Rights in Exile Newsletter

International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI) produces the Rights in Exile newsletter and sends it out via email on the first of every month (except August).

The Rights in Exile newsletter follows recent developments in the interpretation of refugee law, case law precedents from different constituencies, reports and helpful resources for refugee legal aid providers. It also publishes stories of struggle and success in refugee legal aid work. It is a resource for legal aid providers primarily in the global south, where law journals and other resources are difficult to access, but will also be of interest to those involved in refugee legal assistance elsewhere and to refugees themselves. IRRI relies on contributions and submissions for their content, so please be in touch to participate.

To subscribe, please click here .

See the Current Issue and Submission Guidelines .

ISSN 2049-2650

Editorial Team: Nejla Sammakia, Christian Jorgensen, Cristina de Nicolás Izquierdo, Nicolas Parent, Taylor Brooks, Sirak Akalu Iyassu, Lucia Slot, Adam Severson, Nastassja White, Lena Becker, Muchengeti Hwacha, Saskia Llewellyn and Rosa da Costa.

Chief Editor: Fiona McKinnon

 September 2020

In this issue:

Articles & Short Pieces

• Wishful waiting: Four reasons to curb our impatience for the European Pact on Asylum and Migration
• Follow the bouncing ball: Persecution and the shifting burden of proof in the US
• Refugee eligibility: Challenging stereotypes and reviving the “benefit of the doubt”
• How Europe outsourced the Syrian refugee crisis to Lebanon
• Registration and Refugee Status Determination: A missing link
• The US Supreme Court’s attack on habeas corpus in DHS v. Thuraissigiam
• Diversity and inclusion: Blockchain technology and digital identity for stateless Rohingya refugees
• Fourteen principles of protection for migrants and displaced people during COVID-19
• Refugee-led organizations: The time is now
• Five “safe and legal” asylum alternatives to cut Channel crossings to the UK
• Age assessment and the protection of minor asylum seekers: Time for a harmonised approach in the EU
• What is the UK’s Adults at Risk policy?
• Complementary refugee pathways: Labour mobility schemes
• Crossfire and criminal cases: How Bangladesh’s counter-trafficking actions changed the game for migrants and refugees in Southeast Asia

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Case Notes

• Protecting the formal rule of law in the EU’s asylum policy: The CJEU’s judgment on the asylum relocation mechanism
• Federal Court confirms that sending refugee claimants back to the US breaks Canadian law
• US Court of Appeals remands CAT case for LGBTIQ individual
• US Court of Appeals upholds injunction seeking to bar asylum-seekers at US-Mexico border
• US Court of Appeals on adverse credibility finding
• US Court of Appeals grants petition for review of BIA decision to remove CAT protection
• French Council of State finds the Ministry of the Interior responsible for violation of the right to seek asylum at the border
• Inhuman and degrading living conditions of homeless asylum-seekers in France violates ECHR Article 3
• UK’s Upper Tribunal ruling on discretion to reunite refugee families under Dublin III
• Landmark decision on “particular social group” in the UK
• Finland: Kurdish appellant would face real risk of suffering serious harm if returned to Turkey
• Switzerland: Procedural failings when processing an asylum request of an alleged unaccompanied minor
• UK Court of Appeal backs order to disclose refugee asylum records
• CJEU judgment on the consequences of a failure to conduct a personal interview prior to an inadmissibility decision
• Working Group on Arbitrary Detention: Holding asylum applicants in Hungarian transit zones amounts to arbitrary detention
• Italy’s Constitutional Court rules on the refusal to allow applicants of international protection to register their residence in local municipalities
• Italian residence permit provided on humanitarian grounds due to COVID-19 situation in country of origin
• ECHR communicated cases against Italy
• Poland improperly rejected Chechen asylum claims, European court rules
• Arrest and detention of asylum applicants by Ukrainian authorities amounted to violation of Article 5 ECHR

Opinion/Editorial

• Are most asylum seekers really not credible?
• Egyptian state security threats security-dominated judiciary will not discourage human rights defenders from protecting the rights of Egyptians
• The US hired me to protect refugees. Now it tells me to abandon them.
• There is a politics of death in asylum
• Greece has a deadly new migration policy — and all of Europe is to blame
• Hong Kong activists now face a choice: Stay silent, or flee the city. The world must give them a path to safety.
• Trump's new asylum rules extinguish hope for LGBTQ asylum seekers in the US
• Inventing a “migrant invasion” is part of a toxic rhetorical ploy
• COVID-19 and the chance to reform US refugee policy
• How to elevate Rohingya women’s voices amid a crackdown on the Coronavirus
• The Rohingya genocide and the ICJ: The role of the international community
• Faith groups, businesses and activists in the UK unite to demand asylum rights
• Refugee resettlement is close to collapse in the US. That was Trump’s plan.

Announcements

• Launch of Centre for Asia Pacfic Refugee Studies
• Conferences, courses and workshops
• Calls for papers
• Vacancies

Requests

Resources

Publications

Newsletters

 

July 2020

In this issue:

Articles & Short Pieces

• On World Refugee Day we do not want to be celebrated. We want to go home.
• What Burundi teaches us about political crisis and displacement
• A look at global changes in refugee policies through the lens of Dadaab
• Self-reliance as a contemporary ‘durable solution’ to forced displacement
• Inactivity is perpetration--in Uganda and around the world
• Why Hong Kong’s untold history of protecting refugee rights matters now in its struggle with China
• Facing COVID in a state of rightlessness: Rohingyas at sea in South Asia
• COVID-19 and the end of asylum
• Pushbacks at land borders: Asady and Others v. Slovakia and N.D. and N.T. v. Spain. Is the principle of non-refoulement at risk?
• The invisible crisis: Refugees and COVID-19 in India
• Understanding citizenship and refugees’ status in India
• COVID-19 at the Brazil-Venezuela borders: The good, the bad and the ugly
• The Trump administration is taking a sledgehammer to asylum
• EOIR's data release on asylum so deficient public should not rely on accuracy of court records
• The revolt of US immigration judges
• Fight back against Chevron deference in US asylum and withholding cases
• Obligations to accommodate irregular migrants in the Netherlands: Will the local bed-bath-bread facilities survive?
• Hungary passes new law on the lodging of asylum applications at embassies

News on Countries of Origin  

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Case Notes

• US federal court vacates Trump administration asylum restrictions
• No European Convention on Human Rights jurisdiction over humanitarian visa refusal
• A “formalistic” approach to jurisdiction in the European Court of Human Rights’ decision on humanitarian visas: Was another interpretation possible?
• When is a policy not a policy? Tribunal tackles UK law on disclosure
• M.S. v. Slovakia and Ukraine: Procedural shortcoming in applicant’s return to Afghanistan
• CJEU Attorney General Opinion on the interpretation of refusal to perform military service as grounds of persecution
• Cyprus: Refugee status must be granted due to inability for authorities to guarantee protection to applicant
• Worrying Strasbourg decision on sending asylum seekers back to Sudan

Opinion/Editorial

• Black lives should matter in the Mediterranean too
• Malaysia/Thailand: Allow Rohingya refugees ashore
• Thailand: Protect Rohingya refugees from forced return, indefinite detention
• Violence or the virus? Mindanao’s displaced forced to choose
• This World Refugee Day and Pride month we need to save LGBTQ asylum
• New Trump administration regulations would devastate refugee pathways
• The end of asylum, for now
• Migrant children are still confined and vulnerable. It’s a gratuitous act of cruelty.
• The UK government’s stance on Vietnamese trafficking victims is misconceived
• Boris Johnson must honour his promises to asylum seekers
• Coronavirus: A window of opportunity for action on migration?

Letters to the Editors

• ASSAF victory for refugees in Israel and what’s ahead

Announcements

• Conferences, courses and workshops
• Calls for papers
• Vacancies

Requests

• Al Otro Lado seeks US asylum attorneys to supervise law students
• Submit comments on proposed new US regulations affecting asylum seekers

Resources

Publications

Newsletters

 

June 2020

Articles & Short Pieces

• How South Africa is denying refugees their rights: What needs to change
• Samos and the anatomy of a maritime push-back
• The Trump Administration offers an indefensible legal defense of its asylum ban
• The challenges in COVID-19 times for refugee determination and accessing protection
• “Just one more thing…”: Why complete testimony is critical in asylum cases
• How Europe is using coronavirus to reinforce its hostile environment in the Mediterranean
• How COVID-19 halted NGO migrant rescues in the Mediterranean
• EU fundamental rights, human rights and free movement in times of COVID-19
• Time to review and remedy cooperation policies facilitating abuse of refugees and migrants in Libya
• Forcible return to Turkey of Syrian refugees in Cyprus must end
• In search of a more humane EU migration and asylum policy
• The confused construction of ‘non-refoulement’ in Australia’s Ministerial Directions for visa cancellations
• Coercive voluntary returns from Australia
• Syrian refugees in Jordan: How a focus on human rights can help secure economic livelihoods
• Indefinite suspension of protections for asylum seekers and unaccompanied children under 19 May 2020 order by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Malaysia must end violent threats and anti-Rohingya campaign
• UN rights experts to Malaysia: “Stop crackdown on migrants, journalists and civil society”
• A looming catastrophe: COVID-19, urban refugees, and the right to health in Thailand
• Human rights-based reflections on displacement and disease
• UNHCR: Beware long-term damage to human rights and refugee rights from the coronavirus pandemic

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Case Notes

• South Korean Justice Ministry offers second chance to refugee applicants who were victims of false interview accounts
• On De Pena Paniagua v. Barr, gender per se
• US: BIA rules Haitian asylum applicant firmly resettled in Brazil
• US: Lawsuit over “Remain in Mexico” program secrecy
• US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision on PSG in Juan Antonio v. Barr
• UK: Luxembourg set to undermine Home Office position on clan protection in Somalia
• UK: “Slip rule” can be used to allow an appeal dismissed by accident
• New Afghanistan Country Guidance provides a clear pathway for asylum seekers in the UK to win appeals
• Australian court guessed how gay men from conservative families would react after first having sex. It cost two men their refugee status.
• New Kabul guidance: Individualised assessment of relocation required
• France: Court of Auditors urges modernisation of migration and asylum system
• Migrants sue German state over mobile phone searches
• CJEU classifies accommodation of asylum seekers in Hungarian Transit Zone as detention

Opinion/Editorial

• COVID-19 Is no excuse to abandon basic principles protecting refugees and asylum seekers
• Refugees and COVID-19: More than a health issue
• Fund but disregard: The EU’s relationship to academic research on mobility
• Dublin on COVID-19 hold: Structural solutions are needed
• Now is not the time for the US to deport Venezuelans
• Greek lockdown should not discriminate against migrants, refugees
• A pact for an inclusive recovery?
• Statement in response to UK-Greece cooperation on migration

Letter to the Editors

Announcements

• Conferences and workshops
• Calls for papers
• Vacancies

Resources

Publications

Newsletters

 

May 2020

Articles & Short Pieces

• What COVID-19 means for climate displacement policy progress
• Remote hearings in the immigration tribunal: What could possibly go wrong?
• Urgent statement: End pushbacks of Rohingya refugees
• Joint letter re: Restrictions on communication, fencing, and COVID-19 in Cox’s Bazar District Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh
• By refugees, for refugees: Refugee leadership during COVID-19, and beyond
• There is no public health rationale for a categorical ban on asylum seekers
• Coronavirus border expulsions: The CDC’s assault on asylum seekers and unaccompanied minors in the US
• The COVID-19 excuse? How migration policies are hardening around the globe
• Could COVID-19 upend international asylum norms?
• How will the COVID-19 pandemic reshape refugee and migration governance?
• COVID-19 travel bans: The right to seek asylum when you cannot leave your homeland
• Refugee rights and health: The impact of COVID-19 on refugee camps
• From the UN Human Rights Committee to European Courts: Which protection for climate-induced displaced persons under European Law?
• What happens to freedom of movement during a pandemic?
• Coronavirus: Commission presents guidance on implementing EU rules on asylum and return procedures and on resettlement
• OHCHR, IOM, UNHCR and WHO joint press release: The rights and health of refugees, migrants and stateless must be protected in COVID-19 response
• CrisisWatch: Trends and updates on 80+ conflicts creating refugees
• The right technology can help refugees stay connected

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Case Notes

• A hole of unclear dimensions: Reading ND and NT v. Spain
• US: Civil rights organizations seek emergency court ruling for immediate COVID-19 protections for people in immigration detention centers
• US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upholds block on Trump policy that arbitrarily jails asylum seekers
• Ten-minute asylum interview enough to meet ECHR obligations before removal
• UK Home Office evicted asylum seeker with COVID-19 symptoms
• US Board of Immigration Appeals: "Lock them up!"
• UK: Home Office can ignore human rights claims bolted on to normal immigration applications
• Explainer: What does Australia’s Federal Court decision on the Tamil asylum-seeker family mean?
• UK: Flawed Calais camp process did not breach human rights of children rejected
• CJEU: Joined cases C-715/17, C-718/17 and C-719/17 Commission v Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic
• Switzerland: Application for refugee status must be reconsidered in light of new evidence relating to applicant’s relatives
• Borders, procedures and rights at Röszke: Reflections on case C-924/19 (PPU)

Opinion/Editorial

• We have blood on our hands
• Surveillance won’t stop the Coronavirus
• Coronavirus restrictions on movement may jeopardize the lives of the most vulnerable
• Defend the right to protest – free the refugees
• Australians want to open their homes to locked-down refugees. The government should let them.

Letters to the Editors

• On the provision of legal services by telephone
• On the plight of refugee male survivors of conflict-related sexual violence

Announcements

• Conferences and workshops
• Vacancies  

Resources

Publications

Newsletters

  

April 2020

Articles and Short Pieces

• The asylum seekers’ guide to surviving coronavirus
• Building walls and deporting people to “safe” countries is not deterrence, it is defense.
• The future of refugee resettlement: Made in Europe?
• The Trump Administration is gagging America’s immigration judges
• Civil society groups send letter expressing urgent concern about DHS announced changes to US asylum processing at the border
• The US Refugee Act of 1980: A forlorn anniversary
• Amid global coronavirus outbreak, what about refugees?
• How coronavirus hits migrants and asylum seekers in Italy
• Joint statement on the situation at the Greek border: “Protect our laws and humanity!”
• Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights pushes for visionary pact on asylum and migration
• India and the Rohingya
• Refugee Studies without refugees: Some methodological reflections
• Migration: The bargaining power of transit states
• South African border bill another anti-migrant development
• How refugees succeed in visa reviews in Australia: New research reveals the factors that matter

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Case Notes

• MA and others v. Bulgaria: Removal of applicants to China in violation of Articles 2 and 3 ECHR
• Hot returns remain contrary to the ECHR: N.D. and N.T. before the ECHR
• Removing Afghans Sikhs does not breach their Article 3 rights: ECHR
• Hungary requests a preliminary ruling on the obligation to remain in transit zones during asylum application procedures
• The gospel according to Iran: New country guidance case on Christian converts
• US: The Supreme Court will decide whether asylum seekers receive their day in court
• US Supreme Court keeps in place Remain-in-Mexico policy
• US 9th Circuit says third-country transit ban will not apply to certain “metered” asylum seekers
• Israeli High Court rules threat of female genital mutilation is a basis for granting asylum

Opinion/Editorial

• New IGAD pact paves way for innovative solutions to disaster and climate change displacement in eastern Africa
• The violence in Delhi is not a “riot”. It is targeted anti-Muslim brutality.
• India: Religious fueled violence must stop
• The new developments related to the Turkish/Greek border
• Colombia is dealing with a terrifying refugee crisis. Will wealthy nations step up to help?
• A new era for refugee protection in Thailand?
• Special measures needed to curb COVID-19 in refugee and migrant communities in Malaysia
• South Sudan needs to address cycles of intercommunal killings
• Rohingya refugees need a coronavirus lifeline, not an internet ban

Letter to the Editors

Announcements

• Conferences and workshops
• Calls for papers
• Vacancies

Resources

Publications

Newsletters

 

March 2020

Articles & Short Pieces

• The recent decision on climate displacement by the UN Human Rights Committee
• After the forum: New directions in global refugee policy
• South Africa takes fresh steps to restrict rights of refugees
• Spain: New proposal restricting rights of asylum seekers
• A restrictionist revolution? A counter-intuitive reading of the ECtHR N.D. & N.T. judgment on “hot expulsions”
• Indian refugee policy: From strategic ambiguity to exclusion?
• The status of EU immigration and asylum law after Brexit
• Assisted Voluntary Return from Mexico: Another opaque asylum restriction with a misleading name
• Economic crisis in Lebanon: What UNHCR is doing in the Bekaa, and what more is needed from the international community
• The end of protection? Cessation and the “return turn” in refugee law
• Deported to death: US sent 138 Salvadorans home to be killed
• US Senators send letter to US cabinet officials regarding deportations to the Northern Triangle and asylum cooperative agreements

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Case Notes

• Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals blocks US policy of sending asylum seekers back to Mexico, then suspends its own order
• “Only the perverse logic of some politicians has transformed sea rescue into a potential crime”: Italian prosecutors ask court to dismiss charges brought against Mediterranea staff in connection with the rescue of 50 persons in the Mediterranean Sea in March 2019
• Australia offshore detention is unlawful, but does not warrant prosecution: ICC
• UK Upper Tribunal considers section 104 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act (2002) regarding abandonment of appeals
• England and Wales High Court determines benefit of the doubt applies even to abbreviated age assessments
• US federal judge orders Customs and Border Protection to meet the basic needs of every migrant detained more than 48 hours
• Hot returns remain contrary to the ECHR: N.D. & N.T. before the ECtHR

Opinion/Editorial

• It is time to change the definition of refugee
• Change to the Refugee Act moves South Africa much closer to the America of Donald Trump
• Greek refugee plan is inhumane and doomed to fail. The EU must step in.
• Lesvos: Empower both islanders and asylum seekers to defuse tensions
• The persecuted Rohingya now have legal protection, but will it amount to anything?
• Border prisons are go. Or not.

