Categories for Uncategorised

Joint NGO Letter to Human Rights Council on DRC Human Rights Monitoring

Published: 6 Sep 2018

  Re: Creating a dedicated country-wide human rights monitoring and reporting mechanism on the Democratic Republic of Congo at the UN Human Rights Council Geneva, 5 September 2018 Your excellency, We, the undersigned Congolese, regional, and international organizations, write to urge your delegation to support the creation of a country-wide human rights monitoring and reporting…

IRRI Rights in Exile Newsletter – September 2018

Published: 3 Sep 2018

Issue 95, September 2018 ISSN 2049-2650 Editorial Team: Catherine Tyson, Nejla Sammakia, Mohamed ElSayeh, Kavita Kapur, Joshua Lowe, Christian Jorgensen, Cristina de Nicolas, Nicolas Parent, and Taylor Brooks. Chief Editor: Themba Lewis Web links are in blue. ___________ In this issue: SPECIAL TRIBUTE: DR BARBARA HARRELL-BOND, OBE External tributes to Dr Barbara Harrell-Bond, OBE Statement:…

Abuses against Rwandan refugees in Uganda: Has Time Come for Accountability?

Published: 27 Aug 2018

  For many years, Rwandan refugees in Uganda have faced abuses, including arbitrary detention, forced return to Rwanda and attacks on their physical security, without any form of accountability. However, last Friday, 24 August, former Inspector-General of the Ugandan police, General Kale Kayihura, has been charged with aiding and abetting the kidnapping and repatriation of…

New Deal, New Dangers in South Sudan

Published: 7 Aug 2018

  On 7 August, South Sudan’s president and main opposition leaders signed a new deal, which allows for the inclusion of the latter in the country’s government and is supposed to end the conflict that has ravaged the country since it started in late 2013. Despite hopeful statements by the signatories and its guarantors, this…

« Il faut qu’on parle » : Dialogue et accords de paix au Burundi

Published: 9 Jul 2018

  Les dirigeants africains devraient déterminer comment relancer le dialogue sur le Burundi, a déclaré IRRI aujourd’hui, à l’occasion de la sortie de son dernier rapport sur le dialogue et les accords de paix dans le pays. Les conclusions du rapport montrent que malgré leur point de vue critique, de nombreux Burundais appuient la poursuite des…

“We need to talk” Burundi citizens supportive of regional dialogue

Published: 9 Jul 2018

African leaders should decide how to revive the dialogue on Burundi, IRRI said today, as it launches a new report on dialogue and peace agreements in Burundi. The report’s findings show that despite considerable skepticism, many Burundian citizens support a continuation of talks and strongly value previous peace agreements. “While criticising the parties and the…

IRRI Rights in Exile Newsletter – July 2018

Published: 2 Jul 2018

Issue 94, July 2018 ISSN 2049-2650 Editorial Team: Catherine Tyson, Natsumi Paxton, Nejla Sammakia, Mohamed ElSayeh, Kavita Kapur, Joshua Lowe, Christian Jorgensen, Cristina de Nicolas, Nicolas Parent, and Taylor Brooks. Chief Editor: Themba Lewis Web links are in blue. ___________ In this issue: Articles The Guardian publishes the full UNITED List of 34,361 refugee deaths…

UN Human Rights Council must ensure accountability for crimes in Kasai

Published: 28 Jun 2018

“They killed my brothers of 16 and 18 years old. They killed them in my presence, I saw it happening,” Sylvia,* a young Congolese mother, told IRRI in Angola. “Even when the military killed my brothers, I wasn’t allowed to cry. They burned the corpses.” A team of experts, mandated by the UN Human Rights…

Summary of IRRI hosted workshop on the AU draft protocol on the right to a nationality

Published: 19 Jun 2018

On Wednesday 2 May 2018, the International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI) with support from the Open Society Foundations (OSF), organised a workshop in Uganda on the Right to Nationality, ahead of the second meeting of African Union’s Member States Experts on the Draft Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Specific Aspects on the Right to a…

IRRI Rights in Exile Newsletter – June 2018

Published: 1 Jun 2018

Issue 93, June 2018 ISSN 2049-2650 Editorial Team: Catherine Tyson, Natsumi Paxton, Nejla Sammakia, Mohamed ElSayeh, Kavita Kapur, Joshua Lowe, Christian Jorgensen, Cristina de Nicolas, Nicolas Parent, and Taylor Brooks. Chief Editor: Themba Lewis Web links are in blue. ___________ In this issue: News News on Countries of Origin News on Countries of Asylum Detention…

Crisis in Anglophone Cameroon: It’s time to end the escalation

Published: 31 May 2018

  The Anglophone crisis has plagued the north western and south western regions of Cameroon for more than a year and seems no closer to resolution. It has reportedly caused the deaths of at least 120 civilians and 43 members of the security forces. Since the end of 2016, and exacerbated since October 2017, the…

IRRI Rights in Exile Newsletter – May 2018

Published: 1 May 2018

Issue 92, May 2018 ISSN 2049-2650 Editorial Team: Susan Fratzke, Catherine Tyson, Natsumi Paxton, Nejla Sammakia, Mohamed ElSayeh, Kavita Kapur, Joshua Lowe, Christian Jorgensen, Cristina de Nicolas, Nicolas Parent, and Taylor Brooks. Chief Editor: Themba Lewis Web links are in blue. ___________ In this issue: Articles Circumventing non-refoulement or fighting “illegal migration”? News News on…

Refugees: Political Actors or Passive Recipients?

Published: 25 Apr 2018

  As the world witnesses a drastic increase in the numbers of refugees and forced migrants, governments, humanitarian actors and development partners alike continue to debate the humanitarian, social, economic and security implications of this growth in international displacement. The global response to forced migration remains centred around three durable solutions: repatriation to country of…

Leaving Libya by boat: What happens after interception?

Published: 4 Apr 2018

  Refugees and migrants who are trying to escape from Libya by boat are often intercepted at sea by the EU-funded Libyan coastguard and disembarked on land, where they are provided with immediate assistance by humanitarian agencies. Little is known about the interception process or what happens to refugees and migrants who have been returned…

IRRI Rights in Exile Newsletter – April 2018

Published: 1 Apr 2018

Issue 91, April 2018 ISSN 2049-2650 Editorial Team: Fiona McKinnon, Mandy Jam, Susan Fratzke, Catherine Tyson, Natsumi Paxton, Nejla Sammakia, Iana Messetchkova, Mohamed ElSayeh, Kavita Kapur, Joshua Lowe, and Christian Jorgensen. Chief Editor: Themba Lewis Web links are in blue. ___________ In this issue: News News on Countries of Origin News on Countries of Asylum Detention…

IRRI Rights in Exile Newsletter – March 2018

Published: 9 Mar 2018

Issue 90 ISSN 2049-2650 Editorial Team: Fiona McKinnon, Mandy Jam, Susan Fratzke, Catherine Tyson, Natsumi Paxton, Nejla Sammakia, Iana Messetchkova, Mohamed ElSayeh, Kavita Kapur, Joshua Lowe, and Christian Jorgensen. Chief Editor: Themba Lewis Web links are in blue. ___________ In this issue: Articles Thoughts on the Deportation of De-Facto Citizens Prison or deportation: The impossible choice…

Statement on Israel’s latest deportation scheme

Published: 22 Feb 2018

  On 1 January, the Israeli government announced a new plan to coerce all Eritreans and Sudanese asylum seekers to leave the country by the end of March 2018. Those leaving within this period will receive a grant of USD 3,500 in cash upon their departure and a free one-way ticket. Those who will remain,…