14 Children entered Cedars Accommodation in June 2012
18 Children entered Cedars Accommodation in May 2012
Child detention continues unabated, this is the highest number of children detained since Cedars began accepting children in October 2011.
Nato says Afghan militant attacks are up 11%
Insurgent attacks in Afghanistan during the past three months were up 11 per cent, compared to the same period last year, according to the latest statistics on monthly violence released by the US-led coalition. The figures, which Nato released yesterday, also show that the number of attacks in June was the highest for any month since fighting surged in the summer of 2010.
Read more: Deb Riechmann, Independent, 27/07/12
India: Rescind "Shoot at Sight" Orders in Assam
Authorities in India should rescind "shoot at sight" orders to enforce a curfew in the northeastern state of Assam, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should ensure compliance with international standards in responding to ethnic violence, and promptly investigate and prosecute those responsible while addressing the underlying causes of the clashes.
Violence between indigenous Bodo tribes and Muslim migrant settlers that started in Kokrajhar district on July 20, 2012, has since spread to three other districts of Assam, resulting in the deaths of at least 45 people and displacing nearly 300,000. A senior local police officer said that the police have been given "shoot at sight" orders, allowing them to use live ammunition against people violating the curfew imposed on some areas since July 21. Local officials confirm that since the order was issued, the police have fatally shot four people who were allegedly attempting to burn down properties.
Human Rights Watch, 27/07/12
Two Roof top Protests at Morton Hall IRC
UKBA are trying to establish how two detainees scaled the rooftops of an immigration removal centre in two separate protests. The first climbed a building at Morton Hall, in Swinderby, Lincolnshire, on Monday evening and the second climbed up at about 11:30 BST on Tuesday. [Both men came down off the roof and have both been granted bail].
Don Flynn, director of the Migrants' Rights Network, said people could become frustrated when they have been detained for months and, in some cases, years. "When the immigration removal centres were set up, the intention was people would only be detained during the last few days, or maybe a week, of their stay in the country." But he said many are kept for long periods while their applications and paperwork are being considered by the UKBA, and where courts have ordered reviews of decisions.
Read more: Northerner Blog, 26/07/12
Both men came down off the roof and have been granted bail. UKBA had a meeting with detainees yesterday afternoon, which did not address any issues affecting the lengthy periods of detention and the Ramadan issues.
Felix Brunner Wamala, Morton Hall detainee <fbwamala@gmail.com>
Worlds Biggest Economies no Longer Countries but Corporations
Revenues (Million's US dollars)
1. Royal Dutch Shell 484,489,000,000
2. Exxon Mobil 452,926, 000,000
3. Wal-Mart Stores 446,950, 000,000
4. British Petroleum 386,463,000,000
5. Sinopec Group 375,214,000,000
6. China Nat Pet 352,338,000,000
7. State Grid 259,142,000,000
8. Chevron 245,621,000,000
9. ConocoPhillips 237,272,000,000
10. Toyota Motor 235,364 ,000,000
Militants Kill 107 on Deadliest Day in Iraq Since US Withdrawal
107 people were killed yesterday and 268 injured in multiple bombings and shootings across Iraq as insurgents mainly targeted members of the majority Shia population in easily the bloodiest day of violence since US troops pulled out seven months ago. Attacks appeared to underline the capacity of an emboldened insurgency to exploit weaknesses in the country's security apparatus.
Read more: Indpendent, 24 July 2012
Afghanistan: People's vulnerability increases
In the first five months of 2012, a combination of factors has worsened humanitarian conditions in Afghanistan and further increased vulnerability of Afghans. While the reported security incidents for the first quarter of the year showed a 40% decrease from 2011, the number of people displaced by conflict has continued to rise. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 86,360 people were displaced by conflict between January and April, representing a 5% increase compared to the same period in 2011, and a 45% increase compared to the first four months of 2010. This increase in displacement is the highest reported for any previous four-month period in the past decade, as recorded by UNHCR.
Read more: Reliefweb, 23/07/12
Sofia Kalu - Back in Manchester Where She Belongs
Just want to say a big Thank to all my supporters and everyone who have encourage me I am back in Manchester where I belong and been reunited with my husband Johnson who is at the moment in a psychiatric hospital. The day when he heard about I am detained he try to commit suicide so the GP and my campaign group has help him and now it is my turn to take over from them. I am so grateful for all those who continue to work tirelessly on behalf of others.
Sofia Kalu sofiakalu@yahoo.co.uk
Up to Friday afternoon when I left Yarl's Wood, still more and more people is coming that they detain at the airport. Some are elderly people who came to visit their children and grandchildren. Then they bring them to Yarl's wood, one woman was 76 of age from Nigeria it looks like they are targeting Nigerians the most because the majority of them is coming straight from the airport never been able to see England so unfortunate and unjust the system of the British government.
Asylum Research Consultancy (ARC) COI update volume 39
This document provides an update of Country Guidance case law, UKBA publications and developments in refugee producing countries between 09/07/2012 and 23/07/2012. Download volume 39 here . . .
