US initiative offers asylum-seekers an alternative to detention
UNHCR’s top protection chief welcomes US focus on providing immigrants and asylum-seekers with an alternative to detention while their cases are processed.
BALTIMORE, United States, November 24 (UNHCR) The UN refugee agency's top protection official has described the United States' focus on providing immigrants and asylum-seekers with an alternative to detention while their cases are being processed as a "positive development."
Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Erika Feller was briefed Monday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in Baltimore, Maryland on the latest stage in the department's Intensive Supervision Appearance Programme, known by its acronym ISAP II.
The programme allows for a small percentage of the hundreds of thousands of individuals arrested and detained by immigration officers every year to avoid incarceration by agreeing to regular monitoring.
"It's welcome whenever programmes that offer an alternative to detention are part of the response of states to asylum arrivals," said Feller. "But we're still early in the process of determining what programme offers the best alternative."
The objectives of many alternatives to detention systems are enforcement objectives. UNHCR believes that humanitarian considerations should take on a higher profile.
Erika Feller
Many asylum-seekers in the United States are held in detention centres, alongside those facing immigration and criminal charges, while their cases are processed. The most recent figures from the Department of Homeland Security indicate that in fiscal year 2007 approximately 10,000 of the more than 300,000 individuals detained were asylum-seekers.
The ISAP II programme is designed to allow individuals who present a low flight risk to continue to live at home, while adhering to a supervision programme that involves regular meetings with staff assigned to their case.
In UNHCR's view, ISAP II is an improvement over the prior two ICE alternatives to detention programmes, both of which included much more restrictive supervision requirements and greater use of ankle bracelets outfitted with a global positioning device.
Jorge* has been a participant in one of the prior ICE supervision programmes for the past 18 months, and continues to wear an ankle bracelet. An asylum-seeker from El Salvador who fears he would be killed by a street gang if he returns home, he is expecting a final decision on his asylum application by April 2010.
He says that because of the ankle bracelet, people view him as a criminal. "I feel like nobody would pay one dollar for me," he told UNHCR staff at a meeting in Baltimore.
"Detention is detention" said Feller, "we can't get away from that fact". Alternative forms of supervision put in place as a means to manage irregular asylum arrivals, are preferable in UNHCR's view than closed detention centers. Even better would be forms of supervision that keep to a minimum the more intrusive monitoring devices which Feller noted can be psychologically disturbing, particularly for people who have already undergone traumatic experiences.
In her meetings with ICE officials, Feller was appraised of ICE plans to further develop its alternatives to detention programmes, some of which may involve greater emphasis on community involvement and assistance in accessing legal and social services.
"People who have fled refugee situations are very fragile," said Feller. "The objectives of many alternatives to detention systems are enforcement objectives. UNHCR believes that humanitarian considerations should take on a higher profile."
UNHCR intends to continue to focus on the issue and will be launching a global initiative on alternatives to detention in 2010.
* Name changed to protect identity
By Tim Irwin in Baltimore, United States
Related news and stories
Q&A with Mary Maker, UNHCR's newest Global Goodwill Ambassador
Joint press release: International community shows solidarity with efforts to enhance protection and find solutions for people forced to flee and host communities in Central America and Mexico
New York market serves up food that showcases the city's rich cultural heritage
LA Lakers' Wenyen Gabriel visits homeland of South Sudan with UNHCR, to 'speak up for refugees and displaced people everywhere'
IOM, UNHCR Call for Vigorous Investigation After Dozens Die in Abandoned Trailer in Texas
WHAT IS ASYLUM?
Your search for « baltimore » matched 88 results. Displaying page 5 of 10 pages.
-
Psycho-Social and Mental Health Programmes: Useful Resources and Information Guide Interventions
1 Aug 2000 ... ... University 915 N. Wolfe Street, E8006 Baltimore, MD 21205 Email: [email protected] (from ... and Services / Ahearn, F.L. ; Athey, J.L. - Baltimore (Maryland) ; London : Johns Hopkins ...... -
UNHCR's mandate: the politics of being non-political, David Forsythe
10 Mar 2001 ... ... David P. Forsythe, Humanitarian Politics: The International Committee of the Red Cross, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1977. In addition to that part of its mandate provided by the ...... -
Report on the 2004 Annual Consultations with NGOs, 28-30 September 2004
30 Sep 2004 ... ... Nazaré ALBUQUERQUE Canadian Council for Refugees Baltimore Maryland, United States of America Mr. ... Epiphan SABELLA President Executive Director Baltimore, United States of America Jerusalem, Israel ...... -
Arguing about asylum: the complexity of refugee debates in Europe, Niklaus Steiner
2 Oct 2001 ... ... United States (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998). 44 See, for example, David Jacobson, Rights across Borders (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996); Saskia Sassen, Losing Control? ...... -
ATCR/WGR Newsletter No 6
Jun 2011 ... ... Teresa Bass, Refugee Services Aotearoa New Zealand Recertifying Refugee Professionals: Refugee Service Partners Launch Pilot Program RefugeeWorks, a program of Baltimore-based Lu- theran Immigration ...... -
Sovereignty and irregular migration: the dynamics of irregular movement through Colombia and Ecuador. Ursula B. Wagner
2 Jul 2013 ... ... Baltimore, The Johns Hopkins University Press. LAMERS, M. (2005) ‘Representing Poverty, ... Human Smuggling: Comparative Perspectives Baltimore, Johns Hopkins MINISTERIO DE RELACIONES ...... -
Helping mothers and babies survive - Pre-eclampsia & Eclampsia - Providers Guide (ENG)
3 Jan 2020 ... ... Baltimore. MCHIP Learning Resource Package. August 2011. Prevention, identification, and management of pre-eclampsia and eclampsia: Learning Resource Package. [Field-test version.] Jhpiego: Baltimore. ...... -
Protecting the Future: A guide to incorporating HIV prevention and care interventions in refugee settings, IRC
1 Nov 2001 ... ... Gap. Population Reports, Series H, No. 9. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University School of Public ... Public Health, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, Maryland 21202-4012, USA. Voluntary ...... -
Deportation and the liberal state: the forcible return of asylum seekers and unlawful migrants in Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom, Matthew J. Gibney and Randall Hansen
20 Feb 2003 ... ... 7. 68 David Jacobson, Rights Across Borders: Immigration and the Decline of Citizenship (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1997), Soysal, The Limits of Citizenship. 69 Gary P. Freeman, ......