Happy Holidays

This is my last post for the next week or so. I'll sign in again in 2009.

Best wishes for the holiday season.

Publications: Civilians/Sri Lanka, Forced Migration/Uganda, Humanit. Top 10, Iraqi Refugees, Minorities/Iraq, Protection/Darfur, Unacc. Minors/Greece

Besieged, Displaced, Detained: The Plight of Civilians in Sri Lanka’s Vanni Region (HRW, Dec. 2008) [text]

Challenging Choices: Protection and Livelihoods in Darfur (HPG, Dec. 2008) [access]

'Forced Migration' in Karamoja Uganda (Africa Leadership Institute, Dec. 2008) [access]

Left to Survive: Systematic Failure to Protect Unaccompanied Migrant Children in Greece (HRW, Dec. 2008) [text]

Minorities, Displacement and Iraq's Future (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, Dec. 2008) [text]

Top Ten Humanitarian Crises of 2008 (MSF, Dec. 2008) [access]

"Why Many Iraqi Refugees Who Want to Settle in Detroit Are Being Sent Elsewhere," U.S. News & World Report, 23 Dec. 2008 [text]

Posted in Publications.

Upcoming Events: January & February 2009

8th International Association of Refugee Law Judges World Conference, 28-30 January 2009, Cape Town [draft programme]
- Theme is "Where to now: Charting the future course of international protection."

Environmental Change and Migration: Evidence and Developing Norms for Response, 8-9 January 2009, Oxford [info.]

RSC Short Course on Psychosocial Responses to Conflict and Forced Migration, 7-8 February 2009, Oxford [info.]

RSC Short Course on Statelessness, 9-11 January 2009, Oxford [info.]

World Conference of Humanitarian Studies, 4-8 February 2009, Groningen, The Netherlands [info.]

Posted in Events & Opportunities.

Iraq Resources

Coming Home: The Challenge of Return for Iraq’s Displaced, USIP, 19 Dec. 2008 [info.]
- Past event; watch for transcript and/or podcast.

"For Iraqi Refugees in America, the Recession Makes It Even Harder to Find Jobs," U.S. News and World Report, 22 Dec. 2008 [text]
- News story.

How to Confront the Iraqi Refugee Crisis: A Blueprint for the New Administration (Human Rights First, Dec. 2008) [text]
- Report.

Iraq: Humanitarian Profile (ReliefWeb, Dec. 2008) [access]
- Map.

Iraq Report (U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Dec. 2008) [text]
- Report.

Symposium: Rethinking the Future: The Next Five Years in Iraq [full-text]
- Journal issue; includes article on Iraq's displaced.

Posted in Publications.

Publications: African Migration, Asylum Policy/EU, Detention, Displaced Children/Education, Rohingya, Western Sahara

Amnesty International's Recommendations to the Czech Presidency of the EU (Amnesty International, Dec. 2008) [text]

Conflict, Disasters, and No Jobs: Reasons for International Migration from Sub-Saharan Africa, Research Paper No. 2008/85 (UNU-WIDER, Oct. 2008) [text via Human Security Gateway]

ECRE Information Note on the Returns Directive (ECRE, Dec. 2008) [access]

Human Rights in Western Sahara and in the Tindouf Refugee Camps: Morocco/Western Sahara/Algeria (HRW, Dec. 2008) [access]

Memorandum to the Czech Presidency - "Redefining the building blocks of the Common European Asylum System" (ECRE, Dec. 2008) [access]

Migration-related Detention: A Global Concern (Amnesty International, Dec. 2008) [text]

Protecting Displaced Children in Emergencies and Preparing for the Future: The Role of Education, Summary of Seminar (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, Nov. 2008) [text]

Rohingya: Burma's Forgotten Minority (Refugees International, Dec. 2008) [text]

Posted in Publications.

CFP: Human Rights of People on the Move

A call for papers has been issued by the Human Rights University Network-Sur and UNHCR for a special issue of Sur's International Journal on Human Rights on the "Human Rights of People on the Move: Migrants and Refugees." The deadline for submissions is 30 January 2009.

Posted in Events & Opportunities.

Asylum and Environmental Refugees

A reader of this blog posed a question as a comment on an older post relating to environmental refugees. Rather than have it get lost in the shuffle, I thought I'd build a post around it.

"Has anyone come across research linking national asylum policies to the often misconceived perception of environmental refugees in international politics?"

For context, I've listed a few articles below that consider 1) what international protection currently exists for people who are environmentally displaced, both internally and externally; and 2) whether or not a person displaced for environmental reasons qualifies as a refugee under the 1951 Refugee Convention definition and/or a person of concern under UNHCR's mandate.

