The Immigration and Naturalization Service continues to jail foreign children -- including housing them with juvenile criminals -- in apparent violation of a Supreme Court settlement, human rights observers said this week after a four-state tour. The INS also threw "obstacle after obstacle" in the observers' path during their four-state tour, refusing to let them enter jails in Texas and interview teens in California, said the U.S. director of the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children and a Washington, D.C., attorney monitoring the conditions.
Director Wendy Young and attorney Andrew Morton toured Multnomah County's juvenile detention center, the Donald E. Long home, this week before returning Friday to Washington, D.C. The INS currently has no one in custody at Donald E. Long, although a small number of foreign minors have been held in the past year.
New York, NY
The Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children shares the profound sorrow of the world community in the face of last week’s ruthless attack on innocent civilians and members of the armed services in New York City and Washington, DC. We wish to express our condolences to the victims of the attacks and their families.These actions must be understood as not only an attack on the United States, but an assault on the principles of respect for human life and democracy shared by all freedom-loving peoples around the world. We have found solace in the outpouring of support and empathy that has come to our offices from refugees and asylum seekers with whose communities we have worked over the years. In the words of one refugee youth from the Former Soviet Union to our headquarters in New York, "I love your city and its citizens as if it was my homeland."
The coming days will offer a challenge the magnitude of which has never before been faced by our country and its friends. The crimes inflicted cannot go unanswered. Yet, the wrong response may also ultimately result in victory for the perpetrators. We must not stray from the very ideals which define us: liberty, tolerance and peace.
New York, NY
Women and children refugees will bear the brunt of the humanitarian emergency in Afghanistan and Pakistan, unless the world community acts immediately to protect their basic rights and well-being, warns the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children.
"Experience with past refugee crises has shown us that unless the rights of women, adolescents and children are respected and their needs taken into account, lives will be lost and future reconstruction and peace-building made all the more difficult," said Mary Diaz, Executive Director for the Women's Commission. "In Afghanistan last year children froze to death in sub-zero temperatures. Winter is coming and families have no place to shelter."
Read more: Lives at risk: Humanitarian crisis already underway in Pakistan and Afghanistan
New York, NY
Afghan children have suffered a litany of rights abuses over the past twenty years and face grave risks during the current conflict, concludes a new overview of the effect of armed conflict on children in Afghanistan. "Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict: Afghanistan" is released today by the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children on behalf of more than a dozen non-governmental organizations.
Watchlist details child rights abuses in Afghanistan using statistics gathered from humanitarian organizations and UN agencies working in the region. "The situation for Afghan children and adolescents is shocking," said Mary Diaz, Executive Director of the Women's Commission. "Generations of young people have suffered severe physical and emotional trauma as a direct result of twenty years of war. The ongoing violence continues to threaten their well-being."
Of the 7.5 million Afghans who may have to rely on international relief to survive this winter, 1.5 million are children under the age of five. Even before the current military offensive this month, UNICEF estimated that one in four children born in Afghanistan could expect to die before their fifth birthday.Both the Taliban and Northern Alliance forces have violated Afghan children’s rights, Watchlist reports. Both sides have recruited children under the age of 18 as child soldiers, although it is difficult to determine precise numbers. The Taliban has drawn recruits from young Afghan refugees attending religious schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, with large-scale recruitment associated with significant defeats or major offensives. Children have also been reported in the ranks of the Northern Alliance forces. Representatives of the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers were told of a recruitment drive which included children during a visit to Pakistan in November 2000.
And whilst much attention has been paid to the Taliban’s abuse of women’s rights, women and girls also face harsh discrimination in Northern Alliance areas and in refugee camps outside of Afghanistan. In all areas, there has been a history of serious abuse, including rape, abduction, forced early marriage and prostitution.
"Afghan children are among the poorest in the world," said Mary Diaz. "The United Nations Security Council must be vigilant in ensuring that children's rights are protected during this time of conflict in Afghanistan. Member states should intensify efforts to stop the use of child soldiers and make humanitarian assistance to children a priority."
