Recent Journal Articles: Children, Conflict, Health, Torture, Trauma, Women

Ehntholt, K.A. and W. Yule, "Practitioner Review: Assessment and treatment of refugee children and adolescents who have experienced war-related trauma," Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, vol. 47, no. 12 (Dec. 2006), 1197-1210 [abstract]

Gedalof, I., "Unhomely Homes: Women, Family and Belonging in UK Discourses of Migration and Asylum," Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 33, no. 1 (Jan. 2007), 77-94 [abstract]

Giacaman, R. et al., "Individual and collective exposure to political violence: Palestinian adolescents coping with conflict," European Journal of Public Health, advance access, 30 Nov. 2006 [abstract]

Hooberman, J.B. et al., "Classifying the Torture Experiences of Refugees Living in the United States," Journal of Interpersonal Violence, vol. 22, no. 1 (Jan. 2007), 108-123 [abstract]

Kim, G. et al., "Basic, Women's Health, and Mental Health Among Internally Displaced Persons in Nyala Province, South Darfur, Sudan," American Journal of Public Health, published online 30 Nov. 2006 [abstract]

Loughry, M. et al., "The impact of structured activities among Palestinian children in a time of conflict," Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, vol. 47, no. 12 (Dec. 2006), 1211-1218 [abstract]

Omotayo, B.O., "Women and Conflict in the New Information Age," IFLA Journal, vol. 32, no. 4 (Dec. 2006), 325-332 [abstract]

Robertson, C.L. et al., "Somali and Oromo refugee women: trauma and associated factors," Journal of Advanced Nursing, vol. 56, no. 6 (Dec. 2006), 577-87 [abstract]

Stepakoff, S. et al., "Trauma Healing in Refugee Camps in Guinea: A Psychosocial Program for Liberian and Sierra Leonean Survivors of Torture and War," American Psychologist, vol. 61, no. 8 (Nov. 2006), 921-932 [abstract]

Vincent, J.E., "Simple spectacles for adult refugees on the Thailand-Burma border," Optometry and vision science, vol. 83, no. 11 (Nov. 2006), 803-10 [abstract]

Zegveld, L., "Dutch Cases on Torture Committed in Afghanistan: The Relevance of the Distinction between Internal and International Armed Conflict," Journal of International Criminal Justice, advance access, 2 Nov. 2006 [abstract]

Posted in Periodicals.

Two New Annual Reports: Children, Disasters

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) released its 2006 World Disasters Report last week. The focus of this year's edition is neglected and overlooked crises and disasters. Summaries of the report's seven chapters are provided; chapter five looks at the challenges boat migrants face in their attempts to reach Europe.

UNICEF's State of the World's Children 2007 was also launched last week. The theme is gender equality. The text of the report and background papers are provided, along with downloadable statistics and profiles of women and girls facing different gender-related challenges.

Posted in Publications.

New Working Papers: Diasporas, Humanitarian Donors, Mauritanian Refugees/Senegal, Migrants/South Africa, Refugee Camps

Des "réfugiés-migrants": Les parcours d’exil des réfugiés mauritaniens au Sénégal, New Issues in Refugee Research Paper, no. 135, by M. Fresia (Nov. 2006) [text]

Diasporas good? Diasporas bad?, COMPAS Working Paper, no. 41, by S. Vertovec (Dec. 2006) [text]

Good Humanitarian Donorship: overcoming obstacles to improved collective donor performance, HPG Discussion Paper, by S. Graves and V. Wheeler (Dec. 2006) [text]

In Direct Control?: Territorial Exclusion of Migrants in South Africa 1998-2004, FMSP Working Paper, no. 28, by D. Vigneswaran (Nov. 2006) [text]

In the absence of the humanitarian gaze: refugee camps after dark, New Issues in Refugee Research Paper, no. 137, by P. Vogler (Dec. 2006) [text]

Posted in Publications.

New Pubs.: Children & HIV, Civil-Military Coord., Human Sec., Integration, NGOs, Pakistan Earthquake, Sri Lanka

Children, HIV, Asylum & Immigration: An overview of the current situation for children living with HIV and insecure immigration status, M. Conway (Children and Young People HIV Network, Dec. 2006) [text]

Human Security and the Pivotal Role of Science in Achieving It, P. Walker (Feinstein International Center, Nov. 2006) [text]

Operating Manual for Humanitarian Agencies in Sri Lanka (Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies, Dec. 2006) [text]

Political Complexities of Humanitarian Intervention in the Pakistan Earthquake, T. Bamforth & J.H. Qureshi (JHA, Dec. 2006) [text]

Refugees and other new migrants: a review of the evidence on successful approaches to integration, S. Spencer, ed. (COMPAS, Dec. 2006) [text]

Report on the Annual Consultations with Non-Governmental Organizations (UNHCR, 2006) [text]

The Use of Military and Civil Defence Assets in Disaster Relief – "Oslo Guidelines" (UNOCHA, updated Nov. 2006) [text]

Posted in Publications.

New Periodical Issues: Conflict, ERC, Humanitarian Action, IDPs

Conflict Trends, no. 4/2006 [full-text]
- Focuses on a range of conflict issues in Africa.

Forced Migration Review, Special Issue (Dec. 2006) [full-text]
- Theme of this special issue is "Putting IDPs on the map: achievements and challenges in commemoration of the work of Roberta Cohen."

Humanitarian Exchange Magazine, no. 35 (Nov. 2006) [full-text]
- Special section focuses on "humanitarian action in urban contexts."

ICVA Talk Back, vol. 8-1 (Dec. 2006) [full-text]
- Among other matters, this issue looks at the debate over who will replace Jan Egeland as the next UN Emergency Relief Coordinator.

Posted in Periodicals.

New Periodical Issues: Dev. in Practice, Disasters, ERS, HRQ, Intl. Mig., IMR, JFR, JIRS, JRS, RSQ

Development in Practice, vol. 16, no. 6 (Nov. 2006) [contents]
- Focus of this issue is the "nature of knowledge for development (its provenance, how and by whom different knowledges are produced, defined, appropriated, and shared) and the conceptual frameworks and worldviews embedded in language – and why all this matters." The theme is further elaborated in the editorial. A list of relevant resources will eventually be made available on the resources page.

Disasters, vol. 30, no. 4 (Dec. 2006) [contents]
- Includes articles on livelihoods and complex emergencies, privatisation in wartime, the DRC, resilience, post-disaster resettlement, and earthquake protection strategies.

Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 29, no. 6 (Nov. 2006) [contents]
- Theme of this issue is "Social capital, migration and transnational families."

Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 28, no. 4 (Nov. 2006) [contents]
- Includes articles on definitions of torture, dignity, women's rights in the Koran, national human rights institutions, MDG 8, fair trade, sweatshops, and genocide prevention.

International Migration, vol. 44, no. 5 (Dec. 2006) [contents]
- Includes articles on free speech in Denmark, international migration and gender in Latin America, immigrants in Australia, Latinos in the U.S., and Nigerian female immigrants.

