30 September 2013

New Book Titles

FYI, please check out my Pinterest page for new books due out in October 2013. I've also added information about new titles to the book boards for Legal Texts, Sept. 2013 and Aug. 2013.

I have been using Pinterest for a year now to highlight published works in my Forced Migration Library.  I hope it's proving a useful resource for you!

Tagged Publications. 

64th Session of EXCOM

The 64th session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner's Programme (EXCOM) began this morning in Geneva and will continue through the end of the week.  As I noted in yesterday's post, the first day of meetings is devoted to the Syrian refugee crisis and how best to support host countries.  Discussions will close after the Tuesday morning session; general debate will open in the afternoon.

Here is the provisional agenda with annotations and the estimated schedule.  For the first time, portions of the meeting will be livestreamed.

Side events taking place this year include:
- Protection of Syrian Refugee Children
- The High Commissioner’s Global Initiative on Solutions for Somali Refugees
- The Nansen Initiative: Results Achieved and Activities Ahead
- Implementation of the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees: Achievements and Challenges
- Thinking Outside the Camp: Urban Profiling and Assessment
- Assessing Credibility in Asylum Procedures

In addition, the Nansen Refugee Award ceremony will be held this evening, with the honors going to Sister Angélique Namaika.  (See also this profile.)

Plenary session documents are provided here.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 


29 September 2013

Regional Focus: Syria

Event:

Syria will be high on the agenda next week at the 64th meeting of the UNHCR Executive Committee.  The first two days will include sessions devoted to a "High-level Segment on Solidarity and Burden-sharing with Countries Hosting Syrian Refugees."  Here is an agenda for the segment, along with a concept paper and an outline of the HC's opening remarks.  Background documentation that has been made available includes a refugee fact sheet, funding updates for UNHCR and for all agencies, and a time line.  Also scheduled is a side event on "Protection of Syrian Refugee Children."

*Update: Two additional items have been posted today (30 Sept. 2013):
- Countries Hosting Syrian Refugees: Solidarity and Burden-sharing - Background Papers for the High Level Segment
- Solutions for Syrian Refugees

Opportunities:

UNHCR is recruiting applicants for a wide variety of positions to assist with the humanitarian response to the Syrian refugee crisis.  More information is available here.  The deadline for external applicants is 10 October 2013.

Publications:

Egyptian Coast Guard Fires on, Kills Syrian Refugees (The Asylumist, Sept. 2013) [text]

Getting Syrian Children Back to School: A Corporate Imperative (Brookings' Education+Development Blog, Sept. 2013) [text]

Iraq: The Impact of the Syria Crisis (IOM, Sept. 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

Jordan: A Vulnerability Analysis Framework for Syrian Refugees in Jordan (ACAPS, Sept. 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

Jordan's Za'atri Refugee Camp Takes off (UNHCR, Sept. 2013) [text]

No Welcome Mat for Syrians in Europe (IRIN, Sept. 2013) [text]

September Podcast: Educating Syrian Refugees, Service Delivery, MY World and Post-2015 (ODI, Sept. 2013) [access]

Syria: Overview of the Humanitarian Response (U.S. Congressional Research Service, Sept. 2013) [text via Refworld]

Syria in 6 Months’ Time: Why We Must Act Now to Fill the Aid Void (IDMC Blog, Sept. 2013) [text]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.  

28 September 2013

Anniversary of Stateless Persons Convention

To commemorate the anniversary of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, I am reproducing the text of a UNHCR press release announcing the "inaugural winners of the UNHCR Award for Statelessness Research."  (Note: I inserted several hyperlinks below to direct readers to supplementary information.)
"In the undergraduate category, the winner is Amanda Cheong, whose thesis "Changing Conceptions of Citizenship Among Stateless Chinese-Bruneian Immigrants in Vancouver," was nominated by the Department of Sociology at the University of British Columbia in Canada. 
In the graduate category, the jury named two winners. The first is Eva Mrekajová, whose Master of Laws thesis on the "Naturalization of Stateless Persons" was nominated by the Department of International and European Law at Tilburg University. The second winner is Caroline McInerney, whose independent study paper entitled "Citizenship Laws of Madagascar: Future Challenges for a Developing Nation" was nominated by the University of Virginia School of Law in the United States. No prize in the doctoral category was awarded this year. 
UNHCR and Tilburg University in the Netherlands had invited academic institutions globally to nominate outstanding pieces of research at the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels in the field of statelessness. Fifteen papers were submitted. 
They were judged by a jury comprised of leading academics from around the world, working in the field of nationality and statelessness. The jury was co-chaired by UNHCR and the Statelessness Programme at Tilburg University. 
Each winner received a cash prize of €1,000. Their papers will be published in a special edition of the Tilburg Law Review. The winners will also be asked to present their research at the First Global Forum on Statelessness, which will be held in The Hague in September 2014, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the 1954 Statelessness Convention. 
UNHCR has a mandate to identify and protect stateless populations and to prevent and reduce statelessness. UNHCR's governing body, the Executive Committee, has requested the Office to undertake and share research on statelessness with academic institutions and governments, to promote understanding of the problem."

