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Posts Tagged ‘refugee’
Reforms in Dominican Republic increase number of stateless people
Thursday, December 10th, 2009On December 10, International Human Rights Day, the government of the Dominican Republic is set to promulgate a constitutional reform measure that could leave large numbers of Dominicans of Haitian descent stateless. The changes to nationality provisions, first approved in October 2009 by the country’s legislators, will redefine Dominican citizenship and deny children born on Dominican soil to immigrant parents “residing illegally” in the country their legal claim to Dominican nationality.
Over the past year the Dominican Republic has been de-nationalizing many of its citizens of Haitian descent, despite their constitutional right to nationality. Under the amended Constitution, there is fear that thousands more Dominicans of Haitian descent will be retroactively stripped of their Dominican nationality, placing them at risk of losing their fundamental rights to attend school, access adequate housing, health care, property, and freedom of movement. Further, the constitutional change will leave thousands of Dominicans suspected of Haitian ancestry vulnerable to the intermittent mass expulsion campaigns carried out by Dominican authorities, in which military and immigration police have been known to deport thousands of people who “look Haitian” or who have French last names, over the border into Haiti.
Human rights organizations throughout the Dominican Republic and around the world are alarmed by this decision because of the impact it will have on this already marginalized community. The new constitutional provisions on nationality are incompatible with international law, as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has held that the migratory status of a person is not transmitted to their children. Any attempt by the Dominican Republic to apply this constitutional reform retroactively would constitute a clear violation of international law.
“The Dominican Republic has witnessed a steady drumbeat of discrimination against Dominicans of Haitian descent. Prior to this constitutional change, thousands have had their identity documents denied, or confiscated for no reason other than their ancestry,” said Monika Kalra Varma of the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights.
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Program aims to break culture of violence in Nepal refugee camps
Monday, November 30th, 2009Indian Catholic reports on the Jesuit Refugee Service in Nepal, and how JRS stepped in to break a cycle of violence, drug and sexual abuse that had been plaguing thousands of ethnic Nepali youths from Bhutan living in refugee camps in East Nepal.
JRS field director Father PS Amalraj, told UCA News that young people are vital to conditions in the camps. “The power of the youth can either build or destroy the refugee camps. Keeping this in mind, we established one youth friendly center in each camp and we now have 14,000 members,” Father Amalraj said. The YFC initiative consists of education in journalism, television presenting, sports, music and awareness of HIV/AIDS and other social issues.
Video Podcasts from Jesuit Refugee Service/USA
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009Jesuit Refugee Service/USA videos are now available for your iPhone or iPod.
Young refugees in Chad need hope for future, not simply aid for today
Monday, November 16th, 2009Without adequate security or resources for education, young women and men in refugee camps would turn to prostitution or violence, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Chad said at a U.N. press conference.
Michele Falavigna, reporting on the humanitarian situation in Chad after his first three months, said the country had been at war for 40 years and had virtually “never known peace and development”. The large number of displaced people, in the range of 300,000, from Sudan, Central African Republic and Chad itself, faced multiple challenges.
Displaced and local children at school in Chad's Kerfi village. (Ashley Gagne, JRS)
Although the camps contained some 60,000 women between the ages of 18 and 59, only half that many men were within the same age range, he said. That meant that some 30,000 men were “doing something elsewhere”. While a portion may be back cultivating land or simply no longer wished to be registered as refugees, others had taken up with warlords, gone into some form of trafficking, or joined criminal gangs.
It was time for the international community to look into the phenomenon, Mr. Falavigna said, pointing out that the scenario sent a message: while humanitarian groups had an obligation to protect and care for refugees, they must also offer young men and women growing up in camps hope for a decent life. Without it, many would not stay in the camps, he said, adding that, for young women and girls, the easiest way to survive was by entering prostitution rings. For men, it was to find a Kalashnikov and join a gang or armed group, which put peace and security at risk.
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Bhutanese refugees find their future in Ohio
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009Jesuit Refugee Service/USA has longed worked with Bhutanese refugees. After being exiled in camps in eastern Nepal for seventeen years, they have been offered the chance of a new life through resettlement. These refugees were expelled from Bhutan in 1992 in a move intended to rid Bhutan of an ethnic minority whom the government viewed as a threat to national unity.The Dayton Daily News reports on Bhutanese refugees beginning a new life in Ohio.
Seven thousand miles from their ancestral home, Bhutanese refugees are tilling the good earth outside of Cleveland and making it bloom. To the astonishment of many, they are using the old ways to gain a fresh start in their new home.
Some see a model that could employ future waves of refugees — or at least other Bhutanese. By getting back to the land, a challenged immigrant group may be getting ahead.
Read the full story here. Learn more about the work of JRS/USA and Bhutanese refugees here.
Iraqi refugees and asylum–seekers seek safe haven in U.S.
Thursday, August 13th, 2009Jesuit Refugee Service/USA notes that the situation of Iraqi refugees remains a crisis, one that calls for redoubled efforts to achieve a durable solution to their situation. Two million Iraqi refugees and three million internally displaced Iraqis add up to a vast displacement that will take years to resolve. It is important that within Iraq, immediate efforts focus on assisting the increasing number of internally displaced Iraqis to return to their homes. Reintegration programs established now can equally well benefit those returning from overseas, as their basic needs will be similar.
The New York Times tells the story of an Iraqi asylum seeker to highlight a report released by the International Rescue Committee about the plight of Iraqi refugees and asylum seekers in the U.S. (Hat tip to CLINIC)
Video: JRS – West Africa
Monday, April 6th, 2009
Fr. Nzanzu Kapitula, S.J., Regional Director of JRS West Africa, discusses what it means to be a part of JRS, and how JRS fulfills it’s mission to serve, accompany and advocate for the people of West Africa, a vast region encompassing Sierra Leone, Chad, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Liberia and the Republic of Central Africa.
