FM Alert, Vol. II, Nos. 31, 32
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Subject: FM Alert, Vol. II, Nos. 31, 32
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
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FM Alert, Vol. II, Nos. 31, 32
FM Alert, Volume II, No. 31
August 7, 1998
MEETING IN LVIV, UKRAINE, EXAMINES ISSUE OF TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN
Participants at a meeting to discuss the prevention of illegal
trafficking of women in Europe lauded information campaigns in both
Poland and Ukraine, and urged that similar programs be developed
elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe. The trafficking meeting, held
July 9-10 in Lviv, Ukraine, said the information campaigns had been
successful in raising awareness among women at risk of becoming
trafficking victims, and had helped focus the attention of appropriate
government agencies in Poland and Ukraine on the trafficking issue.
The information campaign in Poland were financed by the European Union
and implemented by the nongovernmental organization (NGO) La
Strada-Poland. The Ukrainian project was funded by the U.S. Department
of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration and
implemented by the International Organization for Migration, in
cooperation with the Ukrainian Government. The Lviv meeting identified
Romania as a Eastern European country in particular need of a similar
information campaign. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989,
thousands of women in Central and Eastern Europe have been lured into
virtual sexual slavery in the West by traffickers proffering false
promises of a better life. The Lviv meeting also expressed its
approval of a Ukrainian law, adopted in March, that provides for
prison sentences for those found guilty of trafficking in women. In
June, a Budapest conference on the trafficking of women, co-sponsored
by the Open Society Institute's Network Women's Program, recommended
that NGOs play a greater role in the development of prevention
strategies. "I want the United Nations to be involved. I want to raise
global awareness of how serious this problem is," Mary Robinson, the
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the gathering.
(For additional information see FM Alert of October 22).
LITHUANIA AMENDS LAW ON REFUGEE STATUS
The Baltic republic of Lithuania has amended legislation governing the
exclusion of refugees from protection. The changes, which took effect
on July 22, stipulate that refugee status can be denied to those
suspected of being war criminals or members of terrorist
organizations. The amendment also provides for the denial of status to
those who served in the internal security services of "totalitarian"
regimes, including the former Soviet Union. The Law on Refugee Status,
adopted in 1995, originally provided for automatic denials of status
to those who had been convicted of serious criminal offenses, or those
who had been accused of "activity that contradicts the objectives and
the principles of the United Nations." The law's vague wording
resulted in prolonged determination proceedings, as adjudicators
wrestled with clarifying the statute's intent. The new language,
while more specific, could be construed to authorize exclusions from
protection beyond those permitted under UN refugee treaties, ratified
by Lithuania in 1997. Since the collapse of the former Soviet Union,
Lithuania has emerged as a transit country for many seeking a better
life in Western Europe.
(For additional information see FM Alerts of March 13 and February
27).
BOSNIA OMBUDSMEN ACCUSE FEDERATION OF OBSTRUCTION
The office of the Federation Ombudsman for Bosnia and Herzegovina has
severely criticized authorities of the Muslim-Croat Federation for
their failure to implement property legislation designed to facilitate
the return of displaced persons. In a report presented July 22, the
ombudsmen said that only a tiny portion of cases have been resolved
involving people seeking to regain property or tenancy rights to
housing that they occupied prior to the outbreak of the 1992-95 war.
Legislation, adopted in April, eased the procedures for displaced
persons seeking to restore their title to housing. Before the passage
of the new laws, repatriation had been hampered by the Federation
government's lingering reliance on wartime legislation, which favored
current occupants over pre-war tenancy rights holders in housing
disputes. Other factors, including poor security and the inability to
travel freely, also hamper the ability of the displaced to reclaim
property, the ombudsmen said. The Federation Ombudsman is a legal
institution established in 1995 under the Dayton Peace Agreement,
comprising a representative from each of Bosnia's three constituent
entities.
(For additional information see FM Alerts of May 1 and March 19).
