Publications: Camp Mgmt., Climate Change, Ethiopians, Mental Health, Refugees/South Africa, Refugees/Spain, Somalis, Volrep/Afghanistan, Zimbabweans

Camp Management Toolkit (NRC, June 2008) [access]

Climate Change and Migration: Improving Methodologies to Estimate Flows, Migration Research Series, no. 33 (IOM, June 2008) [access]

"Mental Health of Returnees: Refugees in Germany Prior to Their State-sponsored Repatriation," BMC International Health and Human Rights 2008, 8:8 [access via ReliefWeb]

Neighbors in Need: Zimbabweans Seeking Refuge in South Africa (HRW, June 2008) [text]

No Choice: Somali and Ethiopian Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants Crossing the Gulf of Aden (MSF, June 2008) [access]

Protecting Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Immigrants in South Africa (CoRMSA, June 2008) [text]

Return with Dignity, Return to What? Review of the Voluntary Return Programme to Afghanistan (CMI, June 2008) [access]

La situación de los Refugiados en España: Informe 2008 (CEAR, June 2008) [access]

Posted in Publications.

World Refugee Day - 20 June

Today is World Refugee Day. The following sites provide news and examples of some of the many activities organized around the world to mark the day and to honor the courage of refugees and other displaced populations in the face of adversity.

ACNUR [access]

African Union [access]

AlertNet [access]

Amnesty International USA [access]

Asylkoordination [access]

CEAR [access]

ECRE [access]

Forum réfugiés [access]

France Terre d'asile [access]

International Rescue Committee [access]

Irish Refugee Council [access]

Italian Refugee Council [access]

Portuguese Refugee Council [access]

ProAsyl [access]

UNHCR [access]

Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen [access]

Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children [access]

Posted in Events.

World Refugee Survey 2008

The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) has released the 2008 edition of its World Refugee Survey. This issue features articles on the worst places to be a refugee and rallying for refugee rights in Israel, Thailand and Tanzania, a refugee rights report card, statistics, country updates, and a partner directory. (Interested readers must first register before accessing the text.)

Earlier editions as of 2003 are available via the USCRI's publications page.

Posted in Publications.

AU Convention on Internal Displacement

The Second Meeting of Legal Experts from Member States on the Draft AU Convention for the Prevention of Internal Displacement and the Protection of and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons in Africa was recently held in Addis Ababa. NGO commentary on the draft is available here. (The First Meeting of Legal Experts was held in December 2007, but proved an insufficient amount of time to fully review the convention text.)

The aim is for the draft convention to be endorsed at a Special Summit on Forced Displacement, to be held in November 2008. Participants in a joint African Union/ICRC seminar on internal displacement (May 2008) also made several recommendations that will be conveyed to heads of state attending the special summit.

For some background on these matters, read Chaloka Beyani's Recent Developments in the Treatment and Protection of Internally Displaced Persons (April 2006). (A more complete article was published in the Journal of African Law; read the abstract for more information.)

Posted in Events and Publications.

Publications: Asylum/EU, Disasters, Internal Displacement, Returns Directive, Statistics

2007 Global Trends: Refugees, Asylum-seekers, Returnees, Internally Displaced and Stateless Persons (UNHCR, June 2008) [text]

The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement: Annotations, 2nd ed. (ASIL and Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, 2008) [access]

Policy Plan on Asylum: An Integrated Approach to Protection across the EU (Commission of the European Communities, June 2008) [text via Statewatch]
- See also press release noting the adoption of this communication and Q&A on the policy plan.

Preliminary Report on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters, A/CN.4/598 (UN General Assembly, May 2008) [access via UN Pulse]

UNHCR Position on the Proposal for a Directive on Common Standards and Procedures in Member States for Returning Illegally Staying Third-Country Nationals (UNHCR, June 2008) [text]

Posted in Publications.

Publications: Asylum/ EU, Conflict & Education, Iraqi Refugees, Statelessness, Targeting Humanitarian Assistance

Armed Conflict and Schooling: Long-term Evidence from Cambodia and Rwanda (World Bank, May 2008) [text]

Building a Europe of Asylum: UNHCR's Recommendations to France for its European Union Presidency (UNHCR, June 2008) [text]

Critical Review Instead of Complacency: Amnesty International's Ten-Point Human Rights Programme for the French Presidency of the European Union (Amnesty International, June 2008) [text]

Iraq - Rhetoric and Reality: The Iraqi Refugee Crisis (Amnesty International, June 2008) [text]

"No One Should have to be Stateless in Today's Europe," Viewpoint of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights (June 2008) [text]

Targeting in Complex Emergencies: South Sudan Country Case Study (Feinstein International Center, May 2008) [text]

Posted in Publications.

