Syrian
refugee crisis: Can business deliver?
On the eve of the Syria donors conference in London, the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development unveiled its ambitious
plan to support refugee-hosting communities and strengthening local economies.
The bank is aiming for a
900 million euros ($1 million) financing package for Turkey and Jordan, and it
hopes to finance up to 500 million euros in new transactions subject to
mobilizing an additional 400 million euros in grants.
The package will support
a key role for the private sector to help the two neighboring countries with
infrastructure projects, small business initiatives and the provision of
employment opportunities.
Is it too risky to wait and see?
With the lifting of
barriers to refugee employment new jobs urgently need to be created. While
employment opportunities will provide refugees with a much needed livelihood,
steps must also be taken to avoid resentment building up in host communities,
many of which are already experiencing economic depression.
In the Turkish city of
Kilis, the number of Syrian refugees now outstrips the local population. “If
refugees face hostility from local people they will look for alternative
destinations and those will be Europe, the United States and Canada,” warned
the town’s mayor.
“Refugees are facing a
real danger,” explained the head of the Turkish Centre for Migration and
Refugee Studies, Murat Erdogan. “Social acceptance of refugees in Turkey is
high but is it sustainable? It is dangerous and risky to wait and see.”
Germany
launches scheme to find training places for 10,000 refugees
BERLIN: The German
government and the country's skilled craft sector Friday launched an initiative
to offer 10,000 refugees on-the-job training places as the shortfall in
qualified workers in Europe's biggest economy continues to grow.
The German education
ministry and the national Confederation of Skilled Crafts, or ZDH, said in a
joint statement that they would offer apprenticeships to 10,000 asylum-seekers
between April 2016 and April 2018.
The candidates should be
aged at least 25 and have a strong chance of being granted asylum, the
statement said.
In concrete terms, the
scheme, which is backed by the Federal Labor Agency, will offer language
lessons and initial qualifications and also provide the refugees with a chance
for short-term work experience in a business.
REPORT:
RWANDA ACCUSED OF TRAINING BURUNDI REFUGEES
A confidential report
accuses Rwanda of recruiting Burundian refugees with the goal of ousting
Nkurunziza.
UNITED NATIONS – A confidential report to the
United Nations Security Council accuses Rwanda of recruiting and training
Burundian refugees with the goal of ousting Burundian President Pierre
Nkurunziza.
The report by experts who monitor sanctions on Democratic Republic of Congo, which was seen by Reuters on Wednesday, contained the strongest testimony yet that Rwanda is meddling in Burundi affairs and comes amid fears that worsening political violence could escalate into mass atrocities.
The report cites accounts from several rebel fighters, who told the sanctions monitors the training was done in a forest camp in Rwanda.
Nkurunziza's re-election for a third term last year sparked the country's crisis and raised concerns that there could be a bloody ethnic conflict in a region where memories of Rwanda's 1994 genocide are still fresh.
The experts said in the report that they had spoken with 18 Burundian combatants in eastern Congo's South Kivu province.
"They all told the group that they had been recruited in the Mahama Refugee Camp in eastern Rwanda in May and June 2015 and were given two months of military training by instructors, who included Rwandan military personnel," according to the report.
The Burundian combatants, which included six children, told the UN experts they were trained in military tactics, use of assault rifles and machine guns, grenades, anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.
They said there were at least four companies of 100 recruits each being trained in a forest camp while they were there.
"They were transported around Rwanda in the back of military trucks, often with Rwandan military escort," the UN experts wrote. "They reported that their ultimate goal was to remove Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza from power."
Burundi and Rwanda have the same ethnic mix, about 85 percent Hutus and 15 percent Tutsis. A 12-year civil war in Burundi, which ended in 2005, pitted a Tutsi-led army against Hutu rebel groups.
Rwandan UN Ambassador Eugene Gasana dismissed the accusations against Kigali contained in the report and told Reuters, "This further undermines the credibility of the Group of Experts, which seems to have extended its own mandate, but apparently investigating Burundi."