Announcements

Letters to the Editors

Announcements

Requests

Resources

Publications

Newsletters

 

February 2020

Articles and Short Pieces

• The politics of exhaustion: Immigration control in the British-French border zone
• Rethinking refuge from gender-based violence: Persecution for which convention reason?
• Individual rights in EU migration and asylum law
• Rethinking refugee choices in the Dublin system
• The fight to save an innocent refugee from almost certain death
• Fears that Greek ‘safe countries’ list poses a threat to human rights
• Rethinking refugee registration
• Rethinking the Common European Asylum System: Protection or containment?
• Statement on ‘hot returns’ from the Chafarinas on 3 January: “A serious violation of human rights”
• Should India deport Rohingya refugees because its soldiers “are fighting on the borders”?
• Non-refoulement under the Trump Administration
• Does Frontex arrange illegal pushbacks?
• Border with Turkey: EU Commission wants to track down refugees with “foliage detection”
• What does “social cohesion” mean for refugees and hosts? A view from Kenya

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Case Notes

• In landmark ruling, UN Human Rights Committee says climate refugees can’t be returned to countries where their lives might be threatened by the climate crisis
• UN Committee Against Torture: Expulsion to Chile amounts to violation of Article 3 of CAT
• No absolute confidentiality for asylum information in family cases in the UK
• US Board of Immigration Appeals holds that flawed Notice to Appear does not deprive immigration court of subject matter jurisdiction
• UK High Court finds delays in child asylum decisions are not the Home Office’s fault
• TRAC data analysis finds that US asylum decisions vary widely across judges and courts
• UK Upper Tribunal issues new country guidance case on Iraq
• Greek government hit with interim measures and introducing new list of safe countries of origin
• UK Upper Tribunal confirms that asylum seekers have the burden of proof on internal relocation
• UK Home Office launches legal battle to defend “unlawful and discriminatory” hostile environment policy
• US Second Circuit Court of Appeals on political opinion: Hernandez-Chacon v. Barr
• UK Upper Tribunal finds that adverse credibility findings can be made against vulnerable adults in the immigration tribunal without reference to their vulnerability

Opinion/Editorial

• New refugee laws undermine human rights of refugees in South Africa
• Refugee mental health: Normal reactions to abnormal situations
• Child refugees have become pawns in a rightwing culture war
• DNA collection at the border threatens the privacy of all Americans
• UK government blocks refugee children being reunited with parents

Letters to the Editors

Announcements

Resources

Publications

Newsletters

 

January 2020

Articles & Short Pieces

• Who’s your dance partner?
• Interpretation problems in immigration proceedings: How grave can they be?
• New US immigration court data released: Even more records missing despite assurances
• The Cartagena Declaration at 35 and refugee protection in Latin America
• LGBTQI+ asylum claimants face extreme social isolation in Germany
• Rohingya repatriation and the problem of consent
• Competing logics of security toward Syrian refugees in Turkey and Lebanon
• Why some EU countries are struggling to relocate migrants
• Toward a new European consensus on migration and asylum
• The Immigration Assessment Authority and the erosion of fairness in the Australian refugee framework
• Venezuela refugee crisis to become the largest and most underfunded in modern history
• South Africa fails in duty to offer refuge
• Remote control of asylum seekers: How states evade their protection obligation
• Climate change, refugees and other displaced persons
• India needs a proper refugee law, not a CAA suffused with discriminatory intent
• Crime and refugee protection
• Competing logics of security toward Syrian refugees in Turkey and Lebanon
• Where is the refugee sponsorship program for Australia?
• Ten conflicts to watch in 2020

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Case Notes

• CLINIC lawsuit seeks to protect asylum seekers in the US who fear family-based harm
• Danish Appeal Board confirms rejection of protection for three Syrian nationals
• US Federal Court preliminary injunction restores asylum eligibility for asylum seekers turned back at ports of entry before 16 July 2019
• UK Home Office delay policy leaving trafficking victims in limbo found unlawful
• Avoiding the naughty step in Cart judicial review cases in the UK
• US immigration advocates file major lawsuit challenging weaponization of the nation’s immigration court system
• UK High Court hears challenge to systemic delays in child asylum claims
• US Third Circuit Court of Appeals finds that BIA applied the wrong legal standard for the likelihood of state aquiesence to torture by ignoring evidence related to a tattoo
• Upper Tribunal slams UK Home Office for inability to read dictionary
• When voluntary return is not voluntary at all
• UK Supreme Court unanimously rules detention of asylum seekers pending removal was unlawful

 Opinion/Editorial

• Transformed stance toward refugees and asylum seekers in Indonesia
• Denying opportunities costs. What America could lose by curtailing refugee resettlement
• India citizenship law more sinister than it seems
• Making a positive impact: A functioning European asylum policy must start with… Europe
• A way forward on refugees for Australia
• Restore asylum for women fleeing abuse and death
• US should cease returning asylum seekers to Mexico

Announcements

• Conferences and workshops
• Calls for papers
• Vacancies

Requests

Resources

Publications

Newsletters

 

November 2018

Articles

APRRN statement: Suspend policy to end refugee status of Chin refugees from Myanmar

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Short pieces

ARRPN urgent statement: India forcibly returns persecuted Rohingya back to Myanmar

Three things that the European Union can do to support private sponsorship for refugees

Woman routinely beaten and raped for decades unlawfully detained by Home Office

Home Office policy on children firmly rejected by upper tribunal

Asylum reforms derailed as EU looks to North Africa

An update on recent events in relation to Western Sahara

Case notes

Matter of M-A-C-O, respondent

Newsletters

• APRRN Newsletter ( September 2018 Issue )
• Free Movement Newsletter ( September 2018 )
• Free Movement Newsletter ( October 2018)
• Global Detention Project Newsletter ( September 2018 Issue )
• Global Detention Project Newsletter ( October 2018 Issue )
• International Detention Coalition Newsletter ( October 2018 Issue )
• Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law,  Roundup October 15, 2018
• Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law,  Roundup September 24, 2018
• Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law,  Roundup September 17, 2018
• Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law,  Roundup September 3, 2018
• Refugee Research Digest,  October 18, 2018
• Refugee Research Digest,  October 3, 2018
• Refugee Research Digest,  September 7, 2018
• RESPOND: Multilevel Governance of Mass Migration in Europe and Beyond, Newsletter Issue 2 ( September 2018 )
• Right to Remain -  latest news

Announcements

Conferences, courses and workshops

Call for papers

Grants and awards

Vacancies

Requests

Resources

Publications

 

July 2018

Articles

The Guardian publishes the full UNITED List of 34,361 refugee deaths on 20 June 2018, World Refugee Day

EC Migration Agreement: European Council conclusions, 28 June 2018

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

New academic research centre dedicated to statelessness

Statelessness, discrimination, and marginalisation of Roma in Albania

Short Pieces

Palestinian refugees and the right of return in international law

Why domestic abuse and anti-gay violence qualify as persecution in asylum law

Highlight: changing US asylum response

House bills would largely dismantle asylum system at U.S.-Mexico border

Trump Executive Order fails to end abuses at U.S. border

USCIS takes down 26 PDFs for training asylum officers from its website

US immigration court backlog jumps while case processing slows

Former United States Immigration Judges and Board Members respond to Attorney General’s intervention against asylum seekers fleeing domestic violence

The health of the refugees on strike in danger because of the punitive approach of the Minister

EuroMed Rights General Assembly: 80 human rights organisations from the Mediterranean region gather in Brussels

Access to asylum and detention at France’s borders: ECRE published mission report

Victory for asylum seekers in South Africa as Constitutional Court rules on extension of temporary permits

The Illegal Economy of Refugee Registration: Insights into the Ugandan Refugee Scandal #PublicAuthority

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights press briefing note on Algeria and Libya

New CAP brief sheds light on why people continue to flee Latin America

Netherlands: National authorities failed to investigate if applicant would have access to psychological care in Belgium in practice

Austria: Supreme Administrative Court upholds exclusion from refugee status of asylum applicant who was convicted of child sexual abuse

France: Government continues to clear migrant camps in Paris

UNHCR and UNDP sign MoU with Myanmar to repatriate Rohingya refugees

The International Crisis Group releases its May 2018 overview

Transformative participation is essential for refugee children’s involvement in Uganda’s development

Thailand: Ensure refugee rights and protections through refugee legislation (Joint statement by Fortify Rights, APRRN and CRSP)

Turkey: Strengthening legal protection and access to justice

Niger sends Sudanese refugees back to Libya

Case Notes

How a legal challenge on Rohingya deportation could redefine the bounds of international justice

European Court of Human Rights communicates asylum-related cases regarding Romania, Croatia and the Netherlands

Opinion and Editorial

Asylum in Europe - Where do we go now?

Letters to the editors

Refugee children’s involvement in Uganda’s development

Newsletters

• Global Detention Project June 2018 Newsletter
• Global Detention Project May 2018 Newsletter
• Migrant Rights Network Weekly Newsletter - 14 June 2018
• Euromed Rights Recap - May 2018

Announcements

Conferences, courses, and workshops

Calls for papers

Grants and awards

Vacancies

Publications

 

June 2018

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Short Pieces

ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights calls for urgent action from ASEAN members on the refugee crises in Rakhine State

Refugees International dismayed by U.S. Decision to end temporary protected status for Honduras

Report on illegal immigration and violations of the rights of Asylum Seekers in Sudan

Afghanistan remains unsuitable and unsafe for returning refugees

Kenya: Leading the way on FGM

High Court remedy for woman embroiled in disputed citizenship claim

Joint Statement on the growing problem of homelessness among asylum-seekers in Cyprus

Effects of new Bosnian route being felt in Slovenia

Leaving Libya by boat: What happens after interception?

Ireland: New list of safe countries of origin adopted

Continuing conflicts that create refugees

Case Notes

Statement on US DOJ’s decision to halt Legal Orientation Program

France: Bill could undermine Asylum-Seekers’ rights

European Court of Human Rights: Ljatifi v. FYROM

European Court of Human Rights: Case against Italy will raise issue of cooperation with Libyan Coast Guard

Netherlands: District Court of The Hague rules on obligation to provide reasons when Article 17 of the Dublin III Regulation is invoked

UK Court of Appeal: cessation decision is independent of an assessment of a risk of violation of Article 3 ECHR

Germany: Administrative Court of Dusseldorf quashes transfer of Syrian family to Romania

United States:  Matter of L-M-P, 27 I&N Dec. 265 (BIA 2018)

United States: Advocates challenge Attorney General’s unilateral review of asylum precedent for domestic violence survivors

Opinion and Editorial

Sexual orientation, gender identity and asylum in the UK: Is “discretion” ever a choice?

The European Union is responsible for the refugee crisis

Assorted other editorial and opinion pieces

Letters to the editors

Refugee and host community youth showcase acquired film making skills

Video messages for 3rd South-South Institute on Sexual Violence against Men and Boys

Newsletters

• Refugee Research Network - 18 May 2018
• Right to Remain - 16 May 2018
• Right to Remain - 4 May 2018
• Refugee Research Network - 3 May 2018
• Right to Remain - 20 April 2018
• International Detention Monitoring -  April 2018
• Global Detention Project - April 2018
• Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion - April 2018

Announcements

Conferences, courses, and workshops

Calls for papers

Vacancies

Resources

Publications

 

May 2018

Articles

Circumventing  non-refoulement  or fighting “illegal migration”?

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Short Pieces

HIGHLIGHT: KIZIBA CAMP REFUGEE PROTEST

• Congolese community in Australia calls for urgent international action in response to violent attacks on Congolese refugees in Rwanda
• UNHCR calls for calm and restraint after Rwanda refugee camp protests

Female refugees denied the right to pass citizenship to children in Lebanon’s proposed law

New Statelessness Index reveals protection gaps across Europe and points to a better approach to tackling statelessness

Greece: Government defies court on asylum seekers reinstates containment policy that keeps people trapped on islands

Asylum Access legal team wins groundbreaking African Court ruling

Agreement for better access to legal aid for refugees In Malaysia

NGO rescue boat is held by Italian authorities after refusing to cooperate with Libyan coastguard

Supporting refugees in Greece: EUR 180 million in emergency support

Situation for asylum seekers in Paris remains critical despite promises

Bangladesh and UNHCR agree on voluntary returns framework for when refugees decide conditions are right

Book review: Protecting Stateless Persons: The implementation of the “Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons” across EU states

UK: Home Office has relapsed in treatment of refugee children, inspection finds

UNHCR Operational Update

Case Notes

CJEU: Refugees who are minors can apply for families to join them in EU-Court, C550/16

USA: Groups challenge government’s failure to notice and comply with asylum application procedures, Mendez Rojas v. Johnson

UK: Zambino principle revisited by Court of Appeal

Opinion and Editorial

Collected opinion and editorial pieces

Letters to the editors

Monitoring Visit by Office of the Prime Minister to Adjumani, Refugee Law Project, Uganda

Newsletters

• Refugee Research Network - April 2018
• Refugee Research Network - March 2018
• The Detention Workshop - March 2018
• Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion - March 2018
• Global Detention Project - March 2018
• Andrew and Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law - March 2018
• Migreurope - 1er Trimestre 2018 (French)
• International Detention Monitor - March 2018
• Right to Remain Newsletter - March 2018

Announcements

Conferences, courses, and workshops

Calls for papers

Grants and awards

Vacancies

Request for contacts working with resettled Vietnamese in the US

Resources

Publications

 

April 2018

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Short Pieces

Organisations appeal to the Prime Minister of Malaysia to prevent the refoulement of 11 detained Uyghur men

New risks to civilians displaced by Boko Haram in Nigeria: Politics driving plans for returns to unsafe conditions

The power of civil mobilisation: How ordinary people stepped-in to help refugees in Northern Greece

Italy Shuts Down ‘Worrying’ Migrant Hotspot

Libyan coast guard vs NGO: Italy and the EU have chosen their allies

France: A sharp rise in rates of child detention is cause for concern

Αlmost two years after EU-Turkey statement, people are still trapped on the islands

Know your rights: A guide for migrants

Uganda: Giving hope to visually impaired woman in Palabek Refugee Settlement

Reawakening Awareness of Empowerment of Refugee Women and Girls in Uganda

Shrinking options: The nexus between climate change, displacement, and security in the Lake Chad Basin

Case Notes

M.K. v. Russia (application no. 35346/16) [Articles 2. 3 and 5 ECHR], 27 February 2018

CJEU: Request for a preliminary ruling, C-680/17 Vethanayagam

CJEU: Request for a preliminary ruling, C-635/17 E

USA: Matter of A-B-, 27 I&N Dec. 227 (A.G. 2018)

USA: Groups challenge Trump administration’s arbitrary detention of asylum seekers

USA: Order granting plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction (immigration detention)

USA: Nielsen v. Preap (focus: detention, criminal alien)

Opinion and Editorial

• Euromed comments on FRONTEX piece
• The French Asylum Bill – a deeply unbalanced proposal
• Why does the UK deport North Korean asylum seekers?

Letters to the editors

• Hotline for Refugees and Migrants Israel welcomes new Executive Director
• RLP Uganda engages Uganda People’s Defense Force to build refugee rights and protection capacity
• RLP Uganda: ‘Speak your Rights’ programme

Newsletters

• International Detention Monitor - March 2018
• Refugee Research Network - March 2018
• Right to Remain Newsletter - March 2018
• Statelessness and Inclusion Bulletin - February 2018
• European Asylum Support Office Newsletter - February 2018

Announcements

Conferences, courses, and workshops

Calls for papers

Grants and awards

Vacancies

• Center for Migration & Refugee Studies at the American University in Cairo seeking researcher
• Two postdoctoral fellowship opportunities mobility, politics and transformation in sub-Saharan Africa (South Africa)
• Immigrant Defense Project, New York
• Safe Passage Project, New York
• Migration Policy Centre at the European University Institute in Florence
• Oxford Department of International Development and the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford

Resource: new UNHCR updates on the situation in South Sudan

Publications

 

March 2018

Articles

Thoughts on the Deportation of De-Facto Citizens

Prison or deportation: The impossible choice for asylum seekers in Israel

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Short Pieces

In solidarity with civil society in Hungary

Belgium: Returns to Sudan violated principles of non-refoulement

Australia: Humanitarian crisis looms as government collapses lifesaving support services for people seeking asylum

Deportation of Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers from Israel and the legality of relocation/transfer agreements

Thailand returns UNHCR recognised refugee to Cambodia despite overwhelming safety concerns

Despite global refugee crisis, Japan accepts only 20 refugees in 2017

Statement on Israel’s latest deportation scheme

Netherlands: Plans to curtail legal aid to asylum seekers

Mass arrests and detention of migrants again in Algeria

Legal aid (individual legal representation in asylum/refugee context) for migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in Greece: Challenges and barriers

Israel appeals tribunal rules: Desertion from the Eritrean military is a valid claim for asylum

US Asylum Office implements major changes to asylum interview scheduling

European Court of Human Rights gives legitimacy to conditions in hotspot and detention under EU Turkey Statement – NGOs concerned

Case Notes

European Court of Human Rights ruling in M.A. v. France (application no. 9373/15) [Article 3, Article 13 ECHR], 1 February 2018

Communicated cases against Italy, the Netherlands and Russia by the European Court of Human Rights

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU): Requests for a preliminary ruling, C-582/17 H & C-583/17 R

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU): Requests for a preliminary ruling, C-661/17 M.A., S.A., A.Z.

