Immigration - new material (88)
01 January 2008
When is a child not a child? Asylum, age disputes and the process of age assessment, Heaven Crawley. ILPA May 2007, pp. 11. This publication considers the plight of the thousands of individuals who arrive in the UK as separated children and have their age disputed and are treated as adults with significant repercussions on their rights to welfare and educational support. Among its finding are the following points: i. age disputes are linked to a prevailing culture of cynicism among immigration officers and some social workers, ii. there are failings in Home Office procedures, iii. there is wide variation in the quality of age assessment procedures and iv. there is a conflict of interest between the requirements of social services to undertake age assessments and the obligation to provide services to children in need. http://www.ilpa.org.uk/publications/ILPA%20Age%20Dispute%20Report.pdf
Immigrant regularization processes in Italy. Analysis of an emblematic case, Vincenzo Cesareo. Fondazione ISMU, (Polimetrica International Scientific Publisher, Milano) 2007, pp.92, Euros 10, electronic version available (free of charge) at: www.polimetrica.com. A retrospective analysis of regularisation processes carried out in Italy that looks at the measures introduced to regulate migration flows, enact amnesties and for the regularisation of immigrants residing "irregularly" in Italy. It goes on to offer an overview of the migrant population in Italy, and breaks down the varied profiles of the more than 700,000 regularisation candidates who filed their applications during the so-called "big regularisation" in 2002 (around 635,000 were regularised by the end of 2003), highlighting the increase in flows from eastern Europe, a process of "feminisation", and a rising average age (32 years) compared to the past. It looks at aspects ranging from mobility to employment sectors and incomes, the different experiences and paths taken by immigrants in Italy, and compares the experiences of regularised immigrants and other "regular" immigrants who had already settled at the time.
Support for asylum-seekers and other migrants update, Sue Wilman. Legal Action December 2007, pp. 16-20. Latest update on welfare provision for asylum seekers and other migrants.
The Twelfth Italian Report on Migrations 2006, Vincenzo Cesareo (ed.). Fondazione ISMU, (Polimetrica International Scientific Publisher, Milano) 2007, pp.265, Euro 19, electronic version available (free of charge) at: www.polimetrica.com. The twelfth edition of this report by Fondazione ISMU, which provides a wealth of statistical data, as well as in-depth reports on immigration into Italy, foreigners' presence in Italy, legislative developments, trends at an EU level, employment, schooling, health, housing solutions and settlement patterns, the case of unaccompanied foreign minors, with a final study concerning immigration in the northern region of Lombardy.
Millions in flight: the Iraqi refugee crisis. Amnesty International September 2007, pp 21. This report describes the humanitarian disaster of the mass exodus of refugees fleeing from widespread and extreme violence in Iraq, with an estimated 2.2 million internally displaced and another 2 million fleeing to Jordan and Syria. More than four years after their "liberation" the situation of these refugees has been largely ignored by the rest of the world, and by the UK in particular. Despite serious human rights violations the UK is one of several European countries that has failed to provide protection to Iraqi asylum seekers, using punitive measures, such as cutting off assistance (including accommodation and benefits) to people who reach the end of the asylum process, to coerce them into "voluntary" return. The report says: "Despite the critical situation, the response of many in the international community, including states that participated in the US-led invasion and can be considered to have a particular obligation to address the hu