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Omid's President and Co-Founder, Nancy Hormachea Recipient of 2012 Carol King Award We are happy to announce that Nancy Hormchea is this year's winner of the Carol King award. Nancy Hormachea a devoted member of the National Immigration Project/NLG and the National Lawyers Guild. Her work, both legal and community-based, with progressive Iranian immigrants began when she defended anti-Shah Iranian student activists in Texas (Matter of Taerghodsi, 16 I&N Dec. 260 (BIA 1977); Adibi-Sadeh v. Bee County College, 454 F.Supp. 552 (S.D. Tex. 1978); Tashnizi v. INS, 585 F.2d 781 (5th Cir. 1978); Mashi v. INS, 585 F.2d 1309 (5th Cir. 1978)). Her support for the progressive movement in Iran included traveling to Iran in the late 70s to participate in delegations to visit with representatives of civil society organizations and the families of political prisoners. Nancy's work with the progressive Iranian community has continued through the present with her current activity as the founder of the non-profit Omid Advocates for human Rights, an organization that promotes the legal and civil rights of Middle Eastern communities in the U.S. and the Diaspora. She was a presenter at the Justice Not War international conference in Rome in 2003, and a member of the Coalition for Iranian Refugees, organized to send a delegation of international lawyers, physicians and academics to visit Turkey to bring awareness to the plight of recent Iranian refugees and to organize national efforts to expedite their resettlement. Nancy has also led or participated in delegations organized by the International Association of Democratic Lawyers and NLG to visit Palestinian refugees and political prisoners, and documented the fact-finding trips with reports, videos and presentations before the UN, European Parliament and Arab League. Most recently, Nancy's pro bono work on behalf of progressive Iranian refugees fleeing the current Iranian regime has led her to organize and participate in the Court Hearings of the Iran Tribunal in London in June 2012 and travel to Turkey to prepare Iranian refugees for UNHCR interviews. In addition, Nancy has also been active in the Bay Area immigrant rights movement and was a founder of San Francisco Immigrant Legal Education Network and an active member of the Bay Area National Immigration Project from 1984 through the 1990's. Through her work in the Bay Area National Immigration Project, she mentored law students and young lawyers who participated in the Bond Project to assistant immigrants obtain release from custody. Nancy also worked on behalf of Central American asylum applicants during the 1980s and 1990s. She participated in a delegation with the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights in 2006 that reported on human rights abuses on the US/Mexico border. Nancy is a modest but life-long contributor to the struggle to defend and expand immigrants' rights. She has worked for more than 30 years as a pro-bono lawyer, without fanfare or economic benefit, and has mentored and encouraged generations of immigration lawyers who have remained her friends and colleagues. Proposed Refugee Admissions For the Fiscal Year 2012-Submitted to the Congress
Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkul Karman will be visiting the Bay Area and give a talk on social justice, the importance of youth, and being revolutionary within our own communities here in the States.
Event is free and open to the public. Living the Revolution: Tawakul KarmanSaturday, June 9, 2012 6:00 PM to 8:00 PMUC Berkeley School of Law / Boalt HallROOM 1052778 Bancroft Way Berkeley, CA 94704 Enter through South and North Entrance. Program will be in Arabic with English translation/interpretation. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2011/karman.html Monday May 21st Is Immigrant Day-Join Us to Raise Awareness"Each year in May, immigrant communities from around California visit their legislators in Sacramento to raise awareness about issues that are important to our communities in California. On Monday, May 21, 2012, Omid Advocates will join these communities in Sacramento and invites you to join us as well.
Please contact CIPC to register." Join Omid Advocates in Supporting the TRUST Act &
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"Writing this letter is the only way I could thank Omid Advocates and convey my gratitude. From the very early days of my petition for asylum, I had only Omid Advocates to rely on. Omid Advocates supported me without any compensation and stood by me as we faced the hard times of my life together during these past two years. Sometimes a single email can be so warmly encouraging that nothing else can be compared to it..." Press Release: Omid Advocates for Human Rights Fact-Finding Team to Visit TurkeyDate: April 2012
Contact: Darya Nasim, omidadvocates@gmail.com Since the 2009 elections in Iran, Turkey has received a significant and continued influx of refugees from Iran who have been seeking safety for themselves and their families. Many of these refugees experience a plethora of difficulties upon arrival in Turkey and often need medical aid, treatment for psychological trauma, housing assistance, and legal assistance. In 2010, Omid Advocates for Human Rights (Omid) conducted field research on the situation of Iranian refugees in Turkey, producing a widely distributed and published report available here. After its first fact-finding mission to Turkey, Omid staff and board members remained committed to continued dialogue and collaborative efforts with these contacts and partners. In April-May of 2012, a team of Omid staff and board members travels to Istanbul, Ankara, and Neveshir to follow up on the situation of Iranian refugees in Turkey. The group will meet with partner institutions and interview (among others) U.S. and foreign government officials, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC), Turkish immigration attorneys, medical professionals, advocates, and Iranian refugees. The purpose of these meetings will be to inform these agencies about Omid’s work with the refugees in Turkey, build deeper relationships with partner agencies, obtain data and resources on work already in existence for the refugees, and to collect information from the agencies and clients to better be able to serve these Iranian refugees through direct representation and policy advocacy. Ultimately, Omid’s field research will provide insight to the challenges refugees face and allow refugee rights advocates to better work on behalf of these refugees. For more information, please contact Darya Nasim @ omidadvocates@gmail.com THE PROCESS OF BECOMING A REFUGEE, AN INFORMATIVE GUIDE. NOW AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD IN ENGLISH AND PERSIAN
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The Rate of New Arrivals Increased in 2011According to UNHCR, in 2010, the rate of new arrivals in Turkey alone (where we receive the most number of requests)“increased substantially” from 7840 in 2009 to 9,230. In 2011, an overall increase of 60 percent in new arrivals was observed. UNHCR estimates that there could be over 22,000 people of concern in Turkey in 2012. (http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e48eOfa7f.html)
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