Today’s Face to Face Meeting in Cairo concludes a Blended Learning Course on Country of Origin Information commissioned by UNHCR.

A new featured topic on the political and administrative status of the Abyei Area, disputed between Sudan & South Sudan, is available, and the featured topic on Nigeria has been updated. Additionally, a new 155 pages COI report on Myanmar has been published by ACCORD.

The report “Human rights issues concerning Kurds in Syria” is the product of a joint fact finding mission by the Danish Immigration Service (DIS) and ACCORD/Austrian Red Cross to Damascus/Syria, Beirut/Lebanon, and Erbil and Dohuk in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in January/February 2010.

In a four week e-learning phase with a subsequent face-to-face meeting participants will acquire extensive knowledge and practical skills in the field of Country of Origin Information Research. The next Blended Learning Course by the COI Training Network will be held in May / June 2010.

ACCORD released a revised edition of the report on Clans in Somalia based on a COI Workshop held by Dr. Joakim Gundel in May 2009.

With the Italian version of the COI Training Manual, translated by the Consiglio Italiano Rifugiati (CIR), the manual is now available in seven languages.

[continuing in German language] Der Bericht setzt sich mit Fragestellungen rund um Meinungs- und Redefreiheit, sowie Presse- und Versammlungsfreiheit in kurdischen Belangen auseinander, beleuchtet die Situation pro-kurdischer Parteien und gibt einen Überblick über die Situation von Kurden beim Wehrdienst, Ungleichbehandlungen von KurdInnen in Haft und vor Gericht, sowie über Gewalt gegen kurdische Frauen.

[continuing in German lanugage only] Basierend auf einem Vortrag der türkischen Rechtsanwältin Suna Coskun vom 26. September 2008 in Wien setzt sich ein neuer Bericht von ACCORD mit Fragen rund um das Thema Wehrdienstverweigerung und Wehrpflicht auseinander.

The Austrian Centre for Country of Origin & Asylum Research and Documentation, the department of the Austrian Red Cross running ecoi.net, was founded 10 years ago. It has since provided independently, neutrally and objectively researched information on countries of origin of asylum seekers to all parties involved in refugee status determination procedures.