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11 June 2013
On 6 June 2013, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that unaccompanied children who have applied for asylum in more than one EU Member State, and who do not have relatives legally residing in the EU, shall remain in the country where their most recent asylum application was lodged.
The CJEU concluded that it was in the best interest of the child that the country where their most recent asylum application was lodged takes responsibility for the examination of their claim. Therefore, unaccompanied children should not be sent back under the Dublin regulation to the country where they filed the first asylum application.
Source: Court of Justice of the European Union | Case C‑648/11 | Judgment | 6 June 2013
11 June 2013
On 6 June 2013, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found that Austria violated an asylum seeker’s right to an effective remedy (Article 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights) against the decision to be sent back to Hungary under the Dublin regulation.
The applicant, a Sudanese asylum seeker, had also presented a claim of possible ill-treatment and refoulement (Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights) in Hungary if returned under the Dublin regulation. The ECtHR held that his transfer would not violate Article 3.
Source: European Court of Human Rights | Case of Mohammed v. Austria | Application no. 2283/12 | Judgment | 6 June 2013
4 June 2013
The protection of migrants is a shared responsibility between the sending and destination states, stressed the Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Jesus Yabes in a side meeting held in connection with a meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) on 21 May 2013 in Geneva.
In the side meeting with Ambassador Eva Akerman Borje, the head of the Secretariat of the Swedish Chairmanship of the GFMD, Yabes strongly underscored continued social protection of migrant workers as a central concern for the GFMD, the largest inter-governmental process concerned with migration and development issues. Yabes urged Sweden, the current chair of the Forum until June 2014, to lead the GFMD in encouraging destination states to engage themselves further in issues related to migration protection.
Source: Republic of the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs | Phl Strongly Asserts the Need for Continued Protection of Migrant Workers at Global Forum on Migration and Development
Source: GMA News Online | PHL pushes for protection of migrant workers at global forum
4 June 2013
The UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, speaking to reporters in Geneva on 21 May 2013 on the occasion of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, said disaster risk reduction in a complex world is a shared responsibility between governments, the private sector and local communities with the UN acting as a facilitator. Companies should invest in disaster resilience out of enlightened self-interest considering the substantial economic losses caused by damaged infrastructure Eliasson said.
The private sector, accounting for a majority of the world’s critical infrastructure, is encouraged to cooperate with the public sector on disaster risk management through a new platform for collaboration set up by the UN and the consulting firm PwC.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation | U.N. pushes business to share responsibility for disaster reduction
4 June 2013
Enemy convergence, referring to the joinder of previously unconnected enemies for the purpose of joint operations or resource sharing, is one of the principal rising national security concerns of the 21st century, according to Adm. James Stavridis, the former NATO supreme commander. The joining of drug cartels with terrorist organizations to bring weapons into the United States is a possible and dangerous business model representing the dark end of the spectrum of globalization, Stavridis said.
Since drug traffickers normally act to gain financial profit, for the right amount of money they could join forces with a terrorist organization having a political or military motive but lacking the required trafficking capabilities. According to Stavridis, there are already signs of shared operations between drug traffickers and terrorists, including Hezbollah. The future of national security rests on building alliances and partnerships, including between the military and the civilian sector, and the combination of soft and hard power, Stavridis said.
Source: The New York Times | At War | Notes from the Front Lines | Globalization Creates a New Worry: Enemy Convergence