Cedar Centre for Legal Studies’ Post

📍The Samir Kassir Foundation’s spokesperson, Jad Shahrour, was recently featured in an article by Dario Sabaghi for Foreign Policy. The article sheds light on the troubling issue of Lebanese politicians exploiting #hatespeech against Syrian refugees to further their own agendas. Recognizing and combating these harmful tactics is crucial to protecting human rights and promoting a just society. 🔗 Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/dq6vMN2n #EndHateSpeech #HumanRightsViolations #SyrianRefugees #PublicPolicy

🚨 UN Human Rights Committee Raises Urgent Concerns Over Pushbacks, Border Violence, and Detention Conditions in Greece 🇬🇷 Greece – November 2024 – The UN #HumanRightsCommittee has voiced serious concerns regarding multiple reports of pushbacks at Greece’s sea and land borders, reinforcing evidence gathered by civil society organizations on the proliferation of human rights violations impacting migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees. ❗ Key issues highlighted include: Reports of excessive use of force, ill-treatment, and incommunicado detention in the context of pushback operations. Detention of third-country nationals in pre-removal centers without any tangible prospect of return. Lack of systematic investigations into allegations of pushbacks and a broader lack of accountability. 🔍 The Committee has urged Greece to ensure fair and efficient asylum procedures for all asylum seekers, regardless of how they arrive in Greece, and to guarantee effective protection against non-refoulement.

The undersigned organizations – representing a diverse collection of civil society – raise serious concerns regarding the sharp rise in anti-Syrian sentiment and accompanying violence in Türkiye. The actions carried out by the Turkish government and emboldened civilians have been, at best, ignored by the European Union (EU), which has financially supported Türkiye as part of its externalization efforts. In response to the recent and serious escalation of actions taken against Syrian refugees in Türkiye, the undersigned organizations call on the EU to act swiftly to protect the rights of Syrian refugees by adopting the outlined recommendations. Read more: https://lnkd.in/g72QfzMk

🚨 Report by Solidarity With OTHERS: Forced Returns and Broken Protections 📢 On October 18, 2024, seven Turkish nationals, including individuals under UN protection, were abducted by masked men in Nairobi. Just days later, four of them were forcibly deported to Turkey, violating the 1951 Refugee Convention’s non-refoulement principle. 🔴 Witnesses described coordinated operations involving blindfolding, detention, and intimidation. Despite international condemnation, Kenya defended its actions, citing strategic ties with Turkey. 🌍 Human Rights organizations have strongly condemned these actions, warning of the serious persecution risks faced by the deportees in Turkey. This alarming report sheds light on the dangers of transnational repression and the urgent need to protect refugees globally. 👉 Read the full report for details and recommendations: https://lnkd.in/dJynqREm #HumanRights #RefugeeRights #Kenya #Turkey #Turkish #Erdogan #HizmetMovement #HumanRightsViolations #UN #ECtHR

South Africa deports thousands of people every year. In fact, it is one of the world’s most prolific deporting nations. With little access to legal documents, migrants and refugees living in South Africa are left vulnerable to arrest and deportation. Conditions inside detention, the ineffectiveness of deporting people - and simply the cost of the deportation system to the South African state - encourage us to ask whether this system is working and what alternatives exist for a more integrated continent. 'On The Line' provides an in-depth look at South Africa’s immigration detention and deportation system - notorious for human rights abuse, ineffectiveness and corruption - and potential alternatives for a more just future. https://lnkd.in/diPQvWtv #detention #documentaryfilm #alternativestodetention #documentary

This is outrageous and shameful. 48 hours after the collapse of the Assad regime, European states have agreed to stop asylum applications for Syrians. It’s very revealing that this is what the UK and European countries have prioritised as a response to the momentous and historical overthrow of Assad’s regieme by the people of Syria. The right to asylum is enshrined in international law. Syrians, like all people seeking sanctuary from human rights violations and persecution, have the right to seek asylum, and these rights must be upheld by the UK and European governments. We are seeing the all too inevitable narrative shift in the UK, where Syrians are again being viewed as possible security threats and the demise of the regime is seen as posing a risk to Europe and its borders. This singular story is dehumanising and dangerous. Syrian asylum seekers in limbo as countries stop applications. https://lnkd.in/eS27hAfr #syria #refugees

Ali Mourad, legal advisor to Kulluna Irada, said: "If Lebanon's interest today lies in the return of Syrians to their country, it is necessary to discuss the obstacles that must be addressed to secure this return. The first obstacle is that the Syrian regime does not want Syrians to return after it has deliberately acted to change the demographic composition of Syria. If the regime eventually decides to accept their return, it will do so at a financial and political price. The second obstacle is that the international community has linked the return to a political solution in Syria and to reconstruction. This necessary linkage of the three tracks conflicts with Lebanon's interests. Third, the Arab countries that normalized relations with the Syrian regime did not impose conditions related to the return of refugees. Fourth, the Lebanese government does not have enough data to be equipped to prepare for the return, making it difficult to act in the event of a political solution.” Lara Saade Elie Abouaoun (DDS, MBA) DIANA MENHEM

Conversation Over Borders is appalled by the UK government suspending Syrian's asylum applications, days after the regime of Bashar Al Assad fell, and 13 years on from the Syrian people uprising against a brutal and cruel regime forcing many Syrians to flee for their lives as refugees. Conversation Over Borders has spent years working with Syrian refugees and those seeking asylum, providing mental health and wellbeing, English language, and community support. We echo the hopes and dreams of the Syrian communities we work alongside for a free and secure Syria to emerge, so that Syrians can rebuild their lives and those refugees seeking and choosing to return are safe to do so. 'The right to seek asylum is enshrined in international law and conventions protecting persecuted people's rights to seek sanctuary and safety. The UK must uphold their obligations to these rights and provide safety and security to Syrians. Syrian asylum seekers remain vulnerable and have no certainty about their future, safety and wellbeing in Syria, a country that is transitioning from 24 years of Bashar Al Assad's regime, where human rights abuses have been rife, including enforced disappearance, imprisonment without fair trial, torture, execution and sexual abuse. The British government must not use this moment to abandon Syrians seeking asylum.’ - Colette Batten-Turner CEO, Conversation Over Borders. #syria #refugees

In 2020, the Access Center for Human Rights (ACHR) published a report titled “The Fears Of Civil Society Organizations Amid Lebanese Government Restrictions" The paper highlights the significant challenges #civil_society groups face, from their emergence to their day-to-day operations. Despite existing to protect #Syrian_refugees, many of civil society’s challenges directly result from #pressure, #security_prosecutions, #harassment, and intimidation from #Lebanese_authorities. How do you think the Government of Lebanon can improve its policies and practices towards civil society and the Syrian refugee crisis? To read the full paper: https://bit.ly/3Vkuu2N

Being a refugee claimant is like being the prosecutor of your own criminal trial. You bear the onus of proving that the worst events in your life actually did happen, without the benefit of police officers gathering facts on your behalf or the ability to find and cross examine suspects. For example, how is a survivor of domestic abuse supposed to prove that their abuser will follow them from city to city and that therefore they are at risk throughout their country? How is a member of an ethnic minority supposed to prove that an attack on them is based on their ethnic identity, and not, for example, financially motivated? Even when represented by a lawyer, a refugee claimant can only gather the facts that they have immediately at hand. Treating refugee claimants as if they are the Crown in their own claims is how we end up refusing the claims of people who are legitimately at risk. It is dangerous.