02/24 JS
Resources for students in the Rutgers-Newark Immigrant Rights Clinic.
DATABASES
AccessUN (RU only) http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/indexes/accessun
“AccessUN provides indexing for United Nations documents and publications as far back as 1966, with links to some full text documents. Issues addressed include peace and security, world hunger, human rights, economic development, the environment, and atomic energy.”
Center for Gender and Refugee Studies http://cgrs.uchastings.edu/
Includes searchable database of asylum case outcomes which can be filtered by type of persecution, country, and decision level/outcome.
CIA World Factbook https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/
Provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 266 world entities.
EOIR Virtual Law Library http://www.justice.gov/eoir/virtual-law-library
Includes AG/BIA Decisions with indexes and charts to precedent decisions, has page of country conditions research among other resources.
European Country of Origin Network http://www.ecoi.net/
“The portal enables users to search through the full text of more than 200.000 documents from a variety of sources….ecoi.net covers more than 150 sources on a regular basis. ecoi.net preferably uses reliable information sources or sources with a high reputation, such as the United Nations, international non-governmental organisations, news and media services or government departments dealing with asylum and refugee issues. However, ecoi.net will also include less prestigious sources if they offer an added information value.”
Foreign Law Online (RU only) http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/
"Provides Citations and sources (including English translations when possible) for many jurisdictions. Arranged by country. See subject section under each country for major laws."
Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Responses to Information Requests Database http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/Eng/ResRec/RirRdi/Pages/index.aspx “Responses to Information Requests (RIR) respond to focused Requests for Information that are submitted to the Research Directorate in the course of the refugee protection determination process. The database contains a seven-year archive of English and French RIRs. Earlier RIRs may be found on the UNHCR's Refworld website.”
National Documentation Packages Database http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/Eng/ResRec/NdpCnd/Pages/ndpcnd.aspx “The National Documentation Packages (NDPs) contain a selection of documents on issues that are relevant to the determination of refugee protection claims. They are regularly reviewed and updated according to the information needs of the Refugee Protection Division (RPD).”
Library of Congress - Nations https://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations.php
Provides links to the constitution and governemntal branches of each nation, some translated.
Refworld http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?docid
“Collection of country of origin information, carefully selected from UNHCR, international, governmental and non-governmental sources. This section includes UNHCR country reports, and a wide range of documents from other sources, such as country profiles and assessments, research papers, query responses, and human rights reports.” Also includes legal information.
COUNTRY REPORTS
Many organizations produce reports on country conditions. The following is not intended to be exhaustive but rather a list of suggestions for starting your research. To find additional non-governmental organizations you may wish to consult Duke University’s NGO database at https://guides.library.duke.edu/ngo_guide
African Commission on Human and People’s Rights State Reports https://www.achpr.org/statereportsandconcludingobservations
Asylos https://www.asylos.eu
Freedom House Reports http://www.freedomhouse.org/reports#.U_Or5KOhpa8
Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/publications
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights http://www.cidh.oas.org/pais.eng.htm
LGBT-Rights - Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/topic/lgbt-rights
Refugees International https://www.refugeesinternational.org/reports-overview
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights http://www.refworld.org/
U.S. Department of State
Human Rights Reports http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/
Trafficking in Persons Reports https://www.state.gov/trafficking-in-persons-report/
Women’s Refugee Commission http://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/resources
NEWS
Academic Search Premier (RU only) http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/indexes/asp
“A multi-disciplinary database designed specifically for academic institutions….[Content includes] scholarly journals, magazines, several major newspapers, and a limited number of books, conference proceedings, and government publications.”
Access World News (RU only) http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/indexes/access_world_news
“Full-text content of over 2,200 North American newspapers and more than 1,200 international newspapers, plus 300 wire services and over 200 broadcast news transcripts.”
Alternative Press Index (RU only) http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/indexes/apn
“Bibliographic coverage, with some full text, of more than 300 international journals, magazines, and newspapers offering an alternative, radical, or left perspective.”
Ethnic NewsWatch (RU only) http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/indexes/ethnic_newswatch
“An interdisciplinary, bilingual (English and Spanish) full text database of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press….A total of over one million articles (with about 250,000 of them in Spanish) from more than 250 publications. Coverage begins in 1990.”
Factiva (RU only) http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/indexes/factiva “full text of 14,000 leading business newspapers, magazines, trade journals, newsletters, and television and radio transcripts.”
NOTE: Lexis and Westlaw also contain news databases. To search news in Westlaw Next, click the link for “News” under the “Browse All Content” tab. In Lexis Advance, click on the “All Content Types Tab”, click the box marked News, then click ok.
Immigration Court Practice Manual - A practice manual for the parties who appear before the Immigration Courts. This document is considered “best practices” nationwide. https://www.justice.gov/eoir/eoir-policy-manual/part-ii-ocij-practice-manual
BIA Practice Manual - This manual describes procedures, requirements, and recommendations for practice before the Board of Immigration Appeals. https://www.justice.gov/eoir/eoir-policy-manual/iii
DHS.GOV Department of Homeland Security Website includes their reports and FOIA requests for various agencies and centers. https://www.dhs.gov/
ICE.GOV Detainee Death Reporting - Reported detainee deaths within ICE custody. https://www.ice.gov/detain/detainee-death-reporting
ICE.GOV Facility Inspection- ICE Inspection reports https://www.ice.gov/detain/facility-inspections
ICE.GOV Prison Rape Elimination Act Audits- https://www.ice.gov/detain/prea
Detention Watch Network- Nonprofit addressing detention issues. Includes Detention oversight page that outlines the standards for the inspections process and the history. Includes links to DHS Inspector General reports. https://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/issues/detention-oversight
Physicians for Human Rights - Report on Solitary Confinement - https://phr.org/our-work/resources/endless-nightmare-solitary-confinement-in-us-immigration-detention/#_ftn75
Loyola's US Immigration Law Research Guide - https://guides.library.lls.edu/c.php?g=497692&p=3407048
CALS Asylum Case Research Guide https://guides.ll.georgetown.edu/CALSAsylumLawResearchGuide
LLRX Update to Guide to Country Research for Refugee Status Determination http://www.llrx.com/2002/03/features-update-to-guide-to-country-research-for-refugee-status-determination/#more-1738