"Climate Change and Displacement: Legal and Normative Frameworks," Forced Migration Review, no. 31 (2008) [text]

Climate change, natural disasters and human displacement: a UNHCR perspective (UNHCR, Oct. 2008) [text]

Environmental Causes and Consequences of Migration: A Search for the Meaning of "Environmental Refugees," Georgetown International Environmental Law Review, vol. 16, no. 2 (Winter 2004) [text]

"Environmental Refugees: Meeting the Requirements of the Refugee Definition," Environmental Law Journal, vol. 6, no. 2 (1997) [text]

"The protection of environmentally-displaced persons in international law," Environmental Law, vol. 37 (Spring 2007) [text]

"Turning the Tide: Recognizing Climate Change Refugees in International Law," Law & Policy, vol. 30, no. 4 (Oct. 2008) [abstract]

As for the national/regional level: With the current trend of governments placing limits on asylum, one would not expect existing national policies to be readily extended to the environmentally-displaced. This appears to be the conclusion drawn in this paper, which examines the status of environmental refugees under Australian law. However, states do offer other forms of temporary/subsidiary/complementary protection, which might cover people fleeing an environmental disaster. This writer is undertaking research on the question "Can the expected increase of climate refugees receive subsidiary protection within the existing legal framework of the European Union? A case study of the Qualification Directive." (He also tentatively concludes in this post that there is "not much protection for climate refugees in the EU.")

This Feb. 2009 symposium will look, in part, at "US immigration policies and their impact on environmentally induced migration" and "a comparison of US policies to those of other countries." Proceedings will be published in a future issue of the Fordham Environmental Law Review, so this is something to keep an eye out for.

I would be happy to post any other relevant references that readers wish to share.

Posted in Publications.

Publications: Climate Change, EU Asylum, HIV Care/Kenya, UK Asylum, UK Border Controls

Asylum Matters: Restoring Trust in the UK Asylum System (Centre for Social Justice, Dec. 2008) [text]

Climate of Displacement, Climate for Protection?, DIIS Brief (Danish Institute for International Studies, Dec. 2008) [access]

ECRE Comments on EU plans to establish a European Asylum Support Office (EASO) (ECRE, Dec. 2008) [access]

"A Europe Without Barriers": UNHCR's Recommendations to the Czech Republic for its European Union Presidency (January - June 2009) (UNHCR, Dec. 2008) [text]

"Providing HIV care in the aftermath of Kenya's post-election violence: Medecins Sans Frontieres' lessons learned January - March 2008," Conflict and Health 2:15 (Dec. 2008) [text]

Remote Controls: How UK Border Controls are Endangering the Lives of Refugees (Refugee Council, Dec. 2008) [text]

Posted in Publications.

New Issues of AJEM, CS&D, Disasters, E&RS, FMR, IJMHSC, JHA, REMI

Australian Journal of Emergency Management, vol. 23, no. 4 (Nov. 2008) [full-text]
- Focus is on risk assessment.

Conflict, Security and Development, vol. 8, no. 4 (2008) [contents]
- Focus is on "decentralization and conflict."

Disasters, vol. 33, no. 1 (Jan. 2009) [contents]
- Mix of articles, including a review of literature relating to the health effects of post-disaster relocation.

Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 32, no. 1 (2009) [contents]
- Special issue on migration; includes an article on asylum seekers in Scotland.

Forced Migration Review Special Supplement, "Islam, Human Rights and Displacement" (Dec. 2008) [info; online text will be available soon]

International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 4, no. 2 (Oct. 2008) [contents, sample article]
- Mix of articles including one on refugee communities in Sri Lanka.

Journal of Humanitarian Assistance (Dec. 2008) [full-text]
- Three articles by Oxfam on the Indian Ocean Tsunami.

Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales, vol. 24, no. 2 (2008) [contents]
- Theme is "Pratiques transnationales - mobilité et territorialités."

Posted in Periodicals.

RSC Policy Briefings

The Refugee Studies Centre (RSC) has launched a new Policy Briefing series. The first title available is "Environmentally Displaced People: Understanding the Linkages between Environmental Change, Livelihoods and Forced Migration" (Nov. 2008). Read more about these briefings on page 3 of the RSC Newsletter, another new publication endeavor.

Posted in Publications.

Publications: Cyprus, Employment Policy/Disabled Persons, Family Reunification, Food Insecurity, Human Trafficking, Sexual Orientation, Somalia

(updated)

Family Reunification: A Right for Forced Migrants?, Working Paper no. 51 (RSC, Dec. 2008) [text]

Legal Response to Human Trafficking Series (ABA, Dec. 2008) [access]
- Available are three texts that provide guidance to attorneys working on human trafficking cases in the U.S.

Report by Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, following his visit to the Republic of Cyprus on 7-10 July 2008. Issues reviewed: Asylum, Detention of Migrants and Trafficking in Human Beings in the Republic of Cyprus (COE, Dec. 2008) [text]

"So Much to Fear": War Crimes and the Devastation of Somalia (HRW, Dec. 2008) [text]

The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008 (FAO, Dec. 2008) [access]

UNHCR Guidance Note on Refugee Claims Relating to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (UNHCR, Nov. 2008) [text]

UNHCR Policy on the Employment of Persons with Disabilities (UNHCR, Nov. 2008) [text]

Posted in Publications.

