Focus on Immigration Detention

The theme of the first report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants will be immigration detention; it is scheduled for presentation to the Human Rights Council in June 2012. Below are examples from some of the organizations that responded to the call:

• Immigration Detention Submission to the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants (International Detention Coalition, Feb. 2012) [text]
• Report to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants: Detention of Migrants in the United States (Advocates for Human Rights & the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Jan. 2012) [text]
• Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants: Immigration Detention in the UK (Detention Action UK, Jan. 2012) [text]
• Submission to the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants on the Situation of Immigration Detention in South Africa (Lawyers for Human Rights, Jan. 2012) [text]

Other detention-related items:

Broken System: A Look at U.S. Immigration Detention (Human Rights First, Feb. 2012) [access]

- Podcast report.

"Immigration Detention: Some Issues of Inequality," The Equal Rights Review, vol. 7 (Aug. 2011) [full-text]

Immigration Detention in Australia (Parliamentary Library, Australia, Jan. 2012) [text]

"Measures of First Resort: Alternatives to Immigration Detention in Comparative Perspective,"The Equal Rights Review, vol. 7 (Aug. 2011) [full-text]

Upcoming events:

Campaign to End the Immigration Detention of Children, International Detention Coalition [info]

- Official launch in March 2012; show your support for the campaign by completing the endorsement form available via the link.

Detention of Immigrants: Enforcement, Non-compliance, and Punishment, Geneva, 8 March 2012 [info]

- Presentation by the author of Immigration Detention: Law, History, Politics (Cambridge Univ. Press, Dec. 2011).

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.

Focus on Humanitarian Assistance

The Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) recently issued a call for papers for "Humanitarianism: Past, Present and Future?," a conference that will be held in Manchester, UK, 8 -10 November 2012. The deadline for submissions is 20 April 2012. Here's the blurb:

While the field of humanitarian studies is growing rapidly, it remains unclear if and in what way the research offered by historians and social scientists enters into the reflections of practitioners and policy makers. This three-day conference will explore the past, present, and future of humanitarianism, emphasising links between scholars and practitioners in order to forge better understanding of the humanitarian field. It will provide a platform for mutual reflection by showcasing recent historical and social science scholarship, while also involving practitioners as respondents to such work, so as to better inform both contemporary scholarship and the practice of humanitarian intervention.

Recent publications that relate to humanitarian assistance include:

Combating "Compassion Fatigue" and Other Reporting Challenges (WorldBridge Blog, Feb. 2012) [text]

Crises in a New World Order: Challenging the Humanitarian Project (Oxfam, Feb. 2012) [text via ReliefWeb] [other languages]

Disaster Risk Management for Insecure Contexts (Action Contre la Faim, Oct. 2011) [text via ReliefWeb]

Engaging Humanitarian Actors in Geneva (Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement, Feb. 2012) [text]

Humanitarian and Development Assistance: Project Evaluations and Better Information Sharing Needed to Manage the Military’s Efforts (U.S. Government Accountability Office, Feb. 2012) [text]

Making Gender Matter in Humanitarian Operations: A Review of Selected UN Organisations' Awareness and Practical Implementation of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee’s Gender Handbook in Humanitarian Action (Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, Jan. 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

- Reviews UNHCR, WFP, Unicef, and OCHA.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.

Cessation Update: Angolans, Liberians, Rwandans

Implementation of the Comprehensive Strategy for the Angolan Refugee Situation, including UNHCR's Recommendations on the Applicability of the "Ceased Circumstances" Cessation Clauses (UNHCR, Jan. 2012) [text]
- "UNHCR recommends that States continue to implement all aspects of the cessation of refugee status during the first half of 2012, including exemption procedures, for Angolan refugees who fled their country as a result of the war of independence and the civil war between 1961 and 2002, with refugee status to formally cease by 30 June 2012."

Implementation of the Comprehensive Strategy for the Liberian Refugee Situation, including UNHCR's Recommendations on the Applicability of the "Ceased Circumstances" Cessation Clauses (UNHCR, Jan. 2012) [text]

- "UNHCR recommends that States implement during the first half of 2012 all aspects of the cessation of refugee status, including exemption procedures, for Liberian refugees who fled their country as a result of the civil wars from 1989 to 2003, with refugee status to formally cease by 30 June 2012."