UN Committee on the Rights of the Child delivers its first decision on the merits of an individual communication

UK Court of Appeal: guidance on stays of removal in Article 3 ECHR cases with reference to Paposhvili v Belgium

Italy: Court of Cassation clarifies the scope of the right to legal aid for “irregular migrants”

CJEU: Judgment in case C-360/16 Hasan, 25 January 2018

CJEU: Judgment in case C-473/16 F, 25 January 2018

CJEU: AG Opinion in cases C-175/17 X and C-180/17 X and Y, 24 January 2018

Matter of J-C-H-F-, 27 I&N Dec. 211 (BIA 2018): US Board of Immigration Appeals upholds Immigration Judge’s rejection of appeal based on applicant’s border interview

NYC’s Immigration Court erodes accommodations for children without attorneys

Deportation of foreign criminals: out of country appeals still lawful

Opinion and Editorial

Turkey is using Syrian refugees as bargaining chips as it moves against the Kurds

How to solve our broken refugee resettlement system?

Letters to the editors

Training the military to protect the rights of refugees

Newsletters

Newsletter links

MigrAsyl News 30 January 2018

The SOGICA newsletter: Issue 5 (19 February 2018)

Adala UK: An update on recent events in relation to Western Sahara

Announcements

Conferences, courses, and workshops

Calls for papers

Vacancies

Resources

Publications

 

February 2018

Articles

Submission of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network to the tenth annual High Commissioner’s Dialogue on Protection Challenges on the theme of “Towards a global compact on refugees”

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Australia case exceeds eight years in detention

Short Pieces

Key legal considerations on the standards of treatment of refugees recognized under the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa

UN refugee agency underscores the role of the judiciary in refugee protection

UNHCR appeals to Israel over forced relocations policy

Serbia extradites Kurdish activist to Turkey despite UN request to stall

Making Asylum Numbers Count – Gaps and Reform Needs in the Area of Asylum Statistics

Greece: suspension of protection grant after first-ever government appeal against positive asylum decision

Spain: Sea arrivals met with automatic detention and barriers to legal assistance

Refugee press statement: Against inhumanity! Stop the camp system! We’re refugees, not prisoners! Gegen die Unmenschlichkeit! Stoppt das Lager System! Wir sind Geflüchtete, keine Gefangene!

Who does UNRWA help and where? What you need to know now about cuts to the UN’s agency for Palestine refugees

Scotland leads the way on refugee integration

Asylum statistics 2017: Shifting patterns, persisting disparities

Concern grows for women and children fleeing Cameroon

New Israeli government plans to deport Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers to Rwanda and Uganda

“I won’t fly refugees to their deaths”: The El Al pilots resisting deportation

Sweden: Current situation in asylum

Germany: State of play

Rescued and caught: the humanitarian-security nexus at Europe’s frontiers

The price of impact: reflections on academic outreach amid the “refugee crisis”

Case Notes

SSHD Not Entitled to Continue to Detain After Receiving Rule 35 Report: Ilori, R (On the Application Of) v SSHD [2017] EWHC 3355 (Admin) (21 December 2017)

Switzerland: Landmark ruling on the right of appeal against Dublin transfers brings court in line with CJEU

Maribel Trujillo Diaz v. Jefferson B Sessions, III, Attorney General

Immigration Judge denies applications for asylum and withholding of removal and orders them removed from the United States (Matter of W-Y-C- & H-O-B-, Respondents)

Hearing in Failed Deportation Flight Monday, January 8: Somalis injured in transit

Asylum victory in Hartford: Matter of R-G- (death threats from gangs in Honduras, El Salvador)

Challenge to legality of Dublin significant risk of absconding regulations 2017

Opinion and Editorial

Israel must reveal and reverse cruel policies on refugees

Amid US funding cuts, UNRWA appeals for health and dignity of Palestinian refugees

Israel’s plan to deport Eritreans and Sudanese to Rwanda is a wake-up call for Europeans

Cooperation with Morocco in the EU’s African Border: A laboratory of externalization

To the Bulgarian Presidency: EU global punch needs inner solidarity

Newsletters

Global Detention Project newsletter, January newsletter

Refugee Research Digest, 17 January 2018

Refugee Studies Centre monthly news update December 2017

EUROMed Rights MigrAction

Announcements

Conferences, courses, and workshops

Calls for papers

Vacancies

Resource: Right to Remain launches new toolkit to help navigate UK immigration and asylum system

Publications

 

January 2018

Articles

The requirement of proportionality in the interpretation of the 1951 Convention exclusion provisions

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

European Network on Statelessness: Statement to Bulgaria’s Presidency of the European Union on Addressing Statelessness in Europe

Short Pieces

USA: ICE abuses men and women on 48-hour deportation flight to Somalia

EASO preparing for transformation into EUAA

Humanitarian aid should be amped up for South Sudanese refugees in DRC

“I am only looking for my rights” - Legal employment still inaccessible to refugees in Turkey

UK: Dramatic decline in access to legal help for immigration detainees, reports charity

ECRE/ELENA legal note on access to legal aid in Europe

UK: Indefinite detention and the rule of law

Inside Britain’s asylum appeal system – what it’s like to challenge the Home Office

Human rights advocates from across Asia continue calls for refugee legislation in Taiwan

UNHCR welcomes launch of “Refugee Coalition for Europe”

Canada: Five years later, refugees are suffering the consequences of unfair and inefficient changes to the refugee system

UNHCR seeking 1,300 urgent resettlement places for vulnerable refugees in Libya

UNHCR welcomes Djibouti’s new refugee laws

UNHCR evacuates 74 vulnerable refugees from Libya to Niger

7th English for Adults Certificate Award Ceremony & 10 years of English for Adults at RLP, Uganda

Case Notes

Boudraa v. Turkey (application no. 1009/16) [Articles 3 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)], 28 November 2017

Ireland: Court of Appeal rules that applicant was not afforded a fair procedure by the Refugee Appeals Tribunal

UK Upper Tribunal rules on the benefit of the doubt in age assessment cases

Italy: Council of State suspends a Dublin transfer to Bulgaria due to deficiencies in the Bulgarian asylum system

S.F. and others v. Bulgaria (application no. 8138/16) [Article 3 ECHR], 7 December 2017

Communicated cases against France, Russia, Czech Republic and Hungary

Canada: Federal Court grants organisations standing in legal challenge of Safe Third Country Agreement

Challenge to legality of Dublin significant risk of absconding regulations 2017

Opinion and Editorial

Externalizing brutality to Libya is not an answer to displacement

Letters to the Editors

What happens to refugees sent from Israel to Rwanda?

Newsletters

Global Detention Project newsletter, November 2017

MigrAsyl Newsletter 2017

Kaldor Centre biannual newsletter, December 2017

Refugee Studies Centre monthly news update, November 2017

MigrAction news

Detention workshop update, 28 November 2017

Announcements

Conferences, courses, and workshops

Calls for papers

Grants and awards: Nominations for UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award

Vacancies

Requests

Resources

Publications

 

December 2017

Articles

Why some E.U. States want hotspots in the Sahel

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Stateless persons forced to remain in ‘perpetual limbo’ in Malta

Africa: UNHCR report exposes the discrimination pervading the life of stateless minorities worldwide

Short Pieces

Rwanda: Exceptions to cessation under 1 C (5) of the 1951 Geneva Convention

Asylum for witches

Stop persecuting the persecuted: Australia must provide safety and long-term solutions to refugees on Manus Island

Over a year after the demolition of the Calais “Jungle,” 400 minors remain stranded in France

Statement by Conference on Responsibility-Sharing for Refugees in the Euro-Mediterranean Space

Bangladesh resists greater UNHCR role in Rohingya crisis

Egypt: We need to talk about al-Sisi’s twisted take on human rights

NGOs sign open letter to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras asking the government to allow refugees off Greek islands

Administrative Detention In Greece Remains Problematic

Case Notes

UK Court of Appeal on personal history of conversion as part of religious belief

Germany: Constitutional Court ruled that the refusal of legal aid for appeals against subsidiary protection by Syrian nationals was unlawful

The right to an effective remedy in the case of a delayed Dublin transfer

Sri Lankan national seeking asylum in the UK on the grounds of subsidiary protection, testing whether the scope extends to psychological health

Eritrean child seeking asylum in the Netherlands: the right to family reunification and gaps in protection in regards to the the age of majority

France: court decisions on Dublin detention contrast with government reform plans

Opinion and Editorial

US must not dismantle Population, Refugees and Migration bureau

Obstacles to accessing international protection and restriction of rights of asylum seekers in the Spanish enclaves in Africa

More “safe” third country concept: Less safe world

Why Indonesia shows the IOM isn’t necessarily helping migrants

Nothing utopian about an archipelago of exclusion: A transnational union of self-governing refugee communities would close doors even more

Progressively compromised: Left parties on refugee rights

UNHCR has failed to stand up for refugee rights during crucial EU-Turkey deal judgement

Letters to the Editors

‘They forced us onto trucks like animals’

Newsletters

Refugee Research Network (RRN) Research Digest

EuroMed Rights: MigrAction News

Odysseus Network, October 2017

NGO Action News

Global Detention Project Newsletter, October 2017

The Refugee Brief: The UN Refugee Agency’s daily news digest

Announcements

General

Conferences, courses, and workshops

Calls for papers

Grants and awards: Steinberg Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship

Vacancies

Request: 3rd country returns to Turkey

Resources

Publications

 

November 2017

Articles

Hassouna, the K2 case, and citizenship removal

The double edged sword of discretion in LGBT refugee cases in the UK

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Short Pieces

India can’t mistreat refugees by not signing refugee convention

Algeria: Illegal arrests, detention and forced removal of hundreds of migrants

Factors influencing decision making by people fleeing Central America

Thousands of migrants caught up in intense fighting in Sabratha

One step forward and two steps back for unaccompanied minors from Calais

The scene is set for yet another predictable winter tragedy and continued blame game in Greece

MSF report discloses violence by EU border authorities along Balkan route

UK detention policy on victims of torture unlawful, High Court rules

Germany: conservative bloc introduces controversial cap on access for people in need of protection

A regional update from EuroMed Rights

Migration control top priority at European Union Member State level - substantial growth of EU Agency Frontex

Home is close, but so far away for Central African Republic refugees

New York Declaration on Refugees: A One-year report card

Australian firm Canstruct takes up toxic contract profiting from the abuse of refugees

Statement released by the members of People’s South Asian Association for Regional Corporation (SAARC) who met in Kathmandu on 13-14 September 2017

NGO Statement on the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) and Coordination

Case Notes

US Court of Appeals (CA9) affirms Hernandez v. Sessions class action injunction (unreasonable immigration bonds)

US Supreme Court rules in favour of government transparency against private prison corporations

Mother detained with baby for 72 hours is awarded R180 000 in damages by South African Court

CJEU: Opinion AG Wahl in Case C-473/16 F

CJEU: Request for a preliminary ruling from the French Cour de cassation, C-444/17 Arib

Greece: Council of State on Turkey as a safe third country and aspects of the Greek asylum procedure

France: Administrative Court of Appeal of Douai rules on margin of error of bone tests to determine applicant’s age

Italy appeals lodged before the entry into force of new asylum law have automatic suspensive effect

Finland: Administrative Court rules application must be given opportunity to be heard to explain why he had not disclosed his sexual orientation in the interview

Opinion and Editorial

Success of the European Agenda on Migration should not be judged by reduction of arrivals

Letters to the Editors

SOGICA project

Announcements

Conferences, courses, and workshops

Calls for papers

Grants and awards: Ockendon Prize for projects supporting refugees and internally displaced people

Vacancies

Resources

Publications

 

October 2017

 

September 2017

Articles

Palestinian Refugees and the (Mis-)interpretation of Article 1D of the 1951 Refugee Convention

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Short Pieces

Cambodia: Open Letter regarding potential refoulement of Montagnard asylum seekers

The importance of refugee-led organisations to effective refugee responses

So, your country isn't keen to resettle refugees. Are you?

Seven must-read stories this World Refugee Day

Insecurity, economic crisis, abuse and exploitation in Libya push refugees and migrants to Europe, new study reveals

Canada: Legal challenge of Safe Third Country Agreement launched

UNHCR welcomes registration of a million undocumented Afghans in Pakistan

UNHCR Chief calls on Australia to end harmful practice of offshore processing

Kaldor Centre responds to UNHCR statement on Australia’s offshore processing

Refugees in urban Egypt: It’s time to reassess UNHCR’s 2009 Policy on refugee protection and solutions in urban areas

What does a genuine lesbian/gay relationship look like in the eyes of asylum decision makers?

Refugee status and British citizenship or requirements to obtain British citizenship

New refugee framework “dead in the water” without more international support

The war on migrants continues: NGOs harassed in the Mediterranean

Preparing an asylum application: Some thoughts regarding method

Book Review: Jason M. Pobjoy’s ‘The Child in International Refugee Law’

Book Review: Ruvi Ziegler’s ‘Voting Rights of Refugees’

Case Notes

S.M.M. a Zimbabwean National v. the UK – Unlawful Detention – Violation of the right to liberty and security of the European Convention

USA: Challenging customs and border protection’s unlawful practice of turning away asylum seekers

Suspension clause habeas victory in Detroit: Hamama v. Adducci

US EOIR Immigration Judge Benchbook no longer in use

USA: Jeff Chase on Matter of N-A-I-

The legality of Manus Island detention under Australian law: The High Court decides in plaintiff S195

South Africa: Constitutional Court unanimously upholds the rights of all detainees to access to courts

OpEd

The State Department should consider refugee agency assurances as bona fide relationships

World must seize the moment to support South Sudanese refugees

Letters to the editors

Northwest Immigrant Rights Project concerning their federal lawsuit NWIRP v. Sessions (USA)

Kaldor Center - Professor Jane McAdam Awarded Prestigious International Human Rights Prize

Refugee Law Project Uganda - Mobile legal aid clinic; an efficient tool in the administration of justice for refugees

Announcements

Conferences, courses, and workshops

Calls for papers

Vacancies

Request for assistance from UK legal professional

Resources

Publications

 

July 2017

Articles

NGO Statement on International Protection at ExCom Standing Committee 69th Session

Report: UNHCR RSD Retreat at 2017 Annual UNHCR-NGO Consultations

Understanding the importance of a national legislation for refugee protection in India

In support of religious minorities, rule of law, and Lakshan Dias

Relocation and its numbers – Which role for the courts?

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Short Pieces

Refugees: The Trojan horse of terrorism?

Italy’s migrant reception system is breaking

Alleged push-backs of Turkish nationals at Greek-Turkish land border raise strong concerns over access to asylum in Greece

Switzerland: Federal Administrative Court suspends a Dublin transfer to Hungary

European Commission launches infringement procedure against Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland

Potential expansion of Eurodac database scope raises data protection concerns

Failure to act to address climate change will lead to more displacement, migration, and humanitarian emergencies

I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know

The Republic of Cyprus should proceed with the immediate implementation of CERD’s recommendations

Refugees International report details “hell” for refugees and migrants in Libya

Surging violence in Central African Republic forces 88,000 to flee

Update on rescue at sea operations in the Central Mediterranean

Canada: Legal aid for refugees is essential and must be adequately funded

UK: Grants of asylum year ending March 2017

Case Notes

USA: Full 9th Circuit recommends asylum for gay Mexican

Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID) response to UK Supreme Court judgment on out-of-country appeals in the case of Kiarie and Byndloss

USA: Matter of L-E-A-, 27 I&N Dec. 40 (BIA 2017)

Immigration detention and the rule of law: the ECJ’s first ruling on detaining asylum-seekers in the Dublin system

Country Policy and Information Note - Ukraine: Prison Conditions

South Africa: Somali Association & 8 Others V Minister of Home Affairs & 4 Others Case no 99766/15

M.M. v. Bulgaria (no. 75832/13) [Article 5 § 4], 8 June 2017

Decision of the UK Immigration Commissioner’s Office: John O v. Home Office

Damages for unlawful detention: Chaparadza, R (Application Of) v SSHD [2017] EWHC 1209 (Admin) (24 May 2017)

Australia: Plaintiff M96A and the elusive limits of immigration detention

OpEd

How to really help refugees: TedTalk by Asylum Access Founder

Letters to the Editors

Aid Organization for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Israel (ASSAF) releases annual report

Darfur refugees to be granted residency in Israel

International Association of Refugee Law Judges (IARLJ) World Conference

Announcements

Conferences, courses, and workshops

Calls for papers

Grants and Awards

Request for assistance in accompanying child to refugee interview in Addis Ababa

Resources

Publications

 

June 2017

Articles

Special highlight: UNHCR-NGO consultations 2017

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Short Pieces

Conditions in hotspots are chilling

Refugees stranded between Morocco and Algeria

Hungary leaves negotiations with EU Commission and prepares for legal battle

AIDA briefing: accelerated, prioritised and fast-track asylum procedures in Europe

UNHCR’s priorities for the next UK government

Refugee advocates are losing the war of ideas

Tribunal gives guidance on general principles in deprivation of citizenship appeals

American Bar Association International Refugee Law Committee Updates

Australia’s Forcible Deportations of Unwell Asylum Seekers: Legal Obligations

UN refugee chief Grandi in Libya: UNHCR ramping up its humanitarian response

Israel: the struggle against the “Deposit Law” continues

European Commission follows up on infringement procedure against Hungary concerning its asylum law

Budget 2017: Another missed opportunity for Australia and for refugees

Thousands of families excluded from benefit of increased age of dependent children

AIDA Briefing: Accelerated, prioritised and fast-track asylum procedures in Europe

Commission follows up on Hungary infringement procedure

Hungary: new legislation undermining asylum seekers’ rights enters into force

Proving continued danger of interpersonal violence: The realities of care responsibilities

Case Notes

No human rights issues to be raised in European Economic Area (EEA) appeals, confirms Court of Appeal

The Queen on the application of RSM, a child by his litigation friend ZAM and ZAM v Secretary of State for the Home Department

National Immigration Law Center responds to continuation of Haitian temporary protected status programme

OpEd

Opinion and Editorial Pieces

Letters to the Editors

Despite hiring, United States Immigration Court backlog and wait times climb

Israel’s “Deposit Law” for refugees

The future of asylum in India

Announcements

Conferences, courses, and workshops

Calls for papers

Grants and Awards

Vacancies

Request for assistance in research

Resources

Publications

 

May 2017

Articles

The emergence of the entry human rights principle: Looking beyond the X.X. case

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Short Pieces

Ill-treatment of migrants in Greek law enforcement - Are the Strasbourg Court judgments the tip of the iceberg?

