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PublicationsDispatches No. 256
REFUGEE NEWS BRIEFINGS
UPDATES ON JRS PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES
REFUGEE NEWS BRIEFINGS
According to JRS Kenya, many of the refugees arriving into Nairobi are in great need of assistance. Under the new refugee act in the country, refugees in a position to take care of their financial and other needs are allowed to live outside the country’s camps. Congolese refugees who wish to receive aid from the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) can only do so in Kakuma refugee camp in northwestern Kenya. New arrivals are hesitant to proceed to Kakuma camp since a group of Congolese left the camp last October claiming it was unsafe, JRS Kenya Urban Emergency Programme Director, Irene Waweru, told Dispatches on 20 March. In the six month period from October to March, more than 1,700 Congolese refugees have registered with UNHCR Kenya, of whom more than 700 registered in the first three weeks of February alone. Ninety percent of these new arrivals are from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to UNHCR, more than 310,000 people have fled the conflict in the eastern region of the DRC, the majority of whom have sought asylum in neighbouring states: Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia. Young refugees speak of homeAccording to JRS Kenya staff, most new arrivals are young men and women between the ages of 18 and 30 from the eastern province of South Kivu. Few of them are over 30. There is a noticeable absence of older refugees. Many refugees say that their parents died back in the DRC. They tell us that the most recent outbreaks of violence, property theft and fear of conscription pushed them to leave their homelands, added Ms Waweru. Influx stretches JRS capacityThe significant increase has also had a dramatic impact on the JRS Urban Emergency Programme (UEP) as resources are stretched to the limit. Even though many refugees have told UNHCR they are able to support themselves in Nairobi while they await the outcome of the refugee status determination procedure, JRS says the reality is they are in need of assistance. At the moment the most recently established JRS outreach centre, Divine Word parish in Kayole in eastern Nairobi, has experienced the most significant increase in new arrivals. When the centre opened in early February it provided assistance to 27 families, however, by the end of the month this number had nearly quadrupled to almost 100. UNHCR has since established a special taskforce team to register the new arrivals. Some who have already registered have been told to come back for their refugee status determination interview next August.
On 23 March, the DRC government and the CNDP rebel movement, Congrès national pour la défense du people, signed a peace accord. The agreement transforms the rebel CNDP into a political party and allows former combatants of the rebel movement to be integrated into the national army and a new police force. Despite the underlying threats to stability, humanitarian agencies on the ground believe the agreement edges the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu slowly towards peace. Obstacles to peace still substantialConflict between government-backed forces and the CNDP have been the principal cause of mass displacement and human rights abuses in the provinces. The agreement commits both parties to facilitate the return of hundreds of thousands of displaced Kivu inhabitants. Yet land distribution is a complex and contentious issue in the multi-ethnic provinces. Returns could be further hampered by the ongoing conflict with the ethnic Hutu FDLR, Forces démocratiques pour la libération du Rwanda. Until attacks by the FDLR cease, many displaced persons will be unable to go home in safety. In addition, concerns have also been expressed about the ability of the Congolese army to protect the population, given the poor human rights record of combatants in the region.
