UN: Refugee benefit cuts violate convention
Published: 11 Aug 2015 10:03 GMT+02:00
· Danes publish pro-refugee advertisement (10 Aug 15)
· Red Cross blasts Danish refugee benefit cuts (06 Aug 15)
· Denmark to run anti-refugee advertisements (24 Jul 15)
· Denmark to reduce asylum benefits (01 Jul 15)
Denmark's proposed cuts to refugees' welfare benefits will violate the UN's refugee convention from 1951, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) wrote in a hearing statement to the government.
The UNHCR's statement was one of 35 submitted in response to the proposed cuts. All but one of them were critical of Denmark's plans, including a letter from the Danish Red Cross that its general secretary said was the most negative hearing statement he's ever written.
See the assembled hearing statements here (the UNHCR's begins on page 163)
The UNHCR said that the Danish government's plans to limit the right to the welfare benefit known as kontanthjælp and the student stipend SU to residents who have lived in Denmark for seven of the past right years amounts to a convention violation.
"Article 23 [of the 1951 Convention, ed.] provides that 'The Contracting States shall accord to refugees lawfully staying in their territory the same treatment with respect to public relief and assistance as is accorded to their nationals' [emphasis added]," the statement reads.
"Article 24 of the 1951 Convention provides that refugees lawfully staying in the territory of a State party shall be accorded the same treatment as is accorded to nationals with regard to social security, including unemployment, old age and family responsibilities," the statement continues.
Under the Danish proposal, all refugees and foreigners who have not resided in Denmark for seven out of the past eight years – as well as Danish citizens who have lived outside of the EU – will only be entitled to a new so-called 'integration benefit', which is significantly lower than regular unemployment benefits. New arrivals will not be entitled to paid holiday while on the benefit and the time spent as an asylum seeker does not count toward the residency requirement.
See also: Denmark to reduce asylum benefits
The UNHCR said that despite applying the same rules to Danish citizens who have lived outside the EU, it is refugees who will bear the brunt of the cuts.
"While formally the integration allowance is also intended for Danish citizens who have lived abroad outside the European Union, in reality it will primarily affect refugees and others with a foreign background. UNHCR is thus concerned that the proposed residency requirement to be eligible for the kontant- or uddannelseshjælp and instead introducing a significantly lower integrationsydelse for refugees who are not able to find employment during the first seven years will have a discriminatory effect and that the impact of the proposal will be detrimental for refugees," the organization wrote.
The integration benefit will pay a single adult with no children receive 5,945 kroner per month before tax, compared to the current 10,849 kroner unemployment benefit – a 45 percent cut. An additional 1,500 kroner per month can be earned by passing an intermediate Danish language exam.
See also: Danish group publishes pro-refugee advertisement
The UNHCR goes on to criticize planned changes to how child and pension benefits are applied to refugees, once again arguing that the proposals violate the 1951 Convention.
Despite the criticism in the UNHCR's 12-page report, and the criticism of over 30 other organizations, Integration Minister Inger Støjberg stood by the proposed changes.
"The new integration benefit is in no way a sign of discrimination," she told Politiken.
"It serves to the contrary the very objective goal of needing to be able to keep up with the influx [of refugees] to Denmark. We can't as it is now, which is why we want to make it less financially attractive to come to Denmark," Støjberg said.
"It also serves another just as essential goal, which is to give a strong incentive to get a job as quickly as possible," she added.
Støjberg has repeatedly said that additional restrictions to Denmark's immigration policies will be announced shortly.
For more news from Denmark, join us on Facebook and Twitter.
The Local (news.denmark@thelocal.com)
http://www.thelocal.dk/20150811/denmarks-refugee-cuts-violate-un-convention-unhcr
Mbeki to reach out to African diaspora
14 August 2015
It is believed that Africa's brain gain is an important step to achieving an African renaissance and there is no bigger supporter of this notion than former South African president, Thabo Mbeki.
Mbeki will be the keynote speaker at Speed Meet Jozi, which will bring together influential professionals and entrepreneurs from across Africa.
