LeTemps.ch | Les chiffres de la détention administrative à GenèveStatistiques mardi19 mai 2009
Fati Mansour
L’établissement de Frambois, qui compte 21 places, fait régulièrement le plein
L’établissement de détention administrative de Frambois – 21 places réservées prioritairement aux trois cantons concordataires (VD, GE et NE) – ne cesse de faire le plein.
Détention. En 2008, le canton de Genève y a placé 112 personnes (contre 55 en 2007). Pour les quatre premiers mois de 2009, ce nombre se monte déjà à 73 candidats au renvoi. Sur les 112 cas de l’année passée, 80% ont pu être refoulés, 13% ont été libérés et 7% transférés ailleurs. Pour la même période, le canton de Vaud y a envoyé 82 personnes, dont 59 ont pu être renvoyées (80%). Dans une réponse à une interpellation, le Conseil d’Etat vaudois a précisé le 11 mars dernier que 33% de ces détenus administratifs avaient commis des délits. Neuchâtel a refoulé 5 personnes en 2008, soit 56% des gens placés à Frambois par le canton.
Séjour. En moyenne, explique Bernard Ducrest, le «contingent» genevois, soumis à une véritable détention, y passe 40 jours. Mais beaucoup de personnes n’y restent que 48 à 72 heures. Le temps de s’assurer qu’elles ne se défileront pas. De plus, certains détenus sont directement expulsés à leur sortie de Champ-Dollon et n’entrent pas dans cette statistique.
Ce que les chiffres ne disent pas, c’est quel est l’effet collatéral de ces mesures sur les scènes ouvertes ou quel est le nombre de personnes expulsées qui reviennent en Suisse. Il est fréquent de revoir deux, trois ou même quatre fois le même sans-papier.
Recours. En 2008, le Tribunal administratif genevois a rendu 39 décisions en matière de mesures de contrainte (30% de plus qu’en 2007): 32 recours ont été rejetés, 4 détentions ont été réduites dans leur durée et 3 recours ont été admis.
allAfrica.com: East Africa: Over 11 Million People Displaced in Central And East Africa, UN Reports
18 May 2009
Armed conflict and natural disasters in Central and East Africa continue to drive an increasing number of persons from their homes, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported today.
The combined number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees in 16 countries in the area exceeds 11 million, up from 10.9 million in December 2008, according to data compiled by OCHA's regional office.
The report comes amid a year-long, worldwide campaign by the UN's humanitarian wing to raise global awareness of what it calls a widespread "displacement crisis."
It also comes after OCHA announced last week that only 27 per cent of the funds needed to support relief efforts in Central and East Africa have been donated.
Statistics compiled in the Displaced Populations Report published by OCHA Regional Office for Central and East Africa show that at the end of March 2009, 10 countries reported a combined total of over 9.1 million IDPs. They are Burundi, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Kenya, Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.
The DRC, Somalia and Sudan continue to be the countries with the largest IDP populations. Sudan has over 4 million IDPs, while DRC and Somalia have over 1.3 million IDPs each, OCHA said.
Sixteen countries in the region reported a combined total of nearly 1.9 million refugees at the end of March 2009. The refugee hosting countries are Burundi, Cameroon, CAR, Chad, Djibouti, DRC, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
Chad, Kenya, Sudan and Tanzania continue to have the largest number of refugees in the region, with each country hosting over 250,000 refugees at the end of March 2009.
OCHA said that among the causes of the displacement were repeated attacks by the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) on civilians in north-eastern DRC and renewed fighting in the eastern North Kivu province related to the joint DRC-Rwanda military operation in January and February against armed rebel groups.
Also, ongoing hostilities in Somalia have resulted in an influx of refugees to north-eastern Kenya, where the three camps in the Dadaab complex are congested with a population of some 258,000 refugees - or nearly three times their original capacity - as of March 2009.
In addition to conflicts, displacement is also triggered by natural disasters such as floods and droughts, creating large in-country and cross-border population movements, OCHA said.
Lack of access to displaced people due to insecurity and targeting of humanitarian workers is an ongoing challenge to those who provide aid in countries such as CAR, Chad, DRC, Somalia, and the Darfur region of Sudan, the Office added.
Last week OCHA reported that some 1.4 million had been contributed to its special appeal, launched in November of last year, to raise almost $5.3 million to respond to crises in Africa.
The awareness campaign, organized by OCHA with the support of its partners, was launched in December 2008 on the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.
allAfrica.com: South Africa: Xenophobic Violence Has Ended But Foreigners Still Feel Unsafe
Wilson Johwa
11 May 2009
Johannesburg — JEFFREY Ramohlale, the man after whom a Pretoria informal settlement is named, gives a calm assurance that foreigners have returned to Jeffsville after last year's xenophobic attacks.
