Lives in danger as European governments deny refugees protection | Amnesty International
19 June 2009
Governments in Europe are putting lives at risk by denying refugees protection, Amnesty International warned on Saturday.
“Refugees are risking their lives to find safety only to be turned away when they reach Europe,” said Nicola Duckworth, Europe and Central Asia Director at Amnesty International.
“Governments must stop putting lives in danger and start meeting their international obligations to protect these vulnerable people.”
Amnesty International’s call for government action comes on World Refugee Day, which is held on 20 June every year. World Refugee Day sees thousands of organizations in hundreds of countries coming together to focus global attention on the plight of refugees and the causes of their exile.
Countries at Europe’s border are showing a flagrant disregard for their international obligations towards refugees:
* Italy is intercepting refugees in international waters and physically transporting them, without assessing their protection needs, to Libya, where migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees are at risk of ill-treatment and forcible return to countries where they risk serious human rights abuses.
* Greece pushes back people at its land border and sea borders with Turkey without first assessing their asylum claims. For those that do enter the country there are many legal obstacles for refugees to gain protection.
* Spain’s bilateral agreements with several countries in Africa are used to justify the arbitrary arrest, detention and deportation of asylum-seekers and migrants in these countries.
* Turkey continues not to recognise people from outside Europe as refugees, meaning thousands of people are denied the protection they need.
On World Refugee Day, Amnesty International warned EU states that their actions are undermining the protection of refugees not only in their own countries but also across the world, by sending a dangerous message on the treatment of refugees.
The organization said that all countries must meet their obligations towards refugees and asylum-seekers not only within their own borders but wherever they exercise effective control.
Reaction to youtube video of expulsion | Amnesty International
19 June 2009
A video posted on Youtube this week graphically brings home the often degrading nature of forced expulsions of irregular migrants. The footage of a man lying on his stomach on the airport tarmac, his arms and legs tied together behind his back and apparently being gagged was shot by a passenger waiting for flight IB3722 to Dakar at Madrid airport on 15 June. Finally, he is picked up off the ground by two police officers, still tied up, and put in the back of the police van, more like a piece of luggage than a human being. It appears that the pilot of the plane refused to transport a man in such conditions, and other passengers refused to travel with him.
At one point in the film it appears that a police officer rests his foot on the man’s back after roughly rolling him onto his stomach. Such an action is clearly an unnecessary use of force, and the officer in question should be disciplined and/or prosecuted accordingly.
However, what is truly shocking about this film is that most of the actions of the police officers are not unlawful under Spanish guidelines. The dehumanising and brutal procedure you see is in line with Spanish police protocol for forced deportations which, contrary to the recommendations of various Council of Europe bodies, does not explicitly prohibit the use of gags or restraint techniques which may cause positional asphyxiation (i.e. suffocate the person being restrained by holding them in a position which blocks their airways, such as lying on the stomach for a prolonged period of time). The protocol also allows the use of handcuffs, reinforced tape, sedatives, masks and immobilising belts. Such restraint techniques not only increase the risk of suffocation to the person being expelled if used inappropriately, but are also a real security risk during take-off and landing. Nervous flyer? You would be.
States have the right to control who is allowed to enter their territory, and are free to expel those present without the proper authorisation. But this must be done in line with basic human rights standards and respect for human dignity. Amnesty International has repeatedly called on EU countries, including Spain, to ensure irregular migrants and rejected asylum-seekers being forcibly returned to their country of origin are not subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, or any excessive use of force. States’ protocols on forced deportations should reflect international human rights standards and be strictly adhered to by law enforcement officials. In fact, the Spanish protocol itself notes that individuals being repatriated should only be restrained in a manner which “does not harm their dignity or personal integrity”. But such wording is meaningless if not respected in practice.
One’s dignity is not the only thing endangered by such treatment : lives can also be lost. On 9 June 2007, almost exactly two years ago, Osamuyia Akpitaye died while being forcibly expelled from Spain to Nigeria. No video is available to show us what happened to him, but witnesses state he was gagged and tied by police officers. He died of suffocation shortly after take-off. Two officers have now been charged with negligent manslaughter and today, two years on, Osamayuia Akpitaye’s family is waiting for a trial date, and justice. The question is, were their actions in line with official protocols? And if so, how long before those protocols are changed?
timesofmalta.com - Immigrants found south of Lampedusa taken by Libyan patrol boatFriday, 19th June 2009 - 11:57CET
A Libyan patrol boat this morning took on board 76 illegal immigrants who had been met 29 miles south of Lampedusa by Italy's Guardia Costiera yesterday evening, international news agencies reported. The patrol boat headed to Tripoli.
They said that a Maltese private aircraft reported the migrants to a German Border Police helicopter operating out of Luqa as part of Frontex operations.
UNHCR | Refworld | Indonesia-Australia: "Significant" increase in illegal migration
JAKARTA, 12 June 2009 (IRIN) - Indonesia is experiencing a fresh influx of asylum seekers using the country as a transit point to Australia.
