New Periodical Issues/News: IJRL, IMR, JEMS, Social Issues

The International Journal of Refugee Law has just published its first issue of 2006 (vol. 18, no. 1, March 2006). Visit the table of contents to read the abstracts. Included are articles on UNHCR's RSD process by Michael Kagan (who also manages RSDWatch.org), property restitution in Bosnia-Herzegovina by Charles B. Philpott, asylum claims and drug offences by Martin Gottwald, and refugee law in Slovenia by Bostjan Zalar.

Keep in mind that the full-text of all back issues of IJRL (with a five-year time delay) are available at Forced Migration Online.

The Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies has recently published its vol. 32, no. 3, April 2006 issue of the Journal of Social Issues (vol. 62, no. 1, March 2006).

The Center for Migration Studies in NY has announced the appointment of Dr. Joseph Chamie as new editor of the International Migration Review. Dr. Chamie was formerly Director of the UN's Population Division.

Posted in Periodicals.

Religion and Human Rights

An article in the December 2005 issue of the Journal of Social Issues entitled "The Three Monotheistic World Religions and International Human Rights" is provided in full-text online by Blackwell. The author is J. Paul Martin of Columbia's Center for the Study of Human Rights.

Resources relating to religious persecution and human rights standards include:

- Claims for Protection Based on Religion or Belief: Analysis and Proposed Conclusions, by Karen Musalo (Dec. 2002) (text)

- Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, General Assembly resolution 36/55 of 25 November 1981 (text)

- The Complexity of Religion in Determining Refugee Status, by T. Jeremy Gunn (Oct. 2002) (text; revised version in Harvard Human Rights Journal)

- Human Rights Watch reports on "religious freedom"

- The International Religious Freedom Report (2005 version) - surveys religious freedom on a country-by-country basis

- Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on freedom of religion or belief (web site) - see esp. annual reports and country visits

Posted in Publications.

Web Bibliographies on Forced Migration Topics

Each issue of College & Research Libraries News includes an Internet Resources feature, which is a collection of web sites on a particular topic. This month's (Feb. 2006) focuses on "disaster relief." Other topics relevant to forced migration have included human rights (Sept. 1999 - by yours truly) and refugees (Sept. 1998).

This type of resource is always helpful for providing an introduction to a topic and a sampling of the range of information that is available online. Unfortunately, the ever-fluctuating nature of the web means that these bibliographies can quickly become out of date, as evidenced by the latter two mentioned above.

I have compiled several web bibliographies that I try to update at least on an annual basis:
- Guide to Forced Migration Resources on the Web (last update June 2005)
- Guide to International Refugee Law Resources on the Web (last update Feb. 2005)

The first guide is on the Forced Migration Online (FMO) site. See also their research guides; each always includes a listing of web-based resources that relate to the theme/country focus of the guide.

The latter guide was published by LLRX.com, which is a great place to check for research guides on a wide range of legal topics.

Posted in Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

New Annual Reports: Press, Human Rights, Sec. Council

Reports covering the developments during the previous 12 months usually appear at the start of a new year. I've recently highlighted several examples of this type of resource in the following posts:
- Conflict Barometer
- Human Rights Watch World Report 2006
- State of the World 2006
- State of the World's Minorities 2006
- Underreported Humanitarian Stories of 2005

Several other titles to add to this growing list of annual reports/surveys are:

Attacks on the Press in 2005: A Worldwide Survey of the Committee to Protect Journalists (2006)

Human Rights Annual Report 2005: Report, together with formal minutes, oral and
written evidence (UK House of Commons, Foreign Affairs Committee, 23 Feb. 2006)
- Actually, this not a survey in and of itself; instead, it scrutinises "the [FCO's Human Rights Annual] Report in order to evaluate its successes and identify its shortcomings"

Security Council 2005 Round-Up (Jan. 2006)

The next annual report to watch for is the U.S. State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, which is usually issued in February or March.

Posted in Publications.

