United Nations Honours Advocate for Detained Refugees

International Coalition on the Detention of Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants

IDC calls on governments to listen and learn from Nansen Award Winner

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) announced today that IDC member, Dr. Katrine Camilleri, is the recipient of the 2007 UN Nansen Award for her commitment and courage in defending the human rights of refugees. Dr. Camilleri is a lawyer and the assistant country director for the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Malta. The award was given in recognition of her work on behalf of refugees in the southern European island of Malta. The Nansen Award is given annually to individuals or organizations that have distinguished themselves in work on behalf of refugees.

“I hope that this award serves to draw attention to the suffering that detention causes to thousands of innocent people in Malta and elsewhere and that it opens up a discussion on looking for alternatives that respect the dignity and rights of these people. Through my work with JRS colleagues world-wide and with groups such as the International Detention Coalition, I hope to use the publicity generated from this award to highlight the problems facing detainees and the people that advocate on their behalf.”

One of the biggest obstacles advocates face is access to detention and to obtaining credible information on detention from governments. Most governments fail to provide public statistics and information relating to refugees who are detained in their territory. Additionally, access to detention centres is difficult. Where advocates complain of conditions in detention, they run the risk of being excluded from the centres.

“With the Nansen Award being awarded to an advocate for detainees, the International Detention Coalition hopes that it will act to encourage governments to be more open in both granting access to lawyers, social workers, family and friends of detainees to attend to the needs of those in detention and to provide public statistical and demographic information on this vulnerable population,” said International Detention Coalition Coordinator, Anna Gallagher.

The Nansen Refugee Award, created in 1954, is named after Fridtjof Nansen, the celebrated Norwegian explorer and the world's first international refugee official. Previous recipients include Eleanor Roosevelt and Médecins sans Frontières. The award will be officially presented at a ceremony in Geneva on 1 October at the annual gathering of UNHCR's governing Executive Committee.

Notes to the editor
The IDC is a coalition of over 100 non-governmental groups and individuals working in over 50 countries around the world which have come together to raise awareness of governments’ detention policies and to promote greater respect for the human rights of detainees.

The IDC advocates limiting the use of, seeking alternatives to, and using the least restrictive forms of, immigration detention.

The steering committee of the IDC brings together a number of leading international NGOs which share concerns about the treatment of immigration detainees, such as Amnesty International, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch, Jesuit Refugee Service, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, World Council of Churches, and a number of national NGOs.

For further information about the International Detention Coalition, visit their website at: www.idcoalition.org

Contact: Coordinator, Anna Marie Gallagher, anna@comunicacionglobal.com
Tel: 34 947 530 128