The attacks took place weeks after mobs had set off against perceived outsiders in nearby Iirileng. But Ramohlale says Pakistanis, more than other nationalities, have since moved back in, taking over spaza shops in which they also live. "There is no more fear among the foreigners," he claims.
However, a report by the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in SA (Cormsa) says that exactly a year after Alexandra residents turned on their foreigners, the foreigners are still insecure. Little has been done to address the root causes of the violence and, as a result, threats of violence against foreigners remain common in some communities.
The accountability of those responsible for public violence remains minimal, while too few perpetrators of last year's violence have been prosecuted, Cormsa says. It also feels insufficient investigations have been conducted into those responsible for instigating and fuelling the violence, and says the state has held no public inquiry.
Sixty-two people, including 21 South Africans, died and thousands were made homeless when locals turned on their foreign neighbours, beginning in Alexandra. After two weeks and the deployment of the army, the violence subsided, having spread to other informal settlements and townships across the country.
However, Cormsa say since then further threats of violence against non-nationals have occurred in places like Diepsloot, Tsakane, Potchefstroom and Erasmia. In the absence of sufficient conflict-resolution mechanisms, it has largely been left to the police and a few well-intentioned individuals to prevent violence. "No government department takes responsibility to consistently address such conflict."
A planned inquiry by the South African Human Rights Commission is yet to start. A report by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) ascribed the violence to local-level politics, especially competition by unelected officials running a plethora of competing structures such as street committees and various other associations. It found little evidence to support early accounts blaming the violence on a "third force", poor border controls or rising food prices.
Watson Nxele, chairman of the community policing forum in Atteridgeville, says as long as the needs of locals are not addressed the area will remain volatile. He blames the plethora of "civic" organisations under which community leaders rent out shacks and collect money to solve local issues. "These offices actually undermine government; they operate as parallel structures and no-go areas," he says.
Nxele says since last year's violence there are still almost 50 foreigners living at a shelter in Pretoria. Policing much of the informal area is a nightmare. There are no proper roads and lighting, and the shacks are not clearly numbered. Illegal activity abounds, he says.
An offshoot of Atteridgeville, Jeffsville lies at the heart of one of Gauteng's service delivery trouble spots. Encompassing some adjoining informal settlements, it is as old as it is controversial.
It is a weird place where, amid dirt roads, flowing sewage and choking weeds, a section of the shacks is electrified. Leading up to the elections , many residents refused to register to vote, saying they were tired of politicians' promises.
Ramohlale, clearly a man who holds sway in the area, says housing is the main priority. He feels the local councillor is ineffective and has since moved out of the area. "You see, when you are a leader you have to live with the same people you are leading," he says.
He also accuses the Tshwane municipality of ignoring what residents have to say, resulting in outsiders, including foreigners, getting the new RDP houses that are taking shape not far from the offices of the Jeffsville Residents' Association, which he chairs. He would like the local authority to revert to the old method where at public meetings the residents' association would announce the names of beneficiaries. "We are the ones who know this place in and out," he says.
Crónica EEUU/África.- La crisis hace que disminuya la inmigración de Latinoamérica hacia EEUU, pero aumenta la africana - Yahoo! Noticias
domingo, 3 de mayo, 17.26
Europa Press
Los expertos estadounidenses están empezando a detectar un descenso en la inmigración ilegal procedente de América Latina debido a los estragos de la crisis y la falta de trabajo en la Tierra de las Oportunidades, pero los africanos, principalmente procedentes del Cuerno de África, están llegando en números cada vez mayores tras recorrer miles y miles de kilómetros.
Es el caso de Sharew, emigrante etíope encarcelado en reiteradas ocasiones por motivos políticos en su propio país, que pagó 10.000 dólares a unos contrabandistas por un viaje a través de una decena de países que le ha llevado un año después a la ciudad mexicana de Tapachula, en el sur de México.
Una vez en la frontera sur de México, punto de paso obligado para cientos de inmigrantes que huyen de conflictos en el Cuerno de África, Sharew está aún a 3.200 kilómetros de su destino: Estados Unidos.
Tradicionalmente, los inmigrantes africanos han buscado trabajo en países europeos cerca del mar Mediterráneo como España, Italia o Francia pero el objetivo declarado de Europa de frenar la inmigración ilegal ha hecho más atractivos otros destinos.
Los inmigrantes, principalmente de Etiopía, Somalia y Eritrea, están siguiendo cada vez más una nueva y épica ruta hacia el sur de África pasando por Sudáfrica, para después cruzar el Atlántico en barco o avión y recorrer por tierra parte del sur y el centro de América.
