DOCUMENTS AND PUBLICATIONS
Council of Europe: Report on the activities of the Office of the UNHCR from 1990 to 1993 , Rapporteur: Mr. Brito, ADOC 7079, 21.4.94.
In a summary the report notes the "unique and vital role" of the Office of the UNHCR in giving international protection and assistance to millions of refugees and displaced persons
throughout the world. The report describes the work of the UNHCR over the years 1990 to 1993 and calls on governments to increase their political and financial support for UNHCR activities, to scrupulously observe the rules of international refugee law, to be more flexible in granting temporary protection to those in need, to provide adequate training for those required to deal with them, and to support the work of non-governmental organisations.
Le nouveau guide de la nationalité française , ISBN 2-7071-2340-4, Editions la Découverte / Guides GISTI, Paris, May 94, 206 p., in French.
In recent years the question of citizenship has been at the centre of polemic debate in France. The vote of an amendment of the Code de la Nationalité (Law on citizenship) in July 1992 once again revealed the political and ideological sensitivity of the subject in France. The debate also showed that the rules governing the access to French citizenship are little known by the general public. This book, an entirely new and up-dated version of GISTI's previous Guide de la Nationalité, has a double objective:
- Offer clear and intelligible information on a subject that should not remain a matter of debate among experts only;
- Allow persons directly concerned to have an accurate assessment of their own situation with regard to French citizenship and to inform them on the basic requirements for obtaining and losing it.
GISTI is a Paris based group of information and support to immigrant workers formed by jurists and social workers.
Order at: GISTI, 30, rue des PetitesEcuries, F-75010 Paris, Tel: +33/1 42470760.Entrée et séjour des étrangers - La nouvelle loi Pasqua , GISTI, Paris, April 94, brochure, 88 p., in French.
This brochure offers a comprehensive analysis of the regulations pertaining to the entry, stay and the removal of foreigners as established by the "Pasqua law" from 24 August 1993, additional legislation from 30 December 1993 and the ordinance from 2 November 1945. Other elements of the Pasqua law such as the right of asylum and marriage will be addressed in particular brochures to be published shortly.
Order at: GISTI (See note above).Strangers and Citizens , edited by Sarah Spencer, Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), London.
Strangers and Citizens shows that British immigration policy, devised in the 1960s, has failed to adapt to current migration and economic conditions. It is now working against British interests by neglecting the needs of the labour market for selective immigration, erecting barriers to entrepreneurs, income-generating students and tourists, disregarding international human rights obligations and damaging race relations.
Written by a multi-disciplinary team of specialists in geography, economics, law and social policy, the report covers: tackling the causes of refugee flows and the treatment of asylum seekers; projections of future migration; the economic impact of immigration; the unfairness and discrimination in existing immigration controls; the implications of immigration for race relations; illegal immigrants; citizenship policy; and a new approach to policy making in Europe. In more than 50 conclusions and recommendations the report proposes a more informed, rational, and principled approach to immigration and concerted government action to change public attitudes to immigrants and refugees.
Order at: IPPR, 30-32 Southhampton Street, London WC2E 7RA, UK, Tel: +44/71 3799400. Price: 14.95 (+ postage outside the UK).La Lettre de la Citoyenneté , Newsletter (6 issues per year) published by ASECA, Amiens, France.
The May-June issue contains articles on the French public's attitudes realating to voting rights for non EU-foreigners and summary information on EU-member state nationals' right to vote as foreigners in another EU-member state.
Contact: ASECA, 74, BP 2709, F-80000 Amiens.From Asylum to Containment , by Andrew Shacknove, lecturer in Law, University of Oxford. Paper published in the International Journal of refugee law Vol.5 No 4, Oxford University Press.
The author suggests that the exceptional status of refugees within the context of immigration control is now in doubt, as States attempt to force asylum seekers into the mould of routine patterns of immigration, pre-empt their arrival, or contain them within their countries or regions of origin. This trend reflects a fundamental questioning of whether asylum any longer serves the narrow and immediate interests of states.
In essence, Shacknove asserts that refugee policy in the post-Cold War era will involve a diminished commitment to asylum by affluent States, in favour of a preference for the containment of forced migrants in countries and regions of origin. The author, however, also shows some optimism when predicting that "governments will continue to offer asylum because of insufficient public support or administrative capacity for the creation of "fortress" societies."
Fri Rörlighet av personer: Invandrings- och asylpolitik (Free movement of persons: Immigration and asylum policies), Situation report, February 1994, published by the Swedish Immigration Board SIV (Statens Invandrarverk), in Swedish.
The report is intended as a handbook for the staff of SIV but contains an updated overview on the development of immigration and asylum policy within the European Union that is of great use for anyone working in the field in Scandinavia.
Order at: SIV, Informationsenheten, Box 6113, S-600 66 Norrköping.