International Migration Review, vol. 40, no. 4 (Dec. 2006) [contents]
- Articles are available on guestworkers in Europe, Albanian migrants, labor migrants in Germany, Iranians in Turkey, immigration to the U.S., and Korean immigrants.

Journal de forum réfugiés, no. 36 (Oct. 2006) [selected full-text]
- Full-text articles include a review of asylum and immigration trends in France, Dublin II, and EU Regional Protection Programmes; available in French and English.

Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, vol. 4, no. 4 (2006) [contents]
- Includes articles on immigration to Portugal, Filipino American adolescents, health issues for Koreans in the U.S., community among African/Asian refugee youths, and health of Iraqi immigrants.

Journal of Refugee Studies, vol. 19, no. 4 (Dec. 2006) [contents]
- Articles are available on the returnee experience, impact of videoconferencing IRB hearings, asylum denials, refugee definitions, and children asylum seekers in Wales.

Refugee Survey Quarterly, vol. 25, no. 4 (2006) [contents]
- Reproduces statements and papers from Webster University's 11th Annual Humanitarian Conference, "Humanitarian Action: The Role of Governments, International Organizations and NGOs."

Posted in Periodicals.

Sexual Violence in Conflict

November 25th was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. A fairly recent UN study entitled "In-depth study on all forms of violence against women" notes that "there are still many forms of violence that remain largely undocumented" including "sexual violence against women in armed conflict and post-conflict situations" (p. 66), among others.

One effort to improve the quality and reliability of data is under way at the Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF). The Centre plans to publish a Global Report on Sexual Violence in Conflict in May 2007. The report will include, among other things, "country profiles with a brief summary of the conflict and qualitative and quantitative data on sexual violence in this conflict." The Centre is soliciting input to the report in the form of data and examples of good practice in response to sexual violence in conflict situations. Read the project summary for more information.

To date, the DCAF, in its capacity as a founding member of the Alliance for Direct Action against Rape in Conflicts and Crises (AllianceDARC), has produced a discussion paper on the challenges of data collection in this area and has compiled a bibliography.

Posted in Publications and Events/Opportunities.

Pubs. on Children, EU-Africa Migration, Human Trafficking, Peacebuilding, Refugee Funds

Children and Armed Confict, UN doc. no. A/61/529-S/2006/826 (UN, Oct. 2006) [text]

Conference documents, EU-Africa Ministerial Conference on Migration and Development, Tripoli, 22-23 November 2006 [site]

Conflict and Development: Peacebuilding and Post-conflict Reconstruction (UK House of Commons, Oct. 2006) [text]

Evaluating ERF and Challenge Fund Services Report (UK Home Office, Nov. 2006) [text]
- ERF = European Refugee Fund

Statement of the Participants of the GAATW Global Consultation on Prevention of Trafficking (15 Nov. 2006) [text]

Trans-Saharan Migration to North Africa and the EU: Historical Roots and Current Trends (Migration Info. Source, Nov. 2006) [text]

Unaccompanied Children and the Dublin II Regulation (Refugee Council, Nov. 2006) [text]

Posted in Publications.

New Pubs.: Asylum/Europe, Destitute Asylum Seekers/UK, Humanities, Intl. Instruments, Livelihoods/Uganda, Mental Health/UK, UNHCR & IDPs

Collection of International Instruments and Other Legal Texts Concerning Refugees and Others of Concern to UNHCR (Nov. 2006) [four volumes - web page]

The Destitution Trap: Research into destitution among refused asylum seekers in the UK (Refugee Action, Nov. 2006) [text]

Down and Out in London: The road to destitution for rejected asylum seekers (Amnesty International UK, Nov. 2006) [text]

Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Immigration Detainees (SPN for Modern Mental Health, 2006) [text]

Movement on the Margins: Livelihoods and Security in Kitgum District, Northern Uganda (Feinstein International Center, Nov. 2006) [text]

Refugee status, subsidiary protection, and the right to be granted asylum under EC law, New Issues in Refugee Research, no. 136 (M.-T. Gil-Bazo, Nov. 2006) [text]

Refugees and the Humanities: A Challenge (A. Holian, Nov. 2006) [text]

UNHCR’s expanded role in support of the inter-agency response to situations of internal displacement: Report of a lessons learned and effective practice workshop, PDES/2006/06 (UNHCR, Nov. 2006) [text]

Posted in Publications.

Forced Migration Fora: Asking Questions, Getting Answers

A variety of fora for posting questions and answers to a community of experts and practitioners are available in the forced migration field.

Aidworkers Forum [site]
- Made available through the revamped Aidworkers Network site. It's a place where humanitarian aid workers can post requests for advice and guidance on a range of issues. The forum is quite active and questions appear to have a high response rate. The forum is public but visitors must register in order to post questions or comments.

Forced Migration Discussion List [site]
- While not a new list (it's been around since the late 1990s), it just passed the 1000-member mark and continues to attract researchers and practitioners from a range of disciplines. The list archives are public, but visitors must subscribe to circulate messages. Managed by the Refugee Studies Centre (RSC).

Medact Refugee Health Network [site]
- A Yahoo group for health professionals working with refugees whose aim is "to share information and best practice amongst those working to facilitate improving the health of refugees." You must join in order to view the archives.

Refuge and Rejection Forum [site]
- Part of a newly launched site to promote the humanities in forced migration studies. As such, not much activity yet but there is an essay on "what the humanities have to contribute to the study of refugees" and "why humanists are poorly represented in the field of 'refugee studies'" which new members can comment on.

Refugee Education [site]
- Another Yahoo group set up to "support teachers and other professionals who work with refugee and asylum-seeking children, young people and families." Appears to be quite active, with 980 members. You must join in order to view the archives.

Refugee Studies [site]
- This was established for current and former students of UEL's refugee studies program. Sections include a general discussion area, research resources, employment/study opportunities, and conferences/events, among others. Currently, this forum appears to be used more for information-sharing than Q&A.

BTW, I posted a list of resources on the Aidworkers Forum in response to a request for information on how best to assist war-affected children in Uganda. If you are interested, you can read the request and response here.

Posted in Web Sites/Tools.

New Issue IJRL

The latest issue of the International Journal of Refugee Law is a double one: volume 18, number 3-4 (Sept/Dec 2006). According to the editorial extract, it consists "primarily of papers from the Workshop on ‘The Right to Seek and Enjoy Asylum? The Pacific, Mediterranean and Caribbean Plans Compared’, held in Prato, Italy, in 2005." A brief summary of the workshop is provided by ICAR.

Articles included in this issue:

(Note: I added links to author's profiles, where available. Also note that from the abstract page, OUP has now included a link to other articles written by a particular author and available through Google Scholar. Results are mixed, though, since no first names are used, just initials. So browse with caution!)

