Full Coverage: Refugees

28.02.2006 Home Office figures that show 3,300 families have benefited from the "Family amnesty Exercise" in the last quarter of 2005, bringing the total to 20,170, were described as "brilliant news" by the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns.

28.02.2006 The Council for Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms – CDHRF, says that the Roma, Ashkalia and Egyptian IDP’s, which remain in camps in Northern Kosovo since the end of teh war in Kosovo in 1999, live in extremely difficult conditions, exposed to the high risks to their health presented by high lead presence in their blood. This is nothing new and at the same time known to everyone. But, so far nothing serious has been undertaken to rectify their issue”.

28.02.2006 Nearly 130 survivors of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster began a march on foot to New Delhi on 20 February 2006 to gain support for their battle for survival, justice and dignity. More than 22 years later, people affected by the world's worst industrial disaster are still fighting for their rights, compensation and justice.

28.02.2006 Communities affected by the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, that killed more than 220,000 people and displaced an estimated two million across South and Southeast Asia, should be given more say in the recovery effort says the United Nations.

28.02.2006 KABUL – The United Nations World Food Programme today called on donors urgently to provide funds to its Afghanistan operation, which is facing critical shortages in supplying food to 3.5 million vulnerable Afghans.

28.02.2006 Suomenkin turvapaikkapolitiikka tiukkenee, jos EU sopii erityisestä turvallisten maiden listasta, kertoi YLE:n Radiouutiset maanantaina. Näistä maista tuleville ihmisille ei käytännössä myönnettäisi turvapaikkaa EU:n alueella. Taustalla on unionin pyrkimys torjua turhiksi katsomiaan turvapaikanhakijoita.

24.02.2006 Levottomuudet vaivaavat edelleen Somaliaa eikä paluuta maan keski- ja eteläosiin edelleenkään suositella, painottaa YK:n pakolaisjärjestö UNHCR. Suomen ulkomaalaispoliisin lausunto Somalian turvallisuudesta on herättänyt hämmennystä. Sen mukaan somalialaisia voidaan palauttaa koko maahan, eli myös Etelä- ja Keski-Somaliaan.

22.02.2006 YK:n pakolaisjärjestö tyrmistyi 11 uzbekistanilaisen turvapaikanhakijan pakkokäännyttämisestä Ukrainan viranomaisten toimesta. UNHCR vaatii pikaista selvitystä ja lisätietoa käännytettyjen kohtalosta.

21.02.2006 La Nato risponde alle richiesta del Presidente americano Bush dicendosi "pronta a dare il proprio sostegno logistico e di formazione per pacificare la regione del Sudan martoriata dalla guerra e, su risoluzione Onu, anche ad ampliare la propria disponibilità". Una presa di posizione che rischia di far crescere la tensione: il governo di Khartoum, infatti, ha già fortemente criticato la stessa eventualità di sostituire con personale dell’Onu la missione di sicurezza dell’Unione Africana in Darfur. Khartoum chiede il mantenimento di una forza multinazionale africana e ha invitato l’Onu a sostenerla economicamente piuttosto che a sostituirla. Medici Senza Frontiere riporta intanto che, pur non essendoci i massacri degli anni scorsi la situazione è "cronicamente instabile" e le violenze si rinnovano periodicamente e sono ricorrenti i combattimenti tra milizie, esercito governativo e gruppi di ribelli. Ma le violenze continuano anche all’interno dei campi di sfollati dove la prostituzione sta diventando un mezzo per sopravvivere.

19.02.2006 Under 18? You can’t vote and you can’t drink but… you can be put in detention, denied a place in school, forced to find your own place to live and find a means of supporting yourself, if you are a young accompanied asylum seeker and having your age disputed by authorities. Join Student Action for Refugees on a national day of action on Thursday 23 February.

17.02.2006 Pilapiirroksista suuttuneet Tshetshenian viranomaiset ovat määränneet kiellon kaikkea Tanskasta tulevaa kohtaan. Myös Tanskan Pakolaisavun ohjelma, joka on helpottanut tuhansien tshetshenialaisten pakolaisten elämää, joudutaan lakkauttamaan.
Huoli avun lakkauttamisen seurauksista kasvaa.

17.02.2006 Administrata e UNMIK-ut është duke u përpjekur t'i bindë banorët romë e ashkali që për më tepër se gjashtë vite jetojnë nëpër kampe refugjatësh në veri të Kosovës, të zhvendosen nga atje ne vende më të sigurta.

16.02.2006 Chechen authorities have instituted a ban on all things Danish in the wake of the cartoon controversy. The ban includes the suspension of a refugee relief program run by the Danish Refugee Council and has raised concerns over how the sudden disruption in aid will impact Chechnya's war-affected population.

15.02.2006 WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb 14 (OneWorld) - They went to sleep as Syrians and woke up stripped of their citizenship and their rights to study, work, or marry as they wish.

14.02.2006 The Home Office has set up a new website providing information for those working with refugee children.

14.02.2006 It was December 26, 2004, when the tsunami waves devastated Andaman and Nicobar Islands. More than a year later, the homeless tribals of Andaman and Nicobar are still waiting for their promised shelters.

11.02.2006 WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb 11 (OneWorld) - Terror victims are being denied sanctuary under U.S. counter-terrorism laws even as next year's federal budget threatens to push ever greater numbers to seek safe haven in the first place, refugee advocates said this week.

10.02.2006 Eteläisessä Afrikassa vallinnut kuivuus huonontaa pakolaisten tilannetta Sambian pakolaisleireillä. Vajaat 80 000 pakolaista tarvitsee pikaista ruoka-apua. Rahapulan vuoksi paluuohjelma takkuilee ja leirien ruoka-annoksia on jouduttu supistamaan.

09.02.2006 Homeland Security measures are preventing refugees from resettling in the U.S. due to an expanded definition of "terrorist activity". The laws are now blocking victims of terrorism who were forced, often under extreme duress, to provide support-- such as food or money --to terrorist organizations in their home countries from finding sanctuary in the U.S, says Refugees International.

09.02.2006 WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb 9 (OneWorld) - United Nations experts are urging Sudan's neighbors to stop arms smuggling into the war-wrecked country. The move comes as advocates press the U.S. government to use its leadership of the UN Security Council to calm the killing fields of Darfur.