Editor’s note: Experts on refugees, landmines, child soldiers and other child rights issues are available for interview. Please contact Rachel Watson, Media Liaison, Women’s Commission for Refugee Women & Children
Phone: 212 551 0959
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Visit www.womenscommission.org to read Watchlist on Children & Armed Conflict: Afghanistan
Christian Science Monitor
Regarding "US diplomacy races to catch up to rebel gains" (Nov. 14): As diplomats scramble to avoid a long guerrilla war in Afghanistan, efforts to create a new government are focusing on a broad-based, multiethnic coalition. And while the inclusion of all ethnicities in any peace talks will be vital to ensure that Afghanistan does not once again descend into anarchy, one social group is consistently overlooked in these deliberations: women. Women's rights were severely curtailed under the Taliban's five-year rule, yet the oppression of Afghan women predates the Taliban. Many of the male leaders now being wooed as peace brokers by the international community have less than outstanding records on women's rights. There are many women leaders in the refugee camps of Pakistan who should be given the opportunity to voice their concerns about any future coalition.
As one Afghan refugee woman recently told a UN Security Council meeting on women's roles in peace-building, "Do not think that because we wear a veil, we do not have a voice."
Mary Diaz
Nov. 14, 2001
Executive Director, Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children
New York
New York, NY
New York, NY, November 20, 2001 - The Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children is calling for urgent assistance for Afghan women's organizations, which play a key role in supporting refugees and have a vital part to play in the rebuilding of Afghanistan. Taliban forces are entering Pakistan, where there are more than 2 million refugees, and fighting in Afghanistan is continuing, which put women and women's organizations at risk.
The New York Times
To the Editor:
Re ''U.S. Envoy Looks for Change in Sudan'' (news article, Nov. 18):
Former Senator John C. Danforth is to be congratulated for his efforts, on behalf of the United States government, to reach out to the people of southern Sudan in a tentative attempt at peacemaking. It was encouraging to read that he met with women. Having been to Khartoum and southern Sudan, I know that there are many women in both places with strong voices and opinions who would be most helpful in the peace process there.
As Laura Bush made clear in her Nov. 17 radio address, it is essential to include women in peace-building and reconstruction efforts, not only in Afghanistan but also in regions of conflict around the world.
MARY ANNE SCHWALBE
New York, Nov. 19, 2001
The writer is a board member of the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children.
New York, NY
Coinciding with World AIDS Day, this Saturday, December 1, the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children is calling on the world community to recognize the toll that HIV/AIDS takes on refugees and internally displaced persons.
In 2001, 3 million people died of AIDS, of these deaths 1.1 million were women and 580,000 were children under 15 years, according to UNAIDS.
"HIV/AIDS spreads fastest where there is poverty, powerlessness and social instability," said Sandra Krause, Director, Reproductive Health Project of the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children. "Displacement as a result of conflict increases the spread of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS."
Read more: World AIDS Day: In 2001, 3 million people died of AIDS
New York, NY
For many refugee women and girls in conflict regions around the world, the current 16 Days of Global Activism Against Gender Violence will pass unacknowledged, even in the face of their heightened risk to multiple violations, including rape, domestic abuse, and forced prostitution.
A soon-to-be released report by the Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium not only affirms that gender violence is endemic in conflict and post-conflict settings, but that the humanitarian community’s actions to address such violence is at best limited, and often non-existent. Of the 12 conflict and post-conflict countries profiled in the global overview, none have instituted sufficiently comprehensive programming to meet the needs of women and girls at risk of gender-based abuses.
