Immigration - new material (38)
01 May 1998
Life in Colombo for Tamils: Violation of human rights. Report on findings of research trip to Sri Lanka, May 6-21 1997, Sonia Routledge, 105pp, ?4. This report summarises an investigation into the "conditions of life in Colombo for Tamil residents of the city". It contains sections on "Arrests, Detentions and Disappearances", "The dangers for Returnees" and "The Persecution of Tamils in Colombo..." The section on failed asylum seekers will prove invaluable for those working in the field as will the chapter on persecution, which examines the role of "lodges" - "in practice, virtual prisons" - in curtailing Tamil freedom of movement. A number of appendices present individual accounts and the relevant emergency legislation. Available from the author at: PO Box 13794, London E12 5TX.
Control of immigration: statistics United Kingdom, second half and year 1997, Keith Jackson & Andy Bennett. Statistical Bulletin (Home Office) Issue 13/98, 21.5.98.
Asylum statistics United Kingdom 1997, Madelaine Watson & Philip Danzelman. Statistical Bulletin (Home Office) Issue 14/98, 21.5.98.
Asylum policy: protection not prison, Don Flynn. Chartist May/June 1998, pp16-17. This piece looks at the "awful mess" of the UK's refugee policy. While a "great deal of blame lies with the previous government's denial of the human rights dimension to refugee policy" the current government's overdue Home Office review is expected to announce an extension of Immigration Act detentions.
Campsfield Monitor Issue 12 (May) 1998. Latest issue of the Monitor contains updates on the Group 4-run immigration detention centre. Available from: 111 Magdalen Road, Oxford OX4.
Scandal of the missing children. CARF 44 (June/July) 1998, pp4-5. This piece looks at the plight of young female asylum-seekers and asks why the government does not reverse the Conservative Party policy of placing immigration policy above childrens' needs.
Commentary on the draft convention on rules for the admission of third-country nationals to the member states of the European Union. Standing committee of experts on international immigration, refugee and criminal law. 19 May 1998, 12 pages. This report, sent to the Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament, is critical of the draft Convention on two points: first, whether EU member states will be allowed to treat third-country nationals more favourably than the minimum standards set out, and second, that the text does not make clear whether "third-country nationals have to be treated as people with fundamental rights" thus setting limits to the actions of member states. From: Standing committee of experts on international immigration, refugee and criminal law, p/a Secretariat, postbus 201, 3500 AE Utrecht, Netherlands.
Mind the Gap! Ineffective Member State implementation of European Union asylum measures, Steve Peers. Refugee Council and Immigration Law Practitioners' Association (ILPA), May 1998, 24 pages. An excellent report which shows that asylum seekers will have their cases determined according to very different criteria depending on which EU member state they apply in. Nick Hardwick, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council said: "The EU seems more preoccupied with finding ways to keep potential refugees out of the EU than protecting them". Andrew Nicol, Chair of ILPA, said: "Member States should harmonise their practices in line with obligations under international human rights conventions and to the best procedures in the Community". From: ILPA, Lindsey House, 40-42 Charterhouse Street, London EC1M 6JH or Refugee Council, 3 Bondway, London SW8 1SJ.
Parliamentary debates
Campsfield House Detention Centre Lords 29.4.98. cols. 338-361
Palestinian refugees Commons 29.4.98. cols. 303-310