On 7 June 2017, the Nuremberg Academy together with the City of Nuremberg, presented the International Justice Guidelines to social welfare workers. Nuremberg has been selected as a pilot city for these guidelines, which seek to provide assistance to those working with refugees to understand the inevitable link between their work and international criminal justice.
The launch, which took place at a biannual meeting of approximately 60 social-welfare workers in Nuremberg, began with Ms. Farah Mahmood from the Academy speaking about the conceptualization of the initiative and the process which led to the creation of the guidelines. With the help of experts in international criminal law and refugee law in Germany, together with field research conducted in Nuremberg with social-welfare staff, the guidelines inform on how to recognize and preserve information provided by refugees/asylum seekers and how to channel such information to the correct authorities, while protecting themselves and those they work with. As such, they unify current referral lines and seek to promote accountability for core international crimes.
Mr. Helmut Herz, from the City of Nuremberg’s Office for Social Integration, spoke on how the guidelines complement the daily work of those present in their practical use, are focused on present gaps in knowledge and also manage expectations with regards to their objective. In September 2017, the Nuremberg Academy will host a side event to the International Human Rights Award ceremony in Nuremberg, where it will present the results of, and insights into, this first practical phase of the guidelines.
Online access to these guidelines will be available shortly on the Nuremberg Academy’s website.
An article on the website of the German weekly newspaper DIE ZEIT has been dedicated to the International Justice Guidelines for Refugee Agencies in Europe. To read the article (in German) click here (external link).