Slovenia: Amendments to the Aliens Act enable the state to activate closure of the border for asylum seekers

Government of Malaysia should investigate deaths in immigration detention centres, prosecute human traffickers, and end protracted detention of refugees and migrants

UNHCR urges suspension of transfers of asylum seekers to Hungary under European Union (EU) Dublin Regulation

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) call on the Cypriot Ministry of Interior to re-examine the application of the stateless Kurds for citizenship

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) deliver ten statements at UNHCR standing committee

European Commission: “Protection of children in migration” and progress report on relocation and resettlement

Airport lawyering

Case Notes

Detention of Dublin Regulation asylum seekers held to be unlawful

Asylum Seekers’ Detention in Moscow Airport Unlawful, Inhuman and Degrading

Justice Collins asks UK SSHD to consider compassion before resorting to law

Opinion and Editorial Pieces

• The ungrateful refugee: “We have no debt to repay”
• How Australia can shape the Global Compact on Refugees
• The best way the US could help Syrians: open the borders
• Should Lebanon get more funds for hosting refugees?
• Time for honesty and humanity on the fate of Manus asylum seekers
• Can Uganda’s progressive refugee policies survive the influx of people fleeing South Sudan?
• Why denying refugees a right to work is a catastrophic error
• UN could step in where EU fails in child migrant protection
• Britain’s immigration policy is just as draconian as Donald Trump’s “Muslim ban”
• Office of Aung San Suu Kyi accuses Rohingya rape victims of fabricating stories

Announcements

Conferences, courses, and workshops

Calls for papers

Vacancies

Requests

Resources

Publications

 

April 2017

Articles

Asylum visas as an obligation under European Union (EU) law: Case PPU C-638/16 X, X v État belge

South Africa’s refugee policy: New grounds to exclude refugees from refugee protection

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Short Pieces

Misguided and harmful: new European Commission policy on returns

Asylum Information on Hungary: Detention of all asylum seekers

Asylum seekers protest against the problematic asylum procedures in Finland

ECtHR ruling in support of complaints from unaccompanied minors in Italy

AIDA reports on Italy, Malta and Spain - Southern borders a laboratory for deflection policies

ABA International Refugee Law Committee issues ‘hot topics’ list for end of March 2017

Signing of a memorandum for cooperation between NGOs and the Cyprus police

Manus deportation reports raise legal concerns

UK Home Office Guideline: Afghan gay asylum-seekers expected to conceal their sexual orientation to avoid persecution when sent back

UK Home Office ends policy of automatic settlement for refugees after five years

Afghan refugees in Pakistan need safety and security

Exclusive: UK “voluntary” returns – refugee coercion and NGO complicity

Pakistan: Mass forced returns of Afghan refugees, UN Refugee Agency Complicit in government coercion

Case Notes

European Court of Justice (ECJ) rules that European Union (EU) Member States are not required by EU law to grant humanitarian visas

European Court of Human Rights rules in support of complaints from unaccompanied minors in Italy

The European Union (EU) General Court declares lack of jurisdiction to hear and determine the actions brought by three asylum seekers against the EU-Turkey statement which seeks to resolve the migration crisis

New Court of Justice of the European Union ruling increases human rights protection for asylum seekers in Dublin system

US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Justia opinion summary: S.A.B. v. Boente, No. 15-1834 (Seventh Circuit 2017)

Opinion and Editorial Pieces

• The EU-Turkey deal one year on
• Draft amendment to Poland’s law on the protection of foreigners: another step to seal Europe’s border

Letters to the Editor

• The Refugee Law Project builds capacity of police regarding refugee governance in Uganda
• CEAR shares recent updates from Spain
• The American University in Cairo’s Center for Migration and Refugee Studies draws attention to regionally focused degree and diploma programmes
• Asylos issues new report, ‘Challenges to researching COI for asylum claims’
• Refugee Law Project Uganda receives Ockenden International Prize

Announcements

Conferences, courses, and workshops

Calls for papers

Vacancies

Request: Assistance obtaining Ethiopian identity documents

Resources

Publications

 

March 2017

Articles

South African parliament hears public comments on the Refugees Amendment Bill

The truth behind the so-called “success” of the Migration Partnership Framework

Is strategic litigation a way of ensuring that the rights of unaccompanied minors are fully considered in law, policy and practice?

Trafficked Eritrean refugees demonstrate the need for legal and other assistance in transit

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Short Pieces

Responsibility sharing for refugees: Now is the time to increase, not decrease, refugee resettlement worldwide

Thai government resolution for protection of refugees

Presidential decree on treatment of refugees in Indonesia

Italy: Plans to expand immigration detention

Delegation to Sudan uncovers human rights cost of EU deals on migration

EU and Italy take steps towards cooperation in migration control with Libya, amid heavy criticism

EU border agency targeted “isolated or mistreated” individuals for questioning

Hungarian government submits new asylum bill on collective push-backs and automatic detention

Papua New Guinea must guarantee safety of Iranian refugee

Poland to follow Slovenia in closing borders for refugees

Case Notes

BS (Congo) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 53

Advocate General’s Opinion in Case C-638/16 PPUX and X v État Belge

Opinion and Editorial

Refugees are not “political resources”

Our moral obligations to refugees go beyond giving them refuge

Under Trump’s “extreme vetting,” should dictators vet the refugees they create?

Assessing Indonesia’s new decree on refugees

Letters to the Editor

• UKLGIG seeks referrals for participants in LGBT asylum study
• Refugee Law Project recommends Uganda post-deportation risks article
• APRRN highlights Asia-Pacific UPR schedule, calls for cooperation
  
• Help bring Dunkirk’s forgotten children to safety
• Asylos seeks to explain the importance of thorough, unbiased research for asylum claims

Announcements

• Human Rights Watch Film Festival on theme of crises and migration, London, 6-17 March

Conferences, courses, and workshops

Calls for papers: Oxford Monitor of Forced Migration seeks submissions

Grants and awards

Vacancy: Call for Volunteer Hosts and Support Workers, Oxford, UK

Requests

Resources: Announcing a new Forced Migration Forum

Publications

 

February 2017

Articles

These jurisdictions have become “asylum free zones”: In some US jurisdictions, the denial rate for refugees seeking asylum is as high as 98%

Central African Republic waiting for peace: On the issues with Fiona Mangan and Igor Acko

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Short Pieces

Barbaros Şansal deported to Turkey: Respect for human rights in northern Cyprus hits rock bottom

Migration trends to watch in 2017

Locking down Africa

A medical doctor reflects on the treatment and healing of torture survivors

Naturalisation refusal on failure to meet the good character requirement - Challenge dismissed

Germany: Suspension of Dublin procedures to Greece set to end on 15 March 2017

Italy: Security checks by Irish police blocks relocation of refugees

2016 developments and new year wishes from the Refugee Law Project in Uganda

Spain: Collective expulsions at the Moroccan border

Greece: Refugees with disabilities overlooked, underserved

Italy and Germany step up measures to deter asylum seekers

Taiwan urged to pass national refugee legislation and provide genuine protection to refugees

Senegal: Around 45,000 have fled political uncertainty in The Gambia

Myanmar: Kachin Christians feared “disappeared”

Canada: Refugee claimants entering from US need our protection

EUROMED: Migration and Asylum in the EuroMed region

China: Protect ethnic Kachin refugees fleeing war in northern Myanmar

US federal court grants nationwide class status in suit to protect asylum seekers

Case Notes

American Civil Liberties Union challenges US ban after refugees detained at airports

UK Supreme Court criticises complexity of immigration rules (but dismisses case anyway)

Blocking detainees’ access to legal advice websites probably breaches Article 10 ECHR

Case C. K. and Others, C-578/16, request to the Court of Justice of the European Union for a preliminary ruling from the Supreme Court of Republic Slovenia

Victims of domestic violence can form particular social group according to UK Upper Tribunal

Iraqi who fled Greece after ‘Golden Dawn’ attacks wins right to ‘in-country’ appeal against refusal of UK asylum and human rights claims

US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit clarifies standards for withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture

Opinion and Editorial

A dark winter in Europe

Letters to the Editor

• Seeking advice regarding tenant’s rights under unofficial rental systems in Kakuma refugee camp
• Updates from Hotline for Refugees and Migrants in Israel
• Seeking reports on the situation of Syrian refugees in Lebanon
• Promoting the international protocol on documentation and investigation of sexual violence in conflict in Uganda
• Appeal for donations to Miscarriages of Justice UK

Announcements

Conferences, courses, and workshops

Calls for papers

Grants and awards

Vacancies

Requests

Resources

Publications

 

January 2017

Articles

Building capacity for mental health professionals working with refugees

The aftermath of an invalid referendum on relocation of asylum seekers: A constitutional amendment in Hungary

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Short Pieces

Protection struggles: Australia’s approach to LGBTIQ asylum seekers and refugees

Asylum outcome in the US increasingly depends on judge assigned

US asylum denial rates rise to 57% in FY 2016, unrepresented increase

Refugees fall victim to people “ping pong” in the Balkans

Migration trends to watch in 2017

Blocking detainees’ access to legal advice websites at UK immigration removal centres probably breaches Article 10 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)

Detention of vulnerable persons in international protection proceedings in Poland

Rohingya and responsibility

US asylum granted to Salvadoran woman who cooperated with police and who was viewed as “property” by a gang

Case Notes

Refugee Council of Australia wins landmark case on citizenship for former refugees

Report on the ruling of Chiang Rai juvenile court in the case of Somali refugee child

USA: Matter of M-S-B-, Respondent

European Court of Human Rights: Paposhvili v. Belgium (no. 41738/10, GC)

Khlaifia v. Italy (no. 16483/12, GC)

Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU): Case C. K. and Others, C-578/16), request for a preliminary ruling from the Supreme Court of Republic Slovenia

Belgium: Belgian Council for Alien Law Litigation has referred preliminary questions to Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on application and interpretation Article 25(1) Visa Code and has referred question to the Constitutional Court

United Kingdom: Victims of domestic violence can form particular social group according to Upper Tribunal

Hotline for Refugees and Migrants secures refugee status for Darfuri in Israel

Penang Stop Human Trafficking Campaign seeks support to end atrocities in Myanmar

Letters to the Editor

• First publication of health data on the Rohingya, persecuted in Myanmar
• Justice Centre Hong Kong successful in combatting unjust asylum policies

Announcements

Conferences, courses, and workshops

Calls for papers

Grants and awards

Vacancies

Requests

• Request for assistance reaching refugees online for research purposes
• Canadian Council for Refugees seeks support to end immigration detention of children in Canada
• Request for information about emergency travel document requirements for deportation
• Request for pro bono aid for UK Case Management Review Hearings for deportees

Resources

Publications

 

December 2016

Articles

The politics of protection and the right to food in protracted refugee situations

Post-deportation risks in times of externalised border control

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Book Review

William Maley’s “What is a Refugee”

Short Pieces

Will the UN become complicit in Pakistan’s illegal return of Afghan refugees?

What progress has been made following the Andaman Sea “crisis” in 2015?

UNHCR welcomes Kenya statement, urges flexibility on timeframes for Somali refugees

Canada goes tough on lawyer and judge for bias on Roma cases; Brexit might be rough on the Roma

What happens after deportation? Human stories behind the closed doors of Europe

International protection beneficiary from Mosul is detained under risk of deportation

Human Rights First and the International Refugee Assistance Project release white paper outlining private refugee sponsorship program

Press statement by the Nigeria High Commission on returns from the United Kingdom

Ban on asylum seekers coming to Australia

Lawyers for Human Rights to challenge constitutionality of immigration detention laws

Unravelling travelling: Asylum Information Database (AIDA) legal briefing on travel documents for beneficiaries of international protection

Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network statement: Allow safe passage to Bangladesh for persecuted Rohingya

Rights of Central American migrants in Mexico

Greece in 2016: Vulnerable people left behind

Case Notes

R (on the application of Johnson) (Appellant) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent) [2016] UKSC 56

U.S. Court of Appeals remands Roma asylum case with a discussion of expert testimony and a respondent’s financial means to advance an asylum claim

Unpublished US asylum victory concerning the one-year filing deadline

Australian Administrative Appeals Tribunal affirms decision not to grant a Protection Visa to Sri Lankan applicant, discounting his claim as a returnee failed asylum seeker

Letters to the Editor

• Dunkirk Legal Support Team seeks advice regarding unaccompanied minors
• Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse publishes report on asylum decisions
• Closure of Uganda’s Makerere University and its impacts on Refugee Law Project’s work

Opinion and Editorial

Australian government rejects accusations of torture as poisonous refugee policy continues to find public support

Announcements

Conferences, courses, and workshops

Calls for papers

Grants and awards

Vacancies

Request for expertise on Emergency Travel Documents to remove people to Nigeria

Resources

Publications

 

November 2016

Articles

Arresting the mass detention of migrants: “Build trust, not walls”

Psychological first aid provision for urban refugees in Uganda: Opportunities and dilemmas

A personal account from Choucha, officially closed in 2013

Asylum Seekers File Class Action Lawsuit Against DHS Over One-Year Filing Deadline

Refugee Law in the Republic of Kazakhstan

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Short Pieces

Danish suspension of resettlement – worst possible decision at the worst possible time

Fears for human rights as UK asylum appeal fees jump by 500%

Promoting and broadening the governance of forced migrants

No way home: time runs out for Bhutanese refugees in Nepal

UNHCR, African host countries agree on final steps to resolve Rwandan refugee situation

Switzerland sees decreasing need to protect asylum seekers with LTTE links

Stop killing innocent Rohingyas in Arakan

The European Union cooperates with the Egyptian Foundation for Refugee Rights to address migration issues in Egypt

The EU and Tunisia start negotiations on visa facilitation and readmission

Humanitarian corridors: beyond political gesture

Chaos in Chios: legal questions regarding the administrative procedure in the Greek hotspots

67th session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme. Closing Remarks by Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Geneva, 6 October 2016

What the appointment of Antonio Guterres as UN secretary-general means for the refugee crisis

Securing Europe’s external borders: launch of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency

A reinforced Frontex agency: EU turns a deaf ear to NGO’s warnings

Statement from members of European Parliament: Women’s Boat to Gaza blocked, right to civilian passage interrupted

Case Notes

New country guidance case on Eritrea: MST and Others (national service - risk categories) Eritrea (CG) [2016] UKUT 443 (IAC)

Developments in the US with respect to the one-year deadline for filing asylum applications

Letters to the Editor

• HRW Refugee Rights Programme’s work on the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants
• Invitation for organisations to update information on the Global Modern Slavery Directory
• Rise in Roma deportations as a result of Brexit

Announcements

• General announcements

Conferences, courses, and workshops

Calls for papers

Grants and awards

Vacancies

Requests

Resources

Publications

 

October 2016

Articles

Kenya camp closure threat triggers involuntary refugee returns to Somalia

Australia’s two faces on violence against women

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Short Pieces

UNHCR releases series of operational updates on crisis situations around the world

“The new terrible”: neglected displacement crisis worsens in Lake Chad region

Poland: worsening restrictions and refusals of entry at the Eastern border

Switzerland pushing back migrants to Italy

Unaccompanied children refugees in Bulgaria face illegal detention

6th Asia Pacific Consultation on Refugee Rights highlights risks to deported failed asylum seekers

Civil society from across the Asia Pacific meets for 6th Asia Pacific Consultation on Refugee Rights

Morocco’s Droit et Justice Association continues Legal Aid for Refugees programme

Case Notes

Immigration detention and mental illness in the UK: European Court of Human Rights finds against UK government violated Article 5.1 rights of mentally ill immigration detainee (V.M. v. the United Kingdom, no. 49734/12)

