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Law
on Asylum in Kosovo, New Draft Law– RSD and reception standards
On 17 October 2011, as the right to asylum
in Kosovo was included in the legal system and has started to be applied from 2008, and also given the lack of institutional tradition in the treatment of this right,
and the commitment of public institutions for dealing with challenges in the implementation
of international standards in this area, the United Nations High Commissioner (UNHCR)
Kosovo, in frame of the project implemented by the Civil Rights Program- Kosovo
(CRP/K), has organized a seminar on asylum. Government of Kosovo had drafted the
Law on Asylum, which is under review by the Parliamentary Committee for Security.
Accordingly, it was an ideal opportunity for CRP/K to invite all involved actors
in this field, directly or indirectly, to exchange thoughts through the provision
of comments and recommendations concerning the draft law and to discuss the practical
problems.
Besides the fruitful discussions, which had
exceeded the scope of the workshop, it is very important that eight (8) recommendations
were approved unanimously, they will be forwarded to relevant authorities, which
may significantly contribute towards the advancement in the provision of protection
to this category of persons in need.
Recommendations of the seminar are as follows:
1.
CRP/K and UNHCR, and other organizations as well, to continue to provide comments
and contributions to Draft Law on Asylum;
2.
Inclusion of principles of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951)
and the Protocol of 1967, particularly the Principle of Non-Refoulement, and the
EU directives;
3.
The inclusion
of trainings for Kosovo judges in the 2012 Strategy of the Kosovo
Judicial Institute (KJI);
4.
Trainings regarding the practice of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) related
to asylum cases and other ongoing trainings;
5.
On the basis of the
European Commission Progress Report for Kosovo, to draw the
appropriate conclusions in the drafting of respective intersectoral policies;
6.
Advancing interview techniques of interviewing the asylum-seekers;
7.
Advancing the obtainment of information from the asylum-seekers’ countries of origin;
8.
Advancing the translations during interviews with asylum-seekers.
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