Web pages about "Refugees, Displaced People And Migrants"

EU return directive affects dignity and security of irregular migrants

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:52:56 +0100

We believe that the text approved on Wednesday 18 June by the European Parliament does not guarantee the return of irregular migrants in safety and dignity. On the contrary, an excessive period of detention of up to one and a half years as well as an EU-wide re-entry ban for those forcibly returned, risks lowering existing standards in the Member States and sets an extremely bad example to other regions in the world.

At the same time, the text lacks sufficient guarantees for unaccompanied minors and contains weak provisions with regard to judicial oversight of administrative detention. Finally, it allows specific derogations on detention conditions in those Member States confronted with so-called emergency situations.

The added value of this EU-directive is therefore hard to see. At the same time, it risks promoting prolonged detention practices in EU Member States and impacting negatively on access to the territory.

Amnesty International urges Member States currently applying higher standards not to use this directive as a pretext to lowering them.

Migrants face illegal arrest in Mauritania

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:18:39 +0100

Irregular migrants trying to reach Europe are being arrested, ill-treated and collectively expelled from Mauritania without opportunity to challenge the decision according to a new Amnesty International report.

Published on Tuesday 1 July the report, Mauritania: Nobody wants anything to do with us, arrests and collective expulsions of migrants denied entry into Europe, also says that sometimes migrants aren’t even sent back to their own home countries.

Since 2006, thousands of migrants accused of setting out from Mauritania with the intention of entering Europe via Spain’s Canary Islands, have been arrested.

Many of those people have been held in a detention centre at Nouadhibou in northern Mauritania. Some have been ill-treated by members of the Mauritanian security forces.

Nationals of West African countries say they have been arbitrarily arrested in the street or at home and accused, apparently without any evidence, of intending to travel to Spain.

According to the National Security Service, 3,257 people were held in the centre in 2007, all were then sent to Senegal and Mali, regardless of their nationality or country of origin. These people are left at the border, often without much food and with no means of transport.

Salvatore Saguès, Amnesty International’s West Africa Researcher, said that “This policy of arrests and collective expulsions by the Mauritanian authorities is the result of intense pressure exerted on Mauritania by the European Union (EU), and Spain in particular, as they seek to involve certain African countries in their attempt to combat irregular migration to Europe.”

Amnesty International calls on the Mauritanian authorities to ensure that their security forces are abiding by international law.

The organization also calls on the EU and its member states, most notably Spain, to take responsibility for ensuring that migrants are treated according to international human rights standards.

“EU states are using countries such as Mauritania to manage the flow of migrants who attempt to reach Europe from their territory. They have become the de facto ‘policemen of Europe’,” said Salvatore Saguès.

Israel: Knesset should reject draft law which would put asylum-seekers at grave risk

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:40:26 +0100

In a Memorandum sent to the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee of the Israeli Knesset (parliament) Amnesty International urged legislators to reject a proposed law that imposes lengthy prison sentences on asylum-seekers and irregular migrants, disregarding their reasons for entering the country, and allowing for their immediate deportation, without regard for their possible ill-treatment or persecution to which they may be subject upon their return. The Committee is meeting on 24 June to discuss the draft “Prevention of Infiltration Law – 2008”.

The proposed law provides for the automatic detention pending deportation within 72 hours of anyone who enters the country at any point other than an authorized border crossing, and individuals who cannot be immediately deported would be sentenced to five years’ imprisonment “without distinction as to their identity or their intention when infiltrating.” Residents and citizens of ten listed states or territories, including refugee-producing countries such as Sudan and Iraq, would face up to seven years of imprisonment. The bill makes no provision for asylum-seekers fleeing from violence or persecution.

Amnesty International recognizes Israel’s right to secure its borders and regulate the entry of foreigners into its territory, but it is concerned about the potential impact of the proposed law on the rights of asylum seekers and other non-nationals. The criminalization of irregular entry, without taking into account the reasons for entry or the risk of removal, effectively bars individuals coming into Israel from seeking asylum. The proposed law would potentially criminalize those who seek protection from persecution.