Additional details about the award winners are provided in this post on the Statelessness Programme's blog.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.  

26 September 2013

Thematic Focus: Health

"Annual Research Review: Resilience and Mental Health in Children and Adolescents Living in Areas of Armed Conflict: A Systematic Review of Findings in Low- and Middle-income Countries," Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, vol. 54, no. 4 (April 2013) [free full-text]

Conducting Research on Mental Health with Refugees, Presentation at the Unity in Diversity Conference, 16-17 August 2013, Townsville, Australia [text]

Coordinated Primary Health Care for Refugees: A Best Practice Framework for Australia  (SAPCRU, Sept. 2013) [text]

"High Rate of Completion of Preventive Therapy for Latent Tuberculosis Infection among Asylum Seekers in a Swiss Canton," Swiss Medical Weekly, 143:w13860 (Sept. 2013) [open access text]

"Tuberculosis Case Finding Based on Symptom Screening among Immigrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Rome," BMC Public Health, 13:872 (Sept. 2013) [open access text]

Tagged Publications. 

25 September 2013

Thematic Focus: Climate Change/Environment

Upcoming event:

Climate Change-related Displacement: What Scope for Protection under Refugee and Human Rights Law?, London, 14 November 2013 [info]
 - Free seminar but registration required.

Publications:

"Brazil: Human Rights and Environmental Refugees," International Law: Revista Colombiana de Derecho Internacional, no. 22 (2013) [full-text]

Coalition Member Guest Post: Environmental Justice Foundation (UKCCMC, Sept. 2013) [text]

Environmental Change and Migration: What We Know, Policy Brief, no. 2 (MPI, Sept. 2013) [text]

Erosion littorale et migrations forcées de réfugiés environnementaux: L'exemple de Cotonou, Bénin, Paper presented at 8th IAG International Conference on Geomorphology, Paris, 27-31 August 2013 [text]

Neglected Displacement: Human Mobility in Pacific Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation Mechanisms (IDMC, Sept. 2013) [text via Refworld]

"¡La Protección Comienza en Casa pero no Termina Ahí! Las Dinámicas de las Obligaciones que Tienen los Estados de Proteger los Derechos Humanos de los Desplazados Ambientales," International Law: Revista Colombiana de Derecho Internacional, no. 22 (2013) [full-text]

Senegal: Climate Change vs. Development Policies (Thomson Reuters, Sept. 2013) [text]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.  

Regional Focus: Syria

Upcoming event:

Displacement from Syria: Putting the Common European Asylum System to the Test?, Oxford, 24 October 2013 [info]

Publications:

How the European Union is Failing Syria’s Refugees (MintPress, Sept. 2013) [text via Oppenheimer Chair]

Lebanon: Economic and Social Impact Assessment of the Syrian Conflict (World Bank, Sept. 2013) [text]
- See also related materials.

Protection of and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons: Situation of Internally Displaced Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic, UN Doc. No. A/67/931 (UN General Assembly, July 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]
- See also related statement from the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons.

Syria's Human Crisis: What is to be Done? (CSIS, Sept. 2013) [text]

"Syria’s Refugees: The Catastrophe," New York Review of Books, vol. 60, no. 15 (Oct. 2013) [full-text]

Resource:

Mass Information Toolkit (UNHCR) [access via ReliefWeb]
- Application to assist with providing information to Syrian refugees.

