IRRI’s 2017 Annual Report highlights our work in a year of significant achievement for us, as we continued to work on our three main programmatic areas of: -identifying the violations that cause displacement and exile; -protecting the rights of those who are displaced, and -ensuring resolutions to their displacement are durable, rights respecting, safe and timely. The…
People seeking safety are trapped at borders across Eastern Africa due to COVID-19 measures A coalition of international, national, and refugee-led organizations in the Horn, East and Central Africa (HECA) have today called on governments in the region to reopen borders for asylum seekers. The organisations are calling on governments to put in place measures…
IRRI Press Statement on World Refugee Day 2020 20 June 2020 is World Refugee Day. This year’s theme is Everyone can make a difference. Every action counts. Refugees can and do make a difference in the host communities where they seek refuge, and their actions count. This is most evident globally, where we have seen…
Issue 112, May 2020 ISSN 2049-2650 Editorial Team: Nejla Sammakia, Christian Jorgensen, Cristina de Nicolás Izquierdo, Nicolas Parent, Taylor Brooks, Sirak Akalu Iyassu, Lucia Slot, Adam Severson, Nastassja White, Lena Ellen Becker, Muchengeti Hwacha, Saskia Llewellyn and Rosa da Costa. Chief Editor: Fiona McKinnon Web links are in blue. In this issue: Articles & Short…
12 February 2020 marks the first anniversary of the official adoption of the African Union Transitional Justice Policy (AUTJP). This anniversary presents an excellent opportunity to reflect on the impacts of the AUTJP on the transitional justice landscape in Africa. Uganda has been particularly appluaded for taking the lead as the first AU Member…
Exactly one year ago, hundreds of people were slaughtered in Yumbi, in western Democratic Republic of Congo. On 15 and 16 December 2018, assailants targeted members of the Nunu ethnic group in a deliberate and organised manner. The attack lasted less than 48 hours but left the area in total disarray. As attention is…
Il y a exactement un an, des centaines de personnes étaient massacrées à Yumbi, dans la partie occidentale de la République démocratique du Congo. Les 16 et 17 décembre 2018, des assaillants ont ciblé des membres de l’ethnie Nunu de façon délibérée et organisée. L’attaque a duré moins que 48 heures mais a laissé…
Joint civil society statement Ahead of the African Union (AU) High-Level Dialogue on displacement taking place from 4-6 December in Uganda, 15 African and international NGOs call on African leaders and regional organisations to urge the government of Tanzania to stop pressuring 163,000 refugees and asylum seekers into returning to Burundi, where there are…
“A stateless life is a worrisome life,” says Mohammed Suleiman Ali from Tanzania’s Comorian community. Mohammed is not alone. Tens of thousands are affected by, or at risk of, statelessness in East Africa. Discriminatory laws, legal gaps and problematic administrative practices have left a number of communities unable to access citizenship or prove their…
H.E Solomon Dersso, Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights CC: Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Chairman of the African Union Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission Smail Chergui, Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union Commission Banjul, The Gambia, 25 October 2019 Your Excellency, We, a coalition…
Be a part of our editorial team! The Rights in Exile Newsletter (formerly the Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter) is a free public resource for legal assistance providers, refugees, and others interested in refugee legal assistance. The newsletter is a monthly digital publication updating aspects of refugee legal aid so that legal aid providers can stay…
Forcing Burundian refugees in Tanzania to leave the country is not only problematic legally, it could also sow the seeds for renewed conflict and displacement in Burundi. At the end of August, the Burundian and Tanzanian governments jointly announced that the 183,000 Burundian refugees would be repatriated. While such a large-scale operation has yet…
Après des décennies de conflit et de violence, la région africaine des Grands Lacs demeure une des zones du monde les plus touchées par le déplacement forcé. La plupart des pays de cette région accueillent des réfugiés, mais voient aussi leurs propres ressortissants chercher refuge dans les pays voisins. Le rapatriement volontaire est généralement…
After decades of conflict and violence, the Great Lakes region of Africa remains one of the areas of the world most affected by forced displacement. Most of the countries in this region host refugees but have also seen their own citizens seek refuge in neighbouring countries. Voluntary repatriation is generally seen by regional and…
In February 2019, Ethiopia issued a National Refugee Proclamation, joining several of its neighbours in the Greater Horn of Africa region[1] in expanding the rights granted to refugees living in the country. Amongst other provisions, the new law allows refugees access to national health services on the same basis as Ethiopian nationals and contains…
Issue 105 In this issue: Announcing the new and improved Rights in Exile newsletter! Articles & Short Pieces Digital litter: The downside of using technology to help refugees EOIR’s troubling new regulations Lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security says new asylum policy violates child immigrants’ rights UN rights experts urge more protection for LGBTI…
This video (watch below) is a summary of the findings in our report “Understanding conflict dynamics around refugee settlements in northern Uganda” launched recently in Kampala in August 2019. Between December 2018 and May 2019, the International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI) undertook a study in Adjumani, Arua and Lamwo districts in northern Uganda to…
Ahead of the 42nd regular session of the UN Human Rights Council, 17 civil society organisations have urged the Council to take action to address serious human rights violations and abuses that have been and continue to be committed in Sudan, and to support systemic reforms in the country. Noting that the Council has not…
While there are overall good relations, tensions between South Sudanese refugees and Ugandan communities around natural resources, livelihoods and land should not be ignored, a new report by International Refugee Rights Initiative highlights. Frictions have sparked violent incidents, and if not properly addressed could escalate into broader conflict in northern Uganda. Between December 2018…
Ahead of the 42nd session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC42), the International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI) together with 40 other national, regional and international civil society organisations have called upon the Council to support a resolution to extend the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) on Burundi for a further year, until…
When talking about conflicts in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), people often think about the situation in the two Kivu provinces, or maybe the political situation in Kinshasa. But since 2016, violence has spread in the Kasai region in southern DRC, where a customary dispute quickly escalated into violent conflict. Attacks by a…