The detention and removal process set out in the draft law, especially the high level of discretion granted to officers to remove individuals within 72 hours, are inconsistent with Israel’s obligations under international treaties, including the Refugee Convention, to prevent the return of individuals to countries where they may be at risk of serious human rights violations.

The draft law fails to take into account the particularly vulnerable situation of asylum seekers and refugees. Such procedures would effectively deny individuals fleeing persecution access to refugee status determination procedures, and fall far short of Israel’s international legal obligations as a state party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol.

Amnesty International urged the Knesset members to ensure that any immigration or national security provisions fully respect Israel’s international human rights obligations, including ensuring the protection of all individuals within its jurisdiction, regardless of their immigration status, and ensuring that individuals are not returned to states where they would be at risk of serious human rights abuses.

Background
The proposed Prevention of Infiltration Law – 2008 is intended to replace a 1954 law enacted under Israel’s emergency legislation. The draft law was submitted to the Knesset by Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai on behalf of the government and passed its preliminary reading on 19 May 2008. It was then submitted on 3 June 2008 to the Knesset’s Internal Affairs and Environment Committee, to be prepared for second and third readings. Laws are enacted on passing the third reading.

Since 2005, up to 8,000 Eritreans, Sudanese, and other nationals who have entered Israel via the Egyptian border have subsequently sought asylum. Under the proposed law, if it had been in force, all such individuals would have been considered to be “infiltrators” and would have been liable to immediate deportation back to Egypt, irrespective of whether they would be at risk of persecution there.

In August 2007, 48 nationals of African countries, most of them Sudanese, were forcibly returned to Egypt by Israeli forces shortly after they had crossed from Egypt into Israel through the Sinai border. They were detained incommunicado for months in Egypt and some 20 of them were forcibly returned to Sudan, including seven or eight who had refugee status in Egypt. The fate and whereabouts of the 28 others remain unknown. In June 2008 the Egyptian authorities forcibly returned up to 1,000 asylum seekers to Eritrea, despite guidelines issued by the UNHCR opposing the return of rejected Eritrean asylum-seekers on the grounds of the record of serious human rights violations in Eritrea, and further deportation are expected at the time of writing. Those deported were not given access to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Egypt to assess their protection needs. Since January 2008, some 14 nationals of African countries, including potential asylum seekers from Sudan and Eritrea were reportedly shot dead by Egyptian border forces while attempting to cross from Egypt into Israel via the Sinai border. Those reportedly killed while trying to cross into Israel include two men believed to be from Côte d'Ivoire, a Sudanese man and an Eritrean woman who were shot dead by Egyptian security forces in March 2008, Amnesty International, Two more migrants killed at Egypt/Israel border (News, 28 March 2008) http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/two-more-migrants-killed-egypt-israel-border-20080328 and six African migrants, some of them from Sudan, were shot dead in similar circumstances in February 2008.

Since 2006 an increasing number of Sudanese and other asylum seekers have been detained for long periods after they crossed into Israel from Egypt and those – including children - held at the Ketziot detention centre, in the southern Israeli desert, have often been held in inadequate conditions.

World: Call for action on World Refugee Day 20 June

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:48:29 +0100

In this, the 60th anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on World Refugee Day, Amnesty International calls on states to reaffirm everyone’s right to seek and to enjoy asylum from persecution, as recognized in the words of article 14 of the UDHR.

Almost two million Iraqi refugees, fleeing murder, kidnap, torture and ill treatment, are now living in Syria and Jordan.

In the Mediterranean region, asylum-seekers and migrants continue to die in the sea in their desperate attempt to reach Europe.

These are two of the many refugee problems that confront the world today.

Meanwhile, doors are being quietly closed. People fleeing Iraq now face visa restrictions as they try to enter Jordan and Syria. Sweden, host to the largest number of Iraqi refugees in Europe, has now changed its approach and is returning refugees to very dangerous areas of their home country. In the Mediterranean region, European Union countries such as Spain and Italy are involved with interception operations and joint migration control measures with countries in North and West Africa. People are being sent back to the terrible situations they were desperately trying to escape.

