New Pubs.: Children, Human Trafficking, Iraq, Iraqis/Syria, Reproductive Health, Somalis/UK, Uganda

Human Trafficking: A Strategic Framework Could Help Enhance the Interagency Collaboration Needed to Effectively Combat Trafficking Crimes (GAO, July 2007) [text; posted on beSpacific.com]

Human Trafficking: Monitoring and Evaluation of International Projects Are Limited, but Experts Suggest Improvements (GAO, July 2007) [text; posted on beSpacific.com]

Listening to Youth: The Experiences of Young People in Northern Uganda. Contribution to Machel 10-Year Strategic Review (Women's Commission, June 2007) [text]

Prospects for Sustainable Peace in Uganda: Ninth Report of Session 2006–07 (House of Commons, International Development Committee, July 2007) [text]

Refugee and Displaced Children: A Rough Guide to International Standards (CRIN, June 2007) [text]

Rising to the humanitarian challenge in Iraq (NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq, Oxfam, July 2007) [text]

The Situation of Iraqi Refugees in Syria (Amnesty International, July 2007) [text]

The Somali Refugee Community in the UK (ICAR, July 2007) [text]

We Want Birth Control: Reproductive Health Findings in Northern Uganda (Women's Commission, June 2007) [text]

Posted in Publications.

Giving a Voice to Forced Migrants

IDP Voices was launched recently by the IDMC with the aim of giving the displaced a chance to tell their stories in their own words. Visitors can either read transcripts or listen to the testimonies of internally displaced Colombians to learn about the impact of forced migration on peoples' lives. Voices from other countries will be added in the near future.

In November 2006, ECRE unveiled the Refugee Stories site, which presents the narratives and experiences of people seeking asylum in 12 different European Union countries.

For other resources that give a voice to forced migrants, visit USCRI's Refugee Voices, the Refugee Community History Project, and the many other sites listed on ECRE's related links page.

Posted in Web Sites/Tools.

Women and Asylum

The Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees in the UK (ICAR) recently compiled a briefing paper on "Women Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the UK" (July 2007) to complement its navigation guide on the same topic. Both resources highlight the fact that women experience different forms of persecution than men, and as a result their claims for asylum should be assessed within a gender-sensitive framework.

According to a recent briefing paper by the Refugee Women’s Resource Project, it is often more difficult for female asylum-seekers to substantiate their "asylum and human rights claims due to a lack of research documenting women’s experiences of human rights violations in their countries of origin." The latest issue of Women's Asylum News recommends the HJT database and its "country of origin information relating to women" as a resource for researching gender persecution. This is available by subscription through the Electronic Immigration Network.

Other databases that can be searched for gender-related country of origin information include Refworld and ecoi.net.

Posted in Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

Accelerated Asylum Procedures

In 2006, the Council of Europe established a Working Group "to examine the question of human rights protection in the context of accelerated asylum procedures and, as appropriate, to draft guidelines in this field." The group held its first meeting in December 2006. Draft Terms of Reference for the group's mandate are provided in English as Appendix III to the report of the meeting. (A final version is also provided in French here.) Documents considered during the meeting included the following:

- Secretariat Memorandum on Recommendation 1727 (2005) of the Parliamentary Assembly Accelerated asylum procedures in Council of Europe member states [text]
- Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005 on minimum standards on procedures in member states for granting and withdrawing refugee status [text]
- UNHCR Provisional Comments on the Proposal for a Council Directive on Minimum Standards on Procedures in member States for Granting and Withdrawing Refugee Status (Council Document 14203/04, Asile 64, of 9 November 2004) [text]
- Amnesty International: Council of Europe: Briefing to the Working Group on Human Rights Protection in the Context of Accelerated Asylum Procedures (GT-DH-AS), IOR 61/024/2006 [text]

More recently (July 2007), Amnesty International reported its observations of the December meeting and recommendations for concerns to be addressed.