Garden Court Chambers - Immigration Law Bulletin - Issue 284
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To be open for Business, Britain Needs Immigrants
Restrictive visa policies are at odds with the country's economic needs. One of the winning factors in London's bid to host the 2012 Games was the pledge to celebrate those traditions that Britain shares with the Olympic movement: the diversity, the global outlook, the open-to-all inclusivity. The promise was not an empty one. With the Games now upon us, it can be seen in everything from the location in east London, to the make-up of Team GB, to the 70-day torch relay that criss-crossed the nation.
It is also evident, albeit in a different form, in the Global Investment Summit (the first of 17 over the coming weeks) that opened on Thursday with a rousing speech from the Prime Minister full of assurances about "getting behind" British business.
Leader: Indpendent, 27/07/12
Rwanda Loses £16 Million of UK Aid
Rwanda, one of Britain's closest African allies, has lost £16 million of UK aid after being accused of fuelling a rebellion in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has driven 470,000 people from their homes.
Read more: Telegraph, 27/07/12
Anti-Muslim Prejudice Hinders Integration
Muslims in Europe want to interact with other Europeans and participate as full and equal members of society, but regularly face various forms of prejudice, discrimination and violence that reinforce their social exclusion. This is the conclusion of recent research by various international organisations and NGOs. Unfortunately, commentators on the Arab Spring missed the historic opportunity to deconstruct harmful stereotypes about the alleged incompatibility of Islam and democracy, instead exaggerating the risk of migration to Europe.
Muslims have become the primary "other" in right-wing populist discourse in Europe. Political parties in Austria, Bulgaria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland have employed anti-Muslim rhetoric for political gain. Politicians frequently refer to Muslims when discussing the alleged "failure of multiculturalism". However, multiculturalism as a strategy of promoting intercultural dialogue while at the same time preserving cultural identities has hardly been tried in most countries.
Read More: Nils Muiznieks, EU Commissioner for Human Rights
Right Not to Hold any Belief is Fundamental, says Supreme Court
RT (Zimbabwe) and others (Respondents) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] UKSC 38 - t
It is no answer to a refugee claim to say that the individual concerned should avoid persecution by lying and feigning loyalty to a regime which he does not support.
So the Supreme Court has ruled today, considering the relevance of the so-called "HJ(Iran) principle" which was formulated in a case where it was held that it was no answer to an asylum claim by a gay man that he should conceal his sexual identity in order to avoid the persecution that would follow if he did not do so.
So paranoid is the Mugabe regime that it requires proof of positive support from all its subjects. Zimbabweans who hold no political opinions are at the same risk of persecution as opponents of the regime. Thus the peculiarly negative nature of the issue to be decided - whether the freedom not hold political opinions is at the core or the margin of an individual's protected rights. Unlike HJ(Iran), this was not a situation in which a person had to conceal a fundamental and immutable part of his identity at all times (at least when not in private). In these cases, what was contemplated was a situation where a person may on isolated occasions be required to spend a very short amount of time professing a feigned opinion on a matter of politics.
Read more: Rosalind English UK Human Rights blog, 25/07/12
Detainee on Roof of Morton Hall IRC - Hunger Strike on the Wings
Unconfirmed news from Morton Hall IRC, say that a large number of detainees are refusing food and one detainee has climbed onto the roof. Apparently management/staff at the Prison Service managed removal centre have been disrespecting Ramadan.
If anyone on list has contact with detainees @ Morton Hall IRC and have quality information that can be put in the public domain, please get back to 'No-Deportations, make sure that what you send has been okayed by detainees.
Adel Kader's Family Being Torn Apart - Removal 26th July
Shot 12 times while serving in the Lebanese army, Adel Kader, 47, fled his home country of Lebanon in 1990. Adel has lost two brothers and sisters in Lebanon and is sure that the same will happen to him should he be removed. Adel claimed asylum on arrival in the UK and was granted leave to remain, he has been in the UK now for 23 years.
Campaign details NCADC:
Deportees report injuries while being restrained by guards
Reliance the private firm hired by the Home Office to deport foreign nationals is under fresh scrutiny after a spate of alleged attacks that have left at least four people requiring hospital treatment.
Guy Ngassa from Cameroon claimed he was punched so hard by guards at Reliance, which in May last year took over the lucrative contract to deport failed asylum seekers, that he lost consciousness during a struggle while his flight prepared to take off from Heathrow airport on 7 July. The 28-year-old failed asylum seeker was taken to Hillingdon hospital, Middlesex, where documents show he was examined for possible broken wrists and a fractured jaw.
Seven days earlier Jamaican Sean Irons, 29, claimed he was attacked by escort guards prior to takeoff on a charter flight from Gatwick and subsequently taken to hospital for x-rays. Three weeks before that incident, Patrice Ndjonnsy, 42, from Cameroon, alleges his finger was "deliberately" broken after British escort guards forcibly restrained him, one holding his throat.In another case that has just emerged a 29-year-old former professional Tunisian footballer, Salah Arfaoui, claims he was assaulted by UK guards so violently that police in Milan turned him back when his plane landed en route after they learnt of the alleged assault.
Read more: The Observer, Sunday 22 July 2012
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