International assistance for Iraqi refugees in Syria and Jordan is desperately needed, contributions to UN agencies working with refugees from Iraq inadequate. In May 2008, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) made a fresh appeal for increased funding for its Iraq work. They cited a shortfall of $127 million for assistance programmes without which essential health and food assistance programs may have to be reduced, forcing many Iraqis into further destitution and raising the likelihood of higher malnutrition rates and increased rise of child labour.

A total of 147 states are parties to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (the Refugee Convention) or its Protocol - the main international instruments protecting refugees.

Amnesty International calls for world governments to ensure that their actions and policies do not undermine the protection offered by the Convention and other international instruments. Amnesty International also believes that states should not only protect the rights of refugees within their jurisdiction but should also help other countries dealing with large scale refugee situations.

Amnesty International calls on the European Union to fully respect its obligations towards refugees, by ensuring that its border controls do not directly, or indirectly, force asylum-seekers to return to transit countries where they would be at risk of arbitrary detention, collective expulsion, refoulement - - as in the case of a number of countries in North and West Africa - - even the risk of being dumped in the desert without food or water.

The organization also calls on the European Union to ensure that in the development of its common asylum system, all asylum-seekers under the jurisdiction of its member states have access to fair and satisfactory asylum procedures regardless of their country of origin or transit, and that the use of inadequate accelerated asylum procedures is ended.

Amnesty International urges states to increase the use of resettlement as one of several responsibility-sharing tools to relieve the burden of receiving states and to provide refugees with a durable solution. For many refugees, it is the only way to ensure they have access to basic rights such as education, health care and adequate housing. For some, their illness, disability or trauma means they do not have access to adequate care in their countries of asylum. Only nine countries have traditionally had large resettlement programmes; these have been recently joined by developing countries such as Chile, Burkina Faso and Brazil, which have started to resettle small numbers of refugees. Amnesty International calls on other states to join this list.

Finally, Amnesty International urges states, in cooperation with UNHCR, to develop an effective way of sharing the responsibility for large numbers of refugees, as and when urgent situations arise.

The answer to this grievous problem cannot be to countenance human suffering and turn our backs on people in tragic circumstances. It is to take more responsibility for this global problem in a global way.

Visit to Canary Islands appeals for respect for rights of migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:44:14 +0100

Amnesty International's Secretary General, Irene Khan, is leading a mission to Spain to meet with government officials, human rights organizations, survivors of human rights violations and professional organizations. The visit will conclude with the launch of a human rights agenda to the Spanish Government for the 2008-2011 legislature period.

During a visit to Tenerife, Irene Khan made the following statement during a symbolic event at Santa Lastenia cemetery:

"Dozens of unidentified migrants who lost their lives trying to get to European territory through one of the main entry points, the Canary Islands, are buried in this cemetery.

The number of people reaching the Canaries, as well as other southern frontiers like Italy, Cyprus, Malta or Greece, has grown considerably over the last years. Many of them are fleeing poverty and grave human rights violations. Many of them have not made it and have died in the attempt.

Today, in the name of Amnesty International, and its more than 2 million members and supporters around the world, I want to acknowledge this terrible human tragedy and acknowledge the suffering of these people.

And through this tribute I want to remind European governments that just because some persons do not have documents, it does not mean they do not have rights.

Every human being has human rights, regardless of their legal status, but in many cases human rights are being put at risk because of the immigration control policies pursued by European countries.

This is unacceptable.

Everyone has the right to be treated humanely and with dignity. Asylum-seekers fleeing from persecution have the right to seek asylum. Migrants have the right to be treated humanely and with dignity.

Amnesty International recognizes that States, including Spain, have the right to control their borders and the entry of foreigners into its territory, but not at the expense of undermining the human rights of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.

On Wednesday 18 June, European parliamentarians will be taking a very important decision on the return of irregular migrants – voting on a directive which will allow European Union countries to detain people who have not committed any crime, including minors, for up to one year and a half.

The proposed directive is unacceptable as an EU standard and I call on all Members of the European Parliament to vote to reject it. Detention should only be used in very exceptional cases, always for the shortest possible time and must not be prolonged or indefinite. Standards for returns are needed, but we do not they should be at all costs. The directive must include safeguards that ensure that the return of irregular migrants is carried out in a way that respects their fundamental rights.

