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ANDREA SOLKNER,
legal adviser, UNHCR Vienna office
I hope the experience of the Austrian network will be useful for your country where this work is just being launched.
In Austria, a network of these stations was set up three years ago. At present, there are up to three lawyers handling refugee problems in each Austrian province. They all hold contracts. The network is not arranged along the principle of centralized authority, which means that different organizations are doing the job in various provinces, however there is one person coordinating their activities. It was stated from the outset that the network had no political functions and only concerned itself with legal matters. In time we came to realize, however, that the purely legal aid was insufficient, that it should be complemented by social assistance. Hence our striving to work in team with the non-governmental organizations providing that assistance.
We mostly work with refugees and migrants, who need legal aid and advice. As a rule, we inform them of what kind of assistance they can expect from the Austrian justice in their case. The way I see it, the main problems in Russia are compensations, registration, and obtaining the status of refugee. In Austria the problems are different: getting information on the procedure, imprisonment relating to deportation, and conditions in which people are kept. We monitor the observance of the principle of non-refoulement and self-determination of refugees. Another problem related to the provision of asylum is finding precedents in earlier court cases and getting a clear picture of the current administrative procedures.
There are three parties involved in resolving refugee problems and rendering assistance in each individual case: they are the coordinator, who keeps in touch with all the elements of this juridical network, the lawyer and the UNHCR.
The coordinator must plot the action and help the lawyers by disseminating throughout the country the information he has on the latest legal cases, ensuring exchange of information and its circulation within the network. He also dispatches to UNHCR offices information on the decisions made in Austria on all relevant cases. We ask all the lawyers handling refugees to send to the coordinator reports on their cases, so that he could let all the interested lawyers peruse them. For its part the UNHCR supplies the coordinator with information on cases settled in international courts or in other countries. He then arranges the pieces of information in a way convenient for the users. First he writes out key words, a synopsis and sometimes cites the more important paragraphs of the ruling. Then he puts down the number of the case (so that it could be easily found) and the date. If the ruling is in favor of the claimant, the case is marked by a smiling face, if not — by a crying face. So when you work, you find the key word and see what ruling was passed on the case, without wasting time. The coordinator then compiles a brief review of information on what is happening in other countries. He states the country where the incident occurred, also who handled the case, the date and source of information. The information is not always supplied by the UNHCR or Amnesty International, it may come from other organizations. A lawyer, upon reading the synopsis may ask the coordinator for a more detailed account. The third part of the synopsis contains information on current legislation on the given problem in other countries or on the procedures of international organizations, for instance, the International European Court. This information may be resorted to in the case of disagreement with the ruling of a local court or in drawing up an appeal. We in Austria make frequent references to the German jurisprudence, saying why do Germans solve the matter in this way and we don’t?
The Austrian courts have already become quite accustomed to the references to judicial practice of other countries, especially after it acceded to the Convention on Human Rights. For a country which put its signature to the Convention must take into account the practice of the International Court. It seems to me that here, in Russia, persons in authority cannot easily say «no» officially, for they, too, have signed the Convention. I have found out that officials are often innocent of any knowledge of what is happening in other countries, so it would not hurt them to just stop to think. After all no-one wants to be branded «a bad guy.»
The coordinator’s main task is to find out the needs of the lawyers working in our aid and advice network. And that covers education, offered by the UNHCR.
The coordinator is also responsible for establishing contact with similar structures outside Austria. There are three reasons which make that imperative: first, if a person moves from Austria into another country, monitoring should be arranged of his settlement and life there. Second, the deportation should be monitored. If, for instance, deportation to a certain country is believed to be safe we must make sure that that is so. And third, information exchange should be arranged. Naturally, our project in Austria is interested in establishing contacts and in cooperating with your legal network.
Another duty of the coordinator is to report on how the project operates. He should appraise as it were the project efficiency and potential and judge its progress. He should review whatever changes have occurred to find out the strong and weak sides of the work.
One of the coordinator’s main tasks is to ensure regular meetings of the lawyers. We arrange such meetings every three months, while the UNHCR representative holds weekly meetings and daily phone talks with the coordinator.
I will now outline the basic tasks of the lawyer. First, to ensure cooperation of the authorities. That is not to say that the lawyer should always agree with the government officials, but he should be able to discuss with them every case in hand. Mutual respect is conducive to good progress. I would not try to speak at length on the lawyer’s every move and action, but I would point up the more important of them. The lawyer must take part in the procedure for the determination of refugee status, if he is convinced that the persons in question will be persecuted if returned to the country they had fled; he must also ensure that the procedure is scrupulously observed. The lawyer determines when intervention of the legal network is needed and when it isn’t. There are certain criteria established for that, as it would not be possible to help everyone, but it should be made certain that those desperately needing that help get it.