Read more: RHRC posts comprehensive bibliography of GBV resources online
For refugee and internally displaced women and adolescents, pregnancy is in many cases a life-threatening condition; in fact, it's a leading cause of death in emergencies along with birthing complications, according to the United Nations Population Fund. For years, however, reproductive health care was nearly nonexistent in refugee settings and a neglected part of humanitarian assistance. Numerous nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) over the last several years have been working to address this grievous gap and their hard work is beginning to pay off; reproductive health care is slowly becoming a priority in emergency situations.
planetwire.org
New York, NY
The Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children will be sending a senior coordinator to Pakistan to conduct a fact-finding mission on refugee “street children.”
From January 18th to January 31st Jane Lowicki, Senior Coordinator, Children and Adolescents Project, will investigate the situation of Afghan refugee children, including adolescents, in Pakistan.
Ms. Lowicki is available to reporters for interviews and can direct them to interviews with young people and those responsible for their protection and care.
Among her chief concerns will be to identify achievements and gaps in support for these young people, including structures in place or in development by international and local actors to monitor and ensure their well being and other areas of support, such as social networks and family status.
Read more: Afghan Refugee Street Children: Information From The Field
There may be no more gruesome job than that of a soldier: they work in the worst of conditions, with orders to kill. Even if they survive, the nightmares can last a lifetime. It is hardly work fit for an adult, much less a child. And yet, 300,000 children serve as soldiers in more than 60 countries around the world. Amy Costello travels to the tiny West African nation of Sierra Leone, which is just beginning to recover from an 8-year civil war, and found that children are a fighting forces' most valuable asset.
New York, NY
New York, NY, April 29, 2002—Several nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) announced today that they have joined forces to form the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict to monitor and report on the situation of children in specific war zones.
As heads of states from over 120 nations prepare to discuss improving the lives of children at the United Nations Special Session on Children in New York (May 8-10), children and armed conflict will be a high priority on the agenda.
"It is time that decision-makers turn words into action," says Mary Diaz, Executive Director, Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children and Co-chair of the Watchlist. “Believe it or not, there hasn’t been an effort to collect and publicize information about the impact of armed conflict on children on a country by country basis. This information is essential to ensure international commitments to protect children become a reality.”
Read more: Launch of Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict
New York, NY
New York, NY, May 2, 2002 – The Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children has announced that it will honor Israeli, Palestinian, Bosniak and Serb peace-builders at this year's Voices of Courage Awards luncheon. Pulitzer-prize winning novelist and columnist Anna Quindlen will be the keynote speaker at the luncheon.
Awardees include Julia Resnitsky, 16, an Israeli, and Bushra Jawabri, 20, a Palestinian. Other honorees are Zejneba Sarajlic, a Bosniak, and Stanojka Avramovic, a Bosnian Serb.
Recipients were chosen for their courage and work toward lasting peace. All recipients are passionate advocates for peace who support ethnic diversity, peace building and non-violent conflict resolution activities.
Read more: Luncheon Honors Palestinian, Israeli, and Bosnian Refugees
Offering chilling details through performance and spoken word, youth groups from around the world plan to act out war experiences and sound dramatic calls for peace, Thursday May 9, at Manhattan’s Beekman Theater.
Using theater, dance, song, art, dramatic readings and poetry as vehicles of expression, adolescents will tell their personal stories of life during armed conflict and make persuasive arguments for peace.
"These children have lost everything, their homes and members of their families," said Allison Anderson Pillsbury, Project Manager, Children and Adolescents Project of the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, one of the sponsors of this event. “Despite this, their strength, resiliency and courage to make a difference and work for peace is inspirational.”
New York, NY
Two young women, one Palestinian and one Israeli, will discuss their experiences of war and support of peace at meetings during the UN Special Session on Children, May 8 to May 10.
Bushra Jawabri, Palestinian, 20, and Julia Resnitsky, Israeli, 16, will attend several UN panels on peace building to discuss Palestinian and Israeli youth perspectives on various issues tied to the Mideast conflict.
"As policy-makers and heads of state from around the world will be at the UN Special Session on Children, this is a wonderful chance for adolescents to show how much they can and are contributing to peace building," said Allison Anderson Pillsbury, Project Manager of the Children and Adolescents Project for the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children.