Europe can do better than this. I strongly urge Members of the European Parliament to refuse the current compromise and make sure effective safeguards are included.

As unaccompanied children are particularly vulnerable, the directive should prohibit detention of unaccompanied children and ensure that they are represented by a guardian.

Later today, I will visit the "La Esperanza" centre and meet some such minors. My purpose in doing so will be to draw attention to the vulnerability of young people, and the duty of all governments, including that of Spain, to provide protection for them. Our concerns in this area include reports that the Spanish authorities have deported unaccompanied minors illegally, without taking into account the best interests of the child and other safeguards under international law.

Prioritizing immigration control should not mean turning our backs on the rights of migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers, a particularly vulnerable and unprotected group.

The EU is a union of value based on democracy and human rights. It must live up to those values and protect the rights of migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers."

Iraq: World governments misleading and failing Iraqi refugees

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:45:59 +0100

The international community is evading its responsibility towards refugees from Iraq by promoting a false picture of the security situation in Iraq when the country is neither safe nor suitable for return, Amnesty International said today.

In its new report, Rhetoric and reality: the Iraqi refugee crisis, which is based on recent research and interviews with Iraqi refugees, the organization said that the world's richest states are failing to provide the necessary assistance to Iraqi refugees, most of whom are plunged in despair and hurtling towards destitution.

"Governments have done little or nothing to help Iraqi refugees, failing in their moral, political and legal duty to share responsibility for them," said Amnesty International. "Instead, apathy and rhetoric have been the overwhelming response to one of the worst refugee crises in the world."

Amnesty International said that the Government of Iraq and states involved in the invasion of Iraq in 2003, in particular the USA and the UK, highlight "improved" security or "voluntary" returns to Iraq out of political expedience, to demonstrate that their military involvement has been a success.

"Rhetoric cannot hide the reality that the wider human rights situation in Iraq remains dire," said Amnesty International.

"People are being killed every month by armed groups, the Multinational Force, Iraqi security forces and private military and security guards. Kidnappings, torture, ill-treatment and arbitrary detention pervade the daily lives of Iraqis. People continue to attempt to flee, something that is now very difficult with the recent imposition of visa restrictions on Iraqis by Jordan and Syria."

According to the latest estimates of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the number of Iraqis who have fled their homes has now reached 4.7 million, the highest since the US-led invasion of Iraq and the subsequent internal armed conflict.

While Syria and Jordan have shouldered most of the refugee influx, they have now resorted to drastic measures such as restricting entry and deporting people who may be at risk of persecution, partly due to the lack of support from the international community.

Having exhausted savings, many refugees are now living in complete destitution and facing new dangers, such as being forced into so-called "voluntary" return to Iraq and child labour -- many families have been forced to send their children to work in the streets in a desperate bid to help them survive.

For some refugees, the difficulties they are facing in the host country are prompting them to make the difficult and dangerous decision to return to Iraq, either temporarily to collect a pension or food ration or for other such reasons, or more permanently because of their desperate situation, not because they feel they are no longer at risk of human rights abuses in Iraq.

They are making this decision as they feel they have no other option.

A 62-year-old retired Shi’a army officer, Majid, a widower with seven adult children all living in Baghdad, told Amnesty International in February that after attempting to find protection in Syria, with only the 50 lira (US$1) in his pocket, he had to return to Iraq. Even though he was extremely scared, he had lost hope, saying "If I die, I die." Majid fled Iraq in February 2008 after two of his nephews, Mansour and Sami, aged 17 and 19, were beheaded by members of an armed group north of Baghdad. He exhausted his savings in Syria and was soon left with nothing. Weeping, he explained to Amnesty International that he had no alternative but to return to Iraq.

Many European countries are now attempting to deport Iraqis, sometimes to some of the most dangerous parts of Iraq such as the south and central regions. In addition to taking direct actions forcing Iraqis to return, they are using indirect methods such as cutting off basic assistance and services to rejected asylum-seekers in order to force them to “voluntarily” return to Iraq.

