Strengthening Asylum: Difference between revisions

       |project_title=[[Strengthening Asylum for Refugees And Asylum Seekers in Cyprus, 2006]]<br>[[Strengthening Asylum for Refugees And Asylum Seekers in Cyprus, 2007]]<br>[[Strengthening Asylum for Refugees And Asylum Seekers in Cyprus, 2008]]<br>[[Strengthening Asylum for Refugees And Asylum Seekers in Cyprus, 2009]]<br>[[Strengthening Asylum for Refugees And Asylum Seekers in Cyprus, 2010]]<br>[[Strengthening Asylum for Refugees And Asylum Seekers in Cyprus, 2011]]<br>[[Strengthening Asylum for Refugees And Asylum Seekers in Cyprus, 2012]]

       |contract_number=06/CYP/LS/400(b)<br>07/CYP/LS/400(b)<br>08/AB/CYP/LS/400(b)1<br>CYP/AB/400/LS/400(b)<br><br>BU: CYP01, Agreement No.: 0000000016, Budget Year: 2010<br><br>

       |funding_period=1 May 2006 - 31 Dec 2006<br>1 Jan 2007 - 31 Dec 2007<br>1 Jan 2008 - 31 Dec 2008<br>1 Jan 2009 - 31 Dec 2009<br>1 Jan 2010 - 31 Dec 2010<br>1 Jan 2011 - 31 Dec 2011<br>1 Jan 2012 - 31 Dec 2012

       |coordinator=<br>[[Yiannis Laouris]]<br>[[Corina Drousiotou]]<br>

      |funding_agency=[[UN High Commission for Refugees]]

      |partners= UNHCR

       |website=www.StrengtheningAsylum.info}}

Strengthening Asylum is implemented by the non-governmental organisation Future Worlds Center since May 2006, and is funded by the UNHCR Representation in Cyprus. The project gives us the responsibility to work towards strengthening the asylum system in the Republic of Cyprus, and assisting asylum seekers during the asylum procedure, as well as refugees, residing in Cyprus under international protection.

The team implementing the project consists of two Legal Advisors and one Social Advisor who offer individual consultation to the beneficiaries, and a Public Information Officer who seeks to raise awareness within the Cypriot community on refugee and asylum matters.  

 

 

The Unit for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture (URVT) is a project that aims to support and promote the empowerment and rehabilitation of torture victims and victims of trafficking who are asylum seekers or persons granted with international protection status in Cyprus and to assist them to integrate into the local society. To that end it takes a holistic approach, offering legal advice and social assistance directly to the persons of concern and their families, as well as referring them for medical and psychological care, . Its services are facilitated through a structure designed on the standards of the Istanbul Protocol - United Nations Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment - and its services are offered to the beneficiaries by specialised, experienced and well-trained personnel. In addition, URVT functions in association to a network of volunteer service providers, medical professionals, and interpreters.

URVT operates under the Humanitarian Affairs Unit of the Future Worlds Center. One of the most important beliefs of the Future Worlds Center is that by befriending and understanding people of different cultures, backgrounds, and experiences, the future world becomes a better place.

For more information visit the Future Worlds Center wiki website http://www.futureworlds.eu/wiki/Good_practice_%28Torture_Victims%29

* Psychological support for torture victims

We are collaborating with the Centre for Therapy Training and Research (KESY) in an effort to offer support to victims of torture. Our collaboration has been a reaction to the fact that at present there is no free psychological support provided by the state authorities to victims of torture. 

In the last years, several projects offering such services run by NGOs have been terminated and as a result many people who were receiving psychological support have been abruptly left without any support. 

KESY offers free psychological support to victims of torture referred by the Future Worlds Center team. Students completing the practicum of the Master’s in Clinical Psychology, who are in turn supervised by experienced professionals, are offering these services.  

* Fleeing Homophobia

Corina Drousiotou, our senior Legal Advisor, was the national representative of Cyprus for the research project carried out by the VU Amsterdam University and the Federation of Dutch Associations for the Integration of Homosexuality, COC Netherlands. The subject of the project was “Fleeing Homophobia. Seeking Safety in Europe. Best Practices on the Legal Position of LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex) Asylum Seekers in the EU Member States”.  

The project was funded by the European Refugee Fund and the Dutch Ministry of Justice. In order to gather all the necessary information, 26 asylum law experts wrote a report on the situation of LGBTI asylum seekers in their own country. Within the scope of the project, a final conference was organised in the Netherlands, as well as seven regional-national meetings in Sweden, Finland, Poland, Italy, Austria, France, Malta, and Cyprus. 

The Future Worlds Center, being the national representative for Cyprus on the project, organised a national seminar-training on LGBTI asylum seekers in Cyprus, in collaboration with UNHCR Cyprus, which was attended by eligibility officers of both the status determining authorities in Cyprus, the Asylum Service, and the Refugee Reviewing Authority.

 

The Future Worlds Center has been a partner in a European Refugee Fund Community Actions project, for the promotion and dissemination of good practice in addressing specific needs of vulnerable groups – especially victims of torture and human rights violations.

The project was based on a transnational in-depth study and evaluation of working and treatment methods, and it run under the German Association of Psychological Centers for Refugees and Victims of Torture (BAFF). The project was funded by the European Commission’s European Refugee Fund Community Actions 2009.

* Empowering Women Refugees and Asylum Seekers: Workshops on Sexual Health and Contraceptive Methods June 2012

To celebrate World Refugee Day, the Future Worlds Center team working on the project "Strengthening Asylum in Cyprus" in collaboration with the Cyprus Family Planning Association, organised two interactive workshops on sexual health and contraceptive methods. The workshops was primarily for the benefit of women asylum seekers and refugees. The first workshop was interpreted from English to French, and the second one from English to Arabic.During the workshops, participants were given grounding information on sexual health and contraceptive methods by experienced trainers of the Cyprus Family Planning Association, and had the opportunity to raise questions in a friendly and confidential environment.

 

You can find most of the legal updates in our legal portal by following us on our blog at http://strengtheningasylum.wordpress.com/

* [https://twitter.com/#!/StrengthAsylum Strengthening Asylum on twitter]