Letters to the Editor

• Hotline for Refugees and Migrants: Appeals Tribunal Adjudicator rejects Israeli Ministry of Interior’s legal opinion regarding army desertion and grounds for refugee status

Announcements

• In memoriam: Professor Elizabeth Colson
• In memoriam: Clare Bakhtiar

Conferences and workshops

Calls for papers

Grants and awards

Vacancies

Requests

Resources

Publications

 

September 2016

Articles

EASO, EU law and life in the margins

Supporting aid: what non-lawyers can do to assist asylum seekers

After the boats: Refugee reception and the production of irregularity in Italy’s migration crisis

When a refugee isn’t

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Short Pieces

European Court of Human Rights condemns Hungary for the unjustified and arbitrary detention of an LGBT asylum seeker

The ramifications of Kenya’s decision to expel refugees from Dadaab camp

Hungary: Latest amendments legalise extrajudicial push-back of asylum-seekers

Human rights organisations condemn Spain’s decision to exclude undocumented migrants from access to free healthcare

Central and North American states vow concerted action on refugees ahead of September UN summits

New Home Office API on gay asylum claims: Not fit for purpose

Establishing an EU Resettlement Framework: Frequently asked questions

Asylum: EU list of safe countries of origin to replace national lists in 3 years

Refugees and asylum seekers of sub-Saharan origin sit-in in front of UNHCR

Refugees: A small and relatively stable proportion of world migration

Sixty-five years on, 65 million people forcibly displaced

Appalling abuse, neglect of refugees on Nauru: Investigation on remote Pacific island finds deliberate abuse hidden behind wall of secrecy

Open Letter to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Citation for the award of an Honorary Doctorate to Barbara Harrell-Bond, 27 July 2016 at SOAS, University of London

Case Notes

UK Court of Appeal concludes that ‘reasonableness test’ is not an assessment of the best interests of the child

Upper Tribunal of the UK Immigration and Asylum Chamber holds that short-term detention does not constitute persecution in Sudan

US federal appeals court rules that class of immigrants are entitled to bond hearing

Letters to the Editor

• Hotline for Refugees and Migrants: The first Sudanese refugee has finally been recognised by Israel
• Post Deportation Monitoring featured in UNHCR/NGO Consultations report
• Open access article on access to justice in Canadian immigration detention
• Summaries of the situations of refugees in the EuroMed region by country
• Call to demand accountability for police violence against refugees, and boycott referendum on refugee quota system in Hungary
• Crowdfunding request for group providing practical support to Nigerians deported from the UK
• Open access special edition of Cosmopolitan Civil Societies features articles on asylum seekers in Australia and Indonesia

Announcements

Conferences and workshops

Calls for papers

Grants and awards

Vacancies

Requests

Resources

Publications

 

July 2016

Articles

Reintegrating deported citizens into national development: The Jamaican model

Production of vulnerability: African refugees in Jordan

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Opinion and Editorial Pieces

Short Pieces

Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) urge government of Kenya to reconsider intended closure of refugee camps

Children seeking asylum ask federal court to end their detention and appoint a monitor to oversee Obama’s detention policy

Statement regarding Sahrawi women held in Tindouf refugee camp

Vietnam: Drop charges against boat returnees

The EU and death at sea: the calculated and monitored dying in the Central Mediterranean

The Syrian refugee crisis: the end of the Common European Asylum System?

Refugees and asylum seekers of Sub-Saharan origin sit-In in front of UNHCR

Asylum - a right denied: no to the European Union’s lists of “safe countries”!

The UK Immigration Act 2016 in plain English

UNHCR Reforms (with some compromise): access to evidence, right to counsel, interpreters

Time to reform the way we protect refugees?

Prohibiting collective expulsion of aliens at the European Court of Human Rights

Dignity has no price tag

Is a model refugee policy in Africa doomed? Influx from South Sudan pushes Uganda’s progressive system to breaking point

Has Kenya’s brinkmanship over Dadaab worked? Kenya looks to UNHCR to help it solve its refugee dilemma

Tracking conflict worldwide: global overview of trends and outlook for May 2016

Members of the European Parliament ask European Union to verify whether Turkey is shooting Syrians who try to cross border

From refugees to prisoners: new data show that large swathes of the European public want their governments to show more solidarity with refugees, but instead the EU-Turkey deal has paved the way to mass detention

UN Human rights council moves the ball forward on refugee rights in Thailand, Tanzania

Case Notes

Zafar, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the UK Home Department CO/5197/2015

ECtHR rule detention violation of Article 8: J.N. v UK

US judge throws out Islamophobic Texas lawsuit against Syrian refugees

Letters to the Editor

• Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network recommends video and interview on trauma in Australian detention centres
• Legal Aid of Cambodia seeking specialists
• Barbara Harrell-Bond: Appeal for Expert Witnesses on FGM
• Launch of Liverpool network of academics in refugee studies field, 4 July
• Rights in Exile CoI Experts are a great resource
• Invitation to join Washington DC rally to support refugees 28 August
• Limited-time discount on Refugee and Migration studies titles in honour of World Refugee Day

Book Reviews

• Making Ubumwe. Power, State and Camps in Rwanda’s Unity-Building Project. By Andrea Purdeková. New York: Berghahn. 2015. 292p.
• Refugee Tales. Manchester: Comma Press, 2016. 160 pp. ISBN: 9781910974230 £8.75
• Refugees’ Rebellion. Issah Hassan Tikumah. Balboa Press, 92 pages, ISBN 978-1-50434-536-1

Announcements

• Rights in Exile exclusive: The case for refugee legal aid in Tunisia

Conferences and workshops

Calls for papers

Grants and awards

Vacancies

Resources

Publications

 

June 2016

Articles

Without adequate reflection, new refugee solutions risk failing

Recent Attacks on Foreigners in Zambia

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Opinion and Editorial Pieces

Short Pieces

UNHCR appeals to Kenya over decision to end refugee hosting

Government of Kenya statement on the closure of refugee camps

NGOs urge government of Kenya to reconsider intended closure of refugee camps

Families under siege: The hidden costs of the refugee crisis

Words of praise, deadly deeds: Turkey’s treatment of refugees

European Commission letter to Greek asylum authorities: All is well in Turkey

Myanmar’s National League for Democracy government must protect Rohingya people

Updates on the asylum and migration situation in Hungary: 6-18 May

Dublin is dead! Long live Dublin! The 4 May 2016 proposal of the European Commission

Questioning the conventional narrative on African irregular migrants

Continuing conflicts that create refugees

Cardiff charity launches major fundraising drive: “Save Asylum Justice”

Reform of rules on refugees’ loss of status urgent following new court decision

Imprisonment and deportation of Iraqi refugees in Lebanon

The Fast Track is dead

Case Notes

UK legal aid residence test found unlawful and discriminatory

Decision: AT and another (Article 8 ECHR - Child Refugee - Family Reunification) Eritrea [2016] UKUT 227 (IAC)

MS v Secretary of State for the Home Department, UTIAC, AA/07855/2013

Babajanov v. Turkey (no. 49867/08) - forced illegal deportation to Iran unlawful

J.N. v UK – European Court on Human Rights Rule Detention Violation of Article 8

US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Salvadoran asylum remand victory: Zelaya de Ceron v. Lynch

Letters to the Editor

• Crowdsourcing effort to support refugee-run media in Kenyan camp
• Haringey Migrant Support Centre warns of fraudulent British immigration service organisation
• Time-limited free streaming of documentary on homophobia in Uganda
• Significant increase in fees for appealing Home Office decisions in the UK
• Request for information on basis of US legal disparities between asylees and refugees

Announcements

Conferences and workshops

Calls for papers

Grants and awards

Vacancies

Requests

Resources

Publications

 

May 2016

Articles

How to pack for the “other refugee crisis”: My diary from Dilley

Humanitarian assistance and the politics of self-reliance: Uganda’s Nakivale refugee settlement

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Short Pieces

“A humane and efficient asylum policy” – The European Commission proposals

The EU-Turkey deal in practice: Jeopardising the European asylum system

UNHCR: involve refugees & internally displaced in Colombia peace talks

The Syrian refugee crisis: The End of the Common European Asylum System?

What will happen to migrants returned Turkey?

UNHCR begins the relocation of Mozambican asylum-seekers to Luwani camp, Malawi

Western Sahara’s moment in the sun

UN member states should make strong recommendations to Sudan at upcoming human rights review

Action urgently needed as Central America asylum claims soar

Asylum in Canada is not for everyone (sorry about that)

Letters to the Editor

• New Rights in Exile Refugee Assistance list-serv launched, replacing FRLAN list
• Refugee Law Project (Uganda) launches new blog

Announcements

Calls for papers

Grants and awards

Vacancies

Training

Requests

Resources 

Publications

 

April 2016

Articles

The impact of European Union law on family reunification in Greece

The EU hotspot approach at Lampedusa

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Statelessness

Short Pieces

Rediscovering a winning formula for refugee protection

Protection and pragmatism: the EU-Turkey refugee deal in historical perspective

Thailand: Asylum seekers and refugees lack protection

EU/Turkey: Mass, fast-track returns threaten rights: Outline deal reveals contradictory positions on refugee protection

UN Secretary General calls to end plight of Sahrawi refugees

Entering UK and claiming asylum

All roads lead to Dar es Salaam

The place for human rights in Europe and the world is shakier than ever

EP study calls for more inclusive and gender-specific integration policies

Chief Inspector of Prisons calls for a time limit to immigration detention in the UK, in damning report

Conditions for refugees at the Greek-Macedonian border worsening by the day

Drastic change of policy on the “Balkan route” hinders access to protection

Netherlands: the expanding list of safe countries of origin

A global solution to a global refugee crisis

Case Notes

Allocating responsibility for an asylum application through Convention rights: the potential impact of ZAT & Others

Detention of asylum-seekers: the first CJEU judgment

EU court rules Germany can require refugees to live in certain places

Letters to the editors

Protecting Stateless Persons from Arbitrary Detention

Announcements

Courses, conferences and workshops

Calls for papers

Grants and awards: Funding for NGO programmes benefiting refugees in West Africa

Vacancies

Requests

Resources  

Publications

 

February 2016

Articles

Is a defensible decision by the UK immigration tribunals a thing of the past?

Refugees and asylum seekers: Barriers to accessing South Africa’s labour market

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Short Pieces

Detention of asylum seekers: Interaction between the Return and Reception Conditions Directives in Bulgaria

The uncounted: Why can’t Europe count its migrant detainees?

Immigration raids target disabled refugees in the US

Continuing conflicts that create refugees

UNHCR observations on the proposed amendments to the Danish Aliens legislation

NGOs in France concerned over increasing detention of children

Special challenges Eritrean refugees face in Europe

Case Notes

UK Supreme Court grants permission in Appendix of Family Members cases

Moxamed Ismaaciil and Abdirahman Warsame v. Malta (nos. 52160/13 and 52165/13) [Articles 3, 5(1)f), 5(4)], 12 January 2016

A.G.R. v. The Netherlands (no. 13442/08); A.W.Q. and D.H. v. the Netherlands (no. 25077/06); M.R.A. and Others v. the Netherlands (no. 46856/07); S.D.M. v. the Netherlands (no. 8161/07); S.S.v. the Netherlands (no. 39575/06)

Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights submits third party intervention in S.O. v. Austria (no. 44825/15) and A.A. v. Austria (44944/15) on Dublin transfers to Hungary

Letters to the editors

UK: Migrants’ Law Project reports Calais judgment handed down

ISRAEL: Physicians for Human Rights and Hotline for Migrant Workers issue letter to the UN Committee Against Torture

UK: Right to Remain Toolkit revision soon online

Announcements

Forced Migration Online to cease updating

Courses, conferences and workshops

Calls for papers

Vacancy: Mercy Corps International

Resources  

Publications

January 2016

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Focus: Southern Refugee Legal Aid Network Members

Request: Call to Southern Refugee Legal Aid Network (SRLAN) members 

Focus: Rwanda Cessation Clause

Dr. Barbara Harrell-Bond: a very important update on Rwanda country conditions

Short Pieces

UK Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA) supplementary briefing for House of Lords Second Reading of the Immigration Bill on 22 December 2015: Overseas domestic workers

UK: Well-attended workshop on FGM as grounds for seeking asylum

Book Review: Human Cargo, “An excellent introduction to refugees for the novice; and, a reminder to the experienced, how things have not improved.”

Turkey: EU risks complicity in violations as refugees and asylum-seekers locked up and deported

Donors promise initial USD 687.2 million for UNHCR operations in 2016, the highest amount ever

Asylum betrayed: Recruitment of Burundian refugees in Rwanda

European Economic and Social Committee visit to Austria on 15-16 December examines civil society organisations’ work with refugees

Review of “Post-deportation risks: Criminalised departure and risks for returnees in countries of origin”

Tenth anniversary of Frontex: Ten measures which put fundamental rights at risk

Council of the European Union adopts conclusions on statelessness

Report: Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network Trainings

Israeli district court rejects legal petition from human rights organisations and allows asylum seekers who refuse to leave Israel to be imprisoned indefinitely

Geoffrey Hoffman: US Executive Office for Immigration Review needs better immigration judges

South Korea: Act to save North Korean refugees

Continuing conflicts that create refugees

UK: the Immigration Bill is bad news for families

AIDA update Hungary: asylum reform restricts access to protection and contravenes EU rule s

AIDA update Poland: Swings and roundabouts with the introduction of a state legal aid system alongside additional grounds for inadmissibility and Dublin detention

Belgium restricts access to protection and leaves hundreds of asylum seekers without shelter

European Council for Refugees and Exiles fears human rights being left behind in the rush to an EU-Turkey deal

Case Notes

No human rights claims in EEA cases without Home Office approval, says UK Court of Appeal

Expert testimony in asylum cases: Matter of Y-S-L-C-, Respondent

R (on the application of Semeda) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (statelessness; Pham [2015] UKSC 19 applied ) IJR [2015] UKUT 658 (IAC)

Refusal of citizenship to wife and children of Islamist extremist declared unlawful

Canadian Supreme Court decision on humanitarian decisions welcomed

Letters to the editors

Ara Trust: India introduces domestic asylum bill

Forum for Protection of People’s Rights Nepal: update on refugee protests in Nepal

Announcements

Courses, conferences and workshops

Calls for papers

Grants and awards

Vacancies

Resources  

Publications

December 2015

Articles

Migration flows and the reintroduction of internal border controls: Assessing necessity and proportionality

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Focus: Southern Refugee Legal Aid Network Members

Lawyers for Human Rights pleased by dismissal of application against reopening Port Elizabeth Refugee Reception Centre

Cyprus migrant rights group accuses UK government of bad faith in dealing with refugees at Sovereign Base territories

Short Pieces

Rwanda Cessation Clause

• Former Rwandan refugees object to Zambia’s plan to issue them with Rwandan passports
• Ministerial Meeting on the Comprehensive Solutions Strategy for Rwandan Refugees Joint Communiqué
• Memo on the criteria for Rwandan former refugees’ local integration

Nepal UNHCR representatives use police to beat refugees

“Sharing the Burden of Rescue”: Illegalised boat migration, the shipping industry and the costs of rescue in the Central Mediterranean

Devastating flooding affects 25,000 Sahrawi refugees in Tindouf camps

Statement on the Angolan cessation clause: former refugees from Angola face deportation as temporary permits expire

European Court of Human Rights rejects “traditional roles” justification of sex discrimination

Conditional Permanent Residence: Failure in policy and practice

Parallel realities: Refugees seeking asylum in Europe and Hungary’s reaction

Case Notes

UK Court of Appeal gives judgment on the “demand first, appeal later” regime

US appeals court rules against Obama's executive actions on immigration

Khaleseh v The Home Office [2015] EWHC 2995 (QB) (23 October 2015)

Turgunov v. Russia (no. 15590/14) – Violation of Article 3 if Extradited

UK Court of Appeals rules Home Office acted unlawfully by detaining Iranian child seeking asylum

Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU): Advocate General Opinion in Joint Cases C-443/14 and C-444/14 Alo and Osso

Announcements

Courses, conferences and workshops

Calls for papers

Vacancy: University of California

Request: IASFM working group for archiving and documentation of history of forced migration

Resources  

Publications

 

November 2015

Articles

More Frontex is not the answer to the refugee crisis

Refugee freedom of movement restricted in Zambia

Volker Türk addresses populist politics, irresponsible media reporting, and a crisis of values in 66th session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Short Pieces

Two pieces on FRONTEX:

• Seeing double? How the EU miscounts migrants arriving at its borders
• Clarification of Frontex data on persons detected at EU external borders – includes significant double counting

Prolonging detention under the return directive in Poland

Rwanda Cessation Clause:

• Memo on forced land deprivation of Rwandan former refugees living in Meheba Refugee Settlement
• UNHCR: Africa set to conclude one of its longest-standing refugee situations
• Ministerial Meeting on the Comprehensive Solutions Strategy for Rwandan Refugees Joint Communiqué

‘Hotspots’ for asylum applications: Some things we urgently need to know

ECRE Comments on the proposal for an EU common list of safe countries of origin

LFJL calls on the European Council to protect the human rights of migrants and asylum-seekers embarking from Libya

40 years a refugee, for the love of freedom

Case Notes

Advocate General’s Opinion in Joint Cases C-443/14 Kreis Warendorf v Ibrahim Alo et C-444/14 Amira Osso v Region Hanover

Belgian Council of Aliens Law Litigation annuls Dublin III transfer to Italy of single woman

UK Upper Tribunal Country Guidance on Iraq, Article 15c) QD, 2004/83/EC

Germany: Administrative Court of Dusseldorf suspends Dublin transfer to Hungary

Announcements

Courses, conferences and workshops

Calls for papers

Grants and awards

Resources  

Publications

 

October 2015

Articles

Don't blame the smugglers: The real migration industry

A billion a year: How welcoming migrants drives the Italian economy

The plight of African refugees in Israel

Syrians in Paris: rights, refuge, and reform

Where is the justice and the moral responsibility of the international community?