Ms. Jawabri and Ms. Resnitsky are among four recipients of this year’s Women’s Commission’s Voices of Courage Awards, which recognizes their commitment to peace and work in youth group capacity building. The luncheon will take place on May 15.
Read more: Israel and Palestine Come Together at UN Special Session on Children’s Rights
The New York Times
To the Editor:
Nicholas D. Kristof (column, May 7) challenges the belief that to combat terrorism, we must address widespread poverty and illiteracy. While today's terrorists are often well educated, they make up a small minority of the world's population.
More than a billion people survive on less than $1 a day. More than 100 million children are not in school, 60 percent of whom are girls. Lack of education leads to bigger families, greater poverty and poor health care.
In Afghanistan, the first priority of the country's interim government was to get children back in school. Today's Palestinian youth will be charged one day with leading their new nation, and education will be critical to their effort.
DIANA QUICK
New York, May 8, 2002
The writer is director of communications, Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children.
New York, NY
Unaccompanied children in the custody of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) are caught in a system biased toward law enforcement and removal of children from the United States, according to a new report, Prison Guard or Parent? INS Treatment of Unaccompanied Refugee Children, released today by the New York-based Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children.
"Despite the growing numbers of children asylum seekers arriving in the U.S. on their own, the INS fails to address their basic care or their legal needs," says Wendy Young, Director of Government Relations and US Programs for the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children. "The individual needs of a child are too often sacrificed to the INS's law enforcement goals."
The report is based on the findings of a Women’s Commission delegation that assessed conditions of detention for children held in the custody of the INS. The delegation visited eight juvenile detention centers in Texas, California, Washington and Oregon during August 2001.
Read more: INS Treatment of Children in Detention Jeopardizes Asylum Claims
The New York Times
To the Editor:
Children have been the biggest losers from the Angolan government's ''lost'' tax revenues and misspending of oil revenues (news article, May 14). The government used the revenues to sustain its long civil war against Unita, leaving the health care, educational and other systems in shambles. Children are the most vulnerable under these conditions, and one of every three children in Angola dies before the age of 5.
With a new cease-fire in Angola, the international community, oil companies and others with leverage must exert more pressure to hold the government accountable for its spending and its obligations to protect children and all other civilians.
JULIA FREEDSON
New York, May 14, 2002
The writer is the coordinator of Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict.
New York, NY
Internally displaced and refugee women and children are receiving inadequate protection against gender-based violence (GBV), according to a new report by the Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium. The report, If Not Now, When? Addressing Gender-based Violence in Refugee, Internally Displaced, and Post-Conflict Settings, A Global Overview, finds that although this violence is part of virtually all conflicts today, opportunities to protect the most vulnerable victims are being missed.
"Despite the fact that gender-based violence prevention and response is increasingly accepted as an important part of humanitarian assistance, there are significant gaps in the implementation of programs to address this issue," said Jeanne Ward, Gender-Based Violence Research Officer, Reproductive Health for Refugees Consortium. "The protection of human rights is basic to humanitarian relief worldwide and the violation of rights that GBV represents is no exception and should be addressed."
New York, NY
Afghan refugee children and adolescents living in urban areas in Pakistan are being neglected and are receiving little or no international humanitarian assistance and protection, according to a new report by the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children. Many are forced to work as child laborers under dangerous conditions simply to survive, says the report, Fending for Themselves: Afghan Refugee Children and Adolescents Working in Urban Pakistan.
"Tens of thousands of refugees have fled to urban areas in Pakistan since September 11, but almost all international assistance and protection efforts are focused on refugees in camps, and the situation for young Afghans in the cities is deteriorating seriously," said Jane Lowicki, Senior Coordinator, Children and Adolescents Project, who visited Pakistan in January. "Many of these refugees and the communities that are struggling to support them are wondering why help promised by the U.S. and other countries has not reached them."
