ACCORD

Human rights are a crucial aspect in asylum procedures: Human rights violations force people to leave their countries of origin in order to find protection from persecution or war. But international human rights standards should also govern the way these people’s claims are dealt with in the receiving countries: a fair procedure requires access to information and knowledge about the situation in the countries of origin.
ACCORD provides independently, neutrally and objectively researched information on countries of origin of asylum seekers. The use of a comprehensive selection of sources ensures balanced and corroborated information. We continuously document human rights developments focusing on the criteria of the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention and other legal instruments providing international protection and is thus a focal point for asylum relevant and up-to-date material.

ACCORD uses public domain and publicly citable materials. Our most important sources include online databases of international and regional human rights organizations as well as the UN, the UNHCR RefWorld, international and local newspapers and magazines, collected in an internal electronic press archive, the libraries of academic institutions and country experts.

ACCORD offers responses to case related queries (research), www.ecoi.net and COI-training.

ACCORD is co-funded by the European Refugee Fund, the Austrian Ministry of the Interior, UNHCR and various non-governmental organizations working in the field of asylum.

Contact: accord@roteskreuz.at