Finding Out about New Pubs. from UNHCR

UNHCR makes many of the documents it produces available in full-text either on its web site or its REFWORLD cd-rom (available thru. subscription). Not every addition is advertised or highlighted, though, making it difficult to keep track of new resources. The web site does provide a "What's New" section, although it is an incomplete listing. However, it did inform me that three new working papers had been added to the New Issues in Refugee Research series, as of 24 Feb. 2006:
- An exploration of the livelihood strategies of Durban Congolese refugees, by Baruti Bahati Amisi
- Getting back home: Impact on property rights of the Indian Ocean earthquake-tsunami 2004, by Shaun Williams
- La définition de « réfugié » dans les législations africaines : une analyse comparative critique, by Cristiano d'Orsi

Another way to find out about new protection-related resources is through the Protection Information Section's email alerts; send a request to hqpr12@unhcr.org to be included. Recent alerts have pointed to the following legal opinions/guidelines:
- Advisory Opinion from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the Scope of the National Security Exception Under Article 33(2) of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (6 Jan. 2006)
- UNHCR Guidelines on the Application in Mass Influx Situations of the Exclusion Clauses of Article 1F of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (7 Feb. 2006)
- UNHCR's Position on Sudanese Asylum-Seekers From Darfur (10 Feb. 2006)

The alerts also highlight country reports, such as:
- Japan: Refugees and Asylum Seekers, Writenet report by Meryll Dean (Feb. 2006)

Other "publications" sub-sections within UNHCR's web site to check for new resources:
- Publications
- Partnership Guides (especially for operational handbooks)
- Protection Publications (for handbooks, commentaries, training materials)
- Legal and Protection Policy Research Series (for refugee law papers)

Posted in Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

International Law Commission Web Site

The International Law Commission is tasked with promoting "the progressive development of international law and its codification." The UN Pulse recently noted that the ILC web site was completely revised, providing more indepth access to its documents, publications and other information. Examples of topics of interest to the forced migration community include right of asylum, nationality including statelessness, and the expulsion of aliens.


Posted in Web Sites/Tools.

Asylum Developments in Europe

Here are several references to recent reports/news relating to asylum in Europe:

- Frattini presents common EU rules on asylum (EurActiv.com, 24 Feb. 2006) [text]
Note: For more background on EU developments, see this previous post and the EUROPA portal page on asylum.

- Invisible children: the human rights of migrant and asylum-seeking minors detained upon arrival at the maritime border in Italy (Amnesty International, 23 Feb. 2006) [text]

- Ukraine: Uzbek Asylum Seekers Sent Back to Face Abuse (Human Rights Watch, 17 Feb. 2006; note erroneous date in press release) [text]

Posted in Publications.

ICVA Conference Papers

Papers from the International Council of Voluntary Agencies conference, "NGOs: The Principles and Politics of Humanitarian Action" (Feb. 2006) are posted on the ICVA web site.

Posted in Publications.

New FMO Research Guide on Sudan

Forced Migration Online (FMO) has produced 22 country- and 20 theme-specific research guides. The most recent one to be issued is by Peter Verney and focuses on Sudan.

Posted in Publications.

State of the World 2006

Worldwatch Institute has recently published its annual report on the State of the World 2006. This year's edition includes a chapter on natural disasters. An online feature focusing on Natural Disasters & Peacemaking is also provided.

Posted in Publications.

U.S. Immigration Courts

The latest issue of Georgetown Immigration Law Journal includes an article by J. Palmer, S. Yale-Loehr, and E. Cronin entitled "Why Are So Many People Challenging Board of Immigration Appeals Decisions in Federal Court? An Empirical Analysis of the Recent Surge in Petitions for Review."

A pre-print of this article is available in full-text through the Social Science Research Network.

Another immigration court issue that is being reported in the media concerns the U.S. Attorney General's investigation into the behavior and procedures of immigration judges. Read more about it in this press release from AILA.

Posted in Publications.