Tagged Events & Opportunities, Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

24 September 2013

Thematic Focus: Statelessness

De Jure Statelessness in Serbia: A Critical Analysis of the Legal Framework with Regards to Combating Statelessness and the Protection of Stateless Persons, Thesis (University of Tromsø, May 2013) [text]

Detention of a Stateless Refugee (ENS Blog, Sept. 2013) [text]

Ivory Coast Set to Ratify Statelessness Treaty, 400,000 Children to Benefit (Thomson Reuters, Sept. 2013) [text]

The Poverty of Stateless People: How Do We Bridge the Gap between Need and Development Assistance? (DevLog@Bath, Sept. 2013) [text]

Q&A: Campaign against Statelessness Gains Ground (UNHCR, Sept. 2013) [text]

"Questioning De Facto Statelessness by Looking at De Facto Citizenship," Tilburg Law Review (Forthcoming 2014) [eprint via SSRN]

Romani Minorities Caught In-between: Impeded Access to Citizenship and De Facto Statelessness in the Post-Yugoslav Space (ENS Blog, Sept. 2013) [text]

Statelessness: Call for Referrals by Liverpool Law Clinic (Free Movement, Sept. 2013) [text]

The 'Withouts' of Kuwait: Nationality for Stateless Bidun Now (Amnesty International, Sept. 2013) [text]

Tagged Publications. 

23 September 2013

Events & Opportunities: More October 2013

CARL 5th National Conference, Canada, 3 October 2013 [info]
- Registration now open for Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers meeting , which "will be held simultaneously by video in locations across the country."

*CFP: Undocumented Migrants, Ethnic Enclaves and Networks: Opportunities, Traps or Class-based Constructs, London, 6 December 2013 [info]
- Deadline for abstracts extended to 4 October 2013.

CFP: CARFMS14: Coherence and Incoherence in Migration Management and Integration: Policies, Practices and Perspectives, Montreal, 7-9 May 2014 [info]
- Submit an abstract by 7 October 2013 to assist CARFMS with its application for funding.

CFP: Journal of Internal Displacement [info]
- Theme is "Forced Migration and Displacement: Impact on Women"; deadline is 15 October 2013.

The Right to Seek and Obtain Asylum under the African Human Rights System, London, 16 October 2013 [info]
- Part of the International Refugee Law Seminar Series at the RLI; the event is free but registration is required.

European Perspectives on Humanitarianism and Asylum, Toronto, 22 October 2013 [info]

Displacement from Syria: Putting the Common European Asylum System to the Test?, Oxford, 24 October 2013 [info]

10th Annual Immigration Law and Policy Conference, Washington, DC, 31 October 2013 [info]
- Registration now open.

Related post:
- Events & Opportunities: October 2013

*updated

Tagged Events & Opportunities.  

Regional Focus: Europe

Current Issues of Refugee Protection in Greece (UNHCR, July 2013) [text via Asylum in Europe]

From Emergency Relief to Durable Solutions: The Danish Refugee Council in North Caucasus 1997 to 2012 and Beyond (DRC, Feb. 2013) [text via Refworld]

A New Beginning: Refugee Integration in Europe (UNHCR, Sept. 2013) [text]

"Questioning the Doing of 'Privilege': On Normalization and Privileging in Relation to the Situation for Asylum Seekers in Sweden," Chapter 4 in  Mobilizing Gender Research: Challenges and Strategies (Forum for Gender Studies, Mid Sweden University, 2013) [access]
- Scroll to p. 57.

Recognition Rates for Refugees in Scandinavia: What Explains the Difference?, Thesis (University of Oslo, May 2013) [text]

Welcome to Europe! A Comprehensive Guide to Resettlement, 3rd ed. (ICMC, July 2013) [text]

Tagged Publications. 

Regional Focus: Africa

Upcoming event:

Nansen Refugee Award (UNHCR, Sept. 2013) [access]
- This year's winner is Sister Angélique Namaika, a Congolese Roman Catholic nun who works with women and girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The award ceremony will take place 30 Sept. 2013 in Geneva.

Publications:

Humanitarian Crisis Looms for Migrants Expelled by Tanzania (IRIN, Sept. 2013) [text]
- See also related IRRI blog post.

"Insights from the Refugee Response in Cameroon," Forced Migration Review, no. 44 (Sept. 2013) [open access text]

Mali: Rapport sur la Création d’un Marché au Camp de Refugiés à Abala (ACTED, Sept. 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

The Right to Physical Security for Refugees: A South African Perspective, Working Paper, no. 2 (Refugee Rights Unit, 2013) [text]

"UNHCR in Uganda: Better than its Reputation Suggests," Forced Migration Review, no. 44 (Sept. 2013) [open access text]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.  