Conflict and economic hardship are driving the trend, officials say.
Many from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Iraq seek better lives elsewhere, with hundreds transiting through the island nation and embarking on perilous journeys in creaky boats to Australia, officials confirm.
On 28 May, nine people were killed and 11 went missing after a boat carrying 36 Australia-bound undocumented migrants from Afghanistan sank off Indonesia's Sumatra Island.
On 2 June, police on the eastern island of Sumba arrested four suspected people-smugglers trying to send 59 Afghan and Pakistani migrants to Australia.
Between April and May alone, Indonesian police detained 147 undocumented migrants, mostly from war-torn Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, Indonesia's Directorate-General of Immigration (DGI) reported.
"There's definitely an increase compared to the previous months," said Muchdor, the director for enforcement at the DGI.
About 800 migrants were intercepted between September 2008 and April 2009 while fewer than 400 were caught in the previous period, he said.
National police spokesman Abubakar Nataprawira said there had been a "significant" increase in illegal arrivals this year, but did not give figures.
At a regional conference on people smuggling in Indonesia on 14 April, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith warned that the global financial crisis might force more people to seek better lives, leading to more people smuggling and trafficking.
Porous borders
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), given Indonesia's porous borders and lack of resources and coordination among agencies, many illegal arrivals go undetected.
More than 800 asylum seekers are being held in detention centres across Indonesia pending examination by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on their refugee status, said immigration spokesman, Maroloan Barimbing.
"Their main motive is that they don't feel safe in their countries and they have to escape to survive," Barimbing said.
This year alone, Australian authorities intercepted 12 boats carrying asylum-seekers mostly from Afghanistan and the Middle East, against seven last year.
The IOM's 2008 annual report stated it had helped 136 "irregular migrants" mostly from Iraq and Afghanistan last year, with 91 resettled in third countries and 36 returned voluntarily. The remainder were reunited with their lost families in different countries.
This year the IOM has helped 48 mostly Afghan asylum seekers to return home voluntarily and resettled 36 in third countries, including Canada and Australia, said Jihan Labetubun, an IOM Indonesia official.
Law enforcement
Indonesia said the recent arrests of undocumented migrants showed that law enforcers were doing their job well.
"It shows that the government has been successful in detecting the presence of illegal migrants. This is positive in terms of law enforcement," the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Teuku Faizasyah, told IRIN.
He also said the government was considering holding asylum seekers under one roof in Jakarta, instead of keeping them in separate immigration centres across the country under the present system, to monitor them more effectively.
Indonesian Justice Minister Andi Mattalatta and a high-level Australian delegation led by Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus met in Jakarta on 4 June to discuss further efforts to tackle people smuggling and the flow of undocumented migrants.
The two countries agreed on new measures, including improving arrangements for the care of migrants in Indonesia, detention management, mutual legal assistance and training for immigration and law enforcement agencies, the Australian embassy said in a statement issued on 4 June.
In a posting on the Australian Home Affairs Ministry's website, Debus said the government had allocated an additional Aus$654 million (US$531 million) to combat people smuggling.
"Our strengthened border security measures will enable us to identify people smugglers, intercept people-smuggling ventures and prosecute people smugglers," he said.
Meanwhile, Anita Restu, a spokeswoman for the UNHCR in Indonesia, said her office was verifying the status of 821 asylum seekers who had applied for refugee status, from Afghanistan, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Iran and Somalia.
"They will undergo an interview process," Restu told IRIN, adding that it would take time before it could be determined whether they were eligible for refugee status and resettled.
The IOM said it was cooperating with Indonesia and Australia under a tripartite agreement allowing Indonesia to determine the intention of intercepted migrants.
Those identified as transiting through Indonesia on their way to Australia or New Zealand were referred to IOM for assistance.
allAfrica.com: South Africa: Angolan Refugee Killed
Nomangesi Mbiza
17 June 2009
The death of an Angolan has raised more questions about the safety of refugees at the Nyanga refugee centre.
Sebastian Santana, 29, was stabbed to death by unidentified men on Monday morning at the bridge near the centre. Angolan refugee leader Joao Nascineto told the Cape Argus last night that Santana was on his way to the centre to renew his papers when he was approached by men who told him to go back to his country.
"They then tried to rob him and when he resisted, they stabbed him three times," Nascineto said. He said refugees were concerned about xenophobic attacks in the area, and had asked that the centre be moved.
"If the location is not changed, more bodies are going to be seen there. My friend, colleague and my countryman has died, how many have to die until something is done about the centre?" Nascineto asked.
Braam Hanekom, chairperson of Passop (People against Suppression, Suffering, Oppression and Poverty), said it was not only the refugees but also the neighbouring businesses who wanted the centre moved.
Bishop Lavis police spokesperson Captain Marie Louw said police found Santana's body at about 10.20am in the field alongside Borcherd's Quarry Road.
