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Petition against the RSD (Refugee Status Determination) Process On July 10th, The "Hotline for Migrant Workers" together with the "Refugee Rights Program" at TA University petitioned the Jerusalem Regional Court against the Refugee Advisory Committee, demanding to receive the committee's protocols and other documents relevant to the petitioner's case. In addition, the organizations ask the court to instruct the committee to expose the files to all asylum seekers whose requests are rejected, and to allow NGOs representing them the possibility to represent them during the hearings of the committee. The petition was served in the name of an asylum seeker from Ukraine who is a trafficking victim. The petitioner testified against her trafickers and was later threatened by the traffickers. Her family in Ukraine also received threats. Despite the fact that the Israeli UNHCR office recommended to grant the woman refugee status, the Refugee Advisory Committee decided to reject her asylum application, based on an opinion from the Israeli police according to which, the petitioner could return safely to her country. The petitioner was closely accompanied for the last several years by Adv. Uri Sade and Adv. Adi Vilinger from the "Hotline for Migrant Workers". However, the Advisory Committee failed to inform the petitioner's lawyers that it had received new information from the police or the content of this information. The petitioner was ordered to leave the country or appeal the decision within 30 days. In the petition, Adv. Yonatan Berman and Adv. Anat Ben Dor challenge the fairness of the refugee status determination(RSD) procedure in Israel in general, claiming that this specific case reflects the general work of the Advisory Committee, conducting secret hearings, without revealing its protocols and the material upon which the decisions are made. The RSD procedure as revealed in the petition, do not comply with the administrative law standards or with International law standards. Such decisions involve high stakes, if an erronous decision is made, the applicant may be sent to a life threatning situation, this reenforces the need to conduct fair and transparant asylum procedures. The petition was written with the assistance of the students Tamar Haramati and Dafna Tenenbaum from the Refugee Rights Program.
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