The UN report did not say why the Burundian fighters had crossed into Congo. But Russia's Deputy UN Ambassador Petr Iliichev said last month that there had been reports of Burundian rebels trying to recruit more fighters in Congo.
"The Burundian combatants showed the group fake DRC identification cards that had been produced for them in Rwanda, so they could avoid suspicion while in the DRC," the report said.
Burundi accused Rwanda in December of supporting a rebel group that was recruiting Burundian refugees on Rwandan soil, but Rwandan President Paul Kagame dismissed the allegations as "childish."
The accusations by Burundi were prompted by the charity Refugees International, which said in a December report it was "deeply concerned" by claims of Burundian refugees in Rwanda that they were being recruited by "non-state armed groups".
The UN Security Council travelled to Burundi in late January, its second visit to the country in less than 10 months. The United Nations has estimated the death toll at 439 people but has said it could be higher. More than 240,000 people have fled abroad and the country's economy is in crisis.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said during the visit to Burundi that the 15-member council had expressed concern about the allegations of external interference.
The report by experts who monitor sanctions on Democratic Republic of Congo, which was seen by Reuters on Wednesday, contained the strongest testimony yet that Rwanda is meddling in Burundi affairs and comes amid fears that worsening political violence could escalate into mass atrocities.
The report cites accounts from several rebel fighters, who told the sanctions monitors the training was done in a forest camp in Rwanda.
Nkurunziza's re-election for a third term last year sparked the country's crisis and raised concerns that there could be a bloody ethnic conflict in a region where memories of Rwanda's 1994 genocide are still fresh.
The experts said in the report that they had spoken with 18 Burundian combatants in eastern Congo's South Kivu province.
"They all told the group that they had been recruited in the Mahama Refugee Camp in eastern Rwanda in May and June 2015 and were given two months of military training by instructors, who included Rwandan military personnel," according to the report.
The Burundian combatants, which included six children, told the UN experts they were trained in military tactics, use of assault rifles and machine guns, grenades, anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.
They said there were at least four companies of 100 recruits each being trained in a forest camp while they were there.
"They were transported around Rwanda in the back of military trucks, often with Rwandan military escort," the UN experts wrote. "They reported that their ultimate goal was to remove Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza from power."
Burundi and Rwanda have the same ethnic mix, about 85 percent Hutus and 15 percent Tutsis. A 12-year civil war in Burundi, which ended in 2005, pitted a Tutsi-led army against Hutu rebel groups.
Rwandan UN Ambassador Eugene Gasana dismissed the accusations against Kigali contained in the report and told Reuters, "This further undermines the credibility of the Group of Experts, which seems to have extended its own mandate, but apparently investigating Burundi."
The UN report did not say why the Burundian fighters had crossed into Congo. But Russia's Deputy UN Ambassador Petr Iliichev said last month that there had been reports of Burundian rebels trying to recruit more fighters in Congo.
"The Burundian combatants showed the group fake DRC identification cards that had been produced for them in Rwanda, so they could avoid suspicion while in the DRC," the report said.
Burundi accused Rwanda in December of supporting a rebel group that was recruiting Burundian refugees on Rwandan soil, but Rwandan President Paul Kagame dismissed the allegations as "childish."
The accusations by Burundi were prompted by the charity Refugees International, which said in a December report it was "deeply concerned" by claims of Burundian refugees in Rwanda that they were being recruited by "non-state armed groups".
The UN Security Council travelled to Burundi in late January, its second visit to the country in less than 10 months. The United Nations has estimated the death toll at 439 people but has said it could be higher. More than 240,000 people have fled abroad and the country's economy is in crisis.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said during the visit to Burundi that the 15-member council had expressed concern about the allegations of external interference.
BURUNDI REBELS TRAINED BY RWANDAN
MILITARY: U.N. EXPERTS
By: Reuters
Last Updated: 05 February 2016|07:08 GMT
A confidential UN report fingers Rwandan military of training
Burundi rebels to oust President Pierre Nkurunziza. PHOTO: Flickr
A confidential report to the United Nations Security Council
accuses Rwanda of recruiting and training Burundian refugees with the goal of
ousting Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza.