Sweden, which is host to the largest number of Iraqi refugees in Europe and once a positive example to its neighbours, has now changed its approach and is denying the vast majority of Iraqis protection and forcibly returning some to very dangerous areas.

Amnesty International is greatly concerned that the failure to respond to this crisis will worsen an already dire situation. Amongst other things, it is calling on the international community to:
• urgently and substantially raise sustainable financial assistance;
• end practices such as forcible returns that put lives at further risk;
• cease practices that result in coerced “voluntary” returns;
• allow individuals to seek paid employment; and
• extensively increase resettlement places for the most vulnerable refugees to start a new life in a third country.

Amnesty International is also calling on the governments of Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt, as well as those of other countries in the region, to allow unrestricted access to people fleeing Iraq, cease all deportations to Iraq, and grant refugees access to the labour market.

"The international community must make a true commitment to assist Iraq's displaced people by substantially boosting sustainable financial assistance, ending forcible returns, stopping practices that result in coerced voluntary returns and offering increased numbers of resettlement places," said Amnesty International.

Iraqi refugees facing desperate situation

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:38:33 +0100

"Omar, a 69-year-old refugee from Baghdad, said he will die a 'slow death' if assistance is stopped. He and his family have depended on food and medical assistance since they fled to Syria in 2006." – UNHCR, May 2008.

Iraq remains one of the most dangerous places in the world. Its refugee crisis is worsening. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), since the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, an estimated 4.7 million have been displaced both within and outside Iraq and for many the situation is desperate.

A new report by Amnesty International, Rhetoric and reality: the Iraqi refugee crisis, says that the international community continues to fail to respond to the crisis in a meaningful way. Countries like Jordan and Syria host most of the refugees but are simply not equipped to meet the needs of all those arriving.

Syria alone may be hosting more than a million refugees. As of 2007, only 1 percent of the total Iraqi displaced population was estimated to be in the industrialized world.

To mark World Refugee Day, Amnesty International has called on the international community and, in particular, those states who participated in the US-led invasion of Iraq, to take real steps to alleviate the suffering of those displaced. The organization said these countries must urgently act on their responsibility to assist the host nations and humanitarian organizations operating in the region to support the large numbers of refugees.

"Many refugees are finding it difficult to survive," said Philip Luther, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme. "They are banned from working and unable to pay rents, buy adequate food for themselves and their families, or obtain medical treatment. Those lucky enough to escape Iraq rely on savings which, for many, are rapidly running out."

Many families are destitute and facing impossible choices and new risks, like having to resort to child labour and the prospect of being forced through circumstances to undertake "voluntary" return to Iraq.

Humanitarian agencies cannot cope with growing demands as more refugees need help with the basics to survive. The UNHCR had planned that by the end of the year it would be distributing food to around 300,000 people in Syria alone. However, the agency recently announced that inadequate funding means that, by August 2008, it will not be able to "cover all basic health needs of Iraqis, and many serious and chronically ill Iraqis will not be able to receive their monthly medication."

Current food aid for 150,000 refugees in Syria and Jordan could be reduced, forcing many Iraqis "into further destitution and raise the likelihood of higher malnutrition rates and increased child labor."

Amnesty International believes it is imperative that the international community increase its contributions to humanitarian agencies such as UNHCR, as well as to the countries hosting Iraqi refugees. Furthermore, there must be a real and sustained effort to resettle vulnerable refugees, such as those with serious medical conditions, to countries where they will receive adequate care.

Manal (not her real name), a refugee living in Damascus, told Amnesty International in February 2008 that three of her children, aged between six and 15 years, work so the family can survive.

Her six-year-old boy sells chewing gum in the street, for about one US dollar a day; her 10-year-old daughter sells chewing gum about three days a week; her oldest son polishes shoes, for the equivalent of about US$2 a day. Her daughter is the only one who goes to school. The family fled to Syria in 2006 after their house in Baghdad was damaged by explosions.

Despite claims among the international community that an "improvement" in the security situation in Iraq has led to people "voluntarily" returning, in reality, most return because they have run out of money and can no longer survive. They return despite the real danger to their lives.

