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Fortress Europe: The wall is getting higher
26 Apr 2006 While the number of people trying to enter the European Union via its new eastern border has increased dramatically since EU enlargement in 2004, the number applying for asylum has dropped sharply. In Ukraine, meanwhile, asylum applications are rising but almost none of them are being recognised. UNHCR is concerned that on both sides of the EU border, people seeking asylum are struggling to get a fair hearing. -
UNHCR to open office in Chechnya as soon as security allows, says High Commissioner António Guterres
11 Apr 2006 At the end of his visit to the volatile North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, reiterated his organisation's commitment to open an office in Chechnya as soon as security conditions allow. -
UNHCR condemns deportation of Uzbek asylum seekers from Ukraine
16 Feb 2006 The UN refugee agency is appalled to discover that Ukraine deported 11 Uzbek asylum seekers back to Uzbekistan following an extradition request from the Uzbek prosecutor's office. UNHCR is seeking urgent clarification and further information on the fate of the deportees, as it is extremely concerned for their safety. -
For Chechens, Poland is not west enough
5 Dec 2005 Although Poland has been a member of the EU for over a year, the Chechen asylum seekers there are still convinced the grass is greener further west - but the EU's Dublin Regulation means using Poland as a transit country is no longer possible, leading to a clash between Chechen hopes and European asylum realities. -
Helping Crimean Tatars feel at home again
8 Jun 2005 Decades after they were deported from the Crimean peninsula under the Stalin regime, thousands of Tatars have returned to their ancestral homeland, now part of Ukraine. Simplified procedures have allowed most of them to become Ukrainian citizens, but the challenges of reintegration remain. -
Integration projects open doors for refugees in North Ossetia
8 Feb 2005 A slow but steady solution is in sight for tens of thousands of people who fled their homes in Georgia more than 10 years ago, through legal counselling, housing and integration projects by the UN refugee agency and its partners in the Russian republic of North Ossetia-Alania. -
Ukraine offers new home for asylum seekers
2 Dec 2004 An accommodation centre recently opened in Odessa to meet the housing needs of asylum seekers. Funded by the Ukrainian government and the European Union, it is part of efforts to strengthen the asylum system in EU bordering states in eastern Europe. -
Chechen and Belgian refugees: Lots in common, if 90 years apart
3 Nov 2004 A photo exhibition in the North Belgian town of Zemst lets visitors share refugee experiences - past and present, local and global - by juxtaposing images of people who fled the town during World War I, and today's refugee crises in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Darfur and Western Sahara. -
Ukraine, Sri Lanka provide models for solving statelessness
6 Oct 2004 UN refugee agency chief Ruud Lubbers has reminded states that there are several million stateless people in the world today and introduced Ukraine and Sri Lanka as positive examples of countries that had found resolutions for the huge and hidden problem.