New York, NY
Thousands of parents in northern Uganda are desperately trying to find out what has happened to their children who have been abducted by the rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and taken into southern Sudan. Ten weeks into a Ugandan military operation in southern Sudan to root out the LRA, "Operation Iron Fist" has yielded no results.
"Parents are concerned that their children have been sacrificed in a war that does not distinguish between hostage and fighter," said Allison A. Pillsbury, program manager of the Children and Adolescents Project of the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children.
The children are among over 12,000 children who have been abducted by the LRA and taken to bases across the border in Sudan during the past 14 years. While more than 5,000 have managed to escape, the majority remain essentially slaves, forced to become child soldiers, sexual slaves and laborers.
Read more: Save Abducted Children: Thousands of Ugandan Children Abducted by Lord’s Resistance Army
The Miami Herald, by Mary Diaz
During the recent war in Sierra Leone, 19-year-old Gina was gang raped by 20 rebels when they attacked her village. The rebels held her captive for two months before she was able to escape. She walked for two weeks through the bush to reach the refugee camps in Guinea. When she arrived, she was not given food but told to wait until her case was verified. She was hungry and in pain and ended up exchanging sexual favors for a cup of bulgur and a cup of oil.
Some 40 million people around the world have fled persecution and armed conflict, 80 percent of them women and children. They are searching for peace, safety and security. They face myriad dangers, from disease and deprivation to armed forces and landmines.
The New York Times
To the Editor:
You rightly note in your June 20 editorial ''Refugee Women's Plight'' that the rights of refugee women must be addressed to ensure their safety and their participation as equal members of their communities both in refugee camps and once they return home.
But there is another group that we must not forget. Adolescent refugee girls are too often overlooked in protection and assistance programs because of their age and social status, although the dangers to them can be great.
Because of their powerlessness, adolescent girls in refugee situations are more vulnerable to forced marriage, sexual slavery and forms of gender-based violence, among other abuses. They are also the least likely to be offered education and reproductive health care, putting them at greater risk for H.I.V./AIDS, unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortions.
Adolescent refugee girls are the underserved of the underserved. In a critical stage of development, they need access to opportunities to help them grow and thrive. They must not be left behind.
MARY DIAZ
Executive Director
Women's Commission
for Refugee Women and Children
New York, June 21, 2002
New York, NY
The Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children strongly opposes moving asylum-related functions to the Department of Homeland Security, contending that such a move would threaten the ability of asylum seekers and refugees to seek safe haven in the United States. As the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration meets Wednesday to consider immigration reform and the reorganization of Homeland Defense, the Women’s Commission urges Congress to consider several alternatives that would ensure U.S. protection of refugees while at the same time safeguarding our national security.
"The Administration’s proposed ‘Homeland Security Act of 2002’ would jeopardize the United States’ rich tradition of welcoming asylum seekers and refugees to our shores by transferring responsibility for all immigration-related functions to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including the implementation of U.S. asylum policy," says Wendy Young, Director of Government Relations and U.S. Programs, Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children. "There’s no question that DHS’s primary mandate of reducing terrorism is a critical national priority, but one very different from our commitment to protecting refugees, which defines us as a people and makes our nation unique."
Read more: Women’s Commission Opposes Moving Asylum Functions to Department of Homeland Security
By the time he turned 13, life in his native Honduras had become unbearable for Edwin Munoz. His father was dead. His mother had abandoned him. Edwin lived with a cousin who forced him to beg on the streets and beat him with car tools if he didn't return with enough money. Edwin was afraid to report the abuse and risk being thrown out, because he'd heard that Honduran authorities killed homeless children. So, with little hope for an endurable life in his homeland, Edwin walked and hitchhiked across Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, working for food and sleeping in ditches. In August 2000, he was apprehended as he tried to sneak into California. But he wasn't worried. "My whole life," he says, "I'd heard wonderful things about America and how children were treated there." Then the dream that had drawn Edwin Munoz so far north was crushed.