On 17 March, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, described the current level of civilian casualties in Sri Lanka as truly shocking. Almost the entire population of Vanni is living in the ‘safe zone’, an area of approximately six square kilometres. This arid area, made of clay, hardens under the sun and floods when it rains. Both warring parties have been accused of human rights violations. The government forces have been accused of shelling the safe zone, while the LTTE, the Tamil insurgents, have been accused of using civilians as human shields and refusing to allow civilians to leave the safe zone. Conditions on the groundAccording to UN estimates, as many as 180,000 civilians remain trapped in an ever-shrinking area of territory in the Vanni region. The UN human rights office believes that more than 2,800 civilians may have been killed and more than 7,000 injured since 20 January, and almost two-thirds of the reported deaths and injuries have occurred in the government-designated safe zone. Hundreds of children have been killed and more than a thousand injured. According to JRS sources in the country, the displaced population is living in tarpaulin tents, closely knit to one another, which increases the likelihood of epidemics. The lack of sewage systems means pools of water are formed, which later become stagnant and a breeding ground for mosquitoes. In addition, temporary wells and toilet pits are found in close proximity, making contamination inevitable. Food provisions are scarce and key medical supplies are virtually unavailable, even in the one makeshift medical facility still functioning. Pleas for peaceIn a letter from Vanni, people trapped inside the zone called for the establishment of:
High Commissioner Pillay called on both warring parties to immediately suspend hostilities in order to allow the evacuation of the entire civilian population by land or sea. She also urged the government to grant full access to UN and other independent agencies to allow an accurate assessment of the human rights and humanitarian conditions in the conflict zone
On 24 March, JRS volunteer, Nicolette Busuttil, was nominated for the 2009 European Charlemagne Youth Prize. Since the end of 2006, Ms Busuttil ─ a 20-year-old law student ─ has visited asylum seekers in Safi and Hal Far detention centres in Malta. Her work inside the centres has consisted mainly in providing moral support through informal contact with asylum seekers and assistance with religious services on Sundays. She has sought to be a sympathetic ear to the asylum seekers in detention, hoping to express some solidarity in a context that often signals otherwise. "I see my contribution as a necessary extension of my personal beliefs in the dignity of every human being", the JRS volunteer said. As the Maltese nominee, Ms Busuttil will be participating in the award-giving ceremony in Aachen, Germany, on 19 May. Prizes for the three best projects on EU development, integration and European identity issues will be awarded by the President of the European Parliament and a representative of the Foundation of the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen. UPDATES ON JRS PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES
Amid months of violence and poverty which has displaced hundreds of thousands of Congolese in the east of the country, surprises never cease to happen. When two Burundian boys arrived in the JRS Orientation and Transition Centre in the eastern city of Uvira, the rest of the boys and girls refused to accept them. The boys had been deceived into going to Rwanda, from where they were forcibly recruited into the rebel group, the CNDP, in the Congolese province of North Kivu. The Congolese children were all from a Congolese rebel group, referred to as the Mai-Mai, with strong feelings of vengeance and hatred towards Rwandans and Burundians. They refused to sit or eat near the two boys. JRS held a number of meetings with all the boys in the centre. Various games and role plays were organised. The objective of the games was to see what unites, and not what divides, them as a group. Most of the children were recruited by force and what unites them is their common desire to go home to their families and community. Children teaching adults"Many of the children shared their experiences with the group. These few days were very rich and beautiful. A few days later when I returned to the centre we couldn’t find one of the Burundian boys. We looked for him in his bedroom. There we found him, talking and playing with one of the Congolese boys who had most expressed his feelings of hatred towards the Rwandans and Burundians. Again, it’s all a lesson of reconciliation", JRS project worker, María Calderon, told Dispatches on 28 March. "After the children in the centre have accepted each other, this generates a positive secondary effect. There is a continuous turnover of children in the centre. When new children arrive and see the others have developed good relations with people commonly perceived as enemies, it is valuable proof that peaceful coexistence is actually possible", said JRS project worker, Iris Van der Mark. "Sometimes it is the staff who receive a lesson in reconciliation from children", added Ms Calderon. In the last five years as many as 30,000 children have been demobilised. According to a statement by the UN children’s fund (UNICEF) last month, some 3,500 children are still serving as child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Some of them pass through centres for transition and orientation, where they receive psychological support and vocational and formal education. The goal of the centres is to try to reintegrate the children into their former families and communities. JRS operates two such centres: in eastern Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In March, JRS organised three workshops for members of parent-student associations in the Dar Tama region of eastern Chad. It was the first such training course JRS conducted in the zone. "Our accompaniment of families has helped build the trust which has led to the establishment and reestablishment of schools. The community approach, based on close proximity, allows the involvement of all families without discrimination in a region where inter-communal tensions are strong", JRS West Africa Communications Officer, Ashley Gagné, told Dispatches on 25 March. Where the government is absentJRS works closely with the offices of the national education authorities, based in Guéréda, in Dar Tama region. Unfortunately, they desperately lack resources. The regional education authorities cannot even afford the means of transport to visit the local villages. This makes communities feel isolated and unsupported. In these circumstances JRS decided to work directly with the parent-student associations. The problem is they are often poorly trained. The three training workshops provided them with the basic skills and knowledge to manage the schools and associations. Representatives from 32 schools and communities attended the workshops. The lack of schools is a major motivation for children to rejoin armed groups. This is yet another reason why the JRS response, in conjunction with local communities, aims to strengthen education systems. Therefore, in October 2007, JRS established a project to reintegrate children withdrawn from armed groups into their families and societies. By March this year, 183 had benefited from the reintegration project. It also provided JRS with an opportunity to engage directly with affected communities Engaging with communitiesThe Willi-Kouré district near the eastern city of Guéréda was prioritised due to the return of more than forty children. Before JRS came to the zone, two schools were functioning. Four months later, there were five, with two more being established. Two years ago, school attendance rates in eastern Chad did not exceed 10 percent. After raising awareness in communities of returned children, six community schools are up and running, with more than forty students and one teacher at each. Two other schools are currently being established. JRS regularly visits communities where children have been reunited to raise awareness of the benefits of education and the dangers of becoming involved in the conflict. JRS teams also provide advice and training in educational development.
