Still Living on the Edge: Colombian Refugees in Panama and Ecuador
Still Living on the Edge: Colombian Refugees in Panama and Ecuador
08 Aug 2013
Washington DC, 8 August 2013 — Jesuit Refugee Service USA assistant director for policy Mary Small participated in a congressional briefing hosted by Congressman Sam Farr on 28 June. The briefing focused on the continued vulnerability of Colombian refugees in Ecuador and Panama.
In November of 2010, a delegation from Refugee Council USA visited Panama and Ecuador to learn more about the complex protection and resettlement needs of Colombian refugees. Since the publication of the delegation's report, Living on the Edge: Colombian Refugees in Panama and Ecuador, little has improved for the region's refugees and, in Ecuador, conditions have actually worsened. A recently published update, Still Living on the Edge: Colombian Refugees in Panama and Ecuador details the changes that have occurred since November 2010, and revises the report's recommendations.
Mary Small's remarks highlighted the findings of this recent update:
It continues to be extremely difficult for refugees in Panama to access recognition. Before entering the actual determination process, refugees in Panama must go through an admissibility screening. While this screening is supposed to only screen out obviously fraudulent cases, only 13 percent of applicants successfully make it through this step. Furthermore, appeals are heard by the same authority that rejected the case in the first place, thus compromising the integrity of that important safeguard.
Other problems identified in 2010 also continue today. Refugees only have six months in which to apply; this does not allow sufficient time, especially as most people are not familiar with the legal process. Receiving refugee status still does not include the right to work, and refugees must apply for a separate work permit.
This process often takes months, needlessly extending the period of time in which refugees are either destitute or forced to work in the informal economy for extremely low wages.
More:
http://reliefweb.int/report/ecuador/still-living-edge-colombian-refugees-panama-and-ecuador-0