Statelessness affects ten thousands of people in East Africa. Being stateless has significant negative impact on the lives of affected persons – who are unable to access fundamental rights to which they are entitled under human rights law, but which require state mediation to access in practice. Without identification documents they are not able to…
Issue 98, January 2019 ISSN 2049-2650 Editorial Team: Olivia Bueno, Catherine Tyson, Nejla Sammakia, Mohamed ElSayeh, Kavita Kapur, Joshua Lowe, Christian Jorgensen, Cristina de Nicolas, Nicolas Parent, and Taylor Brooks. Chief Editor: Fiona McKinnon Web links are in blue. In this issue: Articles Will the ECHR shake up the European asylum system? News News on Countries…
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…
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,…
(27 September 2016) The International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI) is pleased to announce the publication of Refugees, Conflict and the Search for Belonging by Lucy Hovil, IRRI’s Senior Researcher. This timely publication, based on seven years of research by IRRI in Eastern and Central Africa, has application beyond the region, pointing to drivers and failures…
Transitional justice, an emerging genre in the study, conception and practice of justice, has come about as a result of years of negotiation, contestation and compromise between state and nonstate actors. It is now generally acknowledged that nonstate actors, and in particular civil society organizations (CSOs), play a critical role in deconstructing authoritarianism, rebuilding the…
Delivered by Kafia Omar 24 June 2016 Thank you Mr President. The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project and the International Refugee Rights Initiative welcome steps taken by Somalia to strengthen the human rights framework since its last UPR, such as creating the Ministry of Women and Human Rights and ratifying the…
Civil Society Statement on Push Factors in Sudan and the Khartoum Process 20 June 2016 On World Refugee Day, we, the undersigned individuals and civil society organisations, wish to draw attention to a number of the human rights violations serving as push factors for Sudan’s refugees and internally displaced. In light of the recent EU-Horn…
The Right Honourable David Cameron MP 10 Downing Street London SW1A 2AA Saturday 4 June 2016 Dear Prime Minister, 5th YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF CONFLICT IN SOUTH KORDOFAN AND BLUE NILE, SUDAN We, as representatives of the population in the Nuba Mountains and wider international and African civil society organisations, as shown in the logos above…
1 10 June 2015 To HE Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma Chairperson of the African Union Dear Madam, Open letter to the African Union on the resurgence of xenophobic violence in South Africa presented on the occasion of the AU Summit in Sandton, Johannesburg, June 2015 We, the undersigned organisations, write to you as concerned organisations…
23 April, 2015 Dear Chair and Commissioners of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, We, the undersigned civil society organisations, write to you as concerned organisations and citizens of the African continent to raise concern about the xenophobic attacks currently occurring, mainly against African foreign nationals, in the Republic of South Africa. We…
(1 July 2014) It is with great pleasure that we announce that the Fahamu Refugee Programme (FRP) has merged with the International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI). The merger reinforces IRRI’s capacity to address refugee rights issues, bringing new opportunities and expertise and complementing our research and policy work with a focus on legal assistance. At the same…
Secretary-General League of Arab States 10 June 2014 Subject: Call to end targeting of civilians in Sudan’s conflict areas Your Excellency, As a coalition of civil society groups from Africa and the Middle East who are working to assist the people of Sudan, we write to Your Excellency to appeal to you to intensify your…
All Members of the African Union Peace and Security Council Addis Ababa 10 June 2014 Re: Call to end targeting of civilians in Sudan’s conflict areas Your Excellencies, As a coalition of civil society groups from Africa and the Middle East providing assistance to civilians in South Kordofan and Blue Nile or supporting peace in…
To all members of the United Nations Security Council 09 June 2014 Dear Ambassadors As a coalition of non-governmental organizations working to provide assistance to civilians in South Kordofan and Blue Nile or supporting peace efforts in Sudan, we appeal to the UN Security Council to demand an end to the targeting of civilians by…
Dear Commissioners, Urgent Fact-Finding Mission needed to investigate killings and detention by security forces in Sudan The undersigned organisations are writing to you to express our deep concern at the lack of action or public comments made by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and the African Union (AU) concerning recent events…
African Commission: Investigate Sudan Killings Fact-finding Mission Needed Into Deaths, Detention of Protesters (Kampala, November 1, 2013) — The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) should order a fact-finding mission to investigate the deaths and detention of hundreds of demonstrators, a group of 11 international and African organizations said in a letter made…
Promoting Accountability for International Crimes in Africa (En français)
(Addis Ababa, 21 May 2013) A report launched today in Addis Ababa urges Sudan and the African Union (AU) to take a new approach to resolving Sudan’s multiple conflicts and ending the ongoing suffering of its people.