The report by experts who monitor sanctions on Democratic
Republic of Congo, which was seen by Reuters on Wednesday, contained the
strongest testimony yet that Rwanda is meddling in Burundi affairs and comes
amid fears that worsening political violence could escalate into mass
atrocities.
The report cites accounts from several rebel fighters, who told
the sanctions monitors the training was done in a forest camp in Rwanda.
Nkurunziza's re-election for a third term last year sparked the
country's crisis and raised concerns that there could be a bloody ethnic
conflict in a region where memories of Rwanda's 1994 genocide are still fresh.
The experts said in the report that they had spoken with 18
Burundian combatants in eastern Congo's South Kivu province.
"They all told the group that they had been recruited in
the Mahama Refugee Camp in eastern Rwanda in May and June 2015 and were given
two months of military training by instructors, who included Rwandan military
personnel," according to the report.
The Burundian combatants, which included six children, told the
U.N. experts they were trained in military tactics, use of assault rifles and
machine guns, grenades, anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, mortars and
rocket-propelled grenades.
They said there were at least four companies of 100 recruits
each being trained in a forest camp while they were there.
"They were transported around Rwanda in the back of
military trucks, often with Rwandan military escort," the U.N. experts
wrote. "They reported that their ultimate goal was to remove Burundian
President Pierre Nkurunziza from power."
Burundi and Rwanda have the same ethnic mix, about 85 percent
Hutus and 15 percent Tutsis. A 12-year civil war in Burundi, which ended in
2005, pitted a Tutsi-led army against Hutu rebel groups.
Rwandan U.N. Ambassador Eugene Gasana dismissed the accusations
against Kigali contained in the report and told Reuters, "This further
undermines the credibility of the Group of Experts, which seems to have
extended its own mandate, but apparently investigating Burundi."
The U.N. report did not say why the Burundian fighters had
crossed into Congo. But Russia's Deputy U.N. Ambassador Petr Iliichev said last
month that there had been reports of Burundian rebels trying to recruit more
fighters in Congo.
"The Burundian combatants showed the group fake DRC
identification cards that had been produced for them in Rwanda, so they could
avoid suspicion while in the DRC," the report said.
Burundi accused Rwanda in December of supporting a rebel group
that was recruiting Burundian refugees on Rwandan soil, but Rwandan President
Paul Kagame dismissed the allegations as "childish."
The accusations by Burundi were prompted by the charity Refugees
International, which said in a December report it was "deeply concerned"
by claims of Burundian refugees in Rwanda that they were being recruited by
"non-state armed groups".
The U.N. Security Council traveled to Burundi in late January,
its second visit to the country in less than 10 months. The United Nations has
estimated the death toll at 439 people but has said it could be higher. More
than 240,000 people have fled abroad and the country's economy is in crisis.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said during
the visit to Burundi that the 15-member council had expressed concern about the
allegations of external interference.
World
leaders pledge $10 billion to aid Syrian refugees
LONDON — World leaders pledged more than $10 billion Thursday to
help fund schools, shelter and jobs for refugees from Syria's civil war — money
that British Prime Minister David Cameron said “will save lives, will give
hope, will give people the chance of a future.”
But participants at the
aid conference in London acknowledged that prospects for ending the conflict
have rarely been worse: Peace talks are suspended, fighting is intensifying,
Russia and the West are at odds, and millions of Syrians are suffering from
bombardment, homelessness and hunger.
“The situation in Syria is
as close to hell as we are likely to find on this Earth,” said United Nations
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Secretary of State John
Kerry was no more upbeat.
“After almost five years
of fighting, it's pretty incredible that as we come here in London in 2016, the
situation on the ground is actually worse,” he said.
The one-day meeting, held
under tight security at a conference center near Parliament, aspired to bring
new urgency to the effort to help the 4.6 million Syrians who have sought
refuge in neighboring countries, including Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. About 6
million people are displaced within Syria, and a quarter of a million have been
killed.
