organization:general secretariat

Greece plans to phase out cash and housing for recognized refugees

The Greek government has announced it will start asking people with refugee status or subsidiary protection to leave camps and UNHCR accommodation, starting with people who got their status before August 2017. Eventually, it will also end their access to cash assistance, Refugee.Info has learned.

Gradually, authorities will ask all people who have had refugee status or subsidiary protection for more than 6 months to leave camps and UNHCR accommodation, and gradually it will stop providing them with cash assistance, the Greek Ministry of Migration Policy said.

Why did the government make this new policy?

The Greek government says it is not creating a new policy, just enforcing an existing policy. Under the policy, people lose access to camps and #UNHCR accommodation and cash 6 months after they get refugee status or subsidiary protection.

That policy was made to meet the requirements of the European Union, which funds both the cash program and the UNHCR accommodation scheme. Under the European Union’s rules, cash and accommodation are meant for asylum-seekers — people who don’t yet have a decision on their asylum application.

Up to now the government hasn’t enforced the 6-months policy strictly, recognizing that for many refugees in Greece, it is very difficult to find a place to stay and a way to support themselves financially.

Why now?

Now, the Greek government says it has to enforce the policy because:

– Greece is still facing high numbers of new arrivals.
– The islands are overcrowded.
– There are not enough places in camps and UNHCR accommodation to meet the needs of asylum-seekers.

The decision came from the Greek Directorate for the Protection of Asylum Seekers, the General Secretariat for Migration Policy and the Ministry of Migration Policy.

▻https://blog.refugee.info/exit-accommodation-cash
#Grèce #réfugiés #asile #migrations #hébergement #logement #HCR #vulnérabilité #demandeurs_d'asile #hotspots #îles

Egypt-Saudi Arabia Handshake between king and president points to waning tensions | MadaMasr

▻http://www.madamasr.com/en/2017/04/13/feature/politics/handshake-between-king-and-president-points-to-waning-tensions

Some signals suggest a possible de-escalation between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, whose usually tight relations have recently witnessed turbulence.

The Jordan Arab Summit, held on March 29, saw the leaders of both countries, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and King Salman bin Abdulaziz, meet and shake hands, while their respective ministers of foreign affairs agreed to set up a “committee for political follow-up.”

Meanwhile, earlier in February, King Salman visited the Egyptian wing at the Jenaderiyah cultural festival, in what was interpreted as a gesture of restoring relations.

One of the latest points of contention between the two countries concerns the Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir, which Egypt ceded sovereignty over in April 2016, following an agreement between the two governments. However, the Egyptian Supreme Administrative Court ruled on January 16 against the agreement, declaring the islands Egyptian. The court argued that the Egyptian government failed to submit documents in support of Saudi sovereignty.

But the legal contest didn’t stop here. On April 2, a court of urgent matters annulled the supreme court’s ruling. Parliament took a decisive step forward on April 10, one day after Coptic Christian churches in Alexandria and Tanta were bombed in attacks claimed by the Province of Sinai. In its first session after the bombings, Parliament referred the case to its legislative and constitutional affairs committee, where it will undergo a preliminary vote before a final vote takes place in the general assembly. It is a development aligned with what officials have said in closed quarters for some time. 

“Saudi Arabia has reassurances from Cairo that it will receive the two islands in any case. But it also blames Cairo for managing this issue poorly,” says an Egyptian official working at the General Secretariat of the Arab League, who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity.

IGCI : Interpol Global Complex for Innovation

http://www.interpol.int/extension/design_sqli/design/design_sqli/images/logo.png

The INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation (IGCI) is a cutting-edge research and development facility for the identification of crimes and criminals, innovative training, operational support and partnerships.
Located in Singapore, the IGCI complements our General Secretariat in Lyon, France, and enhances the Organization’s presence in Asia.

Three domains of activities:

(1) Digital security
– Boosting cybersecurity and countering cybercrime;
– A forensics laboratory to support digital crime investigations;
– Research to test protocols, tools and services and to analyse trends of cyber-attacks;
– Development of practical solutions in collaboration with police, research laboratories, academia and the public and private sectors;
– Addressing issues such as Internet security governance.

(2) Capacity building and training
– Research into training and methodology and the transfer of this research into police activities on the ground;
– Classroom, field and online training programmes for National Central Bureaus;
- Anti-corruption training, particularly in sport;
– Quality standards and accreditation.

(3) Operational and investigative support
– Identifying and addressing emerging crime threats, for example, Asian Organized crime;
– A platform for disaster victim identification;
– Incident response and major events support;
– A Command and Coordination Centre operations room reinforces those already in place in Lyon and in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This presence in three continents provides truly global operational support to our member countries.

It has been officially inaugurated in April 2015:

En français : Complexe Mondial INTERPOL pour l’Innovation : CMII

▻http://www.interpol.int/fr/Centre-des-m%C3%A9dias/Nouvelles/2015/N2015-039

Plusieurs organisations internationales étaient également représentées à la cérémonie d’ouverture, de même que des partenaires clés du secteur privé, parmi lesquels Entrust Datacard, Kaspersky Lab, NEC, Safran Morpho et Trend Micro Ltd.

En créant le CMII, INTERPOL s’assure d’être le mieux placé pour aider les polices du monde entier à lutter contre les nouvelles menaces grâce à l’innovation et la formation. Le CMII offrira un appui opérationnel et en matière de police scientifique, et contribuera au renforcement des capacités et à la mise au jour des cybermenaces.

Video presentation:

▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=45&v=0bJoICnTF9A

#Singapore
#INTERPOL
#cybersecurity
#cybercrime