According to the UN children's fund (UNICEF), more than half of school-aged children in Côte d'Ivoire were forced to abandon their studies during the 2002-2007 civil war. With the peace process well underway, the situation has stabilised. Yet, school attendance rates have improved little, mainly due to poverty and a lack of teachers. In the remote northern region of the country, in the last six months, JRS has engaged in a wide-ranging education programme in the northern cities of Madinani and Korhogo. The programme comprises the supervision of teacher training workshops, the distribution of school materials and the organisation of seminars on peace and reconciliation. The teacher training workshops, managed by state education officials and supervised by JRS, evaluate the past experiences of the participants and strengthen their teaching skills in subjects such as mathematics and languages. Last November and December, 38 primary school teachers and administrators from 11 schools benefited from three such sessions. Participants were invited to discuss their experiences in education. These exchanges helped JRS staff evaluate the skills and knowledge participants acquired in the first JRS-sponsored session in October. Beyond formal education, promoting peaceOn 27 February, a similar workshop, benefiting 38 school staff, focused on peace and reconciliation education. At the request of the participants, members of the student-parent committees were also invited to attend. Facilitators and participants addressed the professional challenges relating to peace and reconciliation using examples from their everyday lives. "According to the personal testimonies we collected afterwards, the session positively affected participants from crises zones who work with children in need of psychosocial accompaniment. Prospects for long-term peace depend greatly upon opportunities available to children to receive an education and be brought up within a culture of tolerance and forgiveness. JRS is trying to play its part", JRS project worker, Alice Kapitula, told Dispatches in early March.
"Refugees living in Nzagi camp are suffering. They live in the camp without access to the most basic social services", JRS staff member and Jesuit scholastic, Celestino Epalanga SJ, told Dispatches on 18 March. In early March, JRS Angola Director, Br Paulo Welter, and three other staff members visited Nzagi refugee camp. Some of the problems faced by refugees there are related to their lack of documentation. In fact, the refugees told JRS that most of them have been waiting 11 years for their documentation, without which their children cannot attend school. "Aside from the legal problems they face, this population, particularly those in Lunda Norte, lives in extremely vulnerable circumstances. Many do not have access to shelter, food, schools, drinking water or medical assistance. The government also prohibits asylum seekers from engaging in agricultural activities. UNHCR [the UN refugee agency] has donated non-food items to the refugees, but it is not enough", Mr Epalanga explained. There are two refugee camps in Lunda Norte, in Nzagi and Camdjamba, hosting more than 1,000 families between them, mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. The older of the two camps, Camdjamba, was established more than 10 years ago. Conditions in the camps are appalling. Security is also a problem. Last December a refugee died after stepping on a landmine in Camdjamba. Legal assistance produces resultsIn 2006, as part of an agreement with UNHCR, JRS opened the Legal Aid Reintegration Centre, offering free legal assistance to asylum seekers and refugees in the provinces of Luanda, Malange, Moxico, Lunda Norte and Zaire. With stretched resources, the centre tries to ensure that this huge country, more than a quarter of the size of the EU, respects its national and international legal obligations to persons in need of international protection. Lunda Norte constitutes a big challenge for JRS. This mineral-rich northern province shares a 700km border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Government policy tends to discourage the arrival of non-nationals. In other words, the authorities are reluctant to concede refugee status determination interviews to asylum seekers. Nevertheless, despite these measures, people seeking asylum still manage to get into the country. Asylum seekers who are denied an interview by the authorities contact JRS for legal assistance. If the case is judged to have some merit, JRS staff working in the centre lobby the authorities to interview the asylum seekers. However, persuading the relevant authorities to act to protect the rights of asylum seekers denied interviews has not been easy. "Despite the difficulties progress is being made. When we speak to asylum seekers and refugees, they say that the attitude of the authorities is more open, both at a bureaucratic and a personal level. And it goes without saying that life is easier for those who have received their documentation", added Mr Epalanga.
