HELPFUL INTERNET LINKS

1. Factual articles


a) Factual articles re Yazidis in Iraq & systemic persecution/vulnerability


  • Amy Beam facebook posting about Yazidis being denied passports, 23 September 2018

https://www.facebook.com/AmyLBeam/posts/10216534046601086

  • Amy Beam facebook post about Yazidis in Kurdistan being denied the right to participate in elections there

https://www.facebook.com/AmyLBeam/posts/10216575602599960


  • Facebook lives series from activist Amy Beam on why #Ezidis cannot return to #Shingal -

Part 1 https://www.facebook.com/AmyLBeam/videos/10216876365438843/ …

Part 2 https://www.facebook.com/AmyLBeam/videos/10216876603164786/ …

Part 3 https://www.facebook.com/AmyLBeam/videos/10216876765168836/ …

Part 4 https://www.facebook.com/AmyLBeam/videos/10216877453186036/ …


  • Aizidkhan Future facebook post re Da'esh attack on Yazidi farmers, 3 October 2018

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2179403249053105&id=1914429925550440


  • March 2018 article on refworld re deficiencies in medical treatment available in Sinjar for returning Yazidi refugees

http://www.refworld.org/docid/5b7400f4a.html


  • Details about persecution of Yazidis in Iraq in 2004-5

http://www.yeziden-colloquium.de/inhalt/gesellschaft/recht/Savelsberg_Hajo_Gutachten.pdf

  • Details the way Yazidis first came to Germany (first as Turkish Gastarbeiter and then as refugees from Turkey and then the later waves from Iraq and Syria)

http://www.yeziden-colloquium.de/inhalt/gesellschaft/recht/Duechting_Yeziden.pdf

  • Yazidis as an example of religious persecution as a reason for seeking asylum

https://books.google.de/books?id=LbP3DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA51&lpg=PA51&dq=Eva+Savelsberg+and+Siamend+Hajo+Gutachten+%C3%BCber+Yeziden&source=bl&ots=ZXfki4IrD7&sig=4QVF4VagIqeyTTIo-ulQ8keqbL0&hl=de&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjdvq6AssDeAhVSZFAKHU3DAEUQ6AEwBXoECAQQAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false


b) Factual articles re German asylum policies

Legal and factual critique of Söder’s asylum plans in Bavaria

http://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/9694/bavaria-s-controversial-asylum-plans

http://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/10743/are-deportations-from-germany-always-in-line-with-the-law


2. Case law concerning asylum

  • AN v Switzerland, Sept 2018 – decision UN CAT – re right to rehabilitation –States can’t send torture victims to a country where no rehabilitation services available, even if no individual risk of persecution there

http://centre-csdm.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/A.N.-v.-Switzerland-Com.-No.-742_2016-CSDM.pdf


  • MP v Secretary of State, Home Department, Case C‑353/16, (ECJ, Grand Chamber), ECLI:EU:C:2018:276

It follows from the foregoing that Articles 2(e) and 15(b) of Directive 2004/83, read in the light of Article 4 of the Charter, must be interpreted as meaning that a third country national who in the past has been tortured by the authorities of his country of origin and no longer faces a risk of being tortured if returned to that country, but whose physical and psychological health could, if so returned, seriously deteriorate, leading to a serious risk of him committing suicide on account of trauma resulting from the torture he was subjected to, is eligible for subsidiary protection if there is a real risk of him being intentionally deprived, in his country of origin, of appropriate care for the physical and mental after-effects of that torture, that being a matter for the national court to determine.

http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=201403&pageIndex=0&doclang=en&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=351983

3. UNHCR & Country asylum guidelines concerning Iraq/Yazidis

a) UK guidelines on asylum policies concerning Iraq

  • September 2018 guidelines on internal relocation, civil documentation, and forcible returns to Iraq

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/738200/Iraq_-_IFA_docs_and_return_-_CPIN_-_v7__September_2018_.pdf

  • March 2017 guidelines on security and humanitarian situation in Iraq

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/601508/Iraq_-_Sec_and_Hum_situation_-_CPIN_-_v4_0.pdf

  • August 2016 – Religious minorities in Iraq

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/565848/CIG-Iraq-religious-minorities-v1-August-2016.pdf

b) UNHCR guidelines

    • November 2016 – forcible returns to Iraq

http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/58299e694.pdf

    • 29 October 2018 statement from UNHCR representative

"In parts of West Mosul, Sinjar, the Ninewa Plains, and Anbar, rubble is not yet cleared of explosives and services like water and electricity are not fully functional. In such instances, conditions for sustainable return are not yet met. It is of the utmost importance that assistance for displaced Iraqis continues to avoid premature returns to these areas, which could result in further displacement. At the same time, the communities hosting displaced people also face increased hardship, and resources are stretched"

http://www.uniraq.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=9856:unhcr-provides-ongoing-support-to-vulnerable-people-in-iraq-with-new-funds-from-the-united-states-of-america&Itemid=605&lang=en

4. Factual articles, reports, resolutions re genocide of Yazidis and ongoing risks

a) UN reports

  • UN Commission of Inquiry Report, “They came to destroy”: ISIS Crimes Against the Yazidis, 15 June 2016

English: https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/A_HRC_32_CRP.2_en.pdf

Arabic:

https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/A_HRC_32_CRP.2_ARABIC.pdf

  • UN Commission of Inquiry statement, August 2017, that genocide of Yazidis is ongoing

English:

https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21935&LangID=E

Kurdish: Kurdish


b) EU/Council of Europe documents


  • Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 2190 (2017) – re accountability mechanism to investigate genocide committed by Da’esh against Yazidis

http://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-EN.asp?fileid=24219&lang=en

c) States

  • November 2018 United States Department of Defence Lead Inspector General (Lead IG) report to the United States Congress on ISIS activities in Iraq and Syria :"an effective clandestine ISIS organization has moved underground and is acting as an insurgency"

http://www.dodig.mil/In-the-Spotlight/Article/1681464/lead-inspector-general-for-operation-inherent-resolve-i-quarterly-report-to-the/


d) NGOs

5. Legal articles & NGO positions regarding Dublin III issues and ‘constructive refoulement’ (being placed in a situation where individuals feel they have no other option but to return, notwithstanding risk of danger/persecution)

a) Reports and articles re issued faced by asylum in first point of entry countries

    • Letter from Council of Europe human rights commissioner to Croatia re collective expulsions of migrants including asylum seekers, and police violence against asylum seekers

https://www.coe.int/en/web/commissioner/-/commissioner-calls-on-croatia-to-investigate-allegations-of-collective-expulsions-of-migrants-and-of-violence-by-law-enforcement-officers


b)

ICRC article: Note on migration and the principle of non-refoulement - International ...

“Indeed, the ICRC would be guided by the view that if a State cannot lawfully return an individual, the principle of nonrefoulement should be understood as also prohibiting indirect measures designed to

circumvent this prohibition. This would mean that States may not create circumstances which leave an individual who is protected by the principle of nonrefoulement with no real alternative other than returning”