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RSDWatch becomes a project of Asylum Access |
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Fairness Transparency Accountability |
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25 September 2006
RSDWatch is now a project of Asylum Access, a US-based organization dedicated to making refugee rights a reality in the global south through legal aid and policy advocacy.
The website was founded in February 2005 as a private initiative by Michael Kagan, who has worked to develop legal aid for refugees applying to UNHCR since 1998. It provides independent information about how the UN refugee agency conducts refugee status determination (RSD), and promotes increased fairness in the process.
Asylum Access is in the process of initiating legal aid projects for refugees in multiple countries, and has helped organize other NGOs to push for UNHCR RSD reform and for administrative justice throughout the UN system.
The United Nations decides more individual refugee cases than any government, including the United States. Its RSD operations are especially prominent in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
“Defending refugee rights requires a fair procedure to assess refugee claims,” said Asylum Access executive director Emily Arnold-Fernandez. “Since UNHCR is the largest decision-maker on refugee status, especially in the south, this is a natural project for us.”
As it has since its founding, RSDWatch will continue to provide a forum for discussion of issues related to UNHCR RSD. The website advocates improvements in UNHCR procedures to make them more fair, transparent and accountable, but operates on the assumption that the best way to accomplish this is by providing the public with reliable information about the issue.
Kagan, who helped found Asylum Access last year and now serves as its policy director, will continue to manage RSDWatch but will no longer personally own the website.
“UNHCR is starting to change its policies on fairness, but slowly, and projects like RSDWatch are essential to keep the RSD reform issue on UNHCR’s agenda,” Kagan said. “Having RSDWatch belong to Asylum Access will help ensure it continues as long as it’s needed.”
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This site is not associated with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and does not reflect the views of UNHCR. |
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RSDWatch.org An independent source of information about the way the UN refugee agency decides refugee cases.
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A project of Asylum Access |