An earlier Sussex Centre for Migration Research working paper (April 2007) focused on the issue of accelerated procedures in the European context; it provides useful background to the current discussions and looks at the use of such procedures in the UK as a case study.

For more information about EU developments relating to asylum and refugee policies, visit ECRE, UNHCR and the European Commission.

Posted in Publications and Web Sites.

New Pubs.: Armed Conflict, Burmese/Thailand, IDPs/Chad, IDPs/Liberia, Property Restitution, Safety in Refugee Schools, World Pop.

2007 Armed Conflicts Report: Preview (Project Ploughshares, 2007) [text]

Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and Displaced Persons: Implementing the ‘Pinheiro Principles’ (OCHA/IDD, UN HABITAT, UNHCR, FAO, OHCHR, NRC & IDMC, March 2007 (print), July 2007 (electronic)) [text]

Internally displaced in Chad: Trapped between civil conflict and Sudan’s Darfur crisis (IDMC, July 2007) [text]

Planning for the future - The impact of resettlement on the remaining camp population (Thailand Burma Border Consortium, July 2007) [text]
- Refugees International discusses this report in a July 25th blog post.

Real-time evaluation of UNHCR's IDP operation in Eastern Chad, PDES/2007/02 - RTE 1 (UNHCR, July 2007) [text]

Real-time evaluation of UNHCR's IDP operation in Liberia, PDES/2007/02 - RTE 2 (UNHCR, July 2007) [text]

Safe Schools and Learning Environment: How to Prevent and Respond to Violence in Refugee Schools. A Guide (UNHCR, June 2007) [text]

The State of World Population 2007: Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth (UNFPA, July 2007) [text]

Posted in Publications.

New Periodical Issues: IJRL, Intl. Mig., JEMS, Women's Asylum News

International Journal of Refugee Law, vol. 19, no. 2 (July 2007) [contents]
- Includes articles on expanding the scope of the gender guidelines in Canada; North Korean refugees; refugees in India; and assessing credibility of asylum applicants.

International Migration, vol. 45, no. 3 (August 2007) [contents]
- Focus is on "illegal" and "irregular" immigrants.

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 33, no. 6 (2007) [contents]
- Special issue on "Governing Islam in Western Europe: Essays on Governance of Religious Diversity."

Women's Asylum News, no. 67 (June/July 2007) [text]

Posted in Periodicals.

Measuring Mortality

In May 2007, two publications that focused on measuring mortality were circulated. The first, "Armed Conflict as a Public Health Problem: Current Realities and Future Directions," USIPeace Briefing, summarized a presentation that discussed the different methodologies for measuring conflict-related deaths. These variable approaches have resulted in significant discrepancies between datasets generated by public health and epidemiological studies as compared with studies reported in the social science literature.

Because of the debate such discrepancies set off in the scientific community, Human Security Research reported on a number of conflict-related mortality studies undertaken in specific countries. It also highlighted a paper produced by the Humanitarian Practice Network, entitled "Interpreting and using mortality data in humanitarian emergencies: A primer for non-epidemiologists" (September 2005).

The second publication, "Health and Mortality of Internally Displaced Persons: Reviewing the Data and Defining Directions for Research" from the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, points to a dearth of health information relating to IDPs. It cites a 2002 CRED report that reviewed existing public health research and "found that roughly 50 percent of studies reviewed were for refugee populations, 35 percent had residents as subjects, and only 15 percent were on IDPs." To address this gap, the Brookings-Bern report set out to "review existing data on mortality and health indicators for IDP situations, identif[y] some of their limitations, and identif[y] an agenda for future research."

Posted in Publications.

Recent HIV Research

A reference to the following article showed up in my newsreader on July 13th. I have a search string saved in PubMed for "refugees and reviews"; search results are sent as an RSS feed. Coincidentally, the full-text of the same article was just posted on UNHCR's site today (most of the authors are with the organization).