Susan Kneebone, Christopher McDowell, and Gareth Morrell
A Mediterranean Solution? Chances of Success [abstract]

Erika Feller
Asylum, Migration and Refugee Protection: Realities, Myths and the Promise of Things to Come [abstract]

Richard Towle
Processes and Critiques of the Indo-Chinese Comprehensive Plan of Action: An Instrument of International Burden-Sharing? [abstract]

María-Teresa Gil-Bazo
The Practice of Mediterranean States in the context of the European Union's Justice and Home Affairs External Dimension. The Safe Third Country Concept Revisited [abstract]

Madeline Garlick
The EU Discussions on Extraterritorial Processing: Solution or Conundrum? [abstract]

Elspeth Guild
The Europeanisation of Europe's Asylum Policy [abstract]

Alexander Betts
Towards a Mediterranean Solution? Implications for the Region of Origin [abstract]

Stephen H. Legomsky
The USA and the Caribbean Interdiction Program [abstract]

Susan Kneebone
The Pacific Plan: The Provision of ‘Effective Protection’? [abstract]

Posted in Periodicals.

New Working Papers: Compas, Fafo, UNHCR

The Balkans at a crossroads: Progress and challenges in finding durable solutions for refugees and displaced persons from the wars in the former Yugoslavia, New Issues in Refugee Research Paper, no. 133 (G. Ambroso, Nov. 2006) [text]

EU and the Migration-Development Nexus: What Prospects for EU-Wide Policies? Compas Working Paper, no. 37 (M-H Chou, Oct. 2006) [text]

The European asylum procedures directive in legal context, New Issues in Refugee Research Paper, no. 134 (C. Costello, Nov. 2006) [text]

Palestinian Refugees in Syria: Human Capital, Economic Resources and Living Conditions, Fafo-report 514 (A.A. Tiltnes, ed., Nov. 2006) [text]

Protecting refugees and asylum seekers under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, New Issues in Refugee Research Paper, no. 132 (S. Persaud, Nov. 2006) [text]

Posted in Publications.

The African Union's Refugee/IDP Institutional Structure

While visiting the African Union web site, I noticed that the AU’s Coordinating Committee on Assistance and Protection to Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (CCAR) is meeting today. A link to the draft agenda is provided on the home page. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find very much information on the AU web site about the work of this committee, but there are documents reflecting the work of other AU mechanisms that address refugee/IDP matters more generally. For example:

1. A description of the Humanitarian Affairs, Refugees and Displaced Persons Division, which is part of the Department of Political Affairs. A brief list of the Division's functions is also provided.

2. Conclusions and Recommendations of the Consultative Meeting between the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (March 2003) (Note: This includes a recommendation for work that the aforementioned CCAR should take on.)

3. A short article from the AU’s newsletter that describes how the AU collaborates with UNHCR.

4. The web site for the recently convened Ministerial Conference on Refugees, Returnees and IDPs. (Note: UNHCR’s Africa Newsletter, p. 3, includes a brief report of the results of the meeting.)

In addition, decisions of the AU Assembly and Council of Ministers that relate to displacement issues are available. Visitors can browse by session or search the site for relevant terms. (Note: The AU site engine is not currently functioning but a site search can still be conducted using a web search engine like Google; for example, enter >refugees site: www.africa-union.org< into the search box to locate references specific to the AU site.)

Other resources elsewhere elaborate on AU refugee/IDP mechanisms, including the following:

1. An article from Conflict Trends that provides a very helpful overview of the African Union’s evolving “institutional framework for responding to forced displacement in Africa.” And it includes a description of the CCAR mentioned above.

2. A book entitled Human Rights in Africa: From the OAU to the African Union. It includes a chapter on “refugees and human rights.”

3. The book's author, Rachel Murray, also has an article in RSQ called “Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons and Human Rights: The African System.”

Posted in Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

New Annual Reports from ECRE, FAO, Freedom House, RSF, UNDP

(Updated Nov. 10, 2006)

ECRE Country Report 2005 (ECRE) [text]
- Individual country overviews of legal and social developments affecting refugees and asylum-seekers in Europe.

Freedom in the World 2006 (Freedom House) [text]
- Annual survey of civil and political rights around the world.

Freedom of the Press Worldwide in 2006 (Reporters sans Frontieres) [text]
- Annual survey of press freedom and violence against journalists.

Human Development Report 2006 - Beyond scarcity: power, poverty and the global water crisis (UNDP) [text]

The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2006 (FAO) [text]
- Reviews progress, or lack thereof, in attempts to eradicate hunger in the world. Apparently, world hunger has increased since the World Food Summit held in 1996 pledged to halve in by 2015.

Posted in Publications.

Literature Reviews: Mental Health Aspects of Forced Migration

I am compiling literature reviews for another project I'm working on and I have come across a number that discuss the mental health and psychological issues confronting forced migrants. One of the principal debates reflected in this literature is the validity of the PTSD concept for refugee and other forced migrant populations. Among other things, critics argue that PTSD is a Western concept which is often applied without regard for the cultural perspective of the affected individuals. For an overview of this and other debates within the psychological community, read C. Eyber's FMO Research Guide on Psychosocial Issues (2002).

Ager, A. (1993). Mental Health Issues in Refugee Populations: A Review. Boston, Harvard Medical School, Department of Social Medicine, Project on International Mental and Behavioural Health, 35 p. [text]
- Note: This paper is available in Forced Migration Online's digital library. To retrieve the text, go to "advanced search" and enter the author's name or title keywords into the relevant search field.

Friedman, M. J. and J. M. Jaranson (1994). "The Applicability of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Concept to Refugees." In Amidst Peril and Pain: The Mental Health and Well-being of the World's Refugees, ed. by A. J. Marsella, T. Bornemann, S. Ekblad and J. Orley. Washington, DC, American Psychological Association: 207-27. [text]

Hollifield, M., T. D. Warner, et al. (2002). "Measuring Trauma and Health Status in Refugees: A Critical Review." JAMA 288(5): 611-21.
- Note: JAMA electronic content is available free of charge six months after publication. Register as a guest at http://jama.ama-assn.org/.

Keyes, E. F. (2000). "Mental Health Status in Refugees: An Integrative Review of Current Research." Issues in Mental Health Nursing 21(4): 397-410. [abstract]

Loughry, M., C. Eyber, et al. (2003). Psychosocial Concepts in Humanitarian Work with Children: A Review of the Concepts and Related Literature. Washington, DC, National Academies Press. [text]

Mills, E. J., S. Singh, et al. (2005). "Prevalence of Mental Disorders and Torture among Tibetan Refugees: A Systematic Review." BMC International Health and Human Rights 5. [text]

Mollica, R. F., B. Lopes Cardozo, et al. (2004). "Mental Health in Complex Emergencies." The Lancet 364(9450): 2058–67.
- Note: Text freely available online from The Lancet; however, registration is required before access is provided.

Murthy, R. S. and R. Lakshminarayana (2006). "Mental Health Consequences of War: A Brief Review of Research Findings." World Psychiatry 5(1): 25–30. [text]

Nicholl, C. and A. Thompson (2004). "The Psychological Treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Adult Refugees: A Review of the Current State of Psychological Therapies." Journal of Mental Health 13(4): 351-62. [text]

Procter, N. G. (2005). "'They First Killed His Heart (Then) He Took His Own Life'. Part 1: A Review of the Context and Literature on Mental Health Issues for Refugees and Asylum Seekers." International Journal of Nursing Practice 11(6): 286-291. [abstract]

Refugee Trauma Task Force (2003). Review of Child and Adolescent Refugee Mental Health. Boston, National Child Traumatic Stress Network, 49 p. [text]

Schweitzer, R., L. Buckley, et al. (2002). "The Psychological Treatment of Refugees and Asylum Seekers: What Does the Literature Tell Us?" Mots Pluriels 21. [text]

Willigen, L. v. (1992). A (Short) Review of Literature on the Health Problems of Refugees. 3rd International Research and Advisory Panel Meeting. Oxford. [text]
- Note: This paper is available in Forced Migration Online's digital library. To retrieve the text, go to "advanced search" and enter the author's name or title keywords into the relevant search field.

For more information and other literature references, visit the "Cultural Understandings" section of Harpweb's Mental Health and Well-Being Resource.

Posted in Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

New Periodical Issues: Asylons, Conflict Trends, Hum. Reform, J. Forum Refugies, Mig. Letters, NICS, REMI

Asylon(s), no. 1 (Oct. 2006) [full-text]
- New periodical from TERRA (Travaux, Etudes, Recherches sur les Réfugiés et l’Asile); focus is on "Femmes persécutées."

Conflict Trends, no. 3/2006 [full-text]
- Theme is "peacekeeping in Africa."

Humanitarian Reform Newsletter (Sept. 2006) [full-text]
- Provides news and updates about the cluster approach.

Le Journal de Forum Réfugiés, no. 36 (Oct. 2006) [selected full-text in French] [selected full-text in English]

Migration Letters, vol. 3, no. 2 (Oct. 2006) [full-text]
- Includes articles on migrants in Greece, Mexico, Nepal and Canada. Also includes "Refugee Policy is a Realist’s Nightmare: The Case of Southeast Asia" and two forced migration-related book reviews.

Nutrition Information in Crisis Situations, vol. 10 (Aug. 2006) [full-text]

Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales, vol. 22, no. 2 (2006) [contents]
- 20th anniversary issue; includes "Asile, immigration : réconcilier les droits de l’homme et ceux du citoyen."

Posted in Periodicals.

Recent Journal Literature

Recent research articles identified through HighWire Press, Oxford University Press Journals, and Ingenta:

Carlsson, J.M. et al., "Mental Health and Health-Related Quality of Life: A 10-Year Follow-Up of Tortured Refugees," Journal of Nervous and Mental Disorders, vol. 194, no. 10 (Oct. 206) [abstract]

Dolma, S. et al., "Dangerous Journey: Documenting the Experience of Tibetan Refugees," American Journal of Public Health, vol. 96, no. 11 (Nov. 2006) [abstract]

Kotschy, B., "Austria: Asylum law in conflict with the Constitution," International Journal of Constitutional Law, vol. 4, no. 4 (Oct. 2006) [abstract]

Momartin, S. et al., "A comparison of the mental health of refugees with temporary versus permanent protection visas," The Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 185, no. 7 (Oct. 2006) [text]

Phillimore, J. and L. Goodson, "Problem or opportunity? Asylum seekers, refugees, employment and social exclusion in deprived urban areas," Urban Studies, vol. 43, no. 10 (Sept. 2006) [abstract]

Rikhof, J., "Complicity in International Criminal Law and Canadian Refugee Law: A Comparison," Journal of International Criminal Justice, advance access (Oct. 2006) [abstract]

Shah, S.A., "Resistance to Cross-cultural Psychosocial Effortsin Disaster and Trauma: Recommendations for Ethnomedical Competence," The Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies, vol. 2006-2 (2006) [text]

Wolton, S., "Immigration Policy and the 'Crisis of British Values'," Citizenship Studies, vol. 10, no. 4 (Sept. 2006) [abstract]

Posted in Publications and Periodicals.

North Korean Asylum Seekers

The International Crisis Group released a report on 26 October 2006 that it describes as one of "the first to look comprehensively at networks of North Korean asylum seekers and the policies of related countries." Included as Appendix C is an overview of international refugee law and its application to North Korean refugees.

Reliable information about North Korea is hard to come by. As one report notes, "the DPRK is a notoriously difficult subject to study. Aside from the fundamental shortage of data that can be independently verified, a significant proportion of the available literature and reports concerning the country are heavily influenced by a variety of biases, and/or are based on source material of questionable origin." (Mahr, 2002, p. 1)

Previous background reports have focused on China and the situation of North Koreans once they arrive there. See Refugees International, the U.S. Committee for Refugees, and WriteNet for examples and further references. More general studies on North Korean border-crossers and strategies for dealing with North Korean displacement are also available.

Titles of reports referenced:

1. Acts of Betrayal: The Challenge of Protecting North Koreans in China (Refugees International, May 2005) [text];
2. The Border-Crossing North Koreans: Current Situations and Future Prospects (Korea Institute for National Unification, May 2006) [text];
3. China: Background Paper on the Situation of North Koreans in China (WriteNet, Jan. 2005) [text];
4. "China," World Refugee Survey 2006 (USCRI, 2006) [text];
5. North Korea: Scenarios From The Perspective Of Refugee Displacement (Mahr, Feb. 2002) [text];
6. Perilous Journeys: The Plight of North Koreans in China and Beyond (ICG, Oct. 2006) [text].

Posted in Publications.

RSC News: New Working Papers, Forthcoming FMR, FM List Book Prize

The Refugee Studies Centre (RSC) in Oxford has published six new working papers. Their numbers and titles are as follows:

37: The Medium of Testimony: Testimony as Re-Presentation [text]

36: The Politics of Extraterritorial Processing: Offshore Asylum Policies in Europe and the Pacific [text]
- Note: COMPAS also recently published a paper on "externalizing" EU asylum policy to Africa.

35: Protection Against Torture in Western Security Frameworks: The Erosion of Non-Refoulement in the UK-Libya MOU [text]

34: Asylum and Childhood in the UK: A Highly Political Relationship [text]

33: Negotiating Access and Culture: Organizational Responses to the Healthcare Needs of
Refugees and Asylum Seekers living with HIV in the UK [text]

32: The Use of Diplomatic Assurances in the Prevention of Prohibited Treatment [text]
- Note: UNHCR recently prepared a Note on Diplomatic Assurances and International Refugee Protection.

Forced Migration Review's next issue will focus on "Sexual violence in conflict and beyond." It will be produced in collaboration with UNFPA and is due to be published in November. FMR is available online in English, Arabic, French and Spanish. English-language issues are also searchable on Forced Migration Online.

Finally, Forced Migration Online (FMO) is offering a book prize for the 1000th member to join the forced migration discussion list. Visit FMO's home page for more details.

Posted in Publications and Events & Opportunities.