ANALYSIS: Why even $10bn can't get Syrians back
to work
LONDON – Surpassing all expectations,
the donor community gathered in London to promised $10bn for Syrians, exceeding
the $9bn target set by the UN for 2015.
But while generosity was hailed, Syrians and aid groups warn that
huge hurdles remain.
Much has been made about the need to stop the five-year
conflict, which has killed more than 260,000 people and displaced millions
more.
The Red Cross and many Syrian groups at the conference said they
feared aid could at best be a sticking plaster while the war rages.
“The bombing has to stop. Safe corridors and direct access to
the besieged areas should be assured,” Ruham Hawash, who represented
Germany-based NGO Citizens of Syria at the London conference, told MEE.
Yet, there are other less obvious hurdles that threaten to
undermine the highly touted new donor approach of having more money directed to
job-creation, which is needed to bolster livelihoods, education opportunities
and, in the eyes of the donor community, give Syrians an excuse to stay in the
region.
Donors say that the money will help get one million children
back into school by next September, while creating more than a million new jobs
for Syrians and locals living in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.
But the reality on the ground threatens to work against them.
The right to work in neighbouring countries has been lauded as a
key achievement, with Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon all promising to free up their
labour regulations, but their commitments risk sounding hollow.
Lebanon
dragged its heels on the issue until the 11th hour.
- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/analysis-why-even-10bn-cant-get-syrians-back-work-1821742073#sthash.rCLX4tH5.dpuf
World View: Cameron’s pleading on migrants
opens pandora’s box
The
proposed agreement between the UK and the EU to avert Brexit is
smoke and mirrors, largely spin. It is a cynical political deal all to do with
getting David Cameron off the hook, and little to do with
solving real or imaginary problems. Not least the “exceptional” challenge of
the UK’s migrant problem.
But,
such is our Government’s concern about Brexit, that we will almost certainly
hold our noses and vote the deal through.
Take
Cameron’s repeated insistence on exempting the UK from treaty commitments to
“ever closer union”, and his boast of a concession on the issue. As the draft
proposed by council president Donald Tusk points
out, the treaty text was never any more than an aspiration. Although the Tusk
document refers to the imperative for “further deepening” of integration,
“references in the treaties and their preambles to the process of creating an
ever-closer union among the peoples of Europe are primarily intended to signal
that the union’s aim is to promote trust and understanding among peoples living
in open and democratic societies sharing a common heritage of universal values.
They are not an equivalent to the objective of political integration.” Or to a
legal obligation, although the UK will sign up to a commitment to “not create
obstacles to but facilitate such further deepening”.
Millions of Chinese Migrant Workers Head Home for New Year
HONG KONG—
Every year tens of millions of Chinese migrant workers head home
for the new year holiday. It is the largest annual mass migration of people,
with travelers clogging China's airports and train stations.
Next week begins the year of the monkey in China, with millions of
people traveling to spend time with their families and celebrate the new year
with grand fireworks celebrations. China’s huge population of migrant workers
have already begun their journeys to home villages in the countryside.
Wang Xi, who will soon board a very crowded train to see his
family, says he misses his parents and knows they have a much harder life back
home than he does in Beijing.
Immigrant workers
play increasingly important role
By Choi Sung-jin
When
President Park Geun-hye visited an industrial complex south of Seoul last
March, most of the small-business executives there cited the difficulty in
securing manpower as their biggest problem.
In a 2015 survey of small and medium enterprises, 60.7 percent of respondents also said they could not find young people willing to work on manufacturing lines.
There are a number of unemployed young people but the gap in wages and welfare programs between these SMEs and large companies is too wide to lure a young workforce.
Filling these voids are immigrant workers. Most of the parts and components makers cannot simply go on without these guest workers, mostly from Southeast Asia and South Asia. These foreign workers serve as the soil for "root industries" – businesses that process raw materials into parts and components – a small-business owner said.
"These immigrant workers are young and highly motivated, playing a key role in jacking up the entire factory's productivity," said another small-business president. "The problem is, the guest workers have to go back to their country after four years and 10 months of permitted work here, when their skills reach considerable levels. Replacing them with new migrant workers takes at least three months."
