New ODI Paper on Assisting Older People in Emergencies

ODI's Humanitarian Practice Network has just produced Network Paper no. 53 entitled Protecting and assisting older people in emergencies. The paper is available through ReliefWeb's online library at http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/lib.nsf/db900SID/OCHA-6K4GD3?OpenDocument.

Posted in Publications.

International Migration: Call for Papers

The editors of International Migration, a peer-reviewed academic journal on current migration issues sponsored by the International Organization forMigration (IOM), are seeking full-length research and policy analysis papers, as well as shorter manuscripts presenting policy commentary, emerging research, and data at the forefront of current policy debates and migration events.

For more details, visit <http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/Call-for-Papers-06IMIG.pdf>

For guidelines for authors, visit <http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/submit.asp?ref=0020-7985>

SAMPLE ARTICLES
Two articles from International Migration are currently available free online.

Describing the Unobserved: Methodological Challenges in Empirical Studies on Human Trafficking
Guri Tyldum and Anette Brunovskis
<http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.0020-7985.2005.00310.x>

Migration, Displacement, and Violence: Prosecuting Romanian Street
Children at the Paris Palace of Justice
Susan J. Terrio
<http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.0020-7985.2004.00300.x>

Posted in Periodicals.

Seminars and workshops on Population and Migration

The following was posted on the UNESCO Migration Mailing List. More information is available at http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php-URL_ID=9098&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html.

Seminars and workshops on Population and Migration, Córdoba (Argentina), 21-23 February, 2006

A series of seminars and workshops on “Population and Migration” will be organized in Córdoba (Argentina) on 21-23 February 2006, within the framework of the International Forum on the Social Science - Policy Nexus.

The International Forum is organized by UNESCO in partnership with the Governments of Argentina and Uruguay and with the support of a wide range of academic and policy organizations. It will take place in four cities in Argentina and in Uruguay from February 20th to 24th, 2006, with an Opening and Closing day in Buenos Aires. Over a thousand participants are expected at the Forum.

The workshops and seminars to be held in Córdoba on 21-23 February will address core issues raised by contemporary migration flows, such as:

• forced migration and asylum
• globalization and migrants’ transnational lives and identities
• cultural and environmental impact of migration
• the legal framework of migration and migrants’ rights
• intergovernmental and regional cooperation in the elaboration of migration policies
• and scenarios for the future of migration.

The presence of policy-makers, researchers and NGO members will enable the development of new forms of cooperation between policy and social sciences, with the ambition of bringing better responses to today’s challenges.

Posted in Events & Opportunities.

ODI Research Officers Needed

The Overseas Development Institute's (ODI) Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG) is seeking two research officers to "assist with the work relating to civilian protection, aid policy and other areas of research within the Group." Visit http://www.odi.org.uk/jobs/index.html for more details. The application deadline is 23 December.

Posted in Events & Opportunities.

Natural Disasters Portal

The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) has put together a web portal providing access to research reports, opinion, and analyses that focus on lessons learned from the Indian Ocean tsunami. The one-year anniversary of the tsumani is December 26th.

Posted in Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

New Issue of IJMS

The International Journal on Multicultural Societies has just published its latest issue, vol. 7, no. 2 (2005). The theme is "National Identity and Attitudes Towards Migrants–Findings from the ISSP." Contents, abstracts and full-text articles are available at http://www.unesco.org/shs/ijms/vol7/issue2.

Posted in Periodicals.

New Issue of RSQ

The year-end issue of Refugee Survey Quarterly is now available (vol. 24, no. 4). The focus of the issue is “Migrants and Refugees: The Challenge of Identity and Integration - The Tenth Annual Humanitarian Conference of Webster University, Geneva.” View contents and abstracts here.

Posted in Periodicals.

Director of the Refugee Studies Centre

Stephen Castles is leaving the Refugee Studies Centre to take up an appointment with the James Martin 21st Century School at Oxford University. Applications are being accepted for his replacement as Director of the RSC. More information about the post is available here. The deadline for applications is 21 February 2006.

Posted in Events & Opportunities.

Human Rights Day - 10 December

This year's theme is "Torture and Global Efforts to Combat It." Various resources relating to human rights and prevention of torture abuse are listed below.
http://www.un.org/events/humanrights/2005/

Amnesty International's Campaign to Stop Torture - http://web.amnesty.org/pages/stoptorture-index-eng

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment - http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/cat.htm

European Committee on the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) - http://www.cpt.coe.int/en/

Examining Asylum Seekers: A Health Professional's Guide to Medical and Psychological Evaluations of Torture - http://www.phrusa.org/campaigns/asylum_network/manual.html

Human Rights Watch's Theme Page: Torture and Abuse - http://www.hrw.org/doc/?t=torture

International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims - http://www.irct.org/

Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture - http://www.torturecare.org.uk/

Torture Reporting Handbook - http://www.essex.ac.uk/torturehandbook/

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Day Page - http://www.ohchr.org/english/events/day2005/hrd2005.htm

World Organization against Torture Site - http://www.omct.org/base.cfm?page=omct&consol=OPEN&cfid=2771894&cftoken=24581096

Posted in Events & Opportunities.