New Pubs.: Girls/Armed Conflict, High-Level Dial., IDPs/North Caucasus, Minority Rights/Darfur, Providing Aid, South Asia Migration, UNHCR Evaluation

The girl child and armed conflict: Recognizing and addressing grave violations of girls’ human rights, EGM/DVGC/2006/EP.12 (D. Mazurana and K. Carlson, Sept. 2006) [text]

Minority Rights, Early Warning and Conflict Prevention: Lessons from Darfur (MRG, Oct. 2006) [text]

Providing aid in insecure environments: trends in policy and operations, HPG Report 23 (A. Stoddard, A. Harmer and K. Haver, Sept. 2006) [text]

Real-time evaluation of UNHCR’s response to the emergency in Lebanon and Syria, July - September 2006, PDES/2006/RTE1 (S. Sperl, K. Diagne, and D. Snider, Oct. 2006) [text]

Summary of the High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development: Note by the President of the General Assembly, A/61/515 (Oct. 2006) [text]

An Uncertain Future: The Challenges of Return and Reintegration for Internally Displaced Persons in the North Caucasus (IDMC, Oct. 2006) [text]

See also the research reports produced by the five South Asia Migration Research Network fellows for 2004-2006. Titles and texts available here.

Posted in Publications.

New Research Papers: EU Asylum Policy, IDPs/Iraq, IDPs/Nigeria, Refugee Label, Refugees/Uganda

(List updated 27 Oct. 2006)

“Because we are refugees”: utilizing a legal label, New Issues in Refugee Research Paper, no. 130 (K. Inhetveen, Oct. 2006) [text]

Management of internal displacement in Nigeria, Rosemarie Rogers Working Paper, no. 35 (O. Olagunju, Oct. 2006) [access in HTML or PDF]

The 'refugee aid and development' approach in Uganda: empowerment and self-reliance of refugees in practice, New Issues in Refugee Research Paper, no. 131 (S. Meyer, Oct. 2006) [text]

Refugees in Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement and Aura Town, Refugee Law Project Briefing Paper (Oct. 2006) [text]

Sectarian Violence: Radical Groups Drive Internal Displacement in Iraq, Brookings-Bern Project Occasional Paper (A. al-Khalidi & V. Tanner, Oct. 2006) [text]

Towards a Common European Asylum Policy, EPC Issue Paper No. 49 (S. Bertozzi & F. Pastore, Oct. 2006) [text]

Posted in Publications.

FGM: Legal/Medical News

The Guardian reported yesterday that the House of Lords in England recommended a grant of asylum to a woman from Sierra Leone on the basis of her fear of female circumcision. The UK’s Home Office has developed asylum policy instructions for gender issues but, as the article notes, some NGOs suggest that gender-based persecution is still not readily recognized as a valid claim for asylum.

Gender guidelines from other government agencies are listed here.

The World Health Organization published a study in the June 2006 issue of the Lancet that determined "women who have had Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) are significantly more likely to experience difficulties during childbirth and that their babies are more likely to die as a result of the practice." A summary of the study is provided in this press release and the text of the study is made available here.

Posted in Publications.

EU: Externalizing Asylum Policy

Two recent papers critique different aspects of the European Union's practice of "externalizing" refugee protection to either regions of origin or transit countries.

1. European Union: Managing Migration Means Potential EU Complicity in Neighboring States’ Abuse of Migrants and Refugees (Human Rights Watch, Oct. 2006) [text]

2. The Externalisation of EU Asylum Policy: The Position of African States (A. Betts, J. Milner, 2006) [text]

An earlier paper from OXFAM provides background on the various practices undertaken by the EU to manage migration outside of its borders. Read "Foreign Territory: The Internationalisation of EU Asylum Policy."

As noted in this post from PolicyBlog, many of these issues were addressed in a 2005 conference jointly organized by Monash University in Australia, ICAR, and UNHCR. The papers from this conference will be published in a forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Refugee Law.

Posted in Publications.

New Pubs.: CCR Conf. Rpt., EU Asylum, Human Trafficking, IDPs/Sudan, Refugee Policy/Eurasia, Refugee Security

Conference Report, Canadian Council for Refugees International Refugee Rights Conference, 17-19 June 2006, Toronto [access to report and presentations]

ECRE Information Note on the Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005 on minimum standards on procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status (ECRE, Oct. 2006) [text]

Member states fail on asylum (EurActiv.com, 11 Oct. 2006) [text]

Operational Guidelines on Maintaining the Civilian and Humanitarian Character ofAsylum (UNHCR, Sept. 2006) [text]

The Protection of Internally Displaced Persons in the Sudan: Applying International Law at the Field Level (Kirsten Zaat, Oct. 2006) [text on JHA]

Refugee policy in Eurasia: The CIS Conference and EU Enlargement Process 1996-2005 (Luise Druke, Aug. 2006; posted online Oct. 2006) [text on UNHCR]

Toolkit to Combat Trafficking in Persons (UNODC, Oct. 2006) [text]

Posted in Publications.

UNHCR News: Evaluation & Policy Dev., Library Acquisitions, Refugees Mag., Rescue at Sea

1. UNHCR's former Evaluation and Policy Analysis Unit (EPAU) has been upgraded to the Policy Development and Evaluation Service (PDES). For more information about PDES' objectives, read the presentation made by Jeff Crisp to EXCOM members and the report on evaluation and policy development.

2. A new issue of Refugees Magazine (no. 144) has been published. The theme is "Where Are They Now? The Hungarian Refugees, 50 Years On." Two pdf versions are available, one low-resolution and one high-resolution.

3. The library has issued an annotated list of new titles added to the collection as of September.

4. A brochure entitled "Rescue at sea: A guide to principles and practice as applied to migrants and refugees" has been prepared in conjunction with IMO for "masters, ship owners, government authorities, insurance companies, and other interested parties involved in rescue at sea situations." Available in English, Spanish, and French.

Posted in Publications.

NGO Reports: GBV, Housing Rights, Palestinian Displacement, UNHCR's RSD Procedures, U.S. Material Support Bar

Defending the Housing Rights of Children (COHRE & Cordaid, Sept. 2006) [text]

Displaced by the Wall: Forced displacement as a Result of the West Bank Wall and its Associated Regime (IDMC & Badil, Sept. 2006) [text]

Gender Based Violence Bibliography (RHRC, updated Sept. 2006) [text]

No Margin for Error: Implementation of UNHCR’s Procedural Standards for refugee status determination at selected UNHCR field offices in 2006 (RSDWatch.org, Sept. 2006) [summary and text]

And two reports that focus on the impact of a U.S. law that "bars refugees who provide material support to terrorist organizations from being granted asylum... ." Because the law uses broad definitions of "material support" and other terms, the reports contend that many victims of terrorist groups have been denied refugee protection.

Abandoning the Persecuted: Victims of Terrorism and Oppression Barred from Asylum (Human Rights First, Sept. 2006) [text]

U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for Fiscal Year 2006 and 2007: The Impact of the Material Support Bar (Refugee Council USA, Sept. 2006) [text]

Posted in Publications.