New Books: Migration, Human Trafficking, Nomads, Refugees

Here are details about various books that I have come across/been informed about:

Asylum Seekers and Refugees in the Contemporary World, by D. Whittaker, Routledge, Dec. 2005

Migrant Nurses: motivation, integration and contribution, by A. Winkelmann-Gleed, Radcliffe Publishing, March 2006

The Migration Reader: Exploring Politics and Policies, ed. by A. Messina and G. Lahav, Lynne Rienner, 2006

Nomadic Societies in the Middle East and North Africa: Entering the 21st Century, ed. by D. Chatty, Brill, 2006

Small Places, Close to Home, Community Links, Dec. 2005

And two new titles in Lexington Books' "Program in Migration and Refugee Studies":

Managing Migration: The Promise of Cooperation, By P. Martin, S. Martin and P. Weil, April 2006

Trafficking & the Global Sex Industry, ed. by D. Amir and K. Beeks, Feb. 2006


To learn about other new forced migration-related books and publications, browse through the accessions lists posted on the Refugee Studies Centre library page.

Posted in Publications.

New Journal Issues: Hum. Rts., Migration, Peace & Sec.

Tables of contents and/or abstracts have been posted for the following journal titles:

Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 28, no. 1, Feb. 2006 (contents)
- Includes "The Human Rights of Stateless Persons," by D. Weissbrodt and C. Collins.

International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 1, no. 1, Feb. 2006 (contents)
- Includes two articles on refugee mental health.

International Migration, vol. 44, no. 1, March 2006 (contents)
- Focus is on the final report of the Global Commission on International Migration. Also includes articles addressing social change and language acquisition among immigrants and refugees.

Journal of Peace Research, vol. 43, no. 1, Jan. 2006 (contents)
- Includes articles on Rwanda, Kosovo, the Middle East, and Colombia, among others.

Security Dialogue, vol. 36, no. 4, Dec. 2005 (contents)
- Focus is on post-conflict peacebuilding.

[Note: Contents for the forthcoming issue of Security Dialogue are available through PRIO.]

Posted in Periodicals.

New Issues in Refugee Research: Comprehensive Plans of Action

The latest paper in UNHCR's working paper series, New Issues in Refugee Research, is entitled "Comprehensive Plans of Action: Insights from CIREFCA and the Indochinese CPA," by Alexander Betts.

The CIREFCA and CPA plans of action are reproduced as follows in the International Journal of Refugee Law, back issues of which are made available in full-text through Forced Migration Online:
- International Conference on Central American Refugees (CIREFCA) (29-31 May 1989), Declaration and Concerted Plan of Action in Favour of Central American Refugees, Returnees and Displaced Persons
- International Conference on Indo-Chinese Refugees (13-14 June 1989), Declaration and Comprehensive Plan of Action

To retrieve these, go to FMO's journals page: http://fmo.qeh.ox.ac.uk/fmo/index.asp
Select "International Journal of Refugee Law" from the drop-down title list.
Select "1989" from the drop-down year list.
Expand the journal's contents by clicking on the plus (+) sign.
Scroll down until you see the above-mentioned titles.
Select the relevant title to read the text.

Posted in Publications.

HIV/AIDS and IDPs

A recent paper by UNHCR and OCHA's Inter-Agency Internal Displacement Division focuses on HIV/AIDS and IDP populations in Burundi, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Liberia, Nepal, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda. Its aim is to "provide recommendations and next steps on how to improve HIV policies and interventions for IDPs" in these countries.

Posted in Publications.

Conflict Resolution/Post-conflict Reconstruction in Africa

Patricia Daley's article in Third World Quarterly's latest issue (vol. 27, no. 2, 2006) is entitled "Challenges to peace: conflict resolution in the Great Lakes region of Africa"; she examines contemporary conflict resolution models and the extent to which they can successfully be applied in Rwanda, Burundi and the DRC, especially when civil society is so often excluded from the peace process.

As more African countries emerge from conflict, the African Union is working to formulate a policy on post-conflict reconstruction and development (PCRD). A technical experts' meeting to discuss this was held 6-7 February 2006 in Addis, for which a draft programme, concept note, and draft policy framework for PCRD are available. Read the related news story from PANA.

The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) has been involved in laying out an agenda for post-conflict reconstruction in Africa and worked with NEPAD to develop a draft policy framework in 2005.

Watch for ACCORD's first 2006 issue of Conflict Trends, which will focus on post-conflict reconstruction and will no doubt include reports on AU developments.