Protracted Refugee Situations Meeting

A UNHCR-sponsored two-day meeting of governmental and non-governmental representatives opened yesterday in Geneva. Here is the the High Commissioner's opening statement. Also available is the just-released "Protracted Refugee Situations: High Commissioner's Initiative" (Dec. 2008), which proposes action plans for dealing with long-term Afghan refugees in Pakistan and Iran, Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, Eritrean refugees in eastern Sudan, Croatian and Bosnian refugees in Serbia, and Burundian refugees in Tanzania. (Also in French.) See also the discussion paper prepared for the meeting (in English, Arabic and French).

For additional information on this theme, visit this document collection.

Posted in Events and Publications.

Legal Resources

i.lex: The Legal Research System for International Law in U.S. Courts (American Society of International Law)
- Described as an "online database of select U.S. court cases and related materials...designed to serve as a practical resource for members of the judiciary and other legal professionals to identify and understand how international law is interpreted and applied by U.S. courts at both the federal and state level." Search by topic (e.g., "refugee and asylum law"), jurisdiction, treaty (e.g., "Convention relating to the Status of Refugees"), or statute (e.g., "Immigration and Nationality Act"). Users can also search by keyword.

Lexis Web (LexisNexis)
- Search engine for selected authoritative legal-oriented web sites. Read the user guide for search tips.

State Responses to Immigration: A Database of All State Legislation (Migration Policy Institute)
- Described as a "free, searchable data tool designed to generate information about all immigration-related bills and resolutions introduced in state legislatures." Search by region/state, legislative typology, bill status, year, or subject. There is also a report on that looks at state immigration legislation in 2007.

Posted in Web Sites/Tools.

Publications: Asylum/Ireland, Asylum/U.S., Borders/Europe, Darfur, Illegal Migration/Central & Eastern Europe, Iraqi Refugees

2007 Yearbook on Illegal Migration, Human Smuggling and Trafficking in Central and Eastern Europe (ICMPD, 2008) [abstract]
- Note: The 2003 and 2006 Yearbooks are available in full-text.

Handbook on Immigration and Asylum in Ireland 2007, Research Series no. 5 (Economic and Social Research Institute, Oct. 2008) [access]

How to Repair the U.S. Asylum System: Blueprint for the Next Administration (Human Rights First, Dec. 2008) [text]

Rhetoric vs. Reality: The Situation in Darfur (Save Darfur & Human Rights Watch, Dec. 2008) [text]

Services at Borders: A Practical Co-operation. Final Report (Italian Council for Refugees et al., 2008) [text]

Top 10 Issues of 2008: Issue #10 — Struggles of Iraqi Refugees Continue (Migration Information Source, Dec. 2008) [text]

Posted in Publications.

Research/Policy Papers: Bhutanese/Nepal, EU Refugee Protection, IDPs/Colombia, Returnees/Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, UNHCR in Kosovo

New titles:

Ibáñez, Ana María and Andrea Velásquez, Public Policies to Assist Internally Displaced Persons: The Role of Municipal Authorities, Occasional Paper (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, Dec. 2008) [text]

McKittrick, Ann, UNHCR as an Autonomous Organization: Complex Operations and the Case of Kosovo, Working Paper Series, no. 50 (RSC, Nov. 2008) [text]

Older titles:

Banki, Susan, Bhutanese Refugees in Nepal: Anticipating the Impact of Resettlement, Briefing Paper (A Place to Call Home Research Project, June 2008) [text]

Harpviken, Kristian Berg, From “Refugee Warriors” to “Returnee Warriors”: Militant Homecoming in Afghanistan and Beyond, Global Migration and Transnational Politics
Working Paper no. 5 (Center for Global Studies, March 2008) [text]

Lang, Hazel and Anita Knudsen, Sri Lanka - Protracted Conflict: Protection Challenges for Humanitarian Agencies, Briefing Paper (A Place to Call Home Research Project, June 2008) [text]

Lax, Violeta Moreno, Must EU Borders Have Doors for Refugees? On the Compatibility of Schengen Visas with EU Member States’ Obligations to Provide International Protection to Refugees, CRIDHO Working Paper 2008-3 (Interdisciplinary Research Cell in Human Rights, 2008) [text]
- See also abstract of article with the same title in European Journal of Migration and Law.

Posted in Publications.

Publications: Asylum/EU, Durable Solutions/IDPs, Elderly/Emergencies, Refugees/Australia, Women Asylum Seekers

Durable Solutions for IDPs in Protracted Situations: Three Case Studies (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, Oct. 2008) [text]

Face the Facts 2008: Some Questions and Answers about Indigenous Peoples, Migrants and Refugees and Asylum Seekers (Australian Human Rights Commission, Oct. 2008) [text]

Older persons in emergