Useful sources and links

Non-gouvernmental sources

• Vluchtweb: Vluchtweb is the online information tool of Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland (Dutch Refugee Council). Here you can find information about asylum, stay, origin and return. Access to Vluchtweb is subscription-based.
• Amnesty International (AI) www.amnesty.org
• Human Rights Watch (HRW) www.hrw.org
• International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) www.fidh.org
• Freedom House www.freedomhouse.org
• International Helsinki Federation (IHF) www.ihf-hr.org
• Norwegian Refugee Council: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre www.internal-displacement.org  
• World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) www.omct.org
• International Crisis Group (ICG) www.icg.org
• Database of the CRI-B project of Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen (Flemish Refugee Action): here you can find questions and answers the CRI-helpdesk received. link database
• CRI Country Sheets: de country sheets of the former CRI project, updated untill 2009
• Caritas Country Sheets: updated country sheets which soon will be translated in the local languages   www.reintegrationcaritas.be/nl/publications/country-sheets.html
• European Country of Origin Information Network; coordinated by ACCORD (Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation). Actual and publicly accessible information with focus on information useful for asylum requests and other protection statuses; reports of NGOs, governmental sources and international organizations, news reports, maps, laws,… Most documents are in English. Ecoi.net
• Schweizerische Flüchtlingshilfe, www.fluechtlingshilfe.ch

Governmental Sources

• Voluntary return: Fedasil website, the federal agency for the reception of asylum seekers and also qualified for the voluntary return from Belgium www.voluntaryreturn.be
• Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) www.osce.org
• UN:
  • UNHCR Refworld: very extensive collection of country information www.refworld.org
  • UN Secretary-General www.un.org/sg
  • Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) ochaonline.un.org 
  • UNAIDS www.unaids.org
  • World Health Organization www.who.int/en
• US Committee for Refugees (USCR) www.refugees.org
• US State Department www.state.gov
• Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada (IRB) www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/eng/pages/index.aspx
• Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs: in “ambtsberichten” one can find a lot of country information  www.minbuza.nl (only in Dutch)
• UK Home Office www.homeoffice.gov.uk
• US Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services Resource Information Center www.uscis.gov
• International Organisation for Migration www.iom.int or www.belgium.iom.int and at avrr.belgium.iom.int/en/home.html one can find detailed information on supported voluntary return
• IRRICO country sheets: country sheets with extensive information on the health care system, education, social security, protection of vulnerable groups,… of several countries. For each country, there is also a contact list of relevant organizations and services. irrico.belgium.iom.int

Media

• IRIN www.irinnews.org
• Institute for War and Peace Reporting www.iwpr.net
• National en international press
• The specialised database of Factiva: the database collect a wide range of news and information from about 157 countries and in several languages. The access to the database is exclusively subscription-based.