Implementation of the Comprehensive Strategy for the Rwandan Refugee Situation, including UNHCR’s recommendations on the Applicability of the "Ceased Circumstances" Cessation Clauses (UNHCR, Dec. 2011) [text]
- "UNHCR's recommendation to States, as regarding cessation, is that the process now commence to progressively implement throughout 2012 all aspects of cessation of refugee status (including exemption procedures) for Rwandan refugees who had fled Rwanda as at and including 1998, so as to enable their status definitively to cease, latest by 30 June 2013."

Related post:

- Cessation of Refugee Status in Africa (Sept. 2011)

Tagged Publications.

New Edition of the UNHCR Handbook

UNHCR's Division of International Protection has reissued the Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.

The main difference is that the title has changed: It is now called the Handbook and Guidelines on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status... . The text remains unchanged, but eight Guidelines on International Protection have been included; these "complement and update the Handbook and should be read in combination with it." In addition, the Annexes have been updated.

A little history from the Foreword: "The Handbook was first issued in September 1979 at the request of Member States of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme. A second edition was released in January 1992, which updated information concerning accessions to the international refugee instruments."

Tagged Publications.

Focus on the Media

ICAR has just released a new briefing on "Asylum Seekers, Refugees and the Media," which looks at "how refugees are reported in the English media."

Several other recent items have examined media representation of refugees and asylum seekers and its consequences:

Media Missing the Boat on Asylum-seeker Coverage (Crikey, Dec. 2011) [text]

"Negatively Shaping the Asylum Agenda? The Representational Strategy and Impact of a Tabloid News Campaign," Journalism, OnlineFirst, 10 Jan. 2012 [abstract]

Today Tonight: Refugees from Journalistic Decency (The Drum, Oct. 2011) [text]

World Migration Report 2011: Communicating Effectively about Migration (IOM, 2011) [text]

- See related comments: False Perceptions Underpin Anti-Migrant Sentiments; Misperceptions of Migration Fuel Tensions.

Tagged Publications.

Update on Human Trafficking

The Open Society Foundations recently announced their 2012 Fellows, one of which is Martina Vandenberg whose objective is to establish a "public law center called Civil Justice: The Human Trafficking Legal Resource Center":

The center will serve as a clearing house, bringing together highly-qualified pro bono attorneys with human trafficking survivors seeking legal assistance. The organization will advocate to increase the range of legal options offered to trafficking victims in the United States. By advocating with non-governmental organization leaders, training lawyers, and mentoring attorneys handling pro bono trafficking cases, Vandenberg hopes to increase trafficking victims' access to justice in the United States.

New publications on human trafficking include:

Child Trafficking in the Nordic Countries: Rethinking Strategies and National Responses (UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, Dec. 2011) [text]

"Recent Activities of the Council of Europe in the Field of Trafficking in Human Beings, and Initial Results of GRETA’s Country Evaluations," Interview with Petya Nestorova, Secretariat of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (Eurasylum, Feb. 2012) [text]

Report Concerning the Implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings by Georgia (Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, Feb. 2012) [text via Refworld]
- This is the first GRETA report of the new year; other country evaluations are available here.

Report by OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, following her visit to the UK, 7-10 March 2011 (OSCE, Jan. 2012) [text via Refworld]

- "The first of a series of country visit reports...initiated in order to establish a direct and constructive dialogue with participating States on anti-trafficking policy."

A Toolkit for Reporting to CEDAW on Trafficking in Women and Exploitation of Migrant Women Workers (GAATW, 2011) [text]

Vulnerabilities to Trafficking in Persons in the Pacific Islands (Australian Institute of Criminology, Nov. 2011) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Publications on Asylum Issues

"Asylum Law or Criminal Law: Blame, Deterrence and the Criminalisation of the Asylum Seeker," Jurisprudence, vol. 18, no. 4 (2011) [access]
- Scroll down to locate title.

Bill C-4: The Impact of Detention and Temporary Status on Asylum Seekers' Mental Health (CSSS de la Montagne & McGill University, Jan. 2012) [text]
- Brief for submission to the House of Commons Committee on Bill C-4, the Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada's Immigration System Act.

"Confounding Identities: The Paradox of LGBT Children Under Asylum Law," UC Davis Law Review, vol. 45, no. 2 (Dec. 2011) [full-text]

"The Refugee Qualification Problems in LGBT Asylum Cases," Jurisprudence, vol. 18, no. 4 (2011) [access]
- Scroll down to locate title.