20 September 2013

Regional Focus: Australia

Publications:

Modern and Classical Racism toward Refugees among North Queenslanders, Presentation at the Unity in Diversity Conference, 16-17 August 2013, Townsville, Australia [text]

"'There but for the grace of God go we': Prejudice toward Asylum Seekers," Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, vol. 19, no. 3 (2013) [postprint]

Turning Our Backs: Responding to 'the Boats', Sydney, 5 Sept. 2013 [info]
- Follow this link for a summary of the seminar and access to videos of the presentations

The Violence of Omission: Australia’s Refugee Policy (Border Criminologies, Aug. 2013) [text]

Where to Now for Asylum Seeker Policy under Tony Abbott? (The Conversation, Sept. 2013) [text]

Opportunity:

Attitudes toward Refugees in Australia: Influence of Education and Cultural Background, Deakin University, Melbourne [info]
- Participants sought for research project.

Web site:

Asylum Insight: Facts and Analysis [access]
- "[A]ims to provide factually accurate and comprehensive information and commentary that locates Australian asylum policy in a global context."

[Image credit: Turning Our Backs: Responding to 'the Boats', Sydney, 5 Sept. 2013]

Tagged Events & Opportunities, Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

Thematic Focus: Humanitarian Information

Call Detail Records: The Use of Mobile Phone Data to Track and Predict Population Displacement in Disasters (ACAPS, June 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

How to Make Disasters Less Deadly for the Disabled (IRIN, Sept. 2013) [text]

"The Human Right to Benefit from Advances in Science and Promotion of Openly Accessible Publications," Nordic Journal of Human Rights, vol. 31, no. 3 (2013) [full-text via FICHL]

Mapping and Information Management for Effective Humanitarian Programming in Somalia (Mogadishu and Doolow): Secondary Data Review (REACH, July 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

What We Learned Testing the Humanitarian Data Toolkit: Some Practical Highlights (Internews, July 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]
- Note: Access the Humanitarian Data Toolkit.

The World Needs More Accessible Information (GHA Blog, Aug. 2013) [text]

Tagged Publications. 

19 September 2013

New Issues of Anti-Traff. Rev., APMJ, FMR, IMR, Ref. Rev.

Anti-Trafficking Review, no. 2 (Sept. 2013) [open access text]
- Theme is "Human Rights at the Border."

Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, vol. 22, no. 1 (2013) [contents]
- Includes "Environmental-related Resettlement in China: A Case Study of the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province" and "The Rohingya Refugee Crisis and Bangladesh-Myanmar Relations."

Forced Migration Review, no. 44 (Sept. 2013) [open access text]
- Theme is "Detention, Alternatives to Detention, and Deportation"; also includes mini feature on the Syrian Crisis and a selection of general articles.

International Migration Review, vol. 47, no. 3 (Sept. 2013) [contents]
- Mix of articles.

Refugee Review, vol. 1 (2013) [open access text]
- New OA e-journal from the New Scholars Network; the focus of this inaugural issue is on "Social Movements."

Tagged Periodicals.

New ETDs - Part 2

(ETDs = Electronic Theses & Dissertations)

Making a Way When There is no Way: The Experiences and Challenges of Gang Affected Young Adult Refugees in Winnipeg, Thesis (Univ. of Manitoba, Aug. 2013) [text]

NGOs' Position & Role in the Dublin II Discussion: A Case Study on the Involvement of the Advocacy Networks ECRE and Pro Asyl in the European Asylum Policy, Thesis (Lund Univ., Spring 2013) [text]

Overcoming Invisibility: The Meaning and Process of Returnee Reintegration, Dissertation (American Univ., Aug. 2013) [text]

Street of Refuge: Public Space for Urban Refugees, Thesis (Delft Univ. of Technology, Sept. 2013) [access]

"Stuck in Thorns": The Effects of Power on Liberian Refugees in Guinea, Thesis (Bergen Univ., Spring 2013) [text]

A Tale of Two Organizations: UNRWA and UNHCR in Lebanon, Thesis (Central European Univ., 2013) [text]

Tagged Publications. 

New ETDs - Part 1

(ETDs = Electronic Theses & Dissertations)

Colombian Refugees' Stories of Navigating Settlement, Thesis (Univ. of British Columbia, Aug. 2013) [text]

A Common EU Migration Policy? EU Immigration and Asylum Policy from the Perspective of Regime Complexity, Thesis (Lund Univ., Spring 2013) [text]

Compliance of the Dublin Regulation with the Principle of Non-refoulement, Thesis (Univ. of Oslo, April 2013) [text]

Factors Influencing Effective Utilization of Donor Funding: Case Study of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Funded Projects in Oadaab Refugee Camp in North Eastern Province, Kenya, Thesis (Kenyatta University, Aug. 2013) [text]

Fleeing Persecution: Asylum Claims related to Sexual Orientation in the United Kingdom and The Netherlands, Thesis (Tilburg Univ., 2013) [text]

Liminal Space: Home and Belonging in the Landscapes of Power of Exile. A Case Study of Congolese Refugees in Kampala, Uganda, Thesis (Utrecht Univ., Aug. 2013) [text]

Tagged Publications. 