The lawyer sets up a legal reception office in his district. They should operate in each district. The lawyer should keep in touch with non-governmental organizations operating in his area. And he naturally acts as a legal consultant for these organizations. This last stems from the fact that the attorneys and legal counselors of non-governmental organizations are often saddled with specific questions they cannot resolve without the assistance of our lawyer. So our lawyer should help the local non-governmental organizations by arranging a kind of interacting networks. And again he should organize regular information-sharing meetings on the situation in the area. And naturally the lawyer should supply that information to the coordinator, so that later, processed and arranged, it could be distributed throughout the network. Writing a report for the coordinator is quite important, for it saves people the time and trouble of «inventing the bicycle» over an over again. Our representatives in Austria study the cases handled by individual lawyers and then present them in booklets and leaflets for others to draw on that experience, for instance on how to draw up an application. The lawyers distribute the copies among refugees.
Some of our lawyers make expert evaluation of draft laws. The reports they write are sent out to all their colleagues in the network for discussion, and if they agree that the bill needs to be supplemented or amended, they make their common position public.
I would like to briefly outline the work of the UNHCR. Its officers render legal assistance to the lawyers and coordinators employed by the network. They distribute the latest data from the database in various countries and offer recommendations on how to best protect the rights of the refugees; they supply information on the provisions of international law and the resolutions of the executive committee. The UNHCR is actively participating in the elaboration and execution of training programs and is helping the lawyers establish contacts with the government organizations and officials, when that proves difficult; it is taking part in arranging regular meetings of the lawyers and coordinators and is monitoring the project.
Austria is a small country, and yet we would never have set up a country-wide network, had it not been for the assistance extended by non-governmental organization. That is why we insist that the lawyers take part in setting up regional networks of NGOs.
The lawyers’ services are paid for by the UNHCR, but the fees are not really high, and most of the lawyers cooperating with us are idealists. The lawyer’s contract is always drawn up for one year. Sometimes we replace a lawyer, and sometimes a lawyer tells us he cannot go on working for us. And there are cases of mutual disappointment.
The full-time coordinator’s fee comes in equal shares from the Caritas and the UNHCR.
A few words about the lessons we have learnt over the time we’ve been in business. First, we believe that in our work quality takes precedence over quantity. It is vital that we find people who will be consistently translating all the proclaimed ideas into life. It is essential that we learn to distribute the work sensibly and to know exactly who is in charge of what. For instance, our lawyer offers advice to lawyers from NGOs, who in turn give legal assistance to individuals. More often than not these NGOs also extend some social aid.
You must know exactly what you are expecting the project to achieve, and set up a list of priorities. In Austria, just as in other countries, there are so many problems, we simply cannot tackle all of them. Hence we must identify criteria to apply in selecting the cases we should take.
If you can’t seem to attain your main goals, then maybe you should switch your attention to something else. It is imperative that your legal work be carried out well and in earnest. And here constant contacts with the authorities may be instrumental, both at regional and national level. The same can be said of the courts, notably of cooperation with the judges. I always encourage a little lobbying: the judges should be kept posted on the latest developments. They may be very useful, as they are knowledgeable and are acting on behalf of the government. So you’ve got to advise them on what is going on in the country and to lobby them for a decision you know is right. The worst policy, to my mind, is to ignore them, for the decision-making is theirs. That’s why our spokesman must be well informed and equipped with convincing arguments when presenting our case.
Another important thing is training and upgrading and keeping the staff abreast of the latest developments. The training courses we hold regularly serve just that end.
And, last but not least, coordination. To avoid duplication we must maintain contacts with other countries and maybe come upon new ideas in the process. And we naturally would like to cooperate with you.
I will briefly review the situation with refugees in Austria. In our country between five and seven thousand asylum-seekers are granted admission annually. That is some 10-12 percent of all the applications. But even that is good progress against the previous 7-8 percent. The increase may be explained by the heavy flow of refugees from Bosnia. But our biggest problem is asylum-seekers from Afghanistan and Iraq. Well, of course 7 or even 10 percent is not much, but compared to what is happening elsewhere in Europe it looks high enough. However, strictly speaking the procedure of determining these figures is not correct: the applications of most people are not even accepted for consideration. Had all the applications been considered, the percentage would have been lower.
All those granted asylum settle in Austria. Asylum gives them full citizenship. But refugees refused asylum become illegal immigrants, and there are lots of those. We know that that is so, judging by the number if applications for asylum we are getting. In our opinion, two thirds of refugees entering the country, stay here illegally.
Deporting illegal refugees is a tough job indeed. Take the Iraqis for example. Since there are no direct flights to Iraq arrangements are made to deport them to Jordan, but Jordan refuses admission, for one thing, and for another, it is not a safe country. The state pretends these people do not exist. Its stand is: «if there are illegal refugees, they are to be deported. So they need neither work nor housing.» And usually these people find help in non-governmental organizations, and more often in churches. If they are living in the same place for many years, and there are quite a few illegal refugees doing just that, the police know of them and do not bother them. These people avoid moving to any other place for fear of being jailed or deported.
One of Austria’s headaches is providing accommodation to refugees pending decision on asylum. A third of them stay at the centers of temporary accommodation, and that is the group that gets relief for as long as that procedure takes. Two thirds depend on what assistance they may get from the church and voluntary contributions, for they have no legal cause to be provided with social relief.
To conclude: if you find the experience acquired by the Austrian project useful, please, contact us through the Central Office. For our part we would also be interested in making use of your experience. Our interest is purely practical, for we know that soon enough Austria will put Russia on the list of countries safe for the return of refugees.
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