57th Session of the UNHCR Executive Committee

Today marks the start of the 57th Session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner's Programme in Geneva. The meeting will run through 6 October. EXCOM members convene to "review and approve the agency's programmes and budgets and to advise on protection matters." Read the High Commissioner's opening statement.

Some documents are already available in English and French on the UNHCR web site, including an agenda, the evaluation and policy development report (which includes a brief description of future projects), the Note on International Protection, and the Standing Committee report. Updates have also been prepared on UNHCR's operations within different regions.

The UNHCR/NGO 2006 PreEXCOM Consultations concluded last week, with High Commissioner Guterres summarizing the issues confronting the international refugee community. Some NGOs with observer status at the EXCOM session have begun to make their statements available online. See, for example, Amnesty International.

(updated 5 October 2006)

Posted in Publications and Events.

Human Rights Council and IDPs

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) reported yesterday that the UN Representative of the Secretary-General on the human rights of IDPs, Walter Kälin, addressed the second session of the Human Rights Council on 19 September 2006. The complete text of his statement is available here. Copies of the report on IDPs presented to the Council (E/CN.4/2006/71) are available here in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Russian.

Posted in Publications and Events.

UNHCR/NGO Consultations

As previously reported in this post, the annual consultations between UNHCR and NGOs are taking place in Geneva from 27 to 29 September. Yesterday's sessions included welcome speeches from the heads of the NGO Liaison Unit and of External Relations at UNHCR and the director of ICVA. In addition, presentations were made by all of UNHCR's regional bureaux.

Today, the following thematic roundtables are being held (where available, links to a selection of related background documents are also provided):

Roundtable: "Implementation of the new cluster approach in situations of internal displacement"
- Document on UNHCR's expanded role in internal displacement situations

Roundtable: "Combating the use of detention as a deterrent: A case study from the Mediterranean"
- See country reports for Malta, Spain and Italy from the International Detention Coalition.

Roundtable: "Challenges of Return: Rights and sustainable solutions"
- Description of AUSTCARE research project "A Place to Call Home: Protection and Voluntary Repatriation of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Protracted Situations

Roundtable: "Mainstreaming education within humanitarian response"
- Save the Children campaign, "Rewrite the future: education and hope for millions of children affected by armed conflict
- INEE Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crises and Early Reconstruction

Roundtable: "Prevention and reduction of statelessness and protection of stateless persons"
- UNHCR web pages on "who is stateless"

Roundtable: "Integration: The forgotten 'solution'"
- The forgotten solution: local integration for refugees in developing countries, New Issues in Refugee Research Working Paper no. 45
- Local integration as a durable solution: refugees, host populations and education in Uganda, New Issues in Refugee Research Working Paper no. 93

Roundtable: "'MSRP' - UNHCR's global implementation of the PeopleSoft software package"

Roundtable: "Collaboration in addressing gender issues"
- Notes from OXFAM
- IASC Gender Handbook (draft for consultation)

Roundtable: "What are the strategies for countries supportive of resettlement?"
- UNHCR's resettlement web pages

Roundtable: "Children's protection and humanitarian reform"
- UNHCR's web pages on children

Roundtable: "They don't talk about rape!! Improving protection for refugee women and girls"
- Women at Risk Assessment Tool and Response Mechanism, prepared by the Centre for Refugee Research and ANCORW
- UNHCR's Sexual and Gender-Based Violence against Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: Guidelines for Prevention and Response
- The Case for a UNHCR Conclusion on “Refugee Women at Risk”, prepared by the Centre for Refugee Research
- Standing Committee Discussion Paper on a Possible Executive Committee Conclusion on Displaced Women and Girls at Risk

A detailed agenda for the consultations is available, along with a schedule for side meetings.

Posted in Publications and Events.

New Research Reports: Displaced/Uganda, Humanitarianism, Integration, Palestinians, Somali Refugees/Switz.

Humanitarian Agenda 2015: Principles, Power, and Perceptions (Feinstein International Center, Sept. 2006) [access to text and country studies]
- Note change in institute name from the Feinstein International Famine Center to the Feinstein International Center. For more info., read this profile.

The Integration of Migrants: Engaging Employers, Unions and the Voluntary Sector, London, 4 July 2006: Conference Report (COMPAS, Sept. 2006) [text]

Interim Return and Palestine: On Politics, Terminology and Structural Invisibility, DIIS Working Paper no. 2006/21 (DIIS, August 2006) [text]

Invisibly Displaced Persons in Adjumani District, Working Paper no. 19 (Refugee Law Project, Sept. 2006) [text]

Somali Refugees in Switzerland: Strategies of Exile and Policy Responses (SFM, July 2006) [text]

Violence and humanitarian assistance: Reflections on an intricate relationship (Journal of Humanitarian Assistance, Sept. 2006) [text]

Posted in Publications.

New Periodical Issues: AWR, IJMHSC, Intl. Mig., JEMS, REMI, Security Dial.

AWR Bulletin, vol. 44, no. 2 (2006) [contents]
- Scroll down. Includes articles in Italian and German on protecting women in armed conflict, human rights and refugee protection, asylum in history, and immigrant workers in the U.S.

International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 2, no. 2 (Sept. 2006) [contents, selected full-text]
- Focus is on different issues affecting migrating children (as asylum-seekers, in difficult circumstances, street children...).

International Migration, vol. 44, no. 4 (Oct. 2006) [contents]
- Includes three articles commenting on the GCIM report and six articles focusing on human smuggling.

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 32, no. 8 (Nov. 2006) [contents]
- Theme of this issue is "Older Migrants in Europe: Experiences, Exclusion and Constructive Accommodation."

Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales, vol. 22, no. 1 (2006) [contents, selected full-text]
- Focus is on diasporas.

Security Dialogue, vol. 37, no. 3 (Sept. 2006) [contents]
- Includes articles on human trafficking in Central Asia and sexual violence in Sierra Leone, among others.

Posted in Periodicals.

New ICAR Policy Blog

ICAR has launched a second blog called PolicyBlog that will track developments in asylum and refugee policy in both the UK and around the world. The ultimate aim is to "improve understanding of the policy making process... ." ICAR's first blog, Mediablog, comments on refugee/asylum matters reported in the news media.

Posted in Web Sites/Tools.

Swiss Asylum Law

Human Rights Watch reported that a referendum will be held tomorrow (24 September) in Switzerland to vote on the implementation of proposed changes to the country's asylum law. ICAR blogged earlier about the pending vote here. The Office fédéral des migrations has compiled an FAQ and other documents explaining the changes.

A number of organizations are opposed to the proposed changes. For example, HRW has prepared an analysis detailing what it views as the "proposed law’s shortcomings as measured against international legal standards for the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers." The Swiss Refugee Council (OSAR) also advocates a "no" vote, and provides a list of other opponents and their statements. More information is provided on their asylum web page, including the text of the proposed law.

A contrary viewpoint has been expressed by Prof. Kay Hailbronner of the Center for International and European Law on Immigration and Asylum, as reported by Le Temps news. He believes the revisions, if implemented, would conform to international refugee law.

Posted in Publications.