In a 2015 survey of small and medium enterprises, 60.7 percent of respondents also said they could not find young people willing to work on manufacturing lines.
There are a number of unemployed young people but the gap in wages and welfare programs between these SMEs and large companies is too wide to lure a young workforce.
Filling these voids are immigrant workers. Most of the parts and components makers cannot simply go on without these guest workers, mostly from Southeast Asia and South Asia. These foreign workers serve as the soil for "root industries" – businesses that process raw materials into parts and components – a small-business owner said.
"These immigrant workers are young and highly motivated, playing a key role in jacking up the entire factory's productivity," said another small-business president. "The problem is, the guest workers have to go back to their country after four years and 10 months of permitted work here, when their skills reach considerable levels. Replacing them with new migrant workers takes at least three months."
New Report Documents Which Brands Exploit Garment
Workers
Three years after the infamous Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh
killed an estimated 1,130 garment workers, the issue of sweatshops and
dangerous, exploitative conditions continues.
A January report from the India Committee of the
Netherlands took
another look at the region, finding that garment workers still face serious
issues in terms of living and working conditions, despite stated commitments on
the part of big brands to address these problems.
Consumers
in the U.S. and other Western nations may recognize some of the big names
mentioned: H&M, Tommy Hilfiger, Gap and Inditex (owner of Zara, among
others). While the report focused on living conditions, not those in factories,
it paints a grim picture of what life is like for the workers producing cheap
fashion for Western consumption.
Why the EU emergency
brake on migrant benefits is sexist
Since
the plan on re-negotiating the UK’s position in the
EU was published, there has been a lot of talk about whether it offers a good
enough compromise to placate eurosceptic politicians. Of particular interest
has been the proposal to apply an “emergency brake” to limit access to
in-work benefits for EU migrants.
There’s been scant mention, though, of the victims of the
proposed measures. Not only does a brake on in-work benefits constitute a
dramatic licence to discriminate against EU nationals – it is sexist.
The
majority of tax credits in the UK go to women, therefore women and children will
be more acutely affected by the clamp down.
Pity those Tory MPs, torn between leader and local party
While
the precise details of the brake are yet to be refined, what we do know is that it
limits access to in-work benefits for “up to” four years.
In-work benefits are extremely important for working parents and
are vital for lone parents – overwhelmingly women – on low incomes. This makes
the European ideal of free movement considerably less free for women. Their
ability to live and work in the UK becomes contingent on them not becoming
mothers – especially not single mothers.
Torture victims seeking UK asylum wait 2yrs for medical exam –
watchdog
Torture
victims waiting for their British asylum applications to be processed face
delays exceeding two years because the Home Office will only accept evidence
from two organizations, a report has found.
Borders and Immigration Chief Inspector David Bolt said torture
survivors are forced to wait for years because the government will only accept
evidence supporting asylum claims from two bodies: the Helen Bamber Foundation
and Freedom from Torture.
The watchdog also reported the alarmingly high rate at which the
Home Office turns away medical concerns about the detention of possible torture
victims.
According
to the investigation, 85 percent of 1,400 reports by qualified medical
practitioners expressing concern about the detention of possible torture
survivors were rejected.
Asylum policies 'brutal and
shameful', authors tell Turnbull and Dutton
More than 60 Australian writers – including Nobel laureate JM
Coetzee and Booker prize winners Thomas Keneally and
Peter Carey – have written to the prime minister and immigration minister
condemning the government’s offshore detention policies as “brutal” and
“shameful”.
Let Them Stay: share your stories if
you are joining protests around Australia
Read
more
The Turnbull government
has faced intense backlash over its offshore detention policies this week in
the wake of a high court ruling paving the way for 267 asylum seekers
– including 37 babies born in Australia – to be returned to the remote island
of Nauru.