Apart from failing to provide adequate practical and financial support, some states are also rejecting the asylum claims of Iraqis at an alarming rate. More European states are deporting rejected asylum-seekers to Iraq, including countries like Sweden, once a positive example to its European neighbours. Some states are using indirect ways to return people to Iraq, for example cutting off assistance to rejected Iraqi asylum-seekers and therefore forcing them to return "voluntarily".

The failure to respond to the crisis is contributing to the severe deterioration of human rights protection for individuals forced to flee their homes in search of safety. Support is desperately needed so that host countries in the region can meet their own responsibilities in allowing access to all those fleeing violence and human rights abuses.

External Link:

Iraqis in Egypt: Time is running out (Video)

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Egypt continues to deport Eritrean asylum-seekers

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:06:56 +0100

Reports indicate that the Egyptian authorities have deported some 700 Eritrean asylum-seekers to Massawa in Eritrea, on special daily Egypt Air flights from Aswan International airport since 11 June. Up to 900 others are at risk of deportation. Hundreds are apparently detained at Central Security Forces camp in Shallal, south of Aswan. The camp has served as a gathering point for asylum-seekers before they are taken to Aswan airport. On 12 June, a security official confirmed that 200 Eritreans had been "sent back home" the previous day.

On 15 June, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt announced that the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Egypt would be granted access to the Eritreans to assess their asylum claims. However, that same night, it is reported that about 90 Eritrean asylum-seekers were deported.

Asylum-seekers returned to Eritrea are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment, particularly those who have fled from compulsory military service. Most are likely to be arbitrarily detained incommunicado in inhumane conditions for weeks, sometimes years.

Others continue to face deportation. According to information available to Amnesty International, about 270 Eritreans have been transported to Shallal camp from police stations in the Red Sea cities of Hurghada, Halayeb and Shalateen, and 35 from Aswan police station. All police stations near Aswan as well as Idfu police station, north of Aswan, are now empty of Eritrean asylum-seekers; most of them were deported but some are still detained in Shallal camp. Among those who had been detained in Idfu and are now believed to have been deported are about 25 Eritreans who had been awaiting a court ruling on charges of illegal entry to Egypt, scheduled for 21 June.

According to accounts to Amnesty International, when the asylum seekers learned they were to be deported back to Eritrea, they implored the security forces not to do so and some even threatened to kill themselves. They were then searched to make sure they did not carry any object they could use to harm themselves. The asylum-seekers didn't physically resist being put on the airplane but continued to cry and beg.

The 200 asylum-seekers deported on Wednesday 11 June, had been detained in a Central security forces camp in Shallal in Aswan city. They were told they would be transported to the UNHCR office in Cairo.

Their lawyers tried to reach them the same evening to offer medication and food, but could not get to them. The Eritreans were in fact taken to Aswan International airport and put on a special EgyptAir flight to Eritrea.

Since the end of February, flows of Eritrean asylum-seekers have reached Egypt either via its southern border with Sudan or by sea, south of the city of Hurghada. Others are recognized as refugees by the UNHCR in Sudan, and are fleeing Sudan to avoid being forcibly returned to Eritrea by the Sudanese authorities.

Hundreds of the Eritrean asylum-seekers in Aswan were charged with illegal entry in Egypt and were sentenced to a suspended one-month prison term. They were, however, kept in administrative detention by orders of the Ministry of Interior, as granted under the Emergency law in Egypt.

The UNHCR issued guidelines to all governments opposing the return to Eritrea of rejected Eritrean asylum-seekers on the grounds of the record of serious human rights violations in Eritrea. These guidelines are still in force.

Two asylum-seekers returned to Eritrea by the German authorities on 14 May are believed to have been arrested on arrival and have not been seen since. Another asylum-seeker returned from the UK in November 2007 was detained in inhumane conditions and ill-treated before being released.

Thousands are detained in Eritrea, in secret and indefinitely, without charge or trial. They have been arrested for suspected opposition to the government, practicing their religious beliefs as members of banned evangelical or other churches, evading military conscription or trying to flee the country.