-----------------------
FM Alert, Vol. II, No. 32
August 14, 1998
FMP BRINGS SUIT AGAINST THE BAHAMAS OVER INADEQUATE PROCEDURES TO
PROTECT REFUGEES
The Forced Migration Projects (FMP) of the Open Society Institute is a
co-party of an injunction request filed with the Organization for
American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, seeking to
prevent the return of some 120 Cuban asylum seekers now being detained
in the Bahamas. The suit, filed in Washington, DC, on August 13,
asserts that the Bahamian government denies Cuban asylum seekers
adequate access to refugee determination procedures. It identifies
several Cubans with colorable refugee claims who are being held at the
Carmichael Road Detention Center in the Bahamas, and who are in danger
of suffering "irreparable harm to their physical and moral integrity"
if they are returned to Cuba. The suit asks the Commission to issue
"precautionary measures" to halt the deportation of Cubans until they
have had access to adequate determination proceedings. "This case
should be resolved with an arrangement by the concerned countries in
the region, including the United States, to share the responsibility
to ensure protection and solutions for genuine refugees. The Bahamas
should not face this dilemma alone," said FMP Director Arthur C.
Helton. Helton was a member of a mission in late April to the Bahamas
that found conditions at the Carmichael Road facility to be
substandard. A subsequent letter addressed to Bahamian authorities
called for immediate improvements at the detention center. A ruling in
favor of the Cubans would also benefit Haitians and others detained at
the Carmichael Road facility. The Washington, DC,-based Center for
Justice and International Law is also a co-party of the injunction
request.
(For background information see FM Alert of May 15).
UNHCR REPORT EXAMINES MIGRATION IN UKRAINE
Ukraine has granted refugee status to approximately 2,700 persons,
including 891 children, since the implementation of determination
procedures in 1996, according to a United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees report. Capacity remains limited, the report adds, thus
hampering "the access of all asylum seekers presently staying and
arriving in Ukraine to status determination procedure." UNHCR also
found instances of police abuse affecting "several thousand bona fide
asylum seekers," and has instituted training and information campaigns
to improve practices. UNHCR's work in Ukraine also focuses on
citizenship issues connected with formerly deported peoples who are
returning to the Crimean peninsula. An estimated 90,000 returnees are
without Ukrainian citizenship, up to 30,000 of whom are considered
stateless. UNHCR's office in Ukraine is providing logistical support
to formerly deported peoples, particularly Crimean Tatars, on ways to
resolve citizenship dilemmas. Programs in the Crimea are implemented
through the local non-governmental organization "Assistance." The
Danish Refugee Council is also an active participant in Crimean
programs. Overall, UNHCR plans to spend up to $4.7 million on programs
in Ukraine. Citizenship and other migration-related issues will be
discussed at an upcoming meeting of the NGO Working Group on
legislation, to be held in Kyiv, Ukraine, on September 9-10. The
working group was formed under the auspices of the 1996 CIS Conference
on migration-related issues, and is headed by the Forced Migration
Projects.
(For additional information see FM Alerts of June 12 and May 8).
UN EXTENDS OBSERVER MISSION IN ABKHAZIA
The United Nations Security Council has extended the mandate for its
observer mission in the separatist Abkhazia region of Georgia. The
resolution, adopted July 30, prolongs the mandate of the UN Observer
Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) until January 31, 1999, and is "subject to
a review by the Council of the mandate of UNOMIG in the event of any
changes that may be made in the mandate or in the presence of the CIS
peacekeeping force." Tension has flared recently in Abkhazia with
Georgian forces clashing with Abkhazian separatists. The struggle has
created hundreds of thousands of displaced persons. No provision in
the UN Security Council's action was made to expand the UNOMIG's
responsibilities, as was urged by the Forced Migration Projects (FMP).
In a July 15 letter addressed to concerned diplomats, FMP Director
Arthur C. Helton urged that the mission's mandate be expanded to allow
for the creation of a UN civilian police force. The establishment of a
UN civilian police force, the FMP says, would improve security, and
possibly build confidence needed for a political settlement. Efforts
to achieve a political settlement are currently deadlocked.
(For background information see FM Alert of July 23, June 5 and April
10).
------------------------
For more information contact:
The Forced Migration Projects
400 West 59th Street, 4th floor
New York, NY 10019
tel: (212)548-0655
fax: (212) 548-4676
e-mail: [email protected]
website: www.soros.org/migrate.html
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