Sitting up straight in a white shirt and black tie, Edwin, now 16, tried not to cry at a recent hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He explained how, in shackles, he was shuffled between U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) facilities until he was taken to San Diego Juvenile Hall, which he called "the worst place I have ever been in my life." There, Edwin testified, he was locked in his cell 18 hours a day, beaten with sticks by authorities, doused with pepper spray and held among violent criminals for nearly six months. "I cried a lot in my cell," Edwin said, "wondering why everything was turning out so badly for me in the U.S. and if I would ever be free."
GULU, Uganda
This town in the remote reaches of northern Uganda has experienced many miseries over the years, from ethnic clashes to a deadly Ebola outbreak. Now fallout from the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States is bringing even more ill fortune.
New York, NY
Former Refugee, Activist From Atlanta Area Speaking Out
Thousands of refugees who have been resettled in the United States as part of this country’s long-held refugee admissions program are facing indefinite separation from their closest family members – many of whom remain refugees – as a result of the alarming slowdown in refugee admissions to the United States since September 11. Refugee advocates across the country, including the Women’s Commission for Refugee Woman and Children, are greatly concerned about the harmful effect this slowdown is having on refugees overseas who continue to face persecution – as well as former refugees now living in the United States as ‘new Americans,’ their families and the communities in which they live.
Following Sept. 11, the U.S. government put a halt to refugee resettlement – the only immigration program it suspended. When President Bush lifted the moratorium on November 21, 2001, he authorized the admission of up to 70,000 refugees for FY2002-2003 – a 12.5 percent decrease from the previous year. As of August 31, 2002, however, with just a couple months to go in the fiscal year, only 23,497 had been admitted to the United States. As a result, tens of thousands of lives remain at great risk, particularly those of refugee women and children, who are especially vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
Read more: After September 11: Former Refugee, Activist From Atlanta Area Speaking Out
New York, NY
Thousands of refugees who have been resettled in the United States as part of this country’s long-held refugee admissions program are facing indefinite separation from their closest family members – many of whom remain refugees – as a result of the alarming slowdown in refugee admissions to the United States since September 11. Refugee advocates across the country, including the Women’s Commission for Refugee Woman and Children, are greatly concerned about the harmful effect this slowdown is having on refugees overseas who continue to face persecution – as well as former refugees now living in the United States as ‘new Americans,’ their families and the communities in which they live.
Following Sept. 11, the U.S. government put a halt to refugee resettlement – the only immigration program it suspended. When President Bush lifted the moratorium on November 21, 2001, he authorized the admission of up to 70,000 refugees for FY2002-2003 – a 12.5 percent decrease from the previous year. As of August 31, 2002, however, with just a couple months to go in the fiscal year, only 23,497 had been admitted to the United States. As a result, tens of thousands of lives remain at great risk, particularly those of refugee women and children, who are especially vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
Read more: Statement Upholding the U.S. Commitment to Refugees Post- September 11
The New York Times
To the Editor:
Re ''Food and Hope Are Scarce for Returning Afghans'' (news article, Sept. 17):
Lack of security is yet another major threat to returning Afghans.
Too often, aid can't reach areas of the country where it is most needed because of banditry and the resurgence of warlords, who still control large swaths of the country. Rape and violence are common.
Many women are afraid to take advantage of job and educational opportunities because the threat of violence hangs over them. Even aid workers have been targeted; one was gang raped in northern Afghanistan several months ago.
While it's encouraging that the Pentagon has endorsed a military force beyond Kabul, it is vital that these forces place the protection of the Afghan people and humanitarian aid workers at the forefront of their mission.
The particular risks that Afghan women and girls face must also be an integral part of their work.
MARY DIAZ
Exec. Dir., Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children
New York, Sept. 17, 2002
The WRC is en route to Malaysia, to present at the 2013 Women Deliver global conference! http://t.co/p5Bcttj9VB
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