Regional Focus: Syria

High-Level Segment on Solidarity and Burden-Sharing with Countries Hosting Syrian Refugees (UNHCR, Sept. 2013) [text]
- Concept paper for 64th Session of EXCOM.

The Impact of Syrian Refugees on Food Security in the Northern Badia, Indpendent Study Project (SIT Graduate Institute, Spring 2013) [text]

Syria, Egypt, and the Syrians in Egypt (RI Blog, Sept. 2013) [text]

*"Syria Crisis," Mini Feature in Forced Migration Review, no. 44 (Sept. 2013) [access]
- Latest issue of FMR includes four articles relating to Syria.

Syrian Arab Republic: Civilian Harm and Assistance, Briefing Paper (Center for Civilians in Conflict, Sept. 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

Syrian Crisis: Massive Displacement, Dire Needs and a Shortage of Solutions (Brookings Institution, Sept. 2013) [text]
- This policy brief was launched at this related event.

Resettlement news:

  • Bulgaria Will Provide an Additional 1000 Places for Accommodating Syrian Refugees (Sofia Globe, Sept. 2013) [text via Asylum in Europe]
  • Call for Immigration Measures to Respond to the Syrian Crisis (CCR, Sept. 2013) [text]
  • 'Resettle Syrian Refugees', Charities Tell UK's Cameron (Thomson Reuters, Sept. 2013) [text]
  • Swiss Accept Quota of Refugees, also from Syria (Swissinfo, Sept. 2013) [text]
  • U.S. Can Take in more than 33 Syrian Refugees (Bloomberg, Sept. 2013) [text]
*updated

Tagged Publications.

Thematic Focus: Law/Policy Items

2013 UNHCR Annual Consultations with NGOs, Geneva, 11-13 June 2013 [info]
- Follow link to access NGO Rapporteur's report and final full report.

Immigration Judicial Reviews (UK Constitutional Law Group Blog, Sept. 2013) [text]

Injunctions for Removal from Fast Track (Free Movement, Sept. 2013) [text]

Note on International Protection, UN Doc. No. A/AC.96/1122, 64th Session of EXCOM (UN General Assembly, July 2013) [text]

Refugee "Cause Lawyering" in the UK (Free Movement, Sept. 2013) [text]

"Supervising the Refugee Convention," Special Feature in Journal of Refugee Studies, vol. 26, no. 3 (Sept. 2013) [contents]
- Includes links to preprint version of Introduction and Summary Conclusions of the Roundtable on the Future of Refugee Convention Supervision.

The Supreme Court of Canada's Decision in Ezokola and the Harmonisation of Article 1F(a) of the Convention on the Status of Refugees with International Criminal Law (ExpressO, 2013) [text]

"U.S. Asylum Law as a Path to Religious Persecution," Virginia Journal of International Law, vol. 53, no. 2 (March 2013) [full-text]

Tagged Publications.

18 September 2013

Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking

Publications:

"Journal of Law & Social Policy, vol. 8, no. 2 (2013) [full-text]
The Asylum Claim for Victims of Attempted Trafficking,"

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Measures for the Integration of Trafficked Persons (IOM, 2013) [text]

"From the Horn of Africa to the Middle East: Human Trafficking of Eritrean Asylum Seekers across Borders," Anti-Trafficking Review, no. 2 (Sept. 2013) [open access text]

"Human Trafficking, Asylum and the Problem of Protection," Chapter 13 in The Ashgate Research Companion to Migration Law, Theory and Policy (Ashgate, March 2013) [info] [Google preview]
- Note: The author recently gave a lecture on this subject at Griffith University in Australia.

"Risk Factors for Mental Disorders in Women Survivors of Human Trafficking: A Historical Cohort Study," BMC Psychiatry, 13:204 (Aug. 2013) [open access text]

Seventh Circuit Victory Advances Gender-Based Asylum (Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, Aug. 2013) [text]
- Reports on a decision holding "that gender may define a particular social group, and recognizes that women fleeing sex trafficking may be eligible for asylum based on membership in such a group."