Following Tuesday’s high
court ruling that it was constitutional for the government to send asylum
seekers to the islands of Nauru and Manus in Papua New Guinea for processing,
church leaders have openly defied the government, risking jail time by offering
sanctuary to asylum seekers, while paediatricians have also risked prosecution by revealing conditions in detention
and condemning them as “toxic” for children.
A series of protests,
under the banner of Let Them Stay, have been held across the
country, including sit-ins at the office of the prime minister.
Australia may crack down on
Syrian refugees - leaked document
Australia is considering subjecting thousands of refugees from Syria to
tougher character and security checks than their European counterparts to
minimise the risk of "extremist infiltration", a leaked policy
document says.
The
draft document
singles out refugees from Syria as
potentially holding beliefs or associations that may lead them to engage in
violent activities, and outlines measures to monitor them even after they gain
Australian citizenship.
singles out refugees from Syria as
potentially holding beliefs or associations that may lead them to engage in
violent activities, and outlines measures to monitor them even after they gain
Australian citizenship.
Australia
is part of the United States-led bombing campaign against the Islamic State
militant group in Iraq and Syria and is on heightened alert for attacks by
home-grown radicals. Its tough asylum seeker policy, which includes mandatory
detention for people arriving by boat, is a hot-button political issue.
Don't give EU migrant
beggars cash, Sweden tells citizens
The Swedish government
has told its citizens not to give money to beggars or let the
panhandlers' children attend school, after the number of EU migrants
on its streets from countries such as Romania and Bulgaria more than
doubled.
The government has
appointed a national coordinator to look into how to prevent poor EU migrants
from heading to the small and wealthy Scandinavian country. According to
the broadcaster SVT, between 3,400 and 4,100 EU migrants were begging in Sweden
last Spring, up from an estimated 800 to 2,000 the year before.
But the number could be
even higher as bigger municipalities have difficulties counting the migrants.
They are mainly Roma
coming from Romania and Bulgaria, but also from the Czech Republic, Slovakia
and Hungary. They can now be found everywhere in the Sweden - even in
Kiruna, the northernmost town in the country.
The new report published
by the national coordinator Martin Valfridsson said that Sweden should not let
the children of the panhandlers go to school. Instead of giving money to
beggars on the street, Swedes should donate the money to established
organisations, he said.
Reforms needed in countries
taking Syrian refugees - HRW rights group
Countries where Syrian refugees seek asylum should end harsh
policies on registration, deportation and education that violate fundamental
rights, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Thursday as donors met in London.
These
refugees should not be sent back to their war-torn country, refugee
registration requirements should be made less restrictive and access to
education should be made easier for Syrian children, HRW said in a report.
"This
conference needs to set a new agenda on Syrian refugees, making respecting
their fundamental rights the top priority," Bill Frelick, HRW refugee
program director, said of the one-day donors conference in London.
Providing healthcare among
the chaos: the European refugee crisis
Pharmacist Miguel Serrano from Médecins Sans Frontières
discusses the challenges with providing healthcare to refugees and asylum
seekers.
Miguel
Serrano, a pharmacist from Spain, has been working in the humanitarian sector
for seven years. Previously, he worked as a field pharmacist in Haiti assisting
an emergency obstetrical programme. He also worked in Myanmar, where Médecins
Sans Frontières (MSF) has a large cohort of HIV and tuberculosis patients.
Currently, he is based in Amsterdam and conducts pharmaceutical market assessments
to select the best pharmaceutical products for various MSF programmes.
The
European refugee crisis began in 2015, when a rising number of refugees and
migrants made the journey to the EU to seek asylum. According to the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the top three nationalities of the
around 1 million Mediterranean Sea arrivals in 2015 were Syrian (49%), Afghani
(21%) and Iraqi (8%). In April 2015, five boats carrying almost 2,000 migrants
to Europe sank in the Mediterranean Sea. The combined death toll was estimated
to be more than 1,200 people.
Tier
2 visa restrictions causing shortage of Asian chefs in the UK
The owner of a small
chain of curry houses across Kent - a county in South East England - says that
being unable to recruit chefs from Southern Asia due to tough uk immigration
rules is causing major problems for his restaurant chain. In an interview with
The Economist, Pasha Khandaker says that he was forced to close one of his
restaurants eight months ago; others in his chain continue to struggle.