UNHCR Comments on the European Commission’s Amended Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Common Procedures for Granting and Withdrawing International Protection Status (Recast), COM(2011) 319 final (UNHCR, Jan. 2012) [text]

- Here is the referenced "Amended Proposal."

Tagged Publications.

Displacement from Protected Areas

In an earlier post, I listed a newly published thesis entitled "A Critique of the Global Literature on the Conservation Refugee Problem" (Victoria University of Wellington, 2011). Here are a few other (relatively recent!) resources that provide a more general overview of this category of displaced persons:

Conservation & Society (two issues that focus on displacement),

- vol. 4, no. 2 (July-Sept. 2006) [open access]; see esp. "Eviction for Conservation: A Global Overview."

- vol. 7, no. 1 (Jan.-March 2009) [open access]; see esp. "Conservation and Displacement: An Overview."

Conservation Refugees: The Hundred-Year Conflict between Global Conservation and Native Peoples (MIT Press, 2009) [info]
- "Since 1900, more than 108,000 officially protected conservation areas have been established worldwide, largely at the urging of five international conservation organizations. About half of these areas were occupied or regularly used by indigenous peoples. Millions who had been living sustainably on their land for generations were displaced in the interests of conservation. In Conservation Refugees, Mark Dowie tells this story."

Mobile Peoples and Conservation: Crossing the Disciplinary Divide, Wadi Dana, Jordan, 3rd–7th April, 2002: Conference Report (RSC et al., 2002) [text]

- Note: The Dana Declaration on Mobile Peoples and Conservation was adopted at this meeting; see also related web site.

"Poverty Risks and National Parks: Policy Issues in Conservation and Resettlement," World Development, vol. 34, no. 10 (2006) [text]

"Population Displacement Inside Protected Areas: A Redefinition of Concepts in Conservation Policies," Policy Matters, no. 14 (March 2006) [text]

Protected Areas and Human Displacement: A Conservation Perspective (Wildlife Conservation Society, April 2007) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Integration, Resettlement Items

Asylee Eligibility for Resettlement Assistance: A Short Guide (CLINIC, Jan. 2012) [text]

Australia's Refugee and Humanitarian Program 2012-13: Community Views on Current Challenges and Future Directions (Refugee Council of Australia, Jan. 2012) [text]

"I just want to study": Access to Higher Education for Young Refugees and Asylum Seekers (Refugee Support Network, Jan. 2012) [text]

Operation Integration: The Making of New Citizens (Migrant and Refugee Communities Forum, Feb. 2012) [access]
- See also related videos.

Refugee Integration: Key Concerns and Areas for Further Research (Canadian Council for Refugees, Dec. 2011) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Publications relating to Assistance

A Catalyst and a Bridge: An Evaluation of UNHCR's Community Empowerment Projects in Sierra Leone, PDES/2012/01 (UNHCR, Jan. 2012) [text]

The Future of Aid? (humanitarian.info, Feb. 2012) [text]

HRI 2011 Field Research: Colombia, Somalia, Sudan (DARA, 2011) [info]
- Research carried out in preparation for the next Humanitarian Response Index (HRI).

IASC Evaluation of the Humanitarian Response in South Central Somalia 2005-2010 (DARA & IASC, Dec. 2011) [text via ReliefWeb]

Local to Global Protection in Myanmar (Burma), Sudan, South Sudan and Zimbabwe (Humanitarian Practice Network, Feb. 2012) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Asylum-related Items

Asylum and Migration Glossary 2.0 (European Migration Network, Jan. 2012) [access]

- Updated edition; online interactive version also available.

Asylum Seeking: Seeing the Positive (ICMHD Blog, Feb. 2012) [text]

Domestic Violence & Asylum: A Comparative Analysis Among Immigrant-Welcoming Countries (Birdsong's Law Blog, Feb. 2012) [text]

France: European Court of Human Rights Condemns Faulty Asylum Procedure (Human Rights Watch, Feb. 2012) [text]

- News story on I.M. v. France case.

The Trouble with TRIG (Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Jan. 2012) [text]

- TRIG = Terrorist-related Inadmissibility Grounds; see related Human Rights First post.

"Turkey’s New Draft Law on Asylum: What to Make of It?", chapter in Turkey, Migration and the EU: Potentials, Challenges and Opportunities (Hamburg University Press, Jan. 2012) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Focus on Iraqis, Palestinians

Publications:

Camp New Iraq (formerly Camp Ashraf) Residents and the Determination of their Refugee Status Claims (UNHCR, Feb. 2012) [text]

- See also related article.