"A Sex Trafficking Victory that Shows Just How Broken the System is," New Republic, 29 Aug. 2013 [text]

New project:

NO TRATTA –National Observatory on Trafficking among Refugees and Asylum Seekers; Training, Tools and Awareness, Cittalia-Fondazione Anci Ricerche, Rome [info]
- See also info in Italian.

Tagged Publications.

17 September 2013

Regional Focus: MENA

Opportunity:

Refugee Status Determination in Tunisia, Banyan: SOAS Advocates [info]
- "The Fahamu Refugee Project is seeking 3 to 6 volunteers to work on a project that aims to support the remaining refugees from the former Choucha Refugee Camp in Southern Tunisia – particularly the approximately 300 refugees who have been refused refugee status on appeal by UNHCR and whose files are officially 'closed'. ..."

Publications:

Affirming the Right to Physical Security in International Law: The Case of Palestinian Refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Working Paper, no. 1 (Refugee Rights Unit, 2013) [text]

Iran: COI Compilation (ACCORD, Sept. 2013) [text]

Israeli Supreme Court Rejects the Amendment to the Infiltration Law as Unconstitutional (IntLawGrrls Blog, Sept. 2013) [text]

"Morocco Urged to Establish New Asylum and Migration Policy that Protects the Human Rights of Migrants," ECRE Weekly Bulletin, no. 70 (Sept. 2013) [text]

No Safe Passage: The 20 Year Legacy of the Oslo Accords (IDMC Blog, Sept. 2013) [text]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.  

 

Thematic Focus: Education

Publications:

The INEE Minimum Standards' Linkages to the Sphere Minimum Standards (INEE, Aug. 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

"Investigating Tasks and Teaching Methods for Adult Somali Refugees at a London ESOL Centre," Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 4, no. 3 (2013) [open access text]

"Myanmar’s Rohingya Refugees in Malaysia: Education and the Way Forward," Journal of International and Comparative Education, vol. 2, no. 2 (Sept. 2013) [text]

A New Agenda for Education in Fragile States (Brookings Institution, Aug. 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

The Right to Education in South Africa, Working Paper, no. 3 (Refugee Rights Unit, 2013) [text]

Resources:

Education in Emergencies Crisis Spotlights (INEE) [access]
- This resource "highlights crises that are outside the mainstream media and where at least part of the population does not have access to quality and safe education."

Online Discussion: Teaching Education in Emergencies - Good Practice and Challenges, INEE, 26 August-30 September 2013 [access]
- Read articles posted by discussants and comments/questions submitted by users.

Tagged Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

16 September 2013

Regional Focus: Europe

Upcoming events:

IARLJ European Chapter Conference, Göteborg, Sweden, 21-22 November 2013 [info]
- Focus is on recent developments in European asylum law; open to IARLJ members; register by 23 Sept. 2013 for better rate.

Annual Conference on EU Asylum Law 2013, Trier, Germany, 28-29 October 2013 [info]
- Focus is on revisions to the Common European Asylum System (CEAS); register by 28 Sept. 2013 for better rate.

Publications:

Current Challenges Regarding the International Refugee Law, with Focus on EU Policies and EU Co-operation with UNHCR, Liberty and Security in Europe Paper, no. 59 (CEPS, Sept. 2013) [text]

EASO Quarterly Asylum Report: Q1 2013 (European Asylum Support Office, 2013) [text]
- See also related EASO Monitor comment on this report and ECRE's comments on EASO's Annual Report.

"Europe Failing Syrian Refugees," IPS, 12 Sept. 2013 [text]

How Switzerland is Quietly Criminalizing its Asylum Seekers (MintPress News, Sept. 2013) [text via Oppenheimer Chair]

Key Figures on Asylum to the EU (Thomson Reuters, Sept. 2013) [access]
- Follow link for three infographics.

UNHCR Recommendations on Important Aspects of Refugee Protection in Italy (UNHCR, July 2013) [text]
- See also ECRE comment; on a related note, IPS and UNHCR both recently reported on the increase in arrivals of asylum-seekers in Italy.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.  

Regional Focus: Africa

Opportunity:

Executive Director, International Refugee Rights Initiative, Uganda [info]
- Apply by 1 Oct. 2013.

Publications:

Emergency Response for the Situation in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo: Addendum - Uganda (UNHCR, Sept. 2013) [text]

A Life of Fear and Flight: The Legacy of LRA Brutality in North-East Democratic Republic of the Congo (UNHCR, IDMC & NRC, Sept. 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]
- See also related IDMC blog post.

