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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon

Time: 8:16 pm

Results for asylum, right of (canada, switzerland)

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Author: Costello, Cathryn

Title: Building Empirical Research into Alternatives to Detention: Perceptions of Asylum-Seekers and Refugees in Toronto and Geneva

Summary: 5 Executive Summary This research study examines the workings of ‘alternatives to detention’ (ATDs) through empirical research in two contexts, Toronto, Canada, and Geneva, Switzerland. Relying on a detailed literature review, and qualitative research carried out in summer 2012 in Toronto and Geneva, the report attempts to capture the workings of ATDs in particular from the perspective of the asylum seekers, refugees and other migrants they most closely affect. The study identifies the cooperative predisposition of asylum-seekers, which seems to be rooted in four subjective factors, namely: (1) the refugee predicament and fear of return; (2) inclination towards lawabidingness and commitment to obey the law; (3) trust and perceptions of fairness of the host state, in particular in its Refugee Status Determination (RSD) process; and (4) the desire to avoid irregular residence, in particular the attendant hardship and vulnerability. The report crucially identifies the conditions that foster cooperation, by assessing the interviewees' experiences of the divergent reception conditions available in Toronto and Geneva. ATDs seem more likely to encourage this cooperative disposition if they entail and are perceived to entail suitable reception conditions; fair RSD and other legal processes; and holistic support to navigate legal processes and life in the host country. Perceptions of RSD fairness seemed to depend on (1) being afforded a proper hearing; (2) consistency of decision-making; and (3) taking decisions promptly. The single most important institutional feature that fostered trust was (4) access to early reliable legal advice and assistance. The report also addresses the processes for securing release from immigration detention in Toronto and Geneva, namely detention reviews, to the extent that these procedures determine access to some ATDs. In Toronto, the work of the Toronto Bail Program (TBP) in the context of conditional release is examined. While accepting that some limitations exist in the TBP system, it is concluded that the TBP provides a potential model for supervised release of some asylum-seekers from detention.

Details: Geneva, SWIT: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 2013. 50p.

Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 9, 2013 at: http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/51a6fec84.pdf

Year: 2013

Country: International

URL: http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/51a6fec84.pdf

Shelf Number: 129283

Keywords:
Asylum, Right of (Canada, Switzerland)
Immigrant Detention
Political Refugees