In the framework of this project we provide legal and social support to refugees from Central Asia. This is ongoing activity started in 2006.
1.Legal suport includes work with applicants at all statges of national refugee procedure. Representation of clients interests at the state bodies of Ukraine, including cases of unlawful arrests and detention due to extradition threats.
2.Social support – consulting applicants on different issues of everyday life in Ukraine, including advices on personal safety.
Project goals:
1.Legal support for refugees. To run the “Help Center” for refugees in Ukraine and provide them with legal and social assistance at all stages of the procedure and everyday life in Ukraine (initial social orientation, advice, emergency assistance).
2.Prevention of extraditions of refugees and asylum seekers (refoulement) to the countries of origin.
3.Monitoring of refugees’ rights violations, legislative initiatives and changes.
4.Cooperation and coordination with other NGOs active in the field in order to protect refugees in Ukraine.
5.Information and consultations to international institutions concerning the situation of refugees. Assertion of concrete decisions which could improve the situation of refugees.
6.Advocacy – to keep active public discussion around refugees’ situation and problems, shape public opinion and bring positive changes into the situation.
7.Education of different target groups in this field – refugees and asylum seekers, police, journalists, etc.
This project is implemented in close cooperation with UNHCR and it’s partners. Supported by OSI.
Kyiv (Ukraine) – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees continues to be concerned about the situation of a Kyrgyz national who was denied access to Ukrainian territory in Boryspil airport where she arrived by the flight from Kazakhstan on 29 March 2012.
Statement of the international transborder meeting in Turkey, made on March 18, 2012 in front of Edirne detention centre
Kyiv (Ukraine) – The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has noted that on 3 March 2012 European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ordered Ukrainian authorities in response to a petition to the Court under Rule 39 that 3 stowaways on the ship docked at Mykolayiv seaport (2 from Eritrea, 1 from Ethiopia) should be allowed to disembark from the vessel and be granted access to asylum procedure to exercise their right to seek asylum.
Further information on UA: 29/12 Index: EUR 50/002/2012 Ukraine Date: 22 February 2012
URGENT ACTION
detained asylum-seekers stop hunger strike
The strike, held in protest by the group of Somali asylum-seekers and migrants, against their illegal detention and alleged ill-treatment, lasted for six weeks. The strike was halted by the group on 17 February after they received assurances from the State Migration Service that their asylum applications would be considered.
UNHCR is relieved to hear that the hunger strikes have ended at both detention centres in the Volyn and Chernigiv regions of Ukraine. The detainees, including many asylum-seekers and minors, were protesting against the length of their detention and demanded that the authorities consider their asylum claims in compliance with international standards.
Source: Human Rights Watch site
(Moscow, February 1, 2012) - The Ukrainian authorities should immediately stop police harassment and threats against Somali asylum seekers held at the Zhuravychi Migrant Accommodation Centre, Human Rights Watch said today. In a letter sent to the Ukrainian authorities, Human Rights Watch also called for the immediate release of all Somali asylum seekers who are being held in administrative detention pending deportation.
Source: UNHCR site
UNHCR remains concerned about the situation of detainees, including many asylum-seekers and minors who are currently held in two detention centres in the Volyn and Chernigiv regions[1] of Ukraine. Their situation remains problematic even after several visits of UNHCR staff and NGO lawyers and Government officials. To obtain clarity more visits and interviews are scheduled for the coming weeks.
Amnesty International has urged the Ukrainian authorities to stop the ill-treatment of a group of detained asylum-seekers and their supporters, who were attacked by security forces attempting to forcibly end a hunger strike.
To: Vitaliy Zakharchenko, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
Dear Mr. Zakharchenko:
We are writing to raise our concern about the arbitrary detention of some or all of a group of 125 Somali nationals detained at the Zhuravychi Migrant Accommodation Centre (MAC). Some of them are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or the Ukrainian authorities as asylum seekers. Around 80 have told UNHCR they want to apply for asylum in Ukraine, but have not been allowed to do so.
Below is a part of Human Rights Watch report 2012 about the situation with human rights in Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan’s human rights record remains appalling, with no meaningful improvements in 2011. Torture remains endemic in the criminal justice system. Authorities continue to target civil society activists, opposition members, and journalists, and to persecute religious believers who worship outside strict state controls.
Freedom of expression remains severely limited. Government-sponsored forced child labor during the cotton harvest continues. Authorities continued to deny justice for the 2005 Andijan massacre in which government forces shot and killed hundreds of protestors, most of them unarmed.
Reacting to the pro-democracy Arab Spring movements, the Uzbek government increased the presence of security forces across the country and widened its already-tight control over the internet. Despite the government’s persistent refusal to address concerns about its abysmal record, the United States and European Union continued to advance closer relations with the Uzbek government in 2011, seeking cooperation in the war in Afghanistan.
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