Video: The Iraqi refugee crisis

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:41:16 +0100

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Amnesty International delegates visited Syria in February and March 2008 to look at the situation of refugees who had fled from Iraq living there. The footage they recorded there during meetings with the refugees illustrates the trauma experienced by people in Iraq and the day-to-day dangers of life there. It also shows the daily hardship and uncertainty of their lives in Syrian.

South Africa must protect those at risk of "xenophobic" attack

Fri, 30 May 2008 17:28:34 +0100

Amnesty International has called on the South African government to take all necessary measures to protect the human rights of people at continuing risk of violent attacks and displacement from their homes on the basis of their perceived ethnic origins or status as "foreigners" or asylum-seekers.

The organization urged the government to ensure that those who have been subjected to this violence and displacement have access to humanitarian assistance, legal remedies and psycho-social support. No deportations should be carried out without access to full and fair asylum procedures and other full procedural guarantees. Law enforcement agencies should take effective steps to investigate the attacks and those responsible should be brought to justice.

Amnesty International condemns the human rights abuses that have been and continue to be committed against individuals, families and groups defined on the basis of their perceived identity or status.

In the wave of killings, beatings, sexual assaults, looting and destruction of property, the victims have been identified by the perpetrators according to their alleged identity or status. This violence has now occurred in at least five provinces, including most currently in the Durban and Cape Town areas.

Amnesty International acknowledges that members of the government have publicly denounced the violence and are taking some steps to improve the coordination and level of security response to it. All members of the security forces carrying out law enforcement duties, including any members of the armed forces, should comply with the UN Code of Conduct and the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. In conjunction with the commendable work of non-governmental service-providing organizations there also has been an improvement in the official responses to humanitarian needs of the many thousands displaced by the violence.

Members of government at national and provincial levels and leading ANC officials have publicly referred to possibly politically-motivated, organized, ‘third force’ origins of this violence. Whatever may be the factual basis for these views, Amnesty International urges that any official inquiry into the violence be independent and impartial and investigate fully, among other things, any evidence of negligence by law enforcement officials either in the form of failures to act on information provided to them about threats or planned attacks and/or their having turned a ‘blind eye’ to actual attacks.

In addition, the inquiry should examine the role of possible contributory factors to the violence. These include the longstanding pattern of discriminatory practices and attitudes shown towards asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants by officials, including from the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), the police services and also the magistracy.

Legal and advocacy organizations, including Amnesty International, have repeatedly raised with the government their concerns that these practices and attitudes result in effective denial of access to asylum determination procedures, place individuals at risk of arbitrary arrest, unlawful deportation, or forcible return to their countries of origin where they may be subjected to further human rights violations. In addition, an implicit official denial that Zimbabweans in South Africa may be in need of international protection may also have contributed to the hostility towards this group, who have been targeted in the current violence.

Amnesty International is also concerned that those responsible for earlier incidents of attacks on individuals or businesses owned by non-South Africans, including as recently as March 2008, do not appear to have been brought to justice -- thereby contributing to a climate of impunity for these abuses. Moreover, there appear also to have been no disciplinary or other measures taken against police officers who were involved in a high profile police raid on Johannesburg’s Central Methodist Church on 31 January this year, during which hundreds of migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees sheltering at the church were subjected to arbitrary arrest and in some cases excessive force by police. They also were subjected to delays in access to necessary medical treatment for chronic illnesses or injuries received at the hands of the police. Some of those arrested were also unlawfully detained due to the improper and prejudiced conduct of the magistrate who presided over bail hearings.

While the national Minister of Home Affairs publicly stated that no-one affected by the violence should be subjected to deportations, Amnesty International has received reports of deportations occurring, including allegedly involuntary ones. Amnesty International urges the Minister and the DHA to ensure, in cooperation with other relevant departments and service-providers, that any person displaced or otherwise affected directly by the violence should receive counselling support and legal and other advice to enable them to make an informed decision about whether they wish to return to their country of origin. This measure is particularly important in the case of those individuals who had already applied or attempted to apply for asylum or have received refugee status.

Finally, Amnesty International urges the national Minister of Social Development to exercise his discretion under section 5 of the Social Assistance Act of 2004 to ensure that all those displaced by the violence, irrespective of their citizenship status, are able to receive emergency assistance grants.