Guidelines: Protecting Persons Affected by Natural Disasters

While these guidelines were adopted by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) in June 2006, the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement is publishing a final version of them that includes a foreword. In doing so, "the Project hopes to assist the UN in providing the people on the front lines of disaster response with the guidance they need on how to ensure that the rights of people affected by natural disasters are better protected."

The accompanying manual referenced in the foreword is in the process of being finalized and will be made available online accordingly.

Posted in Publications.

Literature Reviews: Refugees/IDPs in Africa

I am compiling of list of literature reviews and came across the series "Studies on Emergencies and Disater Relief," which was produced by the Nordic Africa Institute with assistance from Sida. Several of the studies in the series are extensive literature surveys or state of the art reviews, so I have listed the relevant titles here. Most are available for download, unless otherwise indicated.

Internally Displaced, Refugees and Returnees from and in Mozambique (K. Wilson, 1994) [summary]

Internally Displaced, Refugees and Returnees from and in the Sudan: A Review (D. Nilsson, 2000) [summary and link to full-text]

Liberia - The Eye of the Storm: A Review of the Literature on Internally Displaced, Refugees and Returnees (D. Nilsson, 2003) [summary and link to full-text]

Refugee and Labour Movements in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review (J. Baker, 1995) [summary and link to full-text]

Shelter Provision and Settlement Policies for Refugees: A State of the Art Review (R. Zetter, 1995) [summary and link to full-text] [also available here, with 2003 intro.]

Somali Refugees in the Horn of Africa: State of the Art Literature Review (S. Waldron & N. Hasci, 1995) [summary]

Posted in Publications.

RSS Round-Up: Asylum Trends, Human Rights, Migration

RSS feeds can regularly alert you to new information resources. Here are a few examples:

From Amnesty International USA (they offer region- and campaign-specific newsfeeds as well as one for recent reports, which is the source for this guide):
- Living in the Shadows: A primer on the human rights of migrants (Sept. 2006) [html text]

From beSpacific (this law and technology news blog offers one newsfeed):
- 2006 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom (U.S. Dept. of State, Sept. 2006) [abstract with link to text]

From Docuticker (this current awareness service offers one newsfeed, but the blog itself includes a number of categories; also each document profile includes linked keywords to assist users in locating related titles):
- Identifying the Determinants of Attitudes towards Immigrants: A Structural Cross-Country Analysis (Institute for the Study of Labor, Sept. 2006) [abstract and link to full paper]

From Pambazuka News (they offer category-specific newsfeeds including "refugees and forced migration" and "conflict and emergencies"):
- International Migration and Development: Implications for Africa (Economic Commission for Africa, Sept. 2006) [pdf text]

From UNHCR News (by way of FMO, which displays newsfeeds from various sources; currently, UNHCR only offers one feed; hopefully, in the future it will offer more, including one for its "What's New" page):
- Latest asylum statistics for 36 industrialized nations (UNHCR, Sept. 2006) [briefing note with link to full report]

Don't forget to copy my Site Feed into your newsreader!

Posted in Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

New Pubs.: EU Asylum, Forced Eviction/Zimb., Mig. Lit. Reviews, Migrants/Libya, Persecution

From a Zero-Sum to a Win-Win Scenario? Literature Review on Circular Migration (Migration Policy Institute, Sept. 2006) [text]
- Prepared in light of UN High-Level Dialogue on Migration and Development.

Next Steps in the Development of the Common European Asylum System, Informal JHA Ministerial Meeting, Tampere, 20-22 September 2006 [text]
- Background document prepared by Finland's EU Presidency.

"Persecution Complex: Justifying Asylum Law’s Preference for Persecuted People," Harvard International Law Journal, vol. 47, no. 2, Summer 2006 [text]

Remittances and Development: Trends, Impacts and Policy Options - A Review of the Literature (Migration Policy Institute, Sept. 2006) [text]
- Prepared in light of UN High-Level Dialogue on Migration and Development.

Stemming the Flow: Abuses Against Migrants, Asylum Seekers and Refugees (Human Rights Watch, Sept. 2006) [text]
- Focus on Libya.

Zimbabwe: No Justice for Victims of Forced Eviction (Amnesty International, Sept. 2006) [text]

Posted in Publications.

Forced Migration Data Sets

I referenced the human trafficking statistics project in my previous post. There are several other data sets accessible online that may also be of interest:

The CIRI Human Rights Dataset "contains standards-based quantitative information on government respect for 13 internationally recognized human rights for 195 countries, annually from 1981-2004." The FAQ notes that the focus is on "government" human rights practices particularly, and not on those of non-state actors. Free registration is required.

The EM-DAT Disaster Database "contains essential core data on the occurrence and effects of over 12,800 mass disasters in the world from 1900 to present." A separate but related database houses data on the human impact of complex emergencies.

The Minorities at Risk Project "maintains data on 284 politically active ethnic groups." The project provides qualitative risk assessments for each group, as well as access to data from 1945 to the present.

If you have conducted a survey yourself and wish to preserve the resulting data and/or make it available to other researchers, you may be able to deposit the data with the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Science Research (ICPSR). For example, this file from a refugee-related study was deposited in ICPSR's "publications-related archive," which allows other "researcher(s) to replicate a corresponding published article, book, or dissertation [and]...contribute to the building of synthetic cohorts, time series, or meta-analysis datasets."

Posted in Web Sites/Tools.

Human Trafficking Research

The High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development begins tomorrow. Calls have been made for improving the evidence base for international migration in the interest of enhancing policy formulation. To that end, here are a few references to reviews of research that focus on one particular migration issue, human trafficking:

Data and research on human trafficking: A global survey (special issue of International Migration, vol. 43, no. 1/2, 2005) [text]
- Includes three articles on research methods and nine reviews of research with a regional focus. A bibliography organized by region is also included.

Taking Stock: A Review of the Existing Research onTrafficking for Sexual Exploitation (FAFO, 2005) [text]

Both resources note that the available data on human trafficking are not sufficiently reliable. Other comments on the problem of poor data are provided in this Migration Information source report. One endeavor to enhance the quality of data is the UNESCO Trafficking Statistics Project.

Posted in Publications.

Focus on Children: Child Labour, Education, Unaccompanied Minors

Several recent publications I've come across examine forced migration issues that impact children.

Child labour:

After the storm: economic activities among children and youth in return areas in post war Liberia: the case of Voinjama (FAFO, 2006) [text]

Education:

Guidebook for Planning Education in Emergencies and Reconstruction (UNESCO, 2006) [text]

Rewrite the Future: Education for children in conflict-affected countries (Sept. 2006) [text]
- New campaign initiated by Save the Children.

Unaccompanied minors:

Seeking Asylum Alone: Unaccompanied and Separated Children and Refugee Protection in the U.S. and Australia (Jacqueline Bhabha and Mary Crock, June 2006) [U.S. text] [Australia text]

Posted in Publications.

New Periodical Issues: CCR, Migration, RSQ, The Wire

CCR Chronicle, vol. 1, no. 5 (Sept. 2006) [text]
- From the Canadian Council for Refugees.