Airport casualties: non-admission and return risks at times of internalised/externalised border controls

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Short Pieces

Syria’s refugees: A failure to protect

The refugee crisis that isn't

Continuing conflicts that create refugees

Ten urgent steps to address the refugee crisis in Europe and beyond

UK: House of Commons debate on immigration detention

Alarming attacks against refugees in Germany

A policy of isolation, deterrence, and homelessness

Refugees being treated like criminals in Czech detention centres

Refugees without home and absent the global humanitarian role

Is it time to invoke the EU’s Temporary Protection Directive for Syrian refugees?

Legislating against government-sanctioned child abuse

ASEAN community should ensure human rights protection of people in migration

Case Notes

What if a refugee allegedly supports terrorism? The Court of Justice in the European Union (CJEU) judgment in T

Judge orders return of removee: XB v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWHC 2557 (Admin) (10 September 2015 )

BIA asylum remand victory - Focus: Iraq, social group, immutability

NA and VA (protection: Article 7(2) Qualification Directive) India [2015] UKUT 432 (IAC)

The BIA’s tepid response to asylum fraud

Letters to the Editors

A letter from Gilberto Algar-Faria, CoI expert on Sri Lanka with the Rights in Exile Programme

Hotline for Refugees and Migrants appeals for support in Israel during European refugee influx

Update from Elisa Mason of the Forced Migration FAQ blog on recent changes

Announcements

Courses, conferences and workshops

Calls for papers

Short course: Advocacy and refugee rights in Bangkok

Grants and awards

Vacancies

Requests

Resources  

Publications

 

September 2015

Articles

South Africa to recognise separated children as dependants of their primary caregivers

A humane approach can work: The effectiveness of alternatives to detention for asylum seekers

Statement by the American Association for Justice on the lack of legal safeguards to protect refugees and non-citizens

The state of freedom of movement for refugees in Tanzania: an overview

Cessation of Rwandan Refugee Status: Two Years On

No-man’s land: life on the Serbia-Hungary border, a briefing on the current crisis

Launch of a voluntary repatriation program of refugees from Kenya to Somalia

The true human rights situation in Eritrea: the new UK Home Office Guidance as a political instrument for the prevention of migration

The impact of the legal aid reforms on refugees in the UK

Military service evasion as grounds for refugee status: the case of Syria

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Quick updates

UK Home Office Appeal Against DFT Decision - Booted out of High Court

House of Commons (UK) - Written answers and statements, Monday 3 August 2015: Charter flights 2015 numbers removed & costs

Officials deporting migrants by nationality “To fill charter flights”

Detainees in family detention file for USD 10M in damage claims

NIJC releases 90 immigration detention contracts and launches immigration detention transparency and human rights project

UK: Yarl’s Wood IRC - Not meeting the needs of vulnerable women

UK Appeals heard under Detained Fast-Track can be set aside and reheard

UK Parliamentary debate on detention, 10 September

United Kingdom: Immigration detention #UnlockTheDebate - Sept 2015

Dominican Republic defends its actions regarding the expulsion of Haitian-Dominicans

Gabon deports 500 people to Nigeria

Abuse of a Palestinian refugee detained for deportation

Short Pieces

The creation of “trafficking”

Monitoring of the Italian externalisation policies on migration

UN condemns Canada’s arbitrary, indefinite detention of migrants

UNHCR warns of deepening refugee crisis in Greece and calls for urgent and bold action

Australia’s cruel treatment of gay asylum-seekers

UNHCR calls for comprehensive response to the Calais situation

116 Somali refugees from Kenya land in Mogadishu, spearheading new phase of voluntary repatriation

Stop the  refoulement  of Uyghurs from Thailand

Gender-nonconforming lesbian who fled persecution in DRC granted protection after three-year legal fight

European Court of Human Rights questions Spain over claims it violated European Convention on Human Rights

Hungary: Building a legal fence

Case Notes

The Lord Chancellor v Detention Action: UK Court of Appeal agrees Detained Fast Track appeals unfair

UK Upper Tribunal finds asylum applicant should not change  profession to avoid persecution

Comments on China’s family planning laws in relation to asylum claim

Yusif v. Lynch, Aug. 7, 2015: Asylum petition granted to Chaldean Christian from Iraq

Positive result in Cyprus for stateless Kurds from Syria

Letter to the Editors:  Post Deportation Monitoring Network facebook group

Announcements

Courses, conferences and workshops

Events: Launch of online resource for migrants, Leeds, UK, 3 September 2015

Calls for papers

Vacancies

Request: Contact from practitioners representing Sri Lankan victims of torture

Resources  

Publications

 

April 2015

Articles

Anyone who thinks refugee camps are a good idea has never lived in one: the importance of recognising refugees’ right to freedom of movement

Challenges to Rwandan former refugees’ integration in Zambia

Republic of Kenya in the High Court of Kenya at Nairobi, Constitutional and Human Rights Division, Petition No. 628 of 2014 Consolidated with Petition No. 630 of 2014 and Petition No. 12 of 2015

A position paper on the vulnerability of Bajau Laut (Sama Dilaut) children in Sabah, Malaysia 

News

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Short Pieces

International Refugee Rights Initiative joins rights groups calling on Egypt to end arbitrary detention of refugees

Letter from the Saharawi refugees, to the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees 

Hungarian Constitutional Court declares that lawful stay requirement in statelessness determination breaches international law 

Benamar Benatta reaches settlement with Canadian government 

ILPA Information Sheet - Legal Aid 21: Myth-busting 

Stop the expansion of Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre in Oxfordshire, UK 

Supreme Court successes for Hotline for Refugees and Migrants in Israel 

South African court to rule on refugee children’s right to documentation 

Why Odora-Obote and the Rwandan regime attack ICTR defense lawyers 

Update on detentions and deportations of Sub-Saharan migrants in Morocco 

NGOs raise alarms over new plans to limit the number of migrants and refugees in Hungary 

Afghan Minister for Refugees and Repatriation: ‘Stop deportation to Afghanistan’

Case Notes

Court of Appeal gives further guidance on Article 8 immigration cases 

US Board of Immigration Appeals: Matter of L-A-C-, 26 I&N Dec. 516 (BIA 2015) 

Norwegian Supreme Court finds minor’s family life rights violated by State’s decision to expel mother: HR-2015-00206-A, (sak nr. 2014/1583), sivil sak, anke over dom 

A.M.E. v the Netherlands (no. 51428/10) [Articles 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 13]

Swiss Federal Administrative Court, no. E-6629/2014 

Letters to the Editors

• Karnes family detention centre

• Refugee Law Project Access to Justice programme  

• FMR special issue 

Vacancies 

Conferences and workshops 

Calls for papers 

Request: guidance on disability 

Resources 

Publications 

 

March 2015

Articles

Rwandan Refugees in Congo in Search of Protection

Exporting human rights obligations: Israel’s “voluntary departures” put lives in danger 

High Court Strikes Down Cap on the Number of Refugees in Kenya; Other Damaging Provisions Remain 

Current soft law initiatives relating to business and human rights do not prepare extractive companies for the adverse impacts their operations may have on the stateless Rohingya of Myanmar  

Couple separated from child after immigration consultant provides bad advice 

News

News on countries of origin

News on countries of asylum

Detention and deportation news

Short Pieces

Rethinking migrant rescue: An idea that has already worked

CAMEROON: Pilot Refugee Rights Training for North West Lawyers 

Country of asylum profile: Panama

Northwest Immigrant Rights Project reacts to Texas ruling delaying Obama immigration plan 

Cyprus: 40 Palestinian refugees from the refugee camp in Kokkinotrimithia arrested and deported to Government-controlled areas 

UNHCR urges Europe to recreate a robust search and rescue operation on Mediterranean, as Operation Triton lacks resources and mandate needed for saving lives 

As violence spreads beyond Nigeria, UNHCR calls for urgent access to the displaced 

Attorney shares her side of the story after winning asylum for a woman who fled domestic abuse 

Immigration: replace the migration security complex with an ‘integration industry’

Launch of FlüchtlingsforschungsBlog, a German language blog by Netzwerk Flüchtlingsforschung (Refugee Research Network)   

Case Notes

Correct understanding of Article 3 requirements: BB, PP, W, U & Ors v SSHD 

Norwegian Supreme Court: HR-2015-00206-A, (sak nr. 2014/1583), sivil sak, anke over dom 

Belgium Council for Alien Law Litigation (CALL), 6 November 2014, No 132 866 

Belgium Council for Alien Law Litigation (CALL), 23 October 2014, No 131 887 

Letters to the editors

Refugee Contribution: Detention protest in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia 

Dr Barbara Harrell-Bond: Food for thought from a Rwandan refugee 

Seeking Asylum in Karnes City 

Announcements

Conferences and workshops 

Calls for papers 

Grants & Awards: Fully-funded, three year post-doctoral fellowship at Hertford College, University of Oxford, Oxford

Vacancies 

Publications & Resources 

 

February 2015

ARTICLES

Boundaries of civility transgressed? Studying practices of humanitarian government, difference, and power in Kakuma Refugee Camp

Reflection on the Tripartite Agreement on Voluntary Repatriation of Somali Refugees

NEWS

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

SHORT PIECES

Montagnards seeking asylum in Cambodia  

Tenth International Association of Refugee Law Judges (IARLJ) World Conference in Tunisia 

KISA calls on the government of Cyprus not to abandon the rescued Syrian refugees to the hands of the smugglers 

Spain: Legislation on immigration/asylum will breach human rights

Court of Justice of the European Union: Returns Directive bans removal of seriously ill people to places where treatment is not provided

Good character citizenship criteria quietly tightened up  

UNHCR study shows rapid deterioration in living conditions of Syrian refugees in Jordan

Possible North Korean refugee facing deportation to China and repatriation to North Korea by the government of Sweden

CASE NOTES

European Court of Human Rights: Case of Fozil Nazarov versus Russia

Irish High Court provides judgement on Best Interests of Child

U.K. Upper Tribunal clarifies protection claims for non-Arab Darfuris in Sudan  

Court of Appeal victory in Afghan interpreters’ case

Deportation to Sudan would breach Article 3

  LETTERS TO THE EDITORS

Quickly search for UN documents online

Refugee Law Project at Makerere University resumes services

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Announcements

Conferences, workshops, and courses

Calls for papers

Grants and awards

Vacancies 

Publications 

Resources 

Request: Tunisian nationals to support feasibility study on refugee legal aid  

CCIP Community Interpreting Training for Migrant and Refugee Settings  

 

January 2015

ARTICLES

Defining statelessness: a Chinese case study

The secret urban refugees of Dar es Salaam

NEWS

News on countries of asylum

News on countries of origin

Detention and deportation news

LETTERS TO THE EDITORS

Five-country research project on conditions for women in prison presents relevant information for women in immigration detention

Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network calls for international support in combating restrictive Danish refugee law

Dr Barbara Harrell-Bond OBE: Working together across international borders to save refugees

SHORT PIECES

CESCR voices concern over the lack of refugee law and appropriate refugee status determination procedures in Nepal

U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants places first child in newly funded legal representation program

ECtHR: detention of unaccompanied child in Greece violates right to liberty

The International Refugee Rights Initiative calls for release of Sudanese Activist

System needed to allow positive decisions on asylum claims to be recognised across the EU

TRAC reports that only 32% of unaccompanied children are represented by an attorney in U.S. immigration court

Croatia: vulnerable persons are not adequately identified and assisted during asylum procedure

Urgent appeal for support: stateless Kurds from Syria protesting outside the Ministry of Interior, Cyprus

Sit-in in Morocco to protest against unfulfilled promises to regularise migrants and refugees status

Eurosur extended: all participating states now connected to border surveillance system

Israeli government pushes new bill mandating prolonged detention for asylum seekers

UNHCR, OHCHR appeal to Cambodian authorities to allow access to Vietnamese Montagnards in hiding

Immigration clinic at Texas Law sues over detention of asylum-seeking mothers and children

Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network conducts refugee legal aid training in Sri Lanka

Open letter concerning the arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detentions of Dr Amin Mekki Medani, Mr Farouq Abu Eissa, and Dr Farah Ibrahim Mohamed Alagar by the Government of Sudan

Why is UNHCR doing RSD anyway? A UNHCR report identifies the hard questions

APRRN condemns Australia’s handover of Sri Lankan asylum seekers to Sri Lankan authorities

Assessing credibility of an asylum claim - benefit of doubt

Eritrea COI report controversy

CPT criticizes Cyprus for detaining unaccompanied asylum seeking children

CASE NOTES

U.S. Federal judge allows lawsuit by detained asylum seekers to proceed as a nationwide class action

Detention of asylum seekers not at risk of absconding unlawful

Judgment in Case C-202/13 - Sean Ambrose McCarthy and Others v Secretary of State for the Home Department

ANNOUNCEMENTS, PUBLICATIONS, RESOURCES, REQUESTS

Announcements: legal services at Zaatari camp; IRIN goes independent

Conferences, workshops, and courses

Calls for papers

Publications

Resources

Requests

 

December 2014

News on countries of origin

News on countries of asylum

Detention and deportation news

Announcements ;  IRRI calls for freedom of movement for all refugees

Conferences, workshops & courses

Calls for papers

SHORT PIECES AND CASE NOTES

Desertion due to belief that military duty may result in war crimes is ground for asylum, according to EU Advocate General

Parliamentary question addresses mental health of UK asylum seekers

Eritreans file lawsuit against Canadian mining company for slave labour and crimes against humanity

South Africa: Concerns raised over the detention of immigrants at police stations and the systematic denial of their legal rights by police

Refugee status removed after a routine interview? UNHCR, please explain.

In-country refugee/parole programme for minors in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras with parents lawfully present in the United States

Jordanian legal aid NGO launches new campaign to publicise the dangers of undocumented migration

Open letter to the Director-General of the BBC concerning the documentary ‘Rwanda, the Untold Story’

Case note: As, R (on the Application of) v SSHD [2014] EWHC 3478 (Admin) (24 October 2014)

Frontex, fundamental rights and forced returns of migrants: the European Ombudsman opens investigation

Supreme Court of Canada rules against refugee protection for those guilty of serious past crimes

Thousands of refugees in limbo following suspension of US in-country refugee processing in Iraq

Tarakhel v. Switzerland (Application No. 29217/12): Returns to Italy ruled as inhumane treatment

138 asylum seekers detained in Israel for over two years to be released following High Court petition

ARTICLES

A true initiative or another palliative? The Transitional Solutions Initiative for the protracted refugee situation in eastern Sudan

Protected faster, or fewer protected? The peril of ‘safe’ countries

Immigration detention: A most un-British phenomenon

Publications

Resources

Requests

 

November 2014

News on countries of origin

News on countries of asylum

Detention and deportation news

Announcements

Conferences and workshops

Calls for papers

Grants and awards: PRM grants for Kenya and Ethiopia NGOs

Announcement: EUROMED and SRLAN members

CASE NOTES AND SHORT PIECES

STOP PRESS: The quashing of the Prevention of Infiltration Law: Israeli Supreme Court decides on detention of asylum seekers

Statelessness averted? Former Burundian refugees to receive Tanzanian citizenship

Immigration lawyers across USA call for review of ‘inhumane’ detention and removal policies towards minors

Groups sue U.S. government over life-threatening deportation process against mothers and children escaping extreme violence in Central America

Case note: Hounga v Allen & Anor [2014] UKSC 47 (30 July 2014)

Case note: Carter, R (On the Application Of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWHC 2603 (Admin) (29 July 2014)

Refugees face curbs on rights in Western Sahara/Algeria

South African Supreme Court of Appeal upholds appeal in the case of Somali Association of South Africa & 5 Others v LEDET, Minister of Police, Minister of Home Affairs and Others

Australia-Cambodia resettlement deal disregards Refugee Convention obligations

NGOs across the world highlight the deterioration of protection standards for asylum seekers in Australia

Mind that data: The pitfalls of UNHCR RSD data

Continuing conflicts that create refugees

South Africa will not return Rwandan refugee stating he will face persecution if returned to his country of origin

Proposal for an EU directive on the identification of statelessness and the protection of stateless persons

ARTICLES

Back to the Dark Ages? The imminent danger of a regional domino effect in Obama’s hardline policy for mothers fleeing Central America

Immigration detention in the media: anarchy and ambivalence

—-

Publications

Resources

Requests

 

October 2014

News on countries of origin

News on countries of asylum

Detention and deportation news

Conferences and workshops

Courses

Calls for papers

Vacancies

CASE NOTES AND SHORT PIECES

An update on the Cessation Clause

A word from the Human Rights Watch Refugee Rights Programme

Where is the UNHCR RSD surge happening?