The Challenges of Repatriation for Iraqi Refugees (Jurist, Jan. 2012) [text]

Implementing a Negotiated Settlement on the Palestinian Refugee Question: The International Dimensions, Middle East and North Africa Programme Paper MENA PP 2012/01 (Chatham House, Jan. 2012) [text]

IOM Emergency Needs Assessments - Update: Displacement of Christians to the North of Iraq (IOM, Jan. 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

The Middle East's "Invisible Refugees" (IRIN, Jan. 2012) [text]

Non-treatment of Asylum Applications of Iraqi Refugees: FOM Acted Unlawfully (humanrights.ch, Jan. 2012) [text]

Upcoming event:

Palestinian Refugees in the Arab World: Realities and Prospects, Doha, 24-25 March 2012 [info]
- Research seminar organized by the Al Jazeera Centre for Studies and the Palestinian Return Centre.

[Image credit: UNHCR]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.

New Issues of FRLAN News, IJMHSC, IRL News, JPR, WAN

Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter, no. 23 (Feb. 2012) [full-text]

- Note: With this issue, the newsletter has moved to an all-blog format.

International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 7, no. 3 (2011) [contents]
- Mix of articles.

International Refugee Law News (Jan. 2012) [full-text]
- Newsletter of the ABA International Refugee Law Committee.

Journal of Peace Research, vol. 49, no. 1 (Jan. 2012) [contents]
- Special issue on "Climate Change and Conflict."

Women's Asylum News, no. 107 (Dec. 2011/Jan. 2012) [full-text]

- Lead article is a presentation of Asylum Aid's latest research report, "'I feel like as a woman I’m not welcome': A gender analysis of UK asylum law, policy and practice."

Tagged Periodicals.

ETDs in Education, International Development, Law, Nursing, Philosophy, Political Science

Borders, Migration, Agency: Re-Imagining Global Non-Citizenship in Irregularity, Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies (McMaster University, Fall 2011) [text]

Conflict-Induced Displacement, Understanding the Causes of Flight, Dissertation submitted to the Department of Political Science (University of New Mexico, July 2011) [text]

Mind the Gap: Exposing the Protection Gaps in International Law for Environmentally Displaced Citizens of Small Island States, Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies (University of British Columbia, 2012) [text]

Minority Rights and Majority Interests: An Analysis of Development-Induced Displacement in the Narmada Valley, India, Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Social Sciences (University of Ottawa, Jan. 2012) [text]

Motherhood and Childbirth Experiences among Newcomer Women in Canada: A Critical Ethnographic Study, Dissertation submitted to the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (University of Western Ontario, 2011) [text]

Réfugiés Climatiques: Statut et Traitement, Mémoire présenté à la Faculté des études supérieures (Université de Montréal, Mai 2011) [text]

Regard sur le Projet Migratoire et d’Intégration et sur le Processus Identitaire de Jeunes Réfugiés au Québec, Mémoire présenté à la Faculté des sciences de l’éducation (Université de Montréal, Mars 2011) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Focus on IDPs

The Evolving Normative Context and IDPs: An Application of R2P? (e-International Relations, Jan. 2012) [text]

Internal Displacement in West Africa: A Snapshot (Brookings-LSE Project on International Displacement, Jan. 2012) [text]
- Note: Annex includes a "list of African Union Member States that have signed, ratified/acceded to the Kampala Convention."

Judicial Oversight and the End of Displacement in Colombia (TerraNullius Blog, Jan. 2012) [text]

The Kampala Convention and Internal Displacement, New York, Nov. 2011 [access]

- Follow the link for a video and summary of the event.

"Prevalence of Malaria and Treatment Seeking Behaviours among Pregnant Women in Postconflict Internally Displaced Persons' Camps in Gulu District," ISRN Public Health, vol. 12: Article ID 164935 (2012) [open access article]

Profilage des personnes déplacées internes (PDIs) dans la préfecture de Bamingui Bangoran, République centrafricaine (UNHCR et al., Oct. 2011) [text via ReliefWeb]

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Chaloka Beyani, UN Doc. No. A/HRC/19/54 (UN General Assembly, Dec. 2011) [text via ReliefWeb]

Yon Je Louvri: Reducing Vulnerability to Sexual Violence in Haiti’s IDP Camps (Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, Global Justice Clinic, Jan. 2012) [text]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.