V O L U M E 3 I S S U E 1 F E B 2 0 0 8 Published by The Refugee Documentation Centre [email protected] Welcome to the February 2008 issue of The Contents Researcher! The Bajuni People of Southern Somalia and the Asylum The New Year sees the publication of the Immigration, Process Residence and Protection Bill, 2008. We publish the Brian Allen 2 Minister s speech at the launch of the Bill and also an article Address at launch of the Immigration, Residence and by Hilkka Becker of the Immigrant Council of Ireland which Protection Bill, 2008 looks at certain aspects of the Bill. As with the earlier version Brian Lenihan, TD, Minister for Justice, Equality and Law of the Bill we hope to include a number of viewpoints on this Reform 3 most important legislation over forthcoming issues. Access to an Effective Remedy Challenging Immigration The core business of the Refugee Documentation Centre is Decisions researching Country of Origin Information and we are happy Hilkka Becker, Immigrant Council of Ireland 5 to include in this issue a number of articles on the subject. Brian Allen, an Expert Witness writes on The Bajuni People Recent Developments in Refugee and Immigration Law of Southern Somalia and the Asylum Process . David John Stanley, BL 7 Goggins investigates Some Human Rights Issues in Iran . Return Information Projects Update Patrick Dowling looks at the situation in Sudan in the 1990s Bobby Pringle, International Organisation for Migration 10 through the lens of Kevin Carter, Pulitzer winning photographer. Gábor Gyulai of the Hungarian Helsinki Country Information in Asylum Procedures Quality as a Committee has given us the Executive Summary of his study Legal Requirement in the EU on COI, Country Information in Asylum Procedures Gábor Gyulai, Hungarian Helsinki Committee 11 Quality as a Legal Requirement in the EU . I discuss the The Separated Child s Credibility in the Asylum Process question whether UK Home Office Operational Guidance Sarah Ruedeman, University of Tulsa 12 Notes should be used as COI in Ireland. haunted by vivid memories of killings & starving Elsewhere in this issue, John Stanley, BL provides case children - The fate of Kevin Carter and a photo taken summaries of significant caselaw, Bobby Pringle of IOM near a small village in war-torn Sudan gives us an update on two Return Information Projects and Patrick Dowling, RDC 16 Sarah Ruedeman writes about the separated child s credibility in the asylum process. UK Home Office Operational Guidance Notes Should they be used as COI in Irish Refugee Status Paul Daly, RDC Determination? Paul Daly, RDC 20 Some Human Rights issues in Iran David Goggins Investigates 22 The Researcher is published three times a year by: Refugee Documentation Centre, Montague Court, 7-11 Montague Street, Disclaimer Dublin 2 Articles and summaries contained in the Researcher do Phone: + 353 (0) 1 4776250 not necessarily reflect the views of the RDC or of the Fax: + 353 (0) 1 6613113 Legal Aid Board. Some articles contain information The Researcher is available on the Legal Aid Board website relating to the human rights situation and the political, www.legalaidboard.ie and also on the website of the social, cultural and economic background of countries of European Country of Origin Information Network, www.ecoi.net origin. These are provided for information purposes only and do not purport to be RDC COI query responses. Editors: Seamus Keating: [email protected] Paul Daly: [email protected] THE RESEARCHER PAGE 2 The Bajuni People of Southern Somalia and the Bajuni Asylum Seekers Asylum Process Bajuni refugees from Somalia sometimes find themselves in UK or Ireland. Typically, they will not know which country they are fleeing to, and arrive as extremely vulnerable people who do not speak English, may be illiterate, and have no idea of the legal and social processes that they will be expected to get involved in. They are also often traumatized; many of the women have been raped, many have lost close family by Brian Allen, Expert Witness. members, many have been tortured and had their homes burnt [email protected] or looted. When they claim asylum, it frequently happens that Brian Allen, born in Dublin, worked as a missionary in their claim is refused because of lack of clarity of nationality Kenya and Tanzania for over twenty years and is a fluent testing, language difficulties or other misunderstandings. Swahili speaker. He has lived and worked among the coastal people of Kenya and studied their culture, music and I began to meet Bajuni asylum seekers when I was asked to anthropology. In the UK he was accepted as an expert interpret for various solicitors in Leeds, England. Having witness for Somali Bajuni nationality testing in several lived and worked on the Kenyan coast, I had been aware of appeal courts and the tribunal. He has carried out their existence and sometimes met them