Protecting recognized Geneva Convention refugees outside their states of asylum

This article highlights the predicament of persons recognized as refugees according to the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (CSR1951 refugees) when they travel outside their state of asylum. Their status entails ipso facto that, if they are ill-treated abroad, they cannot turn to representatives of their state of nationality and request its diplomatic protection, nor can they expect to receive its consular assistance. It is submitted that a state of asylum ought to extend the scope of protection that it offers CSR1951 refugees residing in its territory, and provide them diplomatic protection and consular assistance when they travel abroad as if they were its nationals. Four claims are advanced in support of this contention: First: the advent of human rights treaties has not rendered obsolete the protection of nationals abroad nor has the practice fallen into disuse. On the contrary, protection abroad retains its pedigree and significance, as is illustrated by the recently adopted International Law Commission's Draft Articles on Diplomatic Protection and by frequent resort to consular assistance. Second: while states previously enjoyed unfettered discretion concerning whether and when to protect their nationals abroad, recent developments in domestic jurisdictions as well as in European Union (EU) treaties point to the potential emergence of a qualified duty to exercise state protection or to be willing to provide justifications for its refusal. These developments call particular attention to the vulnerability of CSR1951 refugees: the professed aim of the EU treaty regime is that EU citizens should enjoy effective state protection wherever they travel; by contrast, CSR1951 refugees are in need of state protection wherever they travel. Third: according to CSR1951, states of asylum are required to issue Convention Travel Documents (CTDs) to recognized refugees lawfully staying in their territory. While CTDs do not in of themselves authorize states of asylum to provide protection abroad to their CSR1951 refugees, they reflect partial recognition of the instrumental role of these states in facilitating safe refugee travel. Fourth: while the 'nationality of claims' requirement remains pivotal to the institution of diplomatic protection, and efforts to effectuate its general relaxation have thus far failed, the International Law Commission (ILC) has 'carved out' an exception authorizing states of asylum to provide protection abroad to their recognized refugees. The ILC's protection-enhancing agenda, reflecting progressive development of the law, is laudable, even though it has opted for a rather cautious approach.

No asylum for “Infiltrators”: the legal predicament of Eritrean and Sudanese nationals in Israel

This article explores the precarious status of Eritrean and Sudanese nationals in Israel. Having crossed the Israeli-Egyptian border without authorisation and not through an official border crossing, Israeli law defines such individuals as ‘infiltrators’, a charged term which dates back to border-crossings into Israel by Palestinian Fedayeen in the 1950s. Eritreans and Sudanese nationals constitute over 90 percent of ‘infiltrators’ in Israel. Their livelihood is curtailed through hostility, sanctions, and detention, while (at the time of writing) Israel refrains from deporting them to their respective countries of origin, recognising that such forced removal could expose them to risks to their lives and/or freedom. Israel was the 10th state to ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention, and has acceded to its 1967 Protocol which removed the 1951 Convention’s temporal and geographic restrictions, yet it has not incorporated these treaties into its domestic law not has it enacted primary legislation that sets eligibility criteria for ‘refugee’ status and regulates the treatment of asylum-seekers. Israeli law also fails to accord subsidiary protection status to persons that the state considers to be non-removable, whether or not they satisfy the definition of a ‘refugee’ under the 1951 Convention. Absent legal recognition of ‘refugee’, ‘asylum-seeker’, and ‘beneficiary of subsidiary protection’ statuses, Eritreans and Sudanese nationals are left in legal limbo for an indefinite period qua irregular non-removable persons. This article takes stock of their legal predicament.

O "mundo da velhice" e a cultura asilar : estudo antropológico sobre memória social e cotidiano de velhos no Asilo Padre Cacique, em Porto Alegre

Este é um estudo antropológico sobre o envelhecimento em contexto asilar, resultado da pesquisa etnográfica desenvolvida entre agosto de 2004 e dezembro de 2005 no Asilo Padre Cacique, em Porto Alegre. Propõe-se a formulação de um conceito de cultura asilar a partir da análise das condições de vida e do processo de envelhecimento dos moradores daquela instituição, com a finalidade de conhecer suas práticas, interpretar seus tempos vividos e compreender de que maneira esses velhos pensam o tempo e reinventam sua velhice no cotidiano asilar, segundo trajetórias sociais específicas atualizadas pelo trabalho da memória social e da narração de suas experiências. A pesquisa se insere no campo da Antropologia do Envelhecimento e utiliza como aporte a Antropologia Visual não apenas como técnica de coleta de dados, mas cumprindo uma função epistêmica e metodológica, a qual procura restaurar imaginariamente a cultura asilar e o mundo da velhice através de fotografias e descrições pormenorizadas de paisagens, práticas, gestos e personagens. Desde uma perspectiva antropológica, a experiência de envelhecer no asilo deve ser compreendida e interpretada através da sobreposição de diversas camadas de sentido, definidas por diferentes perspectivas e de acordo com os ritmos e espaços sociais habitados.

