FM Alert, Vol. II, No. 9

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Date: Mon, 02 Mar 1998 09:50:07 -0800
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Subject: FM Alert, Vol. II, No. 9

From: MINELRES moderator  <[email protected]>

Original sender: Allison Mindel  <[email protected]>

FM Alert, Vol. II, No. 9


FM Alert, Vol. II, No. 9
27 February 1998

NGO WORKING GROUP ON HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE IN THE CIS

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is teaming up with the
French agency Equilibre to lead a working group of CIS NGOs active
in emergency and humanitarian assistance. This NGO working group
is one of five established to follow up the 1996 CIS Migration
Conference. NRC and Equilibre staff are developing a work plan and
hope to organize a training workshop for 15 national CIS NGO working
group members, tentatively in late spring in the Caucasus region. A
December 1997 meeting of the working group in Moscow sponsored
by UNHCR revealed to the organizers the need for basic training as to
what an NGO actually is, how their mandates should distinguish
them from government bodies, how projects should operate, etc.
NRC and Equilibre also plan to raise funds to publish a manual in
Russian on humanitarian assistance activities and actors targeted to
grassroots organizations before the next meeting of the emergency
and humanitarian assistance NGO working group. NRC will provide
information and training to support the sustainability of NGO
activities as CIS conflicts die down and relief organizations make way
for those involved in development activities. "The goal is to advance
the knowledge of local NGOs regarding humanitarian assistance" and
thereby increase their capacities to carry out sustainable grassroots
activities, said Brita Sydhoff of NRC's Geneva office.
(For information on manuals for migration-related CIS NGOs see FM
Alerts No. 30 of 27 May and No. 5, Volume II of 2 February)

NGO WORKING GROUP ON REFUGEE LAW AND PROTECTION IN THE CIS

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC), European Council on Refugees
and Exiles (ECRE), and Finnish Refugee Advice Centre are leading a
working group of CIS NGOs active in refugee law and protection
issues. This NGO working group, comprising several dozen local
NGOs, is one of five established to help implement the Program of
Action adopted at the 1996 CIS Migration Conference. The work plan
of the group concentrates on four objectives: the facilitation of legal
training, the strengthening of the capacity of NGOs to lobby, the
establishment of an NGO network including legal experts, and the
facilitation of input to the CIS Conference Steering Group. The next
meeting of the working group will take place in Moscow in March to
discuss the improvement of technical communications, followed by
a meeting in April to discuss a working report to the Steering Group,
data collection for a region-wide NGO legal directory, and fundraising
issues. The NGO group will require funding to carry out their work
plan. Meetings are also planned for May, June and July to finalise
the report to the Steering Group, establish a legal resource network
in the CIS, and devise and exchange training and lobbying materials
and techniques. At a December 1997 meeting in Moscow
sponsored by UNHCR, the working group agreed on the need for a
directory of national NGOs and individual specialists working on
refugee legislation, legal counseling, public information and training.
(For more information on legally oriented information for CIS NGOs
see FM Alert No. 30 of May 27)

ESTONIA CONSIDERS GRANTING STATUS TO ILLEGAL RESIDENTS

The Estonian government is debating legislative changes that would
grant residency status to up to 70,000 persons illegally residing in
the Baltic republic. The proposed change, which was first debated
by the government in December 1997, would pave the way for those
who arrived before July 1, 1990, and who had yet to obtain proper
documentation, to receive residency status. Last year, Estonia's
Citizenship and Migration Board initiated registration of qualifying
illegal residents, but the move was challenged by an Estonian
legislator, and ruled unconstitutional. Registration of illegal
residents can proceed only after legislative amendments were
adopted by the Riigikogu, or parliament. This action to resolve
outstanding questions connected with citizenship and residency
come at a time when Estonia is negotiating conditions for entry
into the European Union. Tens of thousands of Russian-speaking
residents are disgruntled because laws implemented after Estonia
regained independence in 1991have deprived them of citizenship,
and in some cases legal residency.
(For background information consult FM Alert of 5 September
1998, re: the Forced Migration Projects special report "Estonia and
Latvia: Citizenship, Language and Conflict Prevention.")

----------------------------------------------------------------------
For more information contact:

Forced Migration Projects
Open Society Institute
400 West 59th Street, 4th floor
New York, NY 10019
tel: (212) 548-0655
fax: (212) 548-4676
[email protected]
www.soros.org/migrate.html

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