on Lamu Island, nationality testing interviews with over 100 Bajuni. right on the Somali border. Their Swahili was usually very good, and it was not difficult for me to understand some of The Bajuni Background the Bajuni dialect, having lived and worked with coastal The Bajuni tribe is a minority group from Southern Somalia. peoples in East Africa for some years. Gradually, I began to They live mainly in the town of Kismayo and on the islands piece together the threads of their stories, and realised that off the south coast. Many of them are simple, peace-loving many of them were being subjected to terrible injustices fisherfolk, and few have received any formal education. They through misunderstandings in the asylum system. After are mainly devout Muslims, and most of their children attend consulting with a few legal experts, I decided to do my own madras, religious education offered by mosques, where research and to see how I could help to bring clarity to a very Swahili and Bajuni languages are mixed with the Arabic of confused situation. the Koran. Their ethnic origins are a mixture of Arab, Bantu, Portuguese and perhaps Malay. They speak a mix of Swahili The British, Danish and Dutch Fact-Finding Mission and Kibajuni, a Swahili coastal dialect. As a minority tribe It came to my attention that the report produced by this with features and language that are easily distinguishable mission to Nairobi Kenya, dated 17 24 September 2000, is from Somali majority clans, they have always been regarded used in many of the Bajuni asylum cases. Unfortunately, this with suspicion and scorn, and demeaning terms such as Tiku report is inaccurate in various aspects. The conclusions of the (slaves) have often been cast in their direction. report are often cited in the refusal letters of those asylum seekers claiming to Bajunis from Somalia. I therefore decided In 1991, an uneasy peace in Somali descended rapidly into to write my own report on the sections which produce some anarchy, and the warlords of the southern part of the country, confusion. I have included some of my findings here together having armed themselves with AK47s and other weapons, with the references to the report: had increasing freedom to terrorise and devastate minority communities. From the early 1990s these larger tribes, who 5.1 The report states The Bajuni elders described the were armed, began to attack and raid the defenceless Bajuni Bajuni as a united people that are not divided into sub- people. Since then, they have been increasingly subjected to groups . sudden attacks on their homes: beatings, murders, If this statement means that there is no in-fighting or division kidnapping, looting and rape becoming prolific. Many Bajuni among the Bajuni then it is true. But if it is taken to mean at first refused to leave their homeland due to this there are no sub-clans among the Bajuni people, then it is intimidation, but as the situation has deteriorated and family simply incorrect. The Bajuni sub-clans such as the members been killed or kidnapped, many more have fled, Khazarajia, Wafailia, Wachanda, Ausia are well known. A seeking refuge in an outside world largely unknown to them. Bajuni person, when asked, can normally say what clan he or she belongs to, and also name other clans. This Numerous Bajuni have fled to neighbouring Kenya, some misunderstanding of terminology would easily happen if the since the early 1990s, but their situation there has been people conducting the mission were unfamiliar with the uncertain at best. As Somalis are the traditional enemies of languages and customs of the coast of East Africa, and if Kenya, the presence of the Bajuni refugees is hated by interpreters were being used. The misunderstanding comes civilians and police alike. Consequently, many Bajuni are in right into court, where sometimes cases have been refused on constant fear of attack or extortion from Kenyans, and have the basis that a Bajuni asylum seeker names his or her clan. been sometimes forced to return to Somalia. This situation has led to a minority, those able to raise sufficient funds, 5.2 Most Bajuni speak some Somali . seeking the help of an agent who promised to take them to a This statement is sometimes used as grounds for dismissing safe country. Many Bajuni escape with a small amount of cases where the Somali language is not spoken by the family gold which is often hidden in the home, and this claimant. However, implicit in the statement is that some wealth is handed over to the agent without any real Bajuni speak no Somali at all. My research has indicated that discussion of its worth. Although the exact details vary, the it may well have been true that most Bajuni spoke some agents generally organise all the travel arrangements and Somali when the elders left Somalia in the early 1990s, but abandon their charge once arriving at their destination.