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Dispatches No. 229
Up | January 18, 2008
REFUGEE NEWS BRIEFINGS
UPDATES ON JRS PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES
REFUGEE NEWS BRIEFINGS
KENYA: OPPOSITION WINS VOTE FOR PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKER
On 15 January, Kenya's opposition won the post of speaker of parliament, confirming its supremacy in the house and signalling legislative problems for President Mwai Kibaki after his disputed presidential election.
After three rounds of votes, Kenneth Marende, candidate of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), achieved the required simple majority to become speaker in the first session of parliament since disputed presidential election results.
Marende won 105 votes against 101 for the government candidate, outgoing speaker Francis ole Kaparo. The close vote indicated there could be a deadlock in parliament and Kibaki would have difficulty passing essential bills.
In the 222-seat parliament, despite losing the presidential elections, ODM is the largest party in the parliament after it won 99 seats. Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU) won only 43 seats but it will try to garner enough support from other parties to overcome ODM obstruction. The vote indicated the opposition has the upper hand for now.
In the aftermath of the election, rioting left more than 600 people dead and scores of persons injured and their property destroyed. Just before the announcement of the results by the electoral commission of Kenya, the ODM alleged the government had rigged the elections and altered some of the figures from the constituencies in favor of president Kibaki. As a result Kibaki ‘won’ the elections with 4.5 million votes against Raila Odinga’s 4.3 million. The votes were immediately disputed by the opposition and sporadic riots begun throughout the country (except in central and eastern Kenya where the president has a large support).
Staff in the JRS regional and country offices face difficulties moving around the capital Nairobi. For instance, they come to work when transport is available. The normal pattern of life has been badly affected in Nairobi, as it has in many other parts of the country, and this is likely to continue for some time.
JRS Kenya Director, Anne Wangari, recently returned from field visits in Limuru, on the outskirts of Nairobi, and in Eldoret and Kitale dioceses in the west of the country, where respectively an estimated 45,000 and 43,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) presently reside.
In Kitale, some 17,000 IDPs have found temporary shelter in a school. However, as the school year begins, they will have to be relocated. Bishop Crawley described the situation as enormously problematic, exacerbated by long-running separatist movements in the Mount Elgon area.
For further information on the unrest in Kenya see www.jrs.net/alerts
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COTE D’IVOIRE: DELAYS IN PEACE ACCORD MAY THREATEN STABILITY
In his latest report, UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon recommended that the United Nations operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI), be extended until January 2009. He implied that slow progress in meeting benchmarks of last year’s peace agreement poses a threat to stability.
The pact, established last March, outlines a series of measures to end the crisis which divided Côte d’Ivoire between a Government-controlled south and the rebel Forces Nouvelles-held north in 2002.
Despite improved security and political conditions in recent months, the Secretary-General highlighted delays in the dismantling of militias and a rise in criminal activities linked to the prevalence of weapons in the country.
The report called for increased efforts between governmental and international actors towards identification of the population, voter registration, disarmament, and the re-deployment of State authority throughout the country.
“JRS is hopeful that the administration re-deploys effectively and soon. IDPs are returning despite insecurity especially in the north and west where people are vulnerable to continued human rights abuses,” Communications Officer, Ashley Gagné told Dispatches on 11 January.
“Political will must be shown for real and lasting security. Stating that the pieces are in place is simply not enough,” Gagné added.
JRS is re-evaluating it’s presence in Cote d’Ivoire as public services gradually return in the north where JRS has provided healthcare and educational programmes since 2003.
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DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: PEACE CONFERENCE THE KIVUS
On 9 January, a major conference began in the University of the Great Lakes in Goma, North Kivu. The aim of the event is to restore peace and stability in North and South Kivu provinces in the east of the country. It is due to end on 17 January.
It was organised in response to the latest rounds of fighting which began last September, causing widespread displacement and destruction in the east of the country.
At the beginning of the conference, the chairman, Apollinaire Malumalu, called on the minister for social and humanitarian affairs, Jean-Claude Muyambo, to present the government's humanitarian action plan.
According to JRS staff in the region, urgent action to protect the civilian population is desperately needed.
"There are already 60,000 people living in camps and an unknown number in Goma itself. Reports keep pouring in of an estimated 300,000 displaced all over this vast province (the size of Rwanda and Burundi), and of atrocities committed against civilians. They still cannot be reached by humanitarian organisations and are in a bad shape, fleeing the fighting, losing their crops and animals, living in the forest, beyond basic health services, vulnerable to serious diseases," JRS Regional Director, Tony Calleja SJ, told Dispatches on 9 January.
For further information see www.jrs.net/alerts
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NEPAL: 13,000 REFUGEES TO BE RESETTLED THIS YEAR
On 9 January, a refugee resettlement processing centre for the Bhutanese refugees in eastern Nepal opened. It is located in Damak city in Jhapa district.