Posted in Publications.

New Journal Articles: IDPs, Detention of Refugees

The British Medical Journal (vol. 332, no. 7536, 4 February 2006) reports on the consequences of long-term detention of refugees/asylum-seekers. A related BBC news story is available here.

Related findings were reported earlier in the British Journal of Psychiatry (vol. 188, Jan. 2006: 58-64).

The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs has published its latest issue (vol. 7.1, Winter/Spring 2006), which includes an article by Roberta Cohen on the protection of IDPs.

Posted in Publications.

Update: Status of Sudanese Protestors in Cairo

Update to an earlier blog posting:

IRIN put together this chronology of events relating to Sudanese protestors in Cairo that occurred between September 2005 and January 2006. IRIN also reported that the Egyptian "government will not deport Sudanese detainees lacking official status as asylum seekers or refugees."

Posted in Publications.

Resources for Aid Workers: Negotiating with Armed Groups, Safety Issues

1. Negotiating

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has just published a manual and guidelines for humanitarian workers on how to negotiate with armed groups. Chapters in the manual cover: Humanitarian Negotiations: Motivations and Partners; Framing the Negotiations; Working Towards More Effective Negotiations; Negotiating on Specific Issues; and So You're Negotiating . . . Now What?. Case studies are included.

The manual comes with a CD housing a number of additional references, such as a bibliography, Internet resources, reference documents relating to humanitarian principles, legal reference documents, and others. These resources are not available online.

For a print version with CD, contact:

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
United Nations
S-3600
New York, NY 10017
United States of America
Tel.: +1 212 963-1234
Fax: +1 212 963-1312
E-mail: ochany@un.org

Other related resources:

Humanitarian Negotiation: A Handbook for Securing Access, Assistance and Protection for Civilians in Armed Conflict was published in October 2004 by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue. Its target audience is "humanitarians negotiating access, assistance and protection with government authorities, military personnel, armed groups and civilians in countries enduring armed conflict."

The ODI paper, "Humanitarian engagement with non-state armed actors: The parameters of negotiated access" (June 2005), looks more analytically at the negotiation process, with the aim "to investigate the scope of successful engagement, one which maintains minimal operational preconditions, such as security for aid workers, and to explore the available modalities of engagement with ANSAs [armed non-state actors]."

And a shorter article - "Vive la différence? Humanitarian and political approaches to engaging armed groups" - was included in Accord's report entitled Choosing to engage: Armed groups and peace processes (2005).

2. Safety of Humanitarian Personnel

From ICRC, a new book with advice on how to stay safe when working in conflict areas: Staying Alive: Safety and Security Guidelines for Humanitarian Volunteers in Conflict Areas (Jan. 2006)

More information is available from ICRC on the protection of humanitarian workers.

Other related resources:

The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel opened for signature on 16 January 2006. (Note: If this link does not work, the text can be retrieved by going to http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/r60.htm, and scrolling down to A/RES/60/42.) Read the UN press release about the purpose of the protocol.

Training courses and links to a number of other safety manuals are provided by the Centre for Safety and Development.

RedR offers another training course on personal security in emergencies.

Posted in Publications.

New reports on child health, peacebuilding, IDPs,

Cutillo, Alberto (Feb. 2006), International Assistance to Countries Emerging from Conflict: A Review of Fifteen Years of Interventions and the Future of Peacebuilding, International Peace Academy Policy Paper (full-text, summary)

Kälin, Walter (12 Jan. 2006), Report of the Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of internally displaced persons, E/CN.4/2006/71

Moss, William J., et al (Jan. 2006), "Child Health in Complex Emergencies," Bulletin of the World Health Organization

Posted in Publications.

Conflict Surveys

The 2005 edition of the Conflict Barometer is now available. This is an annual conflict analysis provided by the Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research. The editors define conflicts as "the clashing of interests (positional differences) on national values of some duration and magnitude between at least two parties (organized groups, states, groups of states, organizations) that are determined to pursue their interests and win their cases" (p. ii). This report begins with a global overview of different types of conflicts as well as conflict resolution actions. This is followed by regional surveys. Previous editions of the Conflict Barometer are available on the HIIK web site.

