The applicants, Nam Singh, Meena Kaur and their three children are Afghan nationals who reside in Sint-Gillis (Belgium). The applicants arrived in Belgium in March 2011 on a flight from Moscow. As they did not have the legally required documents, they were refused entry into Belgium and the Aliens Office issued directions for their removal. The applicants, at the same time, applied for asylum.
UNHCR Central Europe has released three reports documenting the housing situation of asylum seekers and refugees in Poland, Bulgaria and Slovakia. The reports were sponsored by UNHCR and the research was carried out by independent experts. The reports reveal that asylum seekers and refugees often find themselves in situations of destitution and homelessness in these three countries owing to obstacles such as shortage of housing facilities, lack of access to the labour market or excessively high rents.
The applicant is a Russian national who lives in Chechnya. In October 2009, her son was detained by the police and he has not been seen ever since. Before the Court, the applicant contended under Article 2 that her son had been killed by Russian servicemen and that the authorities had failed to investigate his disappearance. She also complained of a violation of Article 3 owing to the suffering caused to her by the disappearance of her son, of a violation of Article 5 in relation to his detention and of a violation of Article 13.
The Legal Affairs Committee of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly agreed this week that the draft Protocol no. 15 to the European Convention on Human Rights could be adopted and opened for signature and ratification as presently drafted. The main features of this Protocol, which amends the Convention, are the following:
-The introduction, in the Preamble of the Convention, of a reference to the principle of subsidiarity and the doctrine of the margin of appreciation as developed in the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights.
The European Commission published recently a paper that gives an overview of the rights of victims of trafficking in human beings based on EU law, which should also help Member States develop a similar overviews at national level. The paper is accessible at the website of DG Home.
(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Common European Asylum System - Directive 2004/83/EC - Minimum standards for qualification for refugee status or subsidiary protection status - Article 4(1), second sentence - Cooperation of the Member State with the applicant to assess the relevant elements of his application - Scope - Lawfulness of the national procedure for processing an application for subsidiary protection following rejection of an application for refugee status - Observance of fundamental rights - Right to be heard)
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee announced on 17/04/2012 the launch of three updated and expanded editions of the Refugee Law Reader: the Sixth Edition in English, the Second Edition in French and the First Edition in Russian. These editions, together with the previously launched Second Edition in Spanish, provide a comprehensive online model curriculum for the study and implementation of the complex and rapidly evolving field of international asylum and refugee law.
The UK Supreme Court published on 25/07/2012 its judgment on the case of RT and Others v. the Secretary of State for the Home Department; KM, FC v. the Secretary of State for the Home Department. The first appeal concerns RT, SM and AM. They arrived in the UK from Zimbabwe at various times between 2001 and 2008 and have each claimed asylum here. Each of their claims was refused. RT, while credible, had never been politically active.
In May, the International Lesbian and Gay Association updated its world survey on laws criminalising and protecting same-sex relationships, entitled "State-Sponsored Homophobia". The report includes a short note arguing that the absence of criminalisation of homosexual activity does not demonstrate the absence of risk of persecution in a give country.
