30 November 2022
Ref 2223-0903
M Kang
[FYI request #21012 email] Tēnā koe
Thank you for writing to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) on 2 November
2022, to request information about MBIE’s Country Research Unit (CRU), for decision-making about
refugees, under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA).
In your request, you asked for the following document:
•
An organisational chart of CRU
You also asked the following questions:
•
How many officers and researchers are in the unit? What are their mandates?
•
What are the procedures to request Country of Origin Information (COI)?
•
What is the scope and usage allowed for COI? Is there any law or regulations about this matter?
•
Who can request COIs? Can external persons, such as researchers, access the database? How
long does it take to get the information?
•
Do you have a COI Database system? If yes, how does it work? Do you use a platform or
program?
•
What is the methodology for producing and verification of COI?
•
Do you have any training system for CRU? If yes, could you provide details about the training
system?
•
Does CRU have external cooperation?
Structure and composition of the Country Research Unit
Country of Origin information for specific decision making processes, such as Refugee Status
Determinations (RSDs), is supplied by the
Country Research and Open Source (CROS) unit, which is part
of the Intelligence unit, inside our Digital, Data and Insights Group. A chart showing this is provided
overleaf.
Within CROS there is a Protection research team who are responsible for supplying Country of Origin
(COI) information for RSDs. A second team, named the Multi-disciplinary Team, primarily work with
other customers in INZ and wider MBIE.
As at 16 November 2022, the structure and composition of the two research teams in CROS is as
follows:
Deputy Secretary, Digital Data and Insights
Greg Patchell
|
General Manager, Data, Insights and Intelligence
Jacqui Ellis
|
Head of Intelligence
Travis Benson
|
National Manager, Country Research and Open Source
|
|
Protection team
Multidisciplinary team
Manager, Country Research
Manager, Country Research
(1)
(1)
|
|
Principal Researcher (1)
Principal Researcher (1)
Researchers (7)
Researchers (7)
The COI unit was not established by legislation, but rather as an administrative function due to an
identified need to support Immigration decision-makers by providing an impartial and high-quality COI
service.
Procedures for requesting Country of Origin information, and Database
Requests to the COI unit for refugee decision-making come from either:
a) Refugee and Protection Officers within Immigration New Zealand’s Refugee Status Unit, or
b) Members of the Immigration and Protection Tribunal who are hearing Refugee stream appeals.
The Immigration Act outlines the information that Refugee and Protection Officers and Immigration and
Protection Tribunalmembers, administered by the Ministry of Justice, may seek to inform an RSD. CROS
researchers provide operational support for this decision-making function, as outlined below:
Refugee and Protection Officers:
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2009/0051/latest/DLM1440814.html
The Immigration and Protection Tribunal:
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2009/0051/latest/DLM2390002.html
Additionally, COI in of itself is not a type of regulated information, although its distribution is strictly
controlled. The Immigration Act 2009 gives powers to decision makers to seek any type of information
they need to help determine their decision, more information can be found using the links above.
Information requests from RSD decision-makers to COI unit researchers are managed through the CROS
research request database. Due to the controls around COI information, we aren’t able to provide you
with information about the platform that CROS uses, and I am withholding information about our
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database under section 6(c) of the OIA, to avoid prejudice to the maintenance of the law, including the
detection and prevention of offences.
The research database itself is only accessible to CROS staff. However, we provide a generalised table of
sources and information on COI which you can find at the following address:
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/documents/statistics/guidetocoisourcesonline.pdf.
Requests are submitted via an online template, located on MBIE’s internal intranet pages. The database
automatically loads all the information provided by the decision-maker into a pre-populated template,
to which the researcher then inputs the research response. When the response is complete, the
template is emailed to the decision-maker as an attachment, using appropriate security classifications,
as part of their decision-making process. You can read more about these classifications at the following
address:
https://protectivesecurity.govt.nz/classification-system/overview/classifications/.
CROS treats information consistently with the confidentiality obligations attached to refugee and
protection claims under section 151 of the Immigration Act 2009.
Since 2021, the standard timeframe to respond to a request is eight working days. Given the variety of
situations where decision makers may request urgent information, we can accommodate same-day
requests and deadlines may be flexible, dependent on the situations of individual applicants.
Methodology MBIE’s methodology for production and verification of COI is influenced by the Austrian Red Cross and
the Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD).
ACCORD produces a guide for COI practitioners and forms a best practice standard and an international
benchmark for Nations who produce COI. It is our understanding that ACCORD is currently revising the
training manual, and that this will be made publicly available, as with the current edition.
The ACCORD guide is endorsed by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The most recent
guide was published in 2013 and can be found at:
https://www.coi-training.net/site/assets/files/1021/researching-country-of-origin-information-2013-
edition-accord-coi-training-manual.pdf
Training for COI unit researchers
MBIE’s expectation is that new staff will have considerable knowledge and experience of research prior
to their appointment. Researchers appointed to roles in CROS typically have postgraduate qualifications
and a minimum of three years’ experience in research work.
For your reference, the most recent position description for a CROS Researcher role can be found here:
https://www.mbie.govt.nz/position-descriptions/data-insights-and-intelligence/researcher
Researchers new to the unit are taken through an in-house induction programme, which includes
various training modules and sessions, on a variety of topics relevant to the role, which can include:
• introductions to some of MBIE’s key sources, including COI portals and in house subscriptions
• tools such as the catalogue of CROS resources
• training on using the in-house research database and workflow system
• introductions to key customer groups, including the Refugee Status Unit (RSU) and Immigration
and Protection Tribunal (IPT). An officer from the RSU provides an overview of refugee law
during the induction period.
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Researchers also complete external online training: on UNHCR’s & ACCORD's online course on the role
and quality standards of COI, which you can read at
https://www.coi-training.net/training/e-learning/.
Please note, this site requires registration, but is free to access.
Beyond the initial few weeks of induction, new Researchers are closely supported by their managers,
and more experienced staff (Principal Researchers, for example).
After the induction, CROS has a system of peer review and quality assurance processes across all
Researchers. There is a strong emphasis on collaboration and knowledge-sharing within the team.
International cooperation
In general, CROS does not directly contact international organisations or academic institutions when
undertaking COI research for refugee decision-making. Information supplied in research responses is
published by third parties. This means it is not obtained by CROS conducting interviews with experts or
by directly contacting academic institutions.
The main external contact for COI in refugee decision-making is the Inter-Governmental Consultations
on Migration, Asylum and Refugees (IGC). New Zealand is a participating state in the IGC, and the CROS
National Manager and selected research staff attend events organised by the IGC, including COI
Working Group meetings (sometimes in person, sometimes via remote online attendance), as well as
country seminars and other sessions.
You can read more about the IGC’s work online
at https://www.iom.int/.
Thank you again for your request. Under section 28(3) of the OIA, you have the right to refer my
response to an Ombudsman for review. You can find more information about this by emailing
[email address] or by calling 0800 802 602.
Nāku noa, nā
Jacqui Ellis
General Manager, Data, Insights and Intelligence
Digital, Data and Insights
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