Trafficking in Persons Report 2008

The Trafficking in Persons Report 2008 was released by the U.S. State Department on June 4, 2008. It "covers 170 countries: 153 are assessed and ranked into Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 2 Watch List, and Tier 3; another 17 countries are considered special cases, often because [of a lack of] sufficient information to assess whether a significant number of trafficking victims exist in those countries" (Briefing by Mark P. Lagon). The Tiers are defined on p. 35 of the Introduction and Tier Placements are listed on p. 44.

Previous reports are available here.

Posted in Publications.

World Refugee Day/Refugee Week

World Refugee Day (WRD) is commemorated annually on June 20th. This year's theme is protection. For more information about World Refugee Day generally, visit UNHCR's special events web page. And here is more information about how UNHCR is using social media to get the word out about this year's WRD.

The UK and Australia each play host to week-long activities that culminate on World Refugee Day. To learn more about their respective programmes, visit:
http://www.refugeeweek.org.uk/Home/ (theme is "Different Pasts, Shared Future")
http://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/newsevents/refugeeweek.html (theme is "A Place to Call Home")

Posted in Events.

Two Annual Reports: ICRC, UNHCR

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have both recently issued their annual reports. These publications provide information about the organizations' activities during the past year, accomplishments, and programme expenditures. They also tend to include profiles of the countries in which they have operated, maps, and other useful reference information.

ICRC Annual Report 2007 [text]

UNHCR Global Report 2007 [access via home page]

Posted in Publications.

Publications: Afghans/Iran, Children's Rights, COI, Cyclone Nargis, Education in Emergencies, Indigenous Migration, Prevention of SGBV

Common EU Guidelines for Processing Country of Origin Information (COI) (European Union, April 2008) [text via Refworld]

Concise Report - Prevention of Sexual and Gender-based Violence against Refugees in Europe: A Participatory Approach (ICRH, April 2008) [text]

Cyclone Nargis: Lessons for Operational Agencies (ALNAP, May 2008) [text]

Indigenous Routes: A Framework for Understanding Indigenous Migration (IOM, May 2008) [text]

Last in Line, Last in School 2008: How Donors Can Support Education for Children Affected by Conflict and Emergencies (Save the Children, June 2008) [text]

Second-generation Afghans in Iran: Integration, Identity and Return (AREU, April 2008) [text via Refworld]

UNHCR Guidelines on Determining the Best Interests of the Child (UNHCR, May 2008) [text]

Posted in Publications.

Publications: Economic Programs, Gaza, Housing, Reception, Rejected Asylum Seekers, Refugees/Africa

Comparative Overview of the Implementation of the Directive 2003/9 of 27 January 2003 Laying Down Minimum Standards for the Reception of Asylum Seekers in the EU Member States (Odysseus Academic Network, 2007) [text]
- Note: This report was formerly confidential but has now been made available to the public on the European Commission web site.

Don't Call it Shangri-La: Economic Programs for Displaced Populations in Nepal (Women's Commission, May 2008) [text]

The Gaza Strip: A Humanitarian Implosion (CAFOD, March 2008) [text]

Housing, New Migration and Community Relations: A Review of the Evidence Base (ICAR, April 2008) [text]

Recommendations for the Return and Reintegration of Rejected Asylum Seekers: Lessons Learned from Returns to Kosovo (Danish Refugee Council, May 2008) [text via Refworld]

"The Refugee Crisis in Southern and Central Africa," Journal of Humanitarian Assistance (June 2008) [text]

Posted in Publications.

Operational Guides: HAP Standard, HIV Surveys, Profiling IDPs, Public Health

(updated)

Guidance on Profiling Internally Displaced Persons (IDMC & OCHA, April 2008) [text]

The Guide to the HAP Standard: Humanitarian Accountability and Quality Management (Humanitarian Accountability Partnership, May 2008) [text]

Manual for Conducting HIV Behavioral Surveillance Surveys among Displaced Populations and their Surrounding Communities (UNHCR, Great Lakes Initiative against HIV/AIDS, & World Bank, March 2008) [text]

Public Health in Crisis-affected Populations: A Practical Guide for Decision-makers, HPN Network Paper, no. 61 (Humanitarian Practice Network, Dec. 2007) [text]

Posted in Publications.