International Alert Job Announcement

"International Alert seeks Great Lakes Programme Manager"

See the job announcement and contact details on ELDIS. The closing date for applications is 13 January 2006.

Posted in Events & Opportunities.

New Issue of Third World Q.

Third World Quarterly: Journal of Emerging Areas has recently published its Nov. 2005 issue, vol. 26, no. 8; view the contents and abstracts here.

Posted in Periodicals.

EU Asylum Developments

The European Union recently adopted an "Asylum Procedures Directive" as part of its work on defining a new Common European Asylum System. Here are a few resources relating to this and other asylum developments in the EU.

Vice President Frattini welcomes 'major milestone' on asylum in the EU
http://tinyurl.com/d5c3k

UNHCR press release: EU directive may trigger downgrading of asylum standards http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/news/opendoc.htm?tbl=NEWS&id=4390253a4

UNHCR Observations on the European Commission Communication "A Common Agenda for integration: Framework for theIntegration of Third-Country Nationals in the European Union"
http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/protect/opendoc.pdf?tbl=PROTECTION&id=437b513c2

Other comments from UNHCR on EU asylum law and policy are available at http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/protect?id=43672f0a2

ECRE comment: Response of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles to the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on A Common Agenda for Integration COM (2005) 389 final
http://www.ecre.org/policy/position_papers.shtml

Other information about developments in Europe can be found in the Forced Migration Review issue on "Asylum in Europe": http://www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/FMR23/FMR23contents.pdf

Another useful resource is EurActiv's "Illegal immigration, asylum and border control" policy section, with news, latest developments and a policy summary
http://www.euractiv.com/Article?tcmuri=tcm:29-117508-16&type=LinksDossier

Posted in Publications.

Who Does What in US Immigration

The Migration Policy Institute compiled this overview for the Migration Information Source. It explains the roles and responsibilities of the various U.S. government departments that undertake immigration activities, and includes a very useful diagram. See http://www.migrationinformation.org/USfocus/display.cfm?id=362

Posted in Publications.

Human Rights Watch Report on IDPs in Zimbabwe

Human Rights Watch released a report 1 December 2005 entitled Evicted and Forsaken: Internally Displaced Persons in the Aftermath of Operation Murambatsvina, which documents Zimbabwe's denial of assistance and protection to forcibly evicted persons.

Posted in Publications.

International Day for the Abolition of Slavery - 2 December

December 2 marks the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery. For more information, please visit the Dag Hammarskjold's library page at http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/slavery/ ; this notes that Dec. 2 "recalls the date of the adoption, by the General Assembly, of the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (resolution 317 (IV))" in 1949.

A few resources relating to human trafficking:

2005 Human Rights Report on Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children - http://www.protectionproject.org/

FMO Research Guide: Human Smuggling and Trafficking - http://www.forcedmigration.org/guides/fmo011/

Refugees and Trafficking - http://www.womenscommission.org/projects/P&P/trafficking.shtml

Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons , especially in women and children - http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/trafficking/index.htm

In partnership with the Global Alliance against Traffic in Women, Forced Migration Review will publish an issue focusing on human trafficking in March 2006.

Posted in Events.

Updated web sites: IASC, IDMC (former IDP Project)

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) site has been given a new look and re-organized structre. Visit http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/iasc/default.asp to explore its resources.

The former Global IDP Project has been re-named the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC); its new URL is http://www.internal-displacement.org/. The site has been completely overhauled, but still provides access to the ex-IDP Project's familiar information resources. Beginning in 2006, the IDMC will be the sponsor of an IDP Network, described as "a platform for members to share contact details, descriptions of their work and experiences."

Posted in Web Sites/Tools.

New Issue of IJRL

The December 2005 issue of International Journal of Refugee Law (vol. 17, no. 4) is now available; full table of contents and abstracts can be read at http://ijrl.oxfordjournals.org/content/vol17/issue4/index.dtl?etoc

Articles include:

Inadmissible in Iberia: The Fate of Asylum Seekers in Spain and Portugal
Maryellen Fullerton

Neither Here Nor There: Temporary Admission to the UK
Caroline Sawyer and Philip Turpin

Domestic Violence and Asylum: Toward a Working Model of Affirmative State Obligations
Michael G. Heyman

The Use and Misuse of 'National Security' Rationale in Crafting U.S. Refugee and Immigration Policies
Donald Kerwin

Posted in Periodicals.

World AIDS Day - 1 December

World Aids Day (UNAIDS) - http://www.unaids.org/en/events/wad_2005_2.asp
- This year’s theme is “Stop AIDS. Keep the promise.”

HIV/AIDS (OHCHR) - http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/hiv/index.htm

HIV/AIDS News Service for Africa (IRIN) - http://www.plusnews.org/

Human Rights Watch Calls for Increased Support, Protections for Global AIDS Activists (HRW) - http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/wad/index.htm

Refugees and HIV/AIDS (UNHCR) - http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/protect?id=401915744

Sexually Transmitted Infections, including HIV/AIDS (RHRC) - http://www.rhrc.org/rhr_basics/sti/

World AIDS Day 2005 (MSF) - http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?objectid=DC075067-E018-0C72-09CF0A24F01A75AC&component=toolkit.article&method=full_html

For more information, visit http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/aidsday/index.html
Posted in Events and Web Sites/Tools.