"According the clerk at the Nyanga Home Affairs office, (Santana) had an appointment for 7am to renew his work permit," she said. Santana had apparently not been robbed, since he still had his cellphone, as well as R2 400 in his pocket.
"Police are investigating a murder case," Louw said. A Somali shopowner was shot and killed in Guguletu on Monday night.
Police spokesperson Captain Elliot Sinyangana said four men entered the shop, then pulled out guns and demanded money. The shopowner was shot in the upper body and the men escaped with cash, cigarettes and airtime.
Sinyangana said that at a meeting called by the police in the area on Tuesday, local shopowners distanced themselves from the incident, saying it was a straight criminal case.
Bishkek Tells Uzbekistan To Free Kyrgyz Nationals - Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty © 2009
June 18, 2009
BISHKEK -- Kyrgyzstan has officially asked Uzbek authorities to release two Kyrgyz citizens detained by Uzbek border guards for allegedly crossing the border illegally, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
Kyrgyz Border Guard Service press secretary Dosnazar Abdulazizov told RFE/RL that Kyrgyz authorities are holding talks with Uzbek officials about the release of Zakir Akbarov and Ubaydulla Mitalipov, who are ethnic Uzbeks.
The two were detained by Uzbek border guards in May and charged with crossing the border illegally.
Uzbek authorities insist they must be tried in Uzbekistan, while Bishkek wants their cases tried in Kyrgyzstan.
Agresión racista en Belfast contra inmigrantes rumanos
Veinte familias de etnia gitana dejan sus casas tras ser atacados con botellas y ladrillos
WALTER OPPENHEIMER | Londres 17/06/2009
Un total de 115 ciudadanos rumanos de etnia gitana -incluido un bebé nacido hace cinco días- tuvieron que refugiarse el martes por la noche en una iglesia del sur de Belfast tras sufrir varios días de acoso racista. Irlanda del Norte ha vivido un incremento de los incidentes racistas en los últimos años, en parte por el aumento de la población inmigrante tras el fin de los disturbios entre católicos y protestantes y en parte porque algunos grupos de la población han dirigido a los extranjeros el sectarismo que antes mostraban contra sus conciudadanos del bando opuesto.
Las 20 familias afectadas por los ataques (les arrojaron botellas y ladrillos) pasaron ayer el día en un centro municipal y por la tarde fueron trasladadas a residencias ahora desocupadas en la cercana Universidad de Queens, donde estarán durante una semana. Aunque algunos de los rumanos atacados quieren volver a su país, las autoridades confían en encontrarles una residencia alternativa en Belfast para evitar que su marcha cause un mal precedente que pueda ser imitado por quienes se oponen a los inmigrantes.
Los ataques fueron condenados tanto por el primer ministro británico, Gordon Brown, como por el ministro principal adjunto de Irlanda del Norte, Martin McGuinness. La policía local, que pareció admitir que no ha actuado con la rapidez debida en este conflicto, descartó que los incidentes fueran orquestados por un grupo paramilitar lealista.
El Ulster acoge desde hace varias generaciones un nutrido grupo de inmigrantes indios, chinos y vietnamitas que en los últimos años se ha extendido a otros países. Este año ya se registraron incidentes tras un partido de clasificación para el Mundial de fútbol entre Irlanda del Norte y Polonia.
allAfrica.com: Botswana: Law for Exiles Needs Fixing
17 June 2009
editorial
Botswana's Refugees Act is obsolete and it needs revamping, some sections of the community urge.
It is gratifying that already there are initiatives to review the act. Last week, at the University of Botswana, the law department held a workshop on the review of the refugees act.
During the deliberations, some panelists raised issues about the prevailing practice in the country where asylum seekers are detained while their applications for asylum are processed.
Some of these applicants are kept in holding cells with illegal immigrants who are awaiting deportation to their countries of origin. Put differently, criminals are put together with asylum seekers. Some of these asylum seekers are children.
This practice has come under condemnation for flouting international best practices as it exposes children and other asylum seekers to security risks. The practice also has the potential to cause far reaching psychological problems for children when they mix with outlaws, some of whom are violent.
While Botswana has over the years tried very hard to be hospitable to asylum seekers, it is important that we maintain international best practices to ensure that we make refugees safe. They should feel at home even though they have fled their countries.
The Refugees Act should be reviewed and all the relics of the past that still exist in the act should be modernized. We believe this review exercise will eventually lead to such a process.
Youth must embrace 'day of African Child'
June has been set aside as the African continent's youth month. More specifically, June 16 has been adopted by the African Union as the 'Day of the African Child'. That gives the African youth an opportunity on that date to see how far they have progressed since the students of South Africa rose up in 1976 against education in the language of the settler community that spoke Afrikaans.
It does appear though, that since that historical milestone, must the African continent and its youth should now urgently consider availing economic resources to young people.
The youth too, have a great challenge, and they should be encouraged to take their destiny into their own hands.
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