"Es un viaje enorme. Nos han dicho que algunos pierden la vida en el camino en África porque son atacados, incluso por leones", aseguró Jorge Yzar, director del centro de internamiento de Tapachula, donde decenas de inmigrantes duermen en habitaciones antes de ser deportados o puestos en libertad.
Además de los riesgos, deben asumir un elevado coste por el viaje en avión, barco, camión, autobús y a pie que puede llegar a los miles de dólares --algunos pagan hasta 20.000 dólares-- cantidades que suelen ser prestadas por las propias familias de los emigrantes.
"Después de un viaje como este te das cuenta de que no hay lugar seguro en ninguna parte del mundo. Sólo los fuertes sobreviven a él", afirmó Sharew, de 29 años, mientras bebía sorbos de refresco durante la cena en Tapachula.
RESPIRO EN MÉXICO
Tras huir de las autoridades de tres continentes, inmigrantes como Sharew tienen un respiro en México gracias a una laguna legal que permite a los inmigrantes procedentes de zonas en conflicto contar con 30 días de estancia a cambio de entregarse a la Policía. Este plazo les permite culminar el último tramo de su odisea.
El número de africanos que pasa por el centro de detención de Tapachula se ha triplicado hasta los más de 600 acogidos en 2008, explicó Yzar. Sin embargo, antes de 2004 no se había registrado ningún africano en las estadísticas mexicanas de inmigración. Los africanos suelen ser adultos jóvenes bien vestidos, educados y ambiciosos y destacan claramente entre centroamericanos que fluyen por Tapachula rumbo al norte, mucho más empobrecidos.
Tras cruzar el poco profundo río Suchiate que separa México de Guatemala y de pasar dos semanas en el centro de detención de Tapachula, Sharew y aproximadamente una decena de inmigrantes puestos en libertad al mismo tiempo compraron billetes de avión con destino al norte de México. El negocio ha sido tan bueno en Tapachula que una agencia de viajes local ha estampado camisetas con la leyenda "México + África" dentro de un gran corazón rojo.
GRANDES DIFICULTADES
Aunque aún resta cruzar el río Bravo furtivamente, la mayoría aseguran en México que lo peor ya ha pasado. Las mafias internacionales de tráfico de personas emplean a traficantes locales en cada país para llevar a los inmigrantes a través de las fronteras desde África a América Latina empleando documentación falsa, puntos ciegos en la seguridad fronteriza o directamente sobornando a funcionarios corruptos.
Los inmigrantes huyen de Somalia, país asolado por la violencia desde hace casi dos décadas, del servicio militar obligatorio en Eritrea o de las protestas en Etiopía después de que la violencia post electoral causara la muerte de casi 200 personas en el 2005.
A veces deben huir cruzando fronteras africanas a pie, caminando largas distancias donde corren el riesgo de encontrarse con animales salvajes, explicó Yzar. Muchos llegan de África en barco o avión a Brasil o Ecuador, donde la política de visados es laxa, y luego se desplazan miles de kilómetros por tierra, en un camino en el que no es raro que sean estafados por los contrabandistas.
Además, no todos los países tienen leyes como las de México y en algunos los inmigrantes pueden pasar meses en prisión. Mohamed Ahmed Hassan, un camionero de Mogadiscio de 31 años, vendió su tierra para dejar Somalia en julio del 2008 y pagó 1.500 dólares para ser llevado como polizón en un barco sudafricano con destino Brasil.
Desde ahí viajó río arriba por el Amazonas hasta Colombia, donde fue puesto en una pequeña embarcación no apta para navegar con rumbo a Panamá. "Era demasiado pequeña y el agua entraba por los costados. Ese momento fue peligroso. Temí por mi vida, pensé que me moría", dijo Hassan, después de ser detenido en Guatemala.
Report Finds U.S. Often Greets Asylum Seekers with Prison, not Protection
Human Rights First Calls on the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, and Congress, to Put Safeguards on Use of Detention and Improve Conditions
Washington, DC – Since 2003, U.S. immigration authorities have spent more than $300 million to detain over 48,000 asylum seekers in U.S. prisons and prison-like facilities – in a system that lacks basic due process safeguards and is inconsistent with America's longstanding commitment to protect those who flee from persecution, according to a report released today by a leading human rights organization.
"Refugees who seek protection in this country are greeted with handcuffs and prison uniforms, and they are treated like prisoners in correctional facilities," said Eleanor Acer, the director of Human Rights First's Refugee Protection Program. "New leadership at the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice should seize the opportunity to end this practice and implement some long overdue reforms, like ensuring that an asylum seeker can't be detained for months or years without having an immigration court consider the need for continued detention."