The event, hosted by brain gain company Homecoming Revolution in association with Brand South Africa, takes place on Friday, 14 August at the Hilton Sandton. It is a prelude to Homecoming's Speed Meet New York that will be held on 24 September.
"Bringing Africa's diaspora home is a critical part of achieving the vision of an African renaissance," says Max Boqwana, the chief executive of the Thabo Mbeki Foundation. "We are proud to be associated with Homecoming Revolution and share their vision of getting the continent's brightest sons and daughters home."
Another highlight of the event will be the release of the Homecoming Insights 2015 report. The report examines a broad range of issues including the core reasons why people move abroad, the key trigger factors that encourage people to return home, what people miss most and least about home and what links people still retain with their home countries.
Angel Jones, chief executive of Homecoming Revolution, says the report offers an exciting snapshot of African immigration patterns and yielded surprising results. "Our survey has yielded some invaluable insights on both Africans in the diaspora and returnees. The results offer fantastic snippets into thoughts of both these groups and has provided us with an accurate snapshot of how strong the pull of home remains for so many Africans abroad."
Bringing together movers and shakers
According to Jones, Speed Meet Jozi is a great opportunity for pan-African corporates and captains of industry, ambassadors, diaspora professionals and other "homecomers" to meet and discuss the brain gain issue.
"The speed networking format enables African movers and shakers from all corners of the continent to meet in an interactive and relaxed setting. Homecoming Revolution shares Mr Mbeki's vision of an African Renaissance and aims to fulfil that goal by connecting influential Africans across many different borders."
Brand South Africa's acting chief marketing officer, Sithembile Ntombela, says that "those who want to play their part and contribute to our country and continent's growth and development are enabled to do so".
Other guests include singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Mail & Guardian owner Trevor Ncube, and Nigerian television presenter and writer Moky Makura.
Click here for more information on Speed Meet Jozi.
SAinfo reporter
Read more: http://www.southafrica.info/news/speedmeet-jozi-140815.htm#.VdInk_lViko#ixzz3j69lRrH0
Student with four A* A-levels refused finance over immigration status
Hassan al-Sherbaz, hoping to study chemical engineering, classed as international student despite living in UK since he was nine
A student who was awarded four A* grades at A-level is facing an anxious wait to hear whether he will be able to take up an offer from Imperial College due to a dispute over his immigration status.
Hassan al-Sherbaz, 18, has been refused a student loan despite having lived in Britain for half his life. Sherbaz, who arrived in the UK with his parents aged nine, has been educated at primary and secondary schools in Milton Keynes.
When Sherbaz applied for student finance he was told his immigration status – of discretionary leave to remain – means he is not eligible for a loan. His status means he would have to pay the international tuition fee rate at £26,000 a year.
He now faces deferring his offer for two years while he applies for indefinite leave to remain status, which will make him eligible for student finance. Sherbaz said: "I feel like I will have lost time in comparison to my peers."
Sherbaz said he remembers the day he was told his loan application had been refused. "It was a very big shock," he said. "I was thinking what am I going to do and how am I going to afford this. But I was very motivated to prove myself that I can get through this."
UK universities not unscathed in immigration crackdown
With the recent news that further education colleges will be impacted by dramatic immigration changes, foreign nationals at UK universities will also be facing new hurdles this autumn.
Announced last month, the UK government has made a number of changes to the immigration rules, including scrapping all part-time work rights for non-EU students studying at publicly funded colleges.
"The speed and lack of warning I think has been quite unfair"
Home Secretary, Theresa May, has also implemented tighter rules for international students at universities starting with those who wish to extend their studies at the same academic level.
If the desired course does not move up a notch on the National Qualifications Framework, then students will be required to prove how it is related to their previous field of study.
Furthermore, universities will be required to confirm that this new course supports the student's career aspirations.