For other conflict research resources, see:

Center for International Development and Conflict Management, Peace and Conflict 2005: A Global Survey of Armed Conflicts, Self-Determination Movements, and Democracy (third edition of biennial report)

Human Security Centre, The Human Security Report 2005: War and Peace in the 21st Century (documents decline in wars, genocides and human rights abuses in the last decade)

INCORE, Conflict Data Service (conflict database with country profiles, thematic guides and peace agreements)

International Displacement Monitoring Centre, IDP Database (monitors conflict-induced displacement worldwide)

International Crisis Group, Databases and Resources (see especially the CrisisWatch database for information about current crises and the Conflict Histories database)

ISN and SIPRI, Facts on International Relations and Security Trends (database with factual information from a variety of sources including those listed in this posting)

PRIO/Uppsala Armed Conflict Dataset (armed conflict data for 1946-2004)

Project Ploughshares, Armed Conflicts Report 2005 (covers events in 2004)

SIPRI Yearbooks (highlights and summaries only)

Uppsala Conflict Database (information on 119 armed conflicts between 1989 and 2004)

Posted in Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

Recent Research Articles/Reports

A selected list of recently published journal articles and other reports. Links to abstracts or full-text are provided, if available.

Arnett, Amy K. (Winter 2005), “Applied Linguistics and Language Analysis in Asylum Seeker Cases,” Applied Linguistics 26(4):503-526.

Garimoi Orach, Christopher and Vincent De Brouwere (2006), “Integrating refugee and host health services in West Nile districts, Uganda,” Health Policy and Planning 21(1):53-64.

Gordon, Christine M. (Fall 2005), “Are Unaccompanied Alien Children Really Getting a Fair Trial? An Overview of Asylum Law and Children,” Denver Journal of International Law & Policy 33(4).

Granville, Johanna (January 2006), “Of Spies, Refugees and Hostile Propaganda: How Austria dealt with the Hungarian Crisis of 1956,” History 91(301): 62-90.

Hamood, Sara (January 2006), “African Transit Migration Through Libya to Europe: The Human Cost,” Forced Migration and Refugee Studies, The American University in Cairo.

Juss, Satvinder S. (2005), “The Decline and Decay of European Refugee Policy,” Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 25(4):749-792.

Kohli, Ravi K. S. (February 2006), “The comfort of strangers: social work practice with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young people in the UK, Child & Family Social Work 11(1): 1-10.

Lacroix, Marie (2006), “Social work with asylum seekers in Canada: The case for social justice,” International Social Work 49(1): 9-17.

Lambert, Hélène (2006), “The EU Asylum Qualification Directive, Its Impact on the Jurisprudence of the United Kingdom and International Law,” International and Comparative Law Quarterly 55(1):161-192.

Omeri, Akram et al. (2006), “Prediction of negative attitudes toward Australian asylum seekers: False beliefs, nationalism, and self-esteem,” Australian Journal of Psychology 57(3).

Schweitzer, Robert et al., “Attitudes towards refugees: The dark side of prejudice in Australia,” Australian Journal of Psychology 57(3).

Sherlock, Paul (January 2006), “Water and sanitation for refugees and internally displaced people,” Waterlines 24(3): 2-4.

Shrestha, Dinesh and Aiden A., Cronin (January 2006), “The right to water and protecting refugees,” Waterlines 24(3): 12-14.

Sossou, Marie-Antoinette (2006), “Mental-health services for refugee women and children in Africa: A call for activism and advocacy,” International Social Work 49(1): 9-17.

Posted in Periodicals.

New Issue of JEMS

The Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies has published its vol. 32, no. 2 (March 2006) issue. The special theme of the issue is "Music and Migration." Table of contents/abstracts are available here.

Posted in Periodicals.

New issue of Refugees Magazine

The December 2005 issue of UNHCR's Refugees Magazine is now online, and available in either a high-resolution or low-resolution PDF format.

The focus is on internally displaced persons (IDPs), with a lengthy article reviewing international efforts to provide legal and material assistance to this population. Sidebars within the article include statistics and an FAQ.

Posted in Periodicals.