In its report, U.S. Detention of Asylum Seekers: Seeking Protection, Finding Prison,
Human Rights First also found:
* ICE has increased its use of penitentiary-like facilities by 62% in recent years – and asylum seekers, who are often brought in handcuffs and sometimes shackles to these facilities, are detained for months and sometimes years in actual jails or facilities that are operated like jails
* Some of the largest facilities are located far from legal representation and the immigration courts – at some of these facilities detained asylum seekers see U.S. immigration judges only on television sets, since their immigration court asylum hearings are often conducted by video.
* While it costs ICE about $95 a day to detain an asylum seeker, alternatives to detention cost between $10 and $14 a day, and releasing on parole an asylum seeker who satisfies the release criteria and poses no threat to the community has no daily cost.
* ICE release policies for asylum seekers have become more restrictive in recent years, and parole rates have dropped sharply – leaving some asylum seekers detained for months or years even though they met the release criteria and presented no risk to the public.
"We interviewed victims of political oppression, religious persecution, and ethnic violence from Burundi, Burma, Guinea, Iraq, Tibet and elsewhere. They were detained by ICE in U.S. prisons or prison-like conditions in California, Illinois, New Jersey, Texas, and Virginia, often for months and sometimes years before they were granted asylum by the United States," said Jessica Chicco, an attorney with Human Rights First.
Based on its findings, Human Rights First today made the following key recommendations to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Congress:
* Review of Detention: All asylum seekers should have the chance to have their continued detention reviewed by an immigration court, as other immigration detainees do.
* Penal Conditions: The United States should stop using jails and facilities run like jails to detain asylum seekers. Instead, asylum seekers who are no threat to the community should be released on parole or supervision; when asylum seekers are detained, they should be held at facilities that are not modeled on criminal correctional facilities, and where they are not handcuffed, are allowed to wear their own clothes and have freedom of movement within the facility.
* Remote Facilities: ICE should stop using jails and detention facilities located in remote areas that are far from legal representation resources, immigration courts, or an adequate pool of medical staff.
To read U.S. Detention of Asylum Seekers: Seeking Protection, Finding Prison, including Human Rights First's complete set of recommendations, detailed accounts of asylum seekers who have been detained in U.S. facilities, visit http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/pdf/090429-RP-hrf-asylum-detention-report.pdf.
To view an executive summary for this report, visit http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/pdf/090429-RP-hrf-asylum-detention-sum-doc.pdf.
To read the Department of Homeland Security's letter to Human Rights First in response to a draft of this report, click http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/pdf/090430-RP-sign-rep-schriro-sovcik-hrw.pdf
allAfrica.com: Africa: New Church Study Finds Human Trafficking Growing
8 May 2009
Nairobi — Human trafficking for the purpose of forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation is a growing problem in East Africa, the findings of a new study show.
The study, conducted by the Catholic agency, Koinonia Advisory Research and Development Service (KARDS), to establish the response of faith-based organizations and other actors to the vice, covered Kenya and Tanzania. The findings were published last month.
Fifty-one organizations participated in the study. In Kenya, the study was conducted in Malindi, Mobasa and Nairobi, while in Tanzania data was gathered in Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar.
The study found that in Tanzania boys are trafficked for forced labour on farms, in mines, the fishing industry and the informal business sector. "Tanzanian girls from rural areas are trafficked to urban centres and the Island of Zanzibar for domestic servitude and commercial sexual exploitation; some domestic workers fleeing abusive employers fall prey to forced prostitution."
Tanzanian men are reportedly trafficked to South Africa for forced labour and girls are trafficked to Oman, the United Arab Emirates and possibly Europe, the report says.
Kenyan children are trafficked within the country for domestic servitude, street vending, agricultural labour, herding, work as bar maids, and commercial sexual exploitation. Other trafficked Kenyans end up in other African nations, the Middle East, Europe and North America.
"Employment agencies facilitate and profit from the trafficking of Kenyan nationals to Middle Eastern nations, notably Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Lebanon, as well as Germany."
Chinese, Indian and Pakistan women reportedly transit Nairobi en route to Europe for the sexual trade. Brothels and massage parlours in Nairobi also employ foreign women. Children are trafficked into Kenya from Rwanda, DR Congo, Ehtiopia, Uganda and Somalia.
The report blames the vice on poverty, unemployment, migration, globalization, lack of birth registration, cultural and social norms and lack of appropriate laws to deal with human trafficking.
"Tanzania has enacted a law on human trafficking that is yet to be gazetted and enforced. Kenya's efforts to develop an appropriate law have been dragging on since 2007 when NGO's passed to the [Attorney General] a recommended bill," the report says.
Copyright © 2009 Catholic Information Service for Africa. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
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