Speaking at the opening, the US ambassador Nancy Powell said that it was her hope that in 2008 more than 13,000 refugees will be resettled from Nepal, and that by the end of 2009 an additional 20,000 or more refugees will have been resettled in the United States, Australia, Canada, and elsewhere.
Each refugee is entitled to make his or her own choice, in an atmosphere free from threats and intimidation, the US ambassador said in her statement. She also thanked the government of Nepal for its work in improving the security and safety of the refugees in the camps.
The US ambassador emphasised that the offer of resettlement went hand in hand with continuing efforts to urge the government of Bhutan to accept the return of the refugees.
She also urged the Nepalese government to approve expedited exit permits for all refugees who are currently otherwise eligible for resettlement and to establish for future use a standardised process for the expeditious departure of refugees who wish to be resettled."
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SRI LANKA: CEASEFIRE ENDED BY GOVERNMENT
On 2 January, the 2002 ceasefire agreement between the ethnic Tamil LTTE insurgents and the government was unilaterally ended by the government.
Government officials blamed the LTTE for a bomb attack that day on an army bus in the country’s capital, Colombo, and said the agreement had ceased to have any meaning. During the course of the six year agreement both sides had repeatedly broken the terms of the ceasefire, and effectively resumed the 25-year-old civil year.
The government accused the LTTE of breaching the truce more than 10,000 times in six years, carrying out high-profile assassinations, terror attacks and abductions of children. The government itself has been carrying out a military campaign, using aircraft and artillery, causing the deaths of some 5,000 civilians and displacing over 300,000, mostly minority Tamils and Muslims.
In a statement by the LTTE, the group called on the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, the international body established to monitor and enquire into reported violations of the ceasefire agreement, not to leave the country. The group, the statement added, remained committed to the ceasefire agreement.
“We fear a further escalation of violence in which civilians will pay a heavy price. We remind both parties of their obligations to protect civilians and ensure humanitarian assistance to be provided to affected areas. We urge them to go back to the negotiating table - which is the only place where a viable solution can be found”, JRS South Asia Regional Advocacy Officer, Paul Newman, stated on 10 January.
For further information see www.jrs.net/alerts
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THAILAND: RISE IN UNACCOMPANIED SOMALI MINORS SEEKING ASYLUM
Since the beginning of last September, JRS Bangkok office has seen a sudden rise in the number of Somali asylum seekers. To date, over 50 cases have been assisted by the JRS urban refugee programme in Bangkok. Single women and unaccompanied minors comprise the majority of the Somali group. The youngest registered with the UNHCR so far is an 11-year-old unaccompanied boy.
Most of them have paid “agents” a fee ranging from US$1,500 to 3,500 to bring them into Thailand – either on-route to the Western countries or to be resettled as refugees in third countries. To raise this sum of money, many Somalis have resorted to selling their land and other assets or borrowing from relatives, friends and moneylenders.
It is unclear if this could place them in a highly leveraged debt situation where the asylum seekers are forced to work in Thailand in order to pay off their debts. However, some asylum seekers are purportedly working for African employers in exchange for shelter and food.
Although no cases of sexual exploitation or forced labour have been reported, JRS is concerned that they could be easily taken advantage of due to their young age.
“The majority of them are young and possibly ignorant of the implications of their leaving home. They are in a foreign land where they cannot speak the local language. Their temporary guardians are often the agents who arrange their travel to Thailand, whom they rely on for orientation and assistance. Their passports have been taken away from them, presumably for safekeeping with the agents. Together, these conditions create a fertile ground for exploitation,” JRS Thailand Information and Advocacy Officer, Chen Chen Lee, told Dispatches on 10 January.
Due to their large numbers, the UNHCR has placed the Somalis under an extended mandate, except for those considered to be vulnerable. They will also be conducting a profile on the group to determine their place of origin. According to the UNHCR, some of these Somalis might have come from Kenya or Ethiopia and not Mogadishu as most of them have claimed.
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PANAMA: JRS WORRIED ABOUT THE NEW MIGRATION LAW
On 14 January, JRS called for the urgent examination of the categories: asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons as they appear in the draft bill on migration produced by the government.
In a public statement, JRS Panama said there was a need to understand and debate what is meant by “encourage and facilitate organised and selective migration”, expressions used in the draft bill on migration. JRS asked if this migration policy was based on the human rights and dignity of the person or if it just tries to favour the interests of businesses, but not those who seek asylum from persecution and extreme poverty.
Even though it is positive that the government recognises the movement of the indigenous population across Panamanian borders, JRS considers that the law needs to go much further than mere recognition. JRS highlighted that the movement of indigenous peoples from Colombia to the southern Panamanian region of Darién was principally a result of conflict and social exclusion. This issue, therefore, cannot exclusively be simply treated as one of migration.