Loss of Refugee Status Leaves Many Angolans Undocumented in South Africa (IRIN, Sept. 2013) [text]

Mali: Intentions de retour des personnes déplacées à Bamako (ACTED, Aug. 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

Somalia: No Place for the Displaced: Forcible Eviction of Displaced Communities (Amnesty International, Sept. 2013) [text]
- See also related AI news story and RI blog post.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.  


13 September 2013

Thematic Focus: Migration

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has launched the 2013 edition of its World Migration Report.  The theme is "Migrant Well-being and Development." Here's a description of the contents:
"The first three chapters of the World Migration Report 2013 provide an introduction to the theme “Migrant Well-being and Development”, present the current global migration situation across four migration pathways (migration that is South to North; South to South; North to North; or North to South), and review existing research on the emerging field of happiness and subjective well-being. Chapter Four presents original findings on migrant well-being from the Gallup World Poll, examining outcomes on six core dimensions of well-being – Financial, Career, Social, Community, Physical and Subjective - and how they differ across the four migration pathways. The final chapter presents key conclusions and makes recommendations for future initiatives to monitor migrant well-being and the impact of migration on development. The chapter also makes reference to the inclusion of migration in the global post-2015 development framework."

See also IOM's press release and IRIN's news story about the report's findings.

Other recent publications:

International Migration, Health and Human Rights (IOM, WHO & OHCHR, Sept. 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

Moving Together: Involuntary Movement and the Universal Dynamics of Moving, Meeting and Mixing, New Issues in Refugee Research Paper, no. 262 (UNHCR, Aug. 2013) [text]

Undocumented Migrants and the Failures of Universal Individualism (SSRN, Sept. 2013) [text]

Upcoming event:

High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development, New York, 3-4 October 2013 [info]
- See also related statement by the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants at an earlier high-level meeting.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.  

Thematic Focus: Humanitarian Assistance

"Accountability: A Long but Necessary Journey," Forced Migration Review 25th Anniversary Collection (Aug. 2013) [open access text]

Ethics and Politics of Humanitarian Action – High-level Panel Discussion, Geneva, 12 Sept. 2013 [info]
- Follow link for video of the event.

Humanitarian Development? (Footsteps to Freedom Blog, Aug. 2013) [text]

IASC Non-Binding Guidelines on the Use of Armed Escorts for Humanitarian Convoys (IASC, Feb. 2013) [text via Refworld]

Irish Aid Guidelines for NGO Professional Safety & Security Risk Management (Irish Aid, July 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

Private Funding for Humanitarian Assistance: Filling the Gap? (Global Humanitarian Assistance, Aug. 2013) [text]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.  

12 September 2013

Raising Awareness through Community Reading Events

The public libraries in four towns in Western Massachusetts have teamed up to organize a multi-community reading event that is centered on a book called Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference, by Warren St. John.  The town is Clarkston, Georgia, the team plays soccer, and the woman is Luma Mufleh, an alumna of Smith College, which is located in Northampton, Massachusetts (one of the towns involved in the community read).

The idea behind city-wide reading programs is to bring communities together around one book, and, at least in this particular case, get people "thinking about and discussing important issues to do with refugees and the impact of immigration on communities."  Scheduling related events such as discussion groups, film screenings, and public panels can help to further foster that sense of community and airing of ideas.  See, for example, the events that have been planned for Outcasts United.

For more information...
- about this project: visit the All Hamptons Read web page
- about the book: visit the Outcasts United site
- about the soccer teams and programs featured in the book: visit the Fugees Family web site

And if you want to organize your own community-wide read (hopefully around another forced migration-related book!), check out this guide from the American Library Association.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.   

Regional Focus: Syria

"At Home in Zaatari: Life in a Syrian Refugee Camp," PBS Newshour, 7 Sept. 2013 [access]
- Follow link for video.

"Humanitarian Crisis Spilling from Syria," CNN, 11 Sept. 2013 [text via Brookings-LSE Project]

Six Million Displaced by War in Syria (The Atlantic's In Focus, Sept. 2013) [access]
- Follow link for photo montage.

Who is Protecting Civilians in Syria? (UpFront Blog, Sept. 2013) [text]

The World Needs to Plan for Long-term Syria Refugee Crisis (The Conversation, Sept. 2013) [text]

"Zaatari Refugee Camp: Rebuilding Lives in the Desert," BBC News, 2 Sept. 2013 [access]
- Follow link for photos and interactive tour.