"Prevalence of HIV infection in conflict-affected and displaced people in seven sub-Saharan African countries: a systematic review," The Lancet, vol. 369 (30 June 2007) [access]

Posted in Publications.

Library Services to Refugees: Update

I've posted previously about "library programs and services designed specifically to target refugee and/or immigrant populations." Just recently, UNHCR published a working paper entitled "Refugees and asylum seekers in the Caribbean region: library service implications," which includes a useful breakdown of the kind of typical information needs refugees often have.

A few of the online resources that the author mentions:

- Library and Information Services for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (Birmingham, UK) [access]
- Multicultural Resources and Services (National Library of Canada) [English access, French access]
- Multikulki [access] (service that provides translations of advice and practical information in 12 languages)

In addition, in her Public Libraries and Multicultural Relationships blog, Helen Carpenter has been reporting on her travels to Canada and the U.S. (to date; she'll also be touring Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium in the fall) and how public libraries in these countries connect with refugees and asylum seekers. Here are some of the resources she links to:

- Civics and Citizenship Toolkit (U.S. Task Force on New Americans) [info.]
- New Americans Program (Queens Library) [access]
- Working Together (Human Resources and Social Development Canada) [access]

Posted in Web Sites/Tools.

New Periodical Issues: AJEM, FMR, GILJ, H&M, IJMHSC, RSQ

Australian Journal of Emergency Management, vol. 22, no. 2 (May 2007) [full-text]
- Mix of articles.

Forced Migration Review, no. 28 (July 2007) [full-text]
- Focus is on Southern capacity-building. Also includes a range of articles on other topics.

Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, vol. 21, no. 3 (Spring 2007) [contents]
- Includes articles on human trafficking, African refugee resettlement and FGM asylum claims.

Hommes et Migrations, no. 1265 (jan./fev. 2007) [selected full-text]
- Focus is on the Armenian diaspora.

International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 3, no. 1 (July 2007) [contents]
- Focus is on health. Includes full-text article on older refugees in Australia; other articles focus on mental health of Ethiopians resettled in London and refugee access to health care in Canada.

Refugee Survey Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 2 (2007) [contents]
- Focus is on refugees and religion.

Posted in Periodicals.

New Pubs.: Eastern Europe, Environment, Humanitarianism, IDPs/Azerbaijan, Iraq, Mental Health, Protection, Sudan, Violence against Women

Azerbaijan: Displaced then Discriminated Against - The Plight of the Internally Displaced Population (Amnesty International, June 2007) [text]

Country Reports 2006: Belarus, Moldova, Russian Federation and Ukraine - Situation for Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Internally Displaced Persons (ECRE, June 2007) [text]

IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings (IASC, 2007) [text]

Laws Without Justice: An Assessment of Sudanese Laws Affecting Survivors of Rape (Refugees International, June 2007) [text]

Lost in Translation: Managing Coordination and Leadership Reform in the Humanitarian System, HPG Policy Brief 27 (ODI, July 2007) [text]

Re-thinking Policies to Cope with Desertification (UNU International Network on Water, Environment and Health, June 2007) [text]

Taking Sides or Saving Lives: Existential Choices for the Humanitarian Enterprise in Iraq (Feinstein International Center, June 2007) [text]

A Tale of 10 Post-its: The Depressing Fate of Iraqi Refugees (Anna Husarska, June 2007) [text]

Towards a European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid (European Commission, June 2007) [text]

Update Report No. 1: Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict (Security Council, June 2007) [text]

Posted in Publications.

World Refugee Survey 2007

The 2007 World Refugee Survey is now available from the U.S. Committee on Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI). As in the past, it provides country updates with profiles of refugee populations and an overview of their rights within host countries. An article on the situation of Iraqi refugees, a dedication to Gerald Ford and statistical tables are also included.

Past editions can be accessed here.

Posted in Publications.