Moreover, this law gives the president and his cabinet the possibility of defining asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons, despite the fact that these terms are already clearly defined by international law.
“Contrary to government promises and rhetoric, up to now civil society have been excluded. For years they have offered substantial contributions in dealing with migration and asylum situations in Panama. Will there ever be a debate on migration and asylum issues that the state should adopt?” asked JRS Panama Communications Officer, Kevin Sánchez Saavedra.
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UPDATES ON JRS PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES
EUROPE: REPORT ON MIGRATION DETENTION
On 18 December, JRS Europe launched a report in the European Parliament on the administrative detention of asylum seekers and irregularly staying third country nationals in the 10 new Member States of the European Union.
The report points out that all 10 states, except the Czech Republic, share borders with non-EU-states, and therefore share joint responsibility for policing part of the Union’s external borders. While some new EU member states have recently received large increases in the number of undocumented migrants and asylum seekers within their territories, few have had the necessary structures in place to deal with this new reality.
As part of the study, partner NGOs in the 10 countries investigated the conditions in 30 detention facilities and interviewed over 100 detainees. These cases provided examples of typical situations encountered by detainees throughout the 10 new Member States.
According to the report, while detainees in most states can challenge their detention, such remedies are totally meaningless unless detainees are informed of their rights to challenge their detention. The law stipulates that third country nationals should be informed of their right to challenge their detention in a language they understand only in Czech Republic, Latvia, Hungary and Slovakia. In the other countries there is no such provision. Further, in a number of countries, such as Latvia and Malta, detainees are not provided with free legal assistance to make the required applications, making all legal remedies virtually inaccessible.
The report concludes that it is clear that, in spite of the fact that there are a number of examples of good practice, the situation of migrants in detention in the 10 new Member States remains one of extreme hardship, particularly where detention is prolonged, conditions are poor and the restrictions imposed upon personal liberty (even within the centre) are severe.
The report recommends that states not resort to detention, particularly of asylum seekers, unless all other non-custodial measures have failed. It also urges states to ensure that, where detention is used, conditions are in line with international standards of best practice.
There are now 224 detention camps scattered across the EU; altogether they can house more than 30,000 people - asylum-seekers and undocumented immigrants awaiting deportation - who are often held in administrative detention for as long as 18 months. In a number of EU countries, there is no upper limit on length of detention.
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INTERNATIONAL: THIRTY-FIFTH GENERAL CONGREGATION OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS
On 7 January, 226 Jesuits from all over the world gathered in Rome to discuss ('discern' in the language of Saint Ignatius, the founder of the Society) the apostolic challenges confronting the Society in the years ahead. They will reflect on what will preserve and advance Jesuit religious life and on what would best help the Society to carry on its work to serve God, the Church and the people.
From the outset, delegates established a special committee to prepare a report for the Congregation on the state of the Society with its "lights and shadows". It is believed that the Congregation, the ultimate governing body in the Society of Jesus, will consider issues relating to the work of the Society with refugees.
The delegates are also called upon to elect a new Father General to lead the Society into the future. On 14 January, the delegates formally accepted the resignation of the Father General, Peter-Hans Kolvenbach SJ. His successor is expected to be elected on 19 January.
Members or Delegates to the General Congregation are drawn from Father General’s staff and the body of the Order at large. Regional divisions of the Order, called Provinces, send the Provincial Superiors of those Provinces whose members are at least 0.5% of the total membership of the Society. Then, each Province elects a number of delegates according to the percentage of the total number of Jesuits.
For further information see www.sjweb.info/35/archive.cfm
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INTERNATIONAL: MESSAGE TO JRS FROM THE FORMER FR GENERAL
On 16 January, Fr Peter-Hans Kolvenbach SJ expressed his gratitude to JRS and all those involved with its work for refugees, describing the service as a deep consolation.
He recalled how the letter sent by JRS's founding father and former Father General, Pedro Arrupe SJ to the Jesuit Provincials in November 1980 has proved to be prophetic. Fr Arrupe SJ told the then Provincials that "assisting refugees will be a privilege and, in turn, will bring great blessings to ourselves and our Society."
Fr Kolvenbach said that "JRS plants a seed of hope in the aridness of refugee camps where people’s future is so often in jeopardy. This is particularly the case for young refugees in despair who are unable to gain access to education."
The former Father General Kolvenbach described the urgent service of JRS as work that increases our hope when refugees are assisted to have faith in themselves and their futures. He described the work of JRS as one that transforms "past and present hatred into life with the wisdom which enables reconciliation…."
The delegates to the thirty-fifth General Congregation of the Society of Jesus are currently meeting to Rome to discuss the apostolic challenges confronting the Society in the years ahead.
The thirty-fourth General Congregation took place in 1995. Among their duties is to elect a new Father General. This election is expected to take place on 19 January.
For further information see www.jrs.net/statements
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