UNHCR statement on Australia-Cambodia agreement on refugee relocation

Commentary: Detention of undocumented families is wrong

‘It’s time for a real solution that will benefit both residents of South Tel Aviv and the asylum-seekers’

The impact of detention on mental disorders: ‘a crisis of harm in immigration detention’

Ecuador advances the protection of refugees

Bulgaria: New evidence of Syrians forced back to Turkey; EU should press Sofia to investigate and provide protection

Somali Association of South Africa & 5 Others v. Limpopo Department of Economic Development, the Environment and Tourism and 9 Others

Consider the indictment as evidence in the case of the asylum seeker who was almost deported to Sudan

The death of Abelhak Goradia: a worrying silence in France

Court stops Sri Lanka deporting refugees

EU pilot project on return policy

Australia: High Court ruling

US Board of Immigration Appeals decision on Guatemalan women as a particular social group

Federal Court [Canada] rules that Refugee Appeal Division must do a full appeal based on merit

M.V. and M.T. v. France - Violation of Article 3 if deported to Russia

UNHCR urges Sri Lanka to stop deportations and provide protection to refugees and asylum-seekers

Eight Congolese refugees convicted in Zambia

ARTICLES

A letter from Pierre-Célestin Mbodina Iribi, one of three Congolese witnesses to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the eve of their deportation

The blurred line: Preserving the asylum space in a context of increasing insecurity in Kenya

Anthropology can save lives: Lucy Mair medal acceptance speech

Beyond bare life: refugee agency through jurisdictional competition in Buduburam

Naath offers vulnerable South Sudanese communities support in Egypt

Language testing of asylum claimants: A flawed approach

Publications

Resources

Requests

 

September 2014

The International Refugee Rights Initiative and the Fahamu Refugee Programme announce merger

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Announcements

Conferences and workshops: The first Global Forum on Statelessness

Grants and awards: Clifford Chance Access to Justice Award

Request: Asylum Access Refugee Rights Toolkit editors

Resources

Publications

Call for papers: Common Bond Institute

CASE NOTES AND SHORT PIECES

Concerns over mass detention of refugees in Sri Lanka

• Sri Lankan authorities detain Pakistani refugees in mass sweep
• Increasing concerns over the detention of refugees and asylum seekers in Sri Lanka
• Pakistani Refugees: an open letter to the Sri Lankan embassy in London

Uganda’s Refugee Law Project Gender & Sexuality Programme update

Thousands of refugees stage ‘walk of freedom’ to protest detention at Holot, Israel

India: displaced persons and the right to vote

The development of the definition of prohibited treatment under Article 3 ECHR for asylum seekers

ECRE calls for legal access for refugees and alternatives to Dublin Regulation in Home Affairs strategic guidelines

Doubly vulnerable: The world’s refugees are fleeing persecution only to see their rights trampled

Reflections on refugee protection in Japan

ARTICLES

Refugee Studies: No atonement for the failure of politics

'Don't even talk to them': Tunisia's forgotten refugees

 

June 2014

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Announcements

Conferences and workshops

Grants & Awards

Request: research assistant

Vacancies

Resources

Publications

Letters to the editors: Refugee Law Project updates

CASE NOTES AND SHORT PIECES

Introducing ‘forced voluntary return’: new prospects for becoming irregular in Finland

Concern over the transfer of refugee journalists to designated areas: an open letter

APRRN calls for immediate review of Japan’s domestic refugee protection systems

Despite criticism by NGOs and UNHCR, Cyprus amends its refugee law, leaving people fleeing generalized violence unprotected

Djibouti arbitrarily detaining and turning over Ogaden refugees in Djibouti to Ethiopian security 

UK Upper Tribunal poses problems for practitioners on permission, burden of proof and professional standards

Testimony: detention in Lukavica-Bosnia and Deportation to Serbia

United Nations expert says there are ‘elements of genocide’ against Myanmar’s Rohingya

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continues to block public access to enforcement data

A short testimony from the Liberian community in Israel

Rwandan former refugees oppose the need for Rwandan Government passports for their local integration in Zambia

From refugee to returnee to asylum seeker: Burundian refugees struggle to find protection in the Great Lakes region

Human rights abuses getting worse in Rwanda: open letter to President Kagame

Spanish authorities attempt deportation of international protection claimants without due regard to their claims of serious harm faced upon return

Case note: AC and Others v Spain, Application no. 6528/11

Case note: Australian High Court hears case on legality of offshore processing

ARTICLES

The Deficiencies of UNHCR’s RSD Procedure: the Case of Choucha Refugee Camp in Tunisia

Long-awaited victory for hundreds of Eritreans detained in Djibouti

 

May 2014

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Detention and Deportation News

Announcements

Conferences and workshops

Event Announcements: Harvard Clinical Programme & UNHCR Annual Consultations

Grants & Awards

Courses

Vacancies

Resources

Publications

CASE NOTES AND SHORT PIECES

An open letter to UNHCR from the Kakuma News Reflector on the Kenyan internment of Somalis

FreeMovement: UNHCR’s Guidelines on Military Service

Western Sahara: MINURSO’s mandate should be extended to include human rights

MALTA: NGOs welcome Prime Minister’s pledge to stop detaining children

UNHCR recommends starting the cessation process for refugees from Croatia

Stop the arrest and detention of asylum seeking women accessing maternal health care

The Italian Refugee Council: Access to protection in Italy

UK High Court judge rules that current Home Office policy on asylum support rates is unlawful: a letter from Refugee Action

• CASE NOTE: Refugee Action, R (On the Application Of) v SSHD [2014] EWHC 1033 (Admin) (09 April 2014)

UNHCR seeking access to detained asylum-seekers and refugees in Nairobi

COURT NOTES: High Court of Justice hearing regarding Israel’s Anti-Infiltration Law

Refugee Law Project’s position on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill

A short testament from Rwandans in Zambia

Transitioning from UNHCR to government RSD: An overdue assessment

GREECE: Commissioner Muižnieks calls on the Greek Parliament to reject the amendment to Article 19 of the draft immigration code

Israeli Immigration Authority promises not to fine employers of asylum-seekers whose visas expired

ARTICLES

The new asylum regime in Kenya: a commentary from the Refugee Consortium of Kenya

Refugee Legal Aid in Morocco: Moroccan NGO launches lawyer training program in border city of Oujda

 

April 2014

STOP PRESS: Kenya again orders all refugees to be interned in camps

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Deportation News

Announcement: Hong Kong refugee advice centre

Conferences and workshops

Courses

Vacancies

Requests

Publications

CASE NOTES AND SHORT PIECES

Case note: Shahzad (Art 8: legitimate aim) Pakistan [2014] UKUT 85 (IAC)

Case note: UK Supreme Court rules that ‘substantial countervailing reasons’ are required to reject asylum applicants already granted refugee status by UNHCR

Case note: QH (Christians - risk) (China) CG [2014] UKUT 86 (IAC) (14 March 2014)

Case note: RQ (Jordan) v SSHD [2014] EWHC 559 (Admin)

UK Supreme Court decides on third country returns

UNHCR issues new Guidelines on Temporary Protection: They need a rewrite

An overview of current situation for asylum-seekers in Israel

An interview with Barbara Harrell-Bond

ARTICLES

Psychology & refugee status determination: Psychological evidence to help inform refugee status determination

An experience of failure: a case study of UNHCR’s recommendation to invoke the cessation clause for Rwandan refugees

FGM and asylum: AF vs Secretary of State 31 January 2014

 

March 2014

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Deportation and Detention News

Courses

Conferences and Workshops

Calls for Papers

Vacancies

OO Algeria [2013] UKUT 00063 (IAC)

Supreme Court decides on third country returns

Court of Justice: Judgment in Case C-285/12 Diakité, 30 January 2014

Court of Justice: Judgment in Case C-84/12 Koushkaki, 19 December 2013

USA: Board of Immigration Appeals delivers two judgments defining ‘particular social group’

After a long struggle, 221 migrant families to receive legal status in Israel

Press Release: Saudi Arabia should end summary deportations of Somalis and Yeminis

Charities welcome Court of Appeal judgement on immigrant mental health policy

The Tindouf refugee camps: A Moroccan’s reflections

Team of experts to Israeli Government: End detention of migrant children

Statelessness in Ukraine

Cyprus: Detention of Syrian asylum seekers and access to an effective remedy

Call on government of Kenya to reopen the Kenya-Somali border to ease repatriation of Somali returnees

The Dublin-Strasbourg-Luxembourg triangle: Getting the European Courts’ dialogue on the suspension of Dublin Regulation transfers right

Refugee Legal Aid in Morocco: Moroccan NGO launches lawyer training program in border city of Oujda

Asylum registration in China

UNHCR guidelines on temporary protection or stay arrangements

Resources

Publications

 

February 2014

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Deportation News

Courses

Grants and awards

Calls for papers

Vacancies

Letters to the editor

Death of Col. Karegeya: Unending hunt for Rwandan refugees

A.A. v. Switzerland (European Court of Human Rights No. 58802/12) - Violation of Article 3 if Expelled to Sudan

Press conference: Hunger strike for freedom and human rights

Stranded in Hamburg: Asylum-seekers claim they are here to stay

The use of psychological and medical evidence within RSD proceedings

Belgium: The Constitutional Court reinstates right to an effective remedy for asylum seekers from ‘safe countries of origin’

The Invisible: Stateless persons in Poland, an executive summary

The right to seek asylum and protection

Laughing at death

Resources

Publications

Requests

 

January 2014

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Deportation News

Announcement: UK MAX Movement

Conferences & Workshops

Call for papers: CARFMS Graduate Student Essay Contest

Vacancies

Request: Cases required for research on Ugandan Refugees Act

Letter to the Editors from Bishop John Osmers, Zambia

Case Note: P (DRC), R (on the application of) V Secretary of State for the Home Department

Inter-American Court recognises right of exiled torture survivor to justice: the possible implications for refugees around the world

Ending secret asylum files (if only we could take UNHCR to federal court…)

UK immigration court position on detainee hunger strikes

Self-harm in UK immigration detention: July-September 2013

US ruling establishes ‘cumulative’ credibility possibility in establishing past persecution

On the Israeli supreme court ruling

Spain recognises statelessness claims of two individuals from Western Sahara

Publications

Resources

 

December 2013

News on countries of origin

News on countries of asylum

Kenya Somalia agreement

Reader responses

Deportation news

Announcements

Conferences & workshops

Calls for papers

Grants & awards

Vacancies

Campaigns

On Rwandan Government passports for Rwandan former refugees’ local integration in  Zambia

Israeli Government declares: Asylum-seekers currently detained under the Anti-Infiltration Law will not be released

Case Note: X, Y and Z

Case Notes: C-4/11 Bundesrepublik Deutschland v Kaveh Puid (Dublin Returns)

Bodies in the Black Sea? Bulgaria steps up efforts to repel refugees

CASE COMMENT: Joined Cases C-199/12, C-200/12 and C-201/12 X, Y & Z v Minister voor Immigratie en Asiel

Rwandan generals accused of war crimes in UN employ

Publications

Resources

 

November 2013

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Deportation & Detention News

Conferences & Workshops

Calls for Papers

Vacancies

Rwandan former refugees oppose the need for Rwandan Government passports for their local integration in Zambia

Introducing the Western Balkans Legal Aid Network

A refugee applicant’s lawsuit seeking to cancel the deportation order:  The Seoul Administration Court rules in favor of the plaintiff

Humanity vs. Israeli Parliament

Israeli Supreme Court: Being a torture camps’ survivor can be considered as an ‘exceptional humanitarian reason’ for release under the Anti-Infiltration Law

Unpublished decision of the US Board of Immigration Appeals determining that incidents of harassment and discrimination suffered by a ‘pygmy’ from Burundi should have been considered to constitute persecution in the aggregate

Update on the nature and need of protection of Somali refugees in Kenya:  In Kenya, UNHCR chief discusses solutions for Somali refugees ;  Changing the face of refugee protection? The Kenyan High Court affirms the right to dignity and freedom of movement of refugees  

Open letter of refugees and persons with international protection status

The European Court of Human Rights (1). Budrevich v. the Czech Republic (no. 65303/10). Violation Article 13 in conjunction with Article 3

K.K. v. France (no. 18913/11). Violation of Article 3 if the applicant were returned to Iran. No violation of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) in conjunction with Article 3  

RT (Zimbabwe) and others (Respondents) v Secretary for State for the Home Department (Appellant); KM (Zimbabwe) (FC) (Appellant) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] UKSC 38

EU and Member State measures to tackle the flow of refugees as a result of the conflict in Syria:

S.S.L -v- Minister for Justice and Equality

Observations by Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists on the case X, Y and Z v Minister voor Immigratie, Integratie en Asiel (C‑199/12, C‑200/12 and C‑201/12) following the Opinion of Advocate General Sharpston of 11 July 2013

Current situation in Algeria

EU must grant asylum to all Eritrean refugees

Lampedusa deaths: identification and the families’ right to know

A gentle reminder to UNHCR: Deciding refugee cases is not just about efficiency

An overview of transfers of asylum seekers from Germany to Italy under the Dublin II Regulation

Australia and South East Asia: Irregular migration and refugee protection

The Reach of the Exclusion clause to the Refugee Convention

Joint NGO statement on international protection, delivered before the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Geneva, October 2013N  

UNHCR-NGO Annual Consultation Closing Remarks

Publications

Resources

Requests

 

October 2013

News on Countries of Origin

News on Countries of Asylum

Deportation & Detention News

Reader Response  

Announcements

Conferences and Workshops

Calls for Papers

Vacancies

Choucha update

Rejected asylum seekers tortured in Sri Lanka

Facilitations for family reunification of Syrian refugees in Switzerland

Convention Against Torture victory won for Somali national

Illegal deportations from Italy - sending Egyptians back into a civil war

KISA reports targeting of human trafficking victims and a breach of medical confidentiality in Cyprus

Case Watch: Kenya judge rules against ‘War on Terror’ renditions

Israel: Supreme Court overturns law to prevent infiltration

Morocco urged to establish new asylum and migration policy that protects the human rights of migrants

Legal aid for refugees in Morocco:  Droit et Justice  launch their programme

Moroccan monarch and government take on asylum reform at long last

Playing with people’s lives: The plight of Rwandan refugees in the Great Lakes region

Introduction to CA7 on Belarus, changed country conditions: 

 

September 2013

News on countries of origin

News on countries of asylum

Deportation & Detention News

Announcements

Conferences & workshops

Calls for papers

Vacancies

Letter to the editors: ‘To achieve a solution or die’  

SPECIAL FEATURE: The state of Rwandan refugee protection after the Cessation Clause

• June 30th Cessation deadline’s inconclusive
• Finding a home at last? Rwandan exiles in Zambia
• Memorandum of Rwandan refugees in Uganda to Kagame’s regime over its pressure for return of Rwandan refugees

The beginnings of refugee legal aid in India

Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network statement on recent policy announcements in Australia

KISA condemns another incident of discriminatory treatment regarding granting Cypriot citizenship to a family from Sri Lanka

Canadian Council for Refugees welcomes Ezokola decision clarifying refugee exclusion

AH (Article 1F(b) - ‘Serious’) Algeria v. SSHD

R v Mateta & Ors, [2013] EWCA Crim 1372 30 July 2013

Excerpt: Lack of an effective remedy in relation to deportation and unlawful detention of Syrian national

Excerpt: Deportation of failed asylum seekers originally from cities in northern Iraq would not breach their human rights as they could relocate to other regions

Excerpt: Opinion of Lord Eassie in the appeals

Republic of Kenya in the High Court of Kenya at Nairobi, Petition No. 19 OF 2013 Consolidated with Petition No. 115 of 2013

Harming asylum seekers’ chances through poor use of human rights treaties

Hungary’s asylum system under pressure

Why do we still have refugee camps?

• Response I: ‘Why do we still have refugee camps?
• Response II: ‘Why do we still have refugee camps?

Resources

Publications

Requests

Information links

 

July 2013

• STOP PRESS: Pakistan extends refugee status for Afghans
• STOP PRESS:  UNHCR Africa Bureau announces only three states to implement Cessation Clause for Rwandan refugees
• STOP PRESS:  Choucha closes

News on Countries of Origin and Asylum

Deportation and Detention News

Reader Response

Announcements

UNHCR Africa Bureau announces only three states to implement Cessation Clause for Rwandan refugees 

Revolution and international migration in Tunisia

Discrimination awaits Palestinians fleeing the Syrian conflict

Civil society organisations condemn the cruel and inhumane conduct by some Cypriot police officers

France: At least 62% of foreigners are deported without seeing a judge

CASE NOTE: Police failure to protect rights of vulnerable girl-children is discriminatory, says Kenyan High Court

CASE NOTE: R (JB) Jamaica v Secretary of State for the Home Department

Refusals of international protection in Bologna

Hungary passes legislation allowing widespread detention of asylum seekers

World Refugee Day 2013: EU-Turkey agreement puts refugee and migrant rights on the line

Refugees in Africa’s Great Lakes region: a perpetual state of exile

International Refugee Law: a selected survey of developments in 2012

Resources & publications

 

June 2013

News on Countries of Origin and Asylum

Deportation News

Announcements

SPECIAL FEATURE: Documenting the Rwanda Countdown: Our articles on the Cessation Clause 2010-2013

SPECIAL FEATURE: Salvator Cusimano and Barbara Harrell-Bond demystify some of Kagame’s and Rwanda’s myths

SPECIAL FEATURE: Rwandan refugees resisting repatriation, says Edgar Lungu

SPECIAL FEATURE: What is happening to Rwandan refugees in Uganda? Attacks fuel anxiety ahead of a global edict for Rwandan refugees to return home

Statement on asylum trends and levels in 2012 in Japan

New ‘excision’ law does not relieve Australia of its responsibilities towards asylum-seekers

UK: Council wrongly classed asylum seeker children as adults

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is greatly concerned over deteriorating conditions of asylum seekers in Cyprus.