Mr Khandaker mentioned
that he currently has three workers manning each kitchen across his restaurant
chain, but he actually needs six. He now fears for his livelihood as reduced
numbers of staff could result in poor customer service and dissatisfaction.
He said: "I can't
recruit enough chefs from within Britain or, more importantly, from Southern
Asia." Mr Khandaker attributes some of his struggles to current Tier 2
visa restrictions. The Tier 2 visa allows people from outside the European
Union to take up a job offer from a UK employer with a Tier 2 sponsorship licence.
Effective 6 April, 2016,
Tier 2 visa restrictions are set to become tighter with the introduction of a
new £35,000 salary threshold to be able to apply for UK indefinite leave to
remain just one of the changes being implemented. UK Home Secretary, Theresa May,
has said: "The new rules will help to reduce the number of non-European
Union/EEA nationals and their dependants that are granted permanent residence
each year from 60,000 to 20,000."
Children seeking asylum in
UK denied access to education
Thousands of children seeking asylum in the UK are being denied
access to education, according to organisations who work with refugees.
The children include
newly arrived asylum seekers who are placed in Home Office initial
accommodation with their families, unaccompanied minors who arrive here without
their families, and children with their families who are dispersed to various
parts of the UK by the Home Office.
No accurate statistics
are collated relating to these groups of children, some of whom are unable to
access a school place for up to a year, but the estimate is based on
information from different organisations around the UK who try to help children
get into school.
A Refugee Council
spokeswoman said: “The inability for all asylum-seeker children to access a
school place promptly is concerning. We have worked with children who have had
to wait up to a year to get a school place.”
Responsibility for
educating asylum-seeker children falls between different authorities in the UK.
Those in initial accommodation do not have a legal right to attend school and
local councils say they do not have a legal responsibility to provide education
for them. The Home Office says only that it tries to move children on from
initial accommodation as quickly as possible.
Children in initial accommodation seem to fare
particularly badly because they are not allowed to go on a waiting list to get
a school place, unlike other children seeking asylum.
University of Edinburgh to offer scholarships
to asylum seekers
A Scottish university has announced plans to help
asylum-seeking students into education.
The
University of Edinburgh said it will provide fully funded scholarships for five
undergraduate students admitted in 2016, under what it said was one of the best
packages of support available in the UK.
Additional
undergraduate students seeking asylum will pay tuition fees of £1,820 - not the
rates applied to international students, which are around nine times higher.
The
sum of £1,820 is the same amount the Student Awards Agency for Scotland
contributes for each Scottish student.
UNHCR calls for nominations of 'unsung heroes' for Nansen
Refugee Award 2016
GENEVA, Feb 1 (UNHCR) – As
the world continues to witness record numbers forcibly displaced by war and
conflict, there are many unsung heroes working tirelessly behind the scenes to
help the millions of people caught up in these global crises.
The UN Refugee Agency is
asking for nominations by February 8th for the 2016 Nansen Refugee Award, to
recognise those courageous people who have contributed directly to the refugee
cause – saving
lives, providing clean water and food, offering shelter, teaching skills and
literacy, or protecting human rights.
Each
year UNHCR's Nansen Refugee Award honors an individual or group who has gone
beyond the call of duty to assist refugees, internally displaced or stateless
persons. Recent winners include Sister Angélique Namaika a Congolese Nun
providing support for victims of violence by the Lord's Resistance Army and the
community group 'Butterflies' from Columbia who work to help displaced survivors
of sexual abuse.
Established
in 1954, the award is named after Fridtjof Nansen, an intrepid polar explorer
and humanitarian who went on to serve as the first High Commissioner for
Refugees for the League of Nations. Fridtjof Nansen won the Nobel Peace Prize
in 1922. The award consists of a commemorative medal and a $100,000 monetary
prize donated by the governments of Norway and Switzerland to support a project
of the winner's choice to benefit refugees.
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