)

 Australia: Everyone is still miffed about the abandoned Malaysian Refugee Swap solution. The public is angry about the alleged $4.6 million in preaparatory costs for the plan. Tbe Prime Minister isn't thrilled about leaks about the plan from the cabinet making its way to the media. And would-be refugees are probably pissed that the shelving of the deal also means an additional 1000 yearly spots for refugees in Australia are off the table. In sum, what a disaster.
 Government defends cost of Malaysia Solution (via ABC Sydney)
 PM Guillard warns against cabinet leaks (via Sydney Morning Herald)

California: Governor Jerry Brown signs in a new package of laws aimed at helping undocumented migrants. Most importantly, he signed a state-version of the DREAM Act that makes it possible for undocumented students to apply for student aid. As the NY Times puts it,  "With these new laws, California is telling immigrants not to stay hidden but to get educated and keep working hard." What a contrast to the message being sent in Alabama.
Brown Signs California Dream Act (via LA Times)
A Sensible Path in California (via NY Times)