Reaction to discussions at the Court of Criminal Appeal regarding the non-prosecution and non-punishment of victims of human trafficking.

New legal challenge against detention of asylum seekers and the use of the Detained Fast Track.

The Israeli Ministry of Interior ordered the release of all Eritrean mothers and children detained under the Anti-Infiltration Law for long months

Unprotected Congolese refugees In Gabon

CASE NOTE: Victim of torture could meet definition of an ‘exceptional humanitarian’ case and therefore serve as a release provision under the Anti-Infiltration Law.

CASE NOTE: Minority is sufficient to constitute a ‘special humanitarian’ reasonand therefore serve as a release provision under the Anti-Infiltration Law.

SPECIAL FEATURE: Report on the rejected asylum seekers of Choucha refugee camp

SPECIAL FEATURE: Stuck at Choucha

Refugee status determination in Hong Kong: a new era for legal aid providers?

Psychosocial well-being within refugee education in Cairo

Sri Lanka: A contemporary case of paradoxes

A future without immigration detention?

RESOURCES AND PUBLICATIONS

 

May 2013

Country of origin and legal news

Deportation news

Announcements

Notes from the field: one country of origin expert’s experience

Advocacy groups celebrate landmark step to protect stateless in UK

UNHCR Briefing Note: UK’s new determination procedure to end legal limbo for stateless

UNHCR speaks out concerning Europe’s efforts to add more roadblocks to asylum procedures

A milestone for refugee rights: Hong Kong court of final appeal rules in favour of C case appellants

On the run, alone and young: Congolese children flee to Uganda

A diverse scope of refugees living at the margins in Egypt

Court of Justice of the European Union and European Court of Human Rights: recent judgments of interest

NGOs, UNHCR and the European Commission welcome Turkey’s new asylum law

Case note: France will not deport refused asylum seeker to Chad

Case note: Removal of Chechen man from Austria to Russia would expose him to risk of ill-treatment

Case note: Abdi v. the United Kingdom – violation of Article 5

SIS II to centralize data of people who are not allowed entry into the Schengen Area

Accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights

The European Commission adopts a proposal for regulation on the surveillance of external sea borders

Former Burundian refugees struggle to assert their new Tanzanian citizenship

Unaccompanied children and victims of torture will not be excluded from accelerated and border asylum procedures in revised asylum procedures directive

 

SPECIAL FEATURE: Concerns over Rwanda Cessation

ABA section of international law spring meeting panel highlights concerns over the cessation of status for Rwandan refugees

Recommendations of the International Conference on Rwandan Refugees, held in Brussels, Belgium, on 19 and 20 April, 2013

South African Minister of Home Affairs addresses ceased circumstances cessation clauses for Rwandan refugees

 

Organised crime and refugee policy in Honduras

Alarming prevalence of self harm in UK immigration detention during 2012

The first country of asylum principle in Tanzania: a national and East African perspective

Disability and forced migration

FRONTEX: human rights responsibilities

Resources and publications

Information links

 

April 2013

News on Countries of Origin and Asylum

Deportation News

Conferences, Workshops & Courses

Vacancies

Short pieces and case notes

• Rwandan refugees in Côte d’Ivoire express concern
• Refugee Law Initiative hosts international conference on Latin American asylum policy
• Returning unaccompanied minors to Afghanistan: An update
• High Court orders last-minute reprieve from deportation of Tamils from the UK
• Israel: Detained asylum seekers pressured to leave
• High Court of Justice to State: Explain legality of anti-infiltration law
• Choucha: Forgotten in the Tunisian desert?
• UNHCR urged to expedite resettlement from Russia to protect refugees at risk of abduction
• UNHCR stands up for refugees in Israel

Articles

• The Rights in Exile Programme’sstatement on behalf of African NGOs before the 56th meeting of the Standing Committee at UNHCR in Geneva
• Agenda Item 3 (a) i
• Agenda Item 3 (a) ii
• Agenda Item (3) iii
• Agenda Item 3 (a) iv
• Agenda Item 3 (a) v

Implications of the Geopolitical and Economic Constraints for Providing Legal Aid to Refugees in Jordan   New network monitors deportee abuses

• Refugee migration to Ukraine and the geopolitics of control at Europe’s eastern borders
• AMERA-Egypt, Flagship of the Refugee Legal Aid Movement, Struggles for Financial Survival
• Surviving Choucha

Resources & publications

Requests

March 2013

STOP PRESS:  Israel ‘secretly’ deports 1,000 Sudanese to Sudan, UNHCR rejects claim removal was ‘voluntary’
News on Countries of Origin and Asylum
Deportation News
Announcements
Conferences & workshops
Vacancies

Short pieces & case notes

• Governments of Denmark and Norway push to return asylum-seekers to Somalia
• Palestinians and Article 1D: automatic refugee status for Palestinian refugees
• Eritrean refugees face removal from Israel
• Rwandan refugees in South Africa advise their host government ahead of UNHCR's recommended invocation of the Cessation Clause
• UNHCR’s Bangkok office defies the right to counsel
• The Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network and International Detention Coalition statement on New Zealand’s announcement that it will take 150 refugees from Australia
• Between a rock and a hard place: Conflict in Kachin state
• Refugees in Kenya: A briefing on recent developments and implications for urban refugee policy
• End FGM Campaign: Asylum directives will provide better protection for victims of Female Genital Mutilation
• Little to celebrate on Dublin’s 10th anniversary: New research shows that the system continues to violate the rights of refugees
• UK asylum caselaw developments
• The residence rights of former durable partners of EEA nationals in domestic violence cases: Guidance on the applicable EU law
• Case note on Article 5 § 1 ‘right to liberty and security,’ Article 5 § 4 ‘right to have lawfulness of detention decided speedily by a court,' and Article 8 ‘right to respect for private and family life’: Amie and Others v. Bulgaria
• Slovak Human Rights League declares that obstacles to legal assistance for foreigners imply breach of international obligations
• Understanding the new refugee determination system in Canada
• Canada declares Mexico and Israel ‘Designated Countries of Origin’
• G4S takeover has been a 'disaster for asylum seekers'
• UK ministerial authorisation under Equality Act 2010 for Palestinian, Syrian and Kuwaiti language analysis

Articles

• International intervention in Mali and its impact on refugees
• Protection in practice: The situation of refugees in East Asia
• Article 3 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC): A tool for protecting migrant children?
• Protected or excluded? A case study of the interpretation and implementation of Article 1D with regard to Palestinian asylum seekers

Resources & publications
Requests for Articles

February 2013

News on countries of origin and asylum

Deportation news

Reader Response: UNHCR’s regional policy in Zambia

New film on Rwanda cessation released

Israeli Ministry of Interior prevents jailed asylum seekers from filing asylum requests

Canada court condemns anti-smuggling law

Ongoing challenges for displaced Rohingyas

Russian authorities launch anti-gay media campaign

Why is there no refuge for Roma refugees?: Why Canada’s ‘safe’ country scheme offers no refuge for Roma refugees

Tightening of Swiss asylum law introduces new form of accommodation for ‘recalcitrant’ asylum seekers and curtails access to asylum

Stranded at the border: Migrants and refugees trapped in a no man’s land

The endless suffering of those who fled Libya: Choucha camp

UNHCR’s Rwanda cessation: Flawed, but perhaps not entirely wrong

Kenya: Don’t force 55,000 refugees into camps

Detainees’ rights overrule absconding and rioting charges, courts rule

Announcements

Call for papers

Conferences & workshops

Grants & awards

Information links

Resources & publications

Requests

Vacancies

January 2013

Avaaz Community Petition to stop the invocation of the cessation clause for Rwandan refugees

News on Countries of Origin and Asylum

Reader Response: Rwanda, Zambia, Cessation

Deportation News

The purpose of RSDWatch, then and now

Kenya restricts refugees to camps, violating refugee rights

A Profile of a COI provider - a recommended organization

Mercosul countries sign commitment to common policies for refugees in the region

Regarding asylum policy, Norway is far from being the ‘first class’ in Europe

‘Vile liars and truth distorters’ – truth, trust and the asylum system

——

Special focus: Canada

CANADA: The crisis in funding legal support for refugees

CANADA: New refugee system does not treat refugees fairly or protect those most at risk

Special focus: Article 1F(c)

UK Legal News Analysis: When is an act contrary to the purposes and principles of the UN?

Casenote on Article 1F(c) ‘acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the UN’

——

ECRE/ELENA Legal Update: Recent European case law

Pro Asyl campaign against the adoption of the amended EU Reception Conditions Directive: ‘Flight is not a crime’

Violating the rights of deportees: why some deportations to African states amount to refoulement

An introduction to Frontex: Human Rights

Tanzania’s Mtabila camp closed, refugees repatriated against their will

Refugee resettlement from Kenya: perspectives from Kakuma and Nairobi

To be or not to be: the ‘environmental refugee’?

Publications

Resources

Requests

Calls for papers

Conferences and workshops

Grants and awards

Vacancies

 

December 2012

Announcements

News on countries of origin and asylum

Deportation News

Dozens of organisations urge member states to accede to statelessness conventions

Joint Statement from Human Security Alliance, Asian Muslim Action Network and Odhikar: International support needed to protect Rohingyas from persecution

Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network statement on changes to Australian policy

Xenophobic attacks on the rise in Greece: asylum seekers and refugees at increasing risk

‘Non-clinicians’ judgments about asylum seekers’ mental health: how do legal representatives of asylum seekers decide when to request medico-legal reports?’

EASO country of origin information report Afghanistan: A critical review

Two years after the attack on the 2010 Rainbow Festival: Justice delayed for victims of racist violence and for KISA’s Executive Director

Human Rights Watch documents five serious cases challenging the principle of  non-refoulement  in 2012

Ghanaian detainees statement on the death of Prince Ofosu at Harmondsworth IRC

The top 10 neglected refugee crises

ECRE recounts important cases in Europe

Nuclear Family a ‘Social Group’

Hode & Abdi v. the United Kingdom

MN and others: Pakistan Pakistan v. the SSHD

HM Iraq 2: Country guidance

Solitary confinement of homosexual found to be discriminatory: The Case of  X v Turkey

Rwanda: Why UNHCR is wrong about Cessation

Eight-Year Sentence for Opposition Leader, Victoire Ingabire Found Guilty of Two Charges in Flawed Trial

An introduction to Frontex: frequent criticism

Japan Announces that ‘0’ Refugees will be Resettled this Year

Regional cooperation: an impossible dream?

Open Letter to Australian Minister of Immigration and Citizenship from the Refugee Council of Australia, following doorstep interview

Publications

Resources

Requests

Call for papers and applications

Training

Conferences and workshops

Grants and awards

Vacancies

 

November 2012

Country of Origin and Legal News

Deportation News

Court enjoins arrest of Sudanese asylum seekers until further decision is reached

September 2012

Rwandan refugees in Zambia suggest they are stripped of education by the cessation process 

Legal victory for refugee rights in Israel: the end of school segregation in Eilat

Updates from Israel

Security situation in Sinai: opportunity to liberate torture camps

Case note: court ruling granted freedom to two refugees detained in Egyptian prisons

Djibouti: An open letter from an Eritrean refugee

Bangladesh government shutting down NGOs working with refugees

End of detention of illegal immigrants in France

Notorious Spanish immigrant detention centre closed

How to respond to requests for information? Or ‘Are good intentions good enough? The ‘Expert’ Part II

Mozambique: a refugee sending country turned host

Trends in refugee status determination (RSD) in Latin America: an overview of progress and challenges in the region

The withdrawal of citizenship from Jordanians of Palestinian Origin

Launching the post-deportation monitoring network

The Cessation Clause and Rwandans in Uganda: Is the Countdown Beginning?

Liberian refugees and the June 2012 refugee cessation: the gap between applying for and being granted exemption

Book Review: The Plight of the Stateless Rohingyas: Responses of the State, Society & the International Community by Delwar Hossain, Shahab Enam Khan and Md. Faridul Alam, Ed. by Imitiaz Ahamed

Book Review: Trauma Stewardship, an everyday guide to caring for self while caring for others

Rights in Exile Programme announces new co-director

 

July 2012

Why I cannot return to Rwanda: testimonies of Rwandan refugees

Why is the government of Tanzania backtracking from its commitment to fully grant citizenship to Burundian refugees?

Refugee and migrant protection at sea: lessons from the Mediterranean

Special focus: ISRAEL

Refugees denied legal rights in Israel

Refugee related issues in Israel: an update

The end of temporary group protection for South Sudanese

Open letter to Israel: Eritreans are NOT economic refugees

 

June 2012

Palestinians who fall under the 1951 Convention: a Norwegian case

Legal aid profile: the Cambridge Pro Bono Project

Ruling: the state is obligated to provide adequate translation services in RSD interviews

Open letter to the Cyprus Bar Association

Conference panel: the need for competent counsel for refugees

Why immigration detention harms people and doesn’t work

South Africa: High Court refuses to grant leave to appeal closure of refugee reception office

Important judgement on the value of medical reports

 

May 2012

Pending questions: UNHCR Recommendations regarding the Cessation Clause for Rwandan refugees

Asylum victory on appeal: Immigration Judge placed ‘unreasonable expectations’ on applicant to demonstrate the motive behind violence against her

UK detaining Sudanese asylum seekers with an aim towards deportation

Understanding psychology can make asylum decisions fairer

EU resolution against human trafficking in the Sinai

Hungarian asylum process condemned by the UNHCR

Thai NGO collecting signatures to petition for a Refugee Act

The Moroccan Arab Spring: Protecting migrants rights in theory and practice

Campaign for access to detention centres in Europe

Refugees in Egypt: Between rights and responsibilities

 

April 2012

‘We are in hell’: Legal aid needed for detained asylum seekers in Romania

Legal aid battles in the Lords: a report from the United Kingdom

Country of Origin specialists: engaging at what cost?

‘Experts’ in the asylum process: are good intentions good enough?

Court injunction forbids Israel from deporting South Sudanese

Update: Syrian refugees in Turkey

Syrian men barred from leaving country without military approval

More resettlement places in Europe?

Court rules conditions in Dadaab to be ‘inhuman and degrading’

Canadian government to include Mexico on ‘Safe Country of Origin’ list

Mock trial for Europe aims to shed light on human rights

Petition: Support Refugee Action’s ‘Access to Justice’ initiative

Petition: Campaign to save North Korean refugees in China from refoulement

 

March 2012

How to apply for asylum in Brazil

 Practice Advisory on Interim Memo regarding law students, graduates and other representatives appearing before United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

The importance of psychosocial support in the refugee status determination process

Asylum approval rate in Japan still shockingly low

Changes to refugee system in Canada further undermine refugees

Italy rebuked by European Court after deportations of Somali and Eritrean asylum seekers

Statement on Kenyan Government plan to relocate refugees back to Somalia

Syrian refugees in Europe: news from Belgium and Sweden

Syrians in Jordan: Guests, not refugees

Democratic Republic of Congo London embassy staff resign and claim asylum

Open letter from Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers in Djibouti

Letter from the Rwandan Refugee Community in Zambia to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon

Refugees in Brazil denounce ‘exploitation network’

 

February 2012

STOP PRESS: Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid website

United States practice advisory concerning asylum applications for long term residency or family reunification put on hold under the Tier III provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act

Somalis in Kenya suffer the consequences of Kenyan war in Somalia

Life in exile: challenges facing refugees and organisations working to support them in Cape Town

Arbitrariness regarding access to the asylum procedure in Bulgaria

Longing to repatriate or resettle? Bhutanese refugees in Nepal

How language testing used to authenticate asylum claims fails to recognise the reality and complexity of language

Death at the gates of Europe: refugees drown off the Moroccan coast trying to reach Spain

Language analysis in the UK Refugee Status Determination system

Updates on access to asylum in Switzerland

 

January 2012

Providing open access to legal literature

US required to consider testimony from asylum seeker

Refugees in Djibouti detention centre need help     

Rights in Exile Programme seeks Director   

Assessment of United Kingdom Border Agency’s Operational Guidance Notes

Organisational profile: against deportation from the UK

Court provides for exceptions to Dublin II, when Member State does not observe asylum rights

Report on meeting between UNHCR and Rwandan refugee organisations   

News on Rwanda and the cessation clause   

Testimonies of Rwandan refugees 

STOP PRESS: Refugee Act passes in Korea 

 

December 2011

The Bangkok Principles on the Status and Treatment of Refugees

Africa NGO resolution on the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and displaced persons

Asia Pacific model pledge towards upholding refugee rights worldwide

MIGREUROP explores readmission instruments

The situation of refugees in Israel

Question & answer: the Cessation Clause examined

The Cessation Clause: a primer

ECtHR allows extradition to Rwanda of alleged Hutu génocidaire with refugee status in Denmark; UNHCR does not intervene

‘Is this Caribbean idyll the worst place in the world to be a woman?’

WikiLeaks diplomatic cables: a tool for refugee legal aid workers?

In limbo in Latvia

Asia Pacific Regional Immigration Detention Working Group workshop

 

November 2011

Resettlement in exchange for local asylum?

UNHCR’s incentive salary policy

Human rights in Rwanda

International refugee law judges conference

Country of origin and legal news

Child custody rights and UNHCR resettlement

Resettlement, divorce and visita1on rights

Profile: Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project,  Articulo en Español