Immigration Minister, James Brokenshire, said that these new measures have been implemented in order to "reduce net migration and to tackle immigration abuse", while ensuring the UK maintains "an excellent offer for students who wish to study at our world-class universities".
http://thepienews.com/news/uk-universities-not-unscathed-in-immigration-crackdown/
10 truths about Europe's migrant crisis
British ministers including Theresa May and Philip Hammond have made hair-raising claims about the dangers of migrants entering the country. But do the facts bear them out?
When you're facing the world's biggest refugee crisis since the second world war, it helps to have a sober debate about how to respond. But to do that, you need facts and data – two things that the British migration debate has lacked this summer. Theresa May got the ball rolling in May, when she claimed on Radio 4 that the vast majority of migrants to Europe are Africans travelling for economic reasons. The media has followed suit, one example being the Daily Mail's unsubstantiated recent assertion that seven in 10 migrants at Calais will reach the UK.
Foreign secretary Philip Hammond this week not only repeated May's claimsabout African economic migrants, but portrayed them as marauders who would soon hasten the collapse of European civilisation. Hammond, like many people, could do with some actual statistics about the migration crisis. Here are 10 of the key ones:
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/aug/10/10-truths-about-europes-refugee-crisis
"Marauding migrants": UK government plumbs depths of inhumanity and ignorance
The migrant crisis is not a threat to Britain but a human catastrophe for those fleeing for their lives, often as a result of Western intervention.
PHILLIP Hammond's comments on migrants yesterday marked a new low in levels of ignorance and inhumanity on the subject from a government already plumbing the depths.
There can rarely have been a Foreign Secretary who got elementary demographic facts so wrong. In particular his claim that 'millions' of African 'marauders' are trying to get into Europe is a complete fabrication.
Germany, the favoured destination of by far the largest number of migrants into Europe, is expected to get a total of 400,000 asylumapplications this year. And most of these won't be from Africa.
On the assumption that Hammond checks available figures, he must be deliberately making things up. It has been widely reported that Just recently Syria overtook Afghanistan as the main source of refugees into Europe.
For his information, neither of these countries are in Africa. In fact according to the government's own figures in the last year only two out of the top five countries of origin of refugees coming into Europe are in Africa.
Hammond claims that a huge influx of Africans is a threat to social stability in Britain. There are around 5,000 migrants in Calais at the moment.
Contrary to the media and political spin, most migrants coming to Europe don't want to come to Britain, because it is widely known that the government treats migrants unusually badly, with lower levels of welfarethan many European countries.
http://stopwar.org.uk/news/marauding-migrants-uk-government-plumbs-depths-of-inhumaity-and-ignorance
UK and its allies are the real marauders, not African migrants
As organisations working to address global poverty, we condemn Phillip Hammond's warped claims about African migrants (Report, 10 August). It is not "marauding" African migrants, but the UK and other wealthy nations that are threatening living standards and causing poverty for people in Africa and across the world. Sub-Saharan Africa loses $192bn to the rest of the world each year. In return it receives just $30bn back in aid. Whether it is our network of tax havens that allows the theft of billions from countries in Africa each year, the costs we save by recruiting health workers from the world's poorest countries, the aid we give as loans which contribute to the looming debt crisis, or our carbon emissions which force African countries to pay out billions to adapt to the climate change we cause, it is the UK and our wealthy allies, not African migrants, doing the marauding.
The UN is clear that most migrants attempting to reach the EU are fleeing persecution or conflict. These people have the right to protection under international law. The British government claims it wants to stop the minority who are fleeing poverty making dangerous journeys to the UK. The solution does not lie in increased security in Calais. It is in ending our own contributions to global poverty.
Love story between Nazi and Jew roils romance novel community
A romance novel which tells the story of a Jewish woman at a concentration camp falling in love with a Nazi commander during World War II has stirred an uproar in recent weeks after it was nominated for two Romance Writers of America awards.
Sarah Wendell, author of the Internet site Smart Bitches, Trashy Books said she was disturbed that the book, For Such a Time by author Kate Breslin, uses the Holocaust to promote a religious point of view.
http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Love-story-between-Nazi-and-Jew-sparks-uproar-in-romance-novel-community-411698
Posted by: migrant Cause <migrantcause@gmail.com>
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