Envelhecimento: campo novo de estudo na psicologia

As pessoas idosas constituem hoje um novo grupo populacional! Também é novo o conhecimento de suas características e do processo do envelhecimento. A pesquisa acadêmica em torno dos diversos aspectos da população de mais idade tem tido um significativo desenvolvimento e a cada ano, mais e mais estudos têm sido feitos. Entretanto, estes são praticamente desconhecidos no Brasil. Ao mesmo tempo, as pessoas idosas estão se tornando cada vez mais importantes sob o ponto de vista da política social e a questão da previdência social e da aposentadoria têm sido debatidas em torno do problema de como a sociedade deveria prover esta etapa da vida. Nosso estudo é sobre a forma de atendimento das pessoas idosas comum no Brasil, isto é, a forma institucional de recolhimento: o asilo. Estudamos três deles, descrevendo suas características e dinâmica interna mostrando a condição de total dependência em que se encontram as pessoas idosas que vivem ali. A finalidade específica do estudo de campo foi a de oferecer uma perspectiva com relação a Psicologia do Envelhecimento e a discussão do papel preventivo e profilático que o psicólogo pode ter no campo do envelhecimento.

Estudo para elaboração de um programa de atividades corporais dirigido aos moradores do Asilo Padre Cacique Adriana Fernanda Coltro de Andrade

Este estudo propõe estabelecer as bases necessárias para a elaboração de um programa de atividades dirigido ao corpo dos velhos com idade acima de 80 anos, chamados velhos muito velhos, moradores do Asilo Padre Cacique em Porto Alegre. Partiu-se do pressuposto de que, para atingir esse objetivo, é preciso conhecer as particularidades que caracterizam a população a qual o programa se dirige. A velhice, apesar de fazer parte da vida de todos, é vivenciada de forma distinta pelos sujeitos que envelhecem. Para abordar o que de singular se apresenta na velhice e no processo de envelhecimento realizou-se uma investigação descritiva com características de um estudo de caso. A partir da interlocução entre diferentes áreas que se dedicam à velhice e ao processo de envelhecimento, buscou-se saber como os velhos muito velhos moradores do Asilo Padre Cacique percebem as perdas inerentes ao processo de envelhecimento; se eles participam das atividades corporais oferecidas no Asilo e se eles têm interesse em participar de um programa de atividades dirigidas ao corpo que venha a interferir nessas perdas. Com base nos dados coletados mediante entrevistas semi – estruturadas e observação participante, pode-se verificar a viabilidade da proposta deste estudo e apresentar sugestões para a elaboração de um programa de atividades dirigidas ao corpo dos velhos muito velhos moradores do Asilo Padre Cacique em Porto Alegre.

Landscape reshaping of the asylum of san francisco de paula, located in jaboticabal, Sao Paulo State, Brazil

It is a commonly known fact that there are elderly who have no family or who do not receive any kind of help from their relatives, as the family does not normally have good financial conditions to help them. These elderly live in private or public shelters and generally, they do not have enough money to cover all the necessary costs, and are forced to survive from donations. Those shelters are based, primarily, on nutrition and health. Leisure and wellbeing are usually treated with little attention, but it could be obtained in a simple and effective way: green areas, which normally exist at the site, are often misused, so they can become rest areas through simple landscape projects. It is important to mention that a garden is not just a beautiful place, but it becomes important for the daily life of older people. The objective of this work was to study the need for contemplative leisure and labor in order to improve the life quality of the elderly that live at the San Francisco de Paula Asylum, in Jaboticabal City, Sao Paulo State, Brazil. In this study, a topographic and a photographic survey was conducted and an analysis of the local ground was done. The preferences of the employees and the visitors of the building were also recorded, as well as the critical points of the area. After this primary analysis, the landscape planning was done, with the help of the AutoCAD 2004 software, prioritizing the use of plants that are not dangerous and that are easy maintained. An orchid nursery was also created in order to provide weekly workshops of orchid cultivation.

Derechos humanos, refugio y asilo

Incluye Bibliografía

Human rights, refuge and asylum

Includes bibliography