Watch for:

Syrian Crisis: Massive Displacement, Dire Needs and a Shortage of Solutions (Brookings Institution, Sept. 2013) [info]
- New policy brief that will be launched at an event on 18 Sept. 2013.

[Image credit: "An Aerial View of the Za'atri Refugee Camp," U.S. State Department, 18 July 2013]

Tagged Publications.

Regional Focus: Asia Pacific, esp. Australia

Afghanistan 2014 (UpFront Blog, Aug. 2013) [access]
- Three-part blog series on the "potential displacement implications of the withdrawal of the majority of International Security Assistance Force troops from Afghanistan at the end of 2014."

APRRN National Consultations in Thailand (Speak Out, Sept. 2013) [text]

Special Conference on Irregular Movement of Persons, Jakarta, 19-20 August 2013 [info]
- See also the statement by UNHCR's Director of International Protection and the text of the Jakarta Declaration on Addressing Irregular Movement of Persons.

Tsunami 2004: A Comprehensive Analysis (WHO, Sept. 2013) [texts via ReliefWeb]
- Presented in two volumes.

Australia:

"Groundhog Day: Why the Asylum Problem is like the Drug Problem," Griffith Review, no. 41 (April 2013) [full-text]
- Note: This article was reprinted recently by The Conversation.

"Opinion: Australian Parties in 'Race to Bottom' on Asylum Seeker Policy," CNN, 4 Sept. 2013 [text]

"Tony Abbott Restates Coalition's Hardline Asylum Seeker Policy," The Guardian, 9 Sept. 2013 [text]

UN Slams Australia's Treatment of Refugees (The Interpreter, Aug. 2013) [text]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

11 September 2013

New Issue of JRS

A new issue of the Journal of Refugee Studies (JRS) is now available.  Contents for vol. 26, no. 3, Sept. 2013 include:

Special Feature: Supervising the Refugee Convention:
  • Introduction [extract] [preprint]
  • Roundtable on the Future of Refugee Convention Supervision [extract] [summ. concl.]
  • Is there a Need for Better Supervision of the Refugee Convention? [abstract]
  • Lessons from Supervisory Mechanisms in International and Regional Law [abstract]
  • A Proposal for Enhanced Supervision of the Refugee Convention [abstract]

Articles:
  • ‘White Tigers’: Researcher Roles in Relation to Linking Social Capital within Tamil Voluntary Associations in Norway [abstract]
  • Exiles, Art, and Political Activism: Fighting the Pinochet Regime from Afar [abstract]
  • In Search of Sanctuary: Border Closures, ‘Safe’ Zones and Refugee Protection [abstract]
  • Resettlement of Somali Bantu Refugees in an Era of Economic Globalization [abstract]

Tagged Periodicals.

10 September 2013

Regional Focus: Americas

Acceso a Tierra/Vivienda para Mujeres en Necesidad de Protección Internacional (PNPI) y Refugiadas en Ecuador: Marco Normativo Nacional e Internacional que Regula el Derecho a la Vivienda y el Acceso a Tierra de las Mujeres Refugiadas en el Ecuador (NRC, Feb. 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]
- See also related press release; an English version of this report will soon become available.

"A Evolução dos Instrumentos de Proteção do Direito Internacional dos Refugiados na América Latina: da Convenção de 51 ao Plano de Ação do México = The Evolution of the International Refugee Law in Latin America: From the 1951 Convention to the Mexico Plan of Action," Universitas Relações Internacionais, Brasília, vol. 10, no. 1 (Jan./June 2012) [text via SSRN]
- Note: The article is in Portuguese, not Spanish as indicated in the abstract.

An Immigrant's Journey (The Atlantic's In Focus, Aug. 2013) [access]
- Photo montage of Central Americans and their journey to the U.S.

Protection and Vulnerability in Urban Contexts: The Case of Refugees in Rio de Janeiro, Discussion Paper, no. 6 (HASOW, Sept. 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

"Strengthening North American Perimeter Security: An Analysis of United States and Canadian Immigration and Refugee Laws and the Collaboration Required to Harmonize Those Laws," Canada-United States Law Journal, vol. 37, no. 2 (2012) [access]
- Scroll to p. 493.

"Towards a Thirty Year Low in Refugees Accepted in Canada?," CCR Chronicle, vol. 8, no. 5 (Sept. 2013) [full-text]

Tagged Publications.