Information on penalties for deserting from a merchant ship and remaining abroad (update to CUB14261 and CUB14544) [CUB17933.E]

Although information specific to persons who defect from merchant ships while abroad could not be found among the sources currently available to the DIRB, the two attached Responses add to the information provided in the above-mentioned Responses and might be of interest. These Responses deal with illegal exit and related issues, and possible reprisals for dissident or counterrevolutionary activity while abroad.

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Attachments

Documentation, Information and Research Branch, Immigration and Refugee Board, Ottawa. 10 May 1994. Response to Information Request CUB17171.E.

. 3 May 1994. Respone to Information Request CUB17241.E.

Sources consulted

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Yearly. U.S. Department of State. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Critique: Review of the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Yearly. New York: Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.

Human Rights Watch. Yearly. Human Rights Watch World Report. New York: Human Rights Watch.

Amnesty International. Yearly. Amnesty International Report. New York: Amnesty International.

Immigration and Nationality: Law and Practice [London]. Quarterly. Tolley Publishing Company.

Index on Censorship [London]. Monthly. Writers and Scholars International Ltd.

News from Americas Watch [New York]. Monthly.

Latin America Press [Lima]. Weekly.

Latin American Weekly Report [London]. Weekly.

Latin American Regional Reports: Central America & the Caribbean [London]. Monthly.

NACLA Report on the Americas. Monthly.

Problèmes d'Amérique latine. Quarterly.

Material from the Indexed Media Review (IMR) or country files containing articles and reports from diverse sources (primarily dailies and periodicals) from the Weekly Media Review.

Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) reports. Daily.

Newspapers and periodicals pertaining to the appropriate region.

On-line searches of news articles.

Radio Martí, Research Section. Washington, DC.

Human Rights Watch/Americas. Washington, DC.

Cuban Committee for Human Rights. Miami, Fla.
Note on contacting foreign diplomatic representatives in Canada:
Embassies and high commissions are not usually called for security-related questions such as location of military bases or the functioning of secret services. Ability to obtain information from diplomatic representatives depends on availability of information and cooperation from individual countries.
Note on oral sources:
Oral sources are usually contacted when documentary sources have been exhausted. However, oral sources must agree to be quoted in a publicly available Response to Information Request. If they refuse, the Response will read "no information currently available." Contacting oral sources is also subject to time constraints; for example, there are periods of the year when academics are unavailable.

Note:

This list is not exhaustive. Country-specific books available in the Resource Centre are not included.