Migration Magazine (Sept. 2006) [text]
- Examples of article topics include the High-Level Dialogue, remittances, human trafficking, reintegration, and migrant workers in Lebanon.

Refugee Survey Quarterly, vol. 25, no. 3 (2006) [contents]
- Focus is on nationality and the reduction of statelessness.

The Wire (Sept. 2006) [text]
- From Amnesty International.

Posted in Periodicals.

Reports/Articles: Forced Eviction/Indonesia, IDPs, Intl. Mig., Iran, Middle East, Returnees/Croatia

Condemned Communities: Forced Evictions in Jakarta (Human Rights Watch, Sept. 2006) [text]

A Decade of Disappointment: Continuing Obstacles to the Reintegration of Serb Returnees (Human Rights Watch, Sept. 2006) [text]

"Iran: A Vast Diaspora Abroad and Millions of Refugees at Home," Migration Information Source (Shirin Hakimzadeh, Sept. 2006) [text]

"The Lebanese Crisis and Its Impact on Immigrants and Refugees," Migration Information Source (Kara Murphy, Sept. 2006) [text]

Moving Young (UNFPA, 2006) [text]
- Companion volume to State of World Population report listed below.

A Passage to Hope: Women and International Migration - State of World Population 2006 (UNFPA, 2006) [site]

Seminar on Displacement, Protection of Civilians and the Law of Armed Conflict in the Current Middle East Crisis (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, 15 August 2006) [text]

UNHCR’s Expanded Role in Support of the Inter-Agency Response to Internal Displacement Situations (12 Sept. 2006) [text]

Posted in Publications.

Registration Deadline for Annual UNHCR/NGO Consultations

The deadline for registering for the annual pre-EXCOM consultation between UNHCR and NGOs is September 8. The discussions will take place 27-29 September 2006, in Geneva. A draft agenda is available here. Currently, four roundtable and two plenary sessions are scheduled, covering a range of issues such as IDP protection, detention, durable solutions, education, women and girls at risk, and statelessness.

Reports from past consultations are available here. ICVA also provides access to reports and documents from previous sessions.

Posted in Events and Publications.

OUP 'seminal papers' collection to include Zetter article

The Refugee Studies Centre (RSC) reported that an article by Roger Zetter, the centre's newly appointed director, has been selected for inclusion in a collection of "seminal papers" to be published by Oxford University Press journals. The RSC announcement provides a link to the full-text of "Labelling Refugees: Forming and Transforming a Bureaucratic Identity," Journal of Refugee Studies, vol. 4, no. 1 (1991).

The text of this article, along with other back issues of JRS, is included in Forced Migration Online's searchable journals collection. More information about how to access free content in scholarly journals is provided in this earlier posting.

Posted in Periodicals.

International Migration & Development Meeting, 14-15 Sept. 2006

As reported in an earlier posting, a High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development will take place 14-15 September 2006 in New York. Visit the web site for more information about the organization of the meeting and its objectives. You can also access a number of background documents such as the report of the Secretary-General on migration and development and the report of the Global Commission on International Migration.

Several international organizations that are participating in the meeting have prepared their own web pages with links to conference reports and other documents produced in anticipation of the September meeting. See, for example, pages for UNHCR, OHCHR, and IOM.

Finally, NGOs and civil society groups had an opportunity last month to share their views. December 18 has compiled a number of these, as has the NGLS. "Informal interactive hearings of the General Assembly with representatives of non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations and the private sector" are summarized in this UN document.

Posted in Events and Publications.

Comments on refugee law & policy

A random selection of recent comments from refugee and asylum NGOs on various legal and policy issues:

- The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) provides recommendations to the Finnish Presidency of the EU on asylum issues.

- The Refugee Council (UK) responds to a Home Office consultation on the "Implementation of Council Directive 2004/83/EC of 29 April 2004 on minimum standards for the qualification and status of third country nationals or stateless persons as refugees or as persons who otherwise need international protection and the content of the protection granted" (August 2006).

- RSDWatch comments on a recent decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that concerned UNHCR's rejection of an Iranian couple's application for refugee status (August 2006).

- The Serbian Refugee Council focuses on Serbia's draft amendment to the law on refugees in its first newsletter (June-August 2006).

Posted in Publications.

Latest FMR Focuses on Palestinian Displacement

Articles in the latest issue of Forced Migration Review (no. 26, August 2006) examine the root causes of conflict and displacement in the Middle East, and the far-reaching consequences of this displacement. Users can access the entire issue or individual articles from the FMR web site.

Posted in Periodicals.

New pubs.: Armed conflict, HR Sub-Com., migrants/S. Korea, non-refoulement, Palestinian refugees, refugee stereotypes, refugees/Thailand, trafficking

Action to Prevent Child Trafficking in South Eastern Europe: A Preliminary Assessment (UNICEF, Terre des Hommes, Aug. 2006) [text]

Acts of Non-State Armed Groups and the Law Governing Armed Conflict (ASIL, Aug. 2006) [text]

FMO Research Guide: Palestinian Refugees in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (Aug. 2006) [text]

Refugees in the ‘sick role’: stereotyping refugees and eroding refugee rights, New Issues in Refugee Research Paper, no. 128 (UNHCR, Aug. 2006) [text]

South Korea: ‘Migrant workers are also human beings’ (Amnesty International, Aug. 2006) [text]

Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights - Draft reports from final session (Aug. 2006) [press release] [menu]

“We Want to Work”: Providing Livelihood Opportunities for Refugees in Thailand (Women's Commission, Sept. 2006) [text]

UNHCR Note on Diplomatic Assurances and International Refugee Protection (Aug. 2006) [text]

Posted in Publications.

New Journal Issues

Disasters, vol. 30, no. 3 (Sept. 2006) [abstracts, selected free content]
- Special focus on cash transfers; article texts available for free; includes several other articles such as “Tsunami mortality and displacement in Aceh province, Indonesia.”

Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 29, no. 5 (Sept. 2006) [abstracts]

Human Rights Brief, vol. 13, no. 3 (Spring 2006) [full-text]
- Focus is on the new UN Human Rights Council. Also includes an article entitled “Victims of Terror Stopped at the Gate to Safety: The Impact of the ‘Material Support to Terrorism’ Bar on Refugees.”

Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 28, no. 3 (Aug. 2006) [abstracts]

International Migration Review, vol. 40, no. 3 (Aug. 2006) [abstracts]

International Review of the Red Cross, no. 861 (2006) [full-text]
- Focus is on international criminal tribunals.

Journal de forum réfugiés, no. 35 (juillet 2006) [selected full-text]

Journal of Refugee Studies, vol. 19, no.3 (Sept. 2006) [abstracts]
- Special issue on urban refugees.

Plein Droit, no. 69 (juillet 2006) [selected full-text]

Refuge: Canada’s Periodical on Refugees, vol. 23, no. 1 (Winter 2006) [full-text]
- Focus is on refugee diasporas and transnationalism.

Posted in Periodicals.