Support from the European Refugee Fund available to JRS Germany to arrange legal assistance for asylum seekers is no longer available. "Approximately half the costs of the legal aid fund in 2007/2008 were financed by the EU. However, no such subsidy is now available. JRS will be forced to depend on its own resources and donations from the public", JRS Germany Director, Martin Stark, told Dispatches on 28 March. According to Fr Stark, it costs JRS Germany approximately €300 to pay the legal costs of one migration detainee. However, in a time of rising unemployment and public debt, JRS programmes such as this one risk not being able to meet the needs of individuals in extremely vulnerable circumstances. Intervention can make a differenceTake Ali K, a seventeen-year-old Afghan, who was arrested at a Berlin airport and brought to a deportation holding centre. According to the EU regulation, Dublin II, since Greece was the first EU state into which he arrived, the authorities there are responsible for his asylum claim. Ali, whose body is marked by the scars of torture in Afghanistan, said he would rather die than go back to Greece. Experiences in both Afghanistan and Greece had left him traumatised. With the help of the JRS Germany 'Legal Aid Fund', an attorney got Ali swiftly released from the airport detention centre. He now lives in Munich where his asylum claim is currently being processed. Help JRS make a differenceLast year, the ‘Legal Aid Fund' assisted 87 detainees awaiting deportation, financing approximately €19,000 of lawyers' fees. Of these 87 cases, 57 were dismissed. In other words, in 60 percent of these cases the migrants had been unlawfully arrested and held. This is just a snapshot of a bigger picture. The rash manner in which asylum seekers and other migrants are detained and deported demonstrates a callous disregard for human rights. Donations can be made to JRS Germany via bank transfers: BIC: GENODED1PAX; IBAN DE05 3706 0193 6000 4010 20 For further information (in English) on human rights abuses on the German border see www.jrs.net/reports
"New JRS country offices and heightened regional coordination underscored the work done during the past twelve months", according to the JRS Europe 2008 annual report published on 23 March. According to the UN refugee agency, 289,800 people sought asylum in the 27 member states of the European Union in 2008, up from 256,300 the previous year. Meeting new needsIn response to the large number of people passing through the eastern and southern borders of the EU, JRS opened two new offices, in Morocco and Ukraine. Staff told Dispatches that this response is an attempt to meet the needs of asylum seekers in areas where social assistance is minimal. Increased regional coordination between JRS national offices has led to the development of the first common action plan. This has increased the capacity of JRS capacity to promote legal safeguards against arbitrary detention, closely accompanying migrants who have fallen through the cracks of social protection. Consequently, JRS was able to monitor the welfare and asylum claims of individuals released from detention in Sweden and Belgium and transferred to Greece and Poland respectively. EU lobbying/ researchNew research projects were also started on the issues of detention and destitution across the continent. JRS offices across Europe, working closely with other organisations in the area, sought to bring their firsthand experience of grassroots work with asylum seekers and undocumented migrants to decision makers in Brussels. In addition, the JRS team in Brussels closely monitored the progress on EU directives on returns, the European agreement on Immigration and Asylum, and the Dublin II regulation. In addition, the JRS team in Brussels closely monitored progress on EU directives on returns, the European pact on Immigration and Asylum, and the Dublin II regulation. The regulation makes the EU state of arrival responsible for the examination of their refugee applications, often putting undue pressure on border states. Detailed accounts of the political situation affecting asylum seekers and undocumented migrants in fourteen European countries and in the EU as a whole, as well as information regarding JRS projects on health, language classes and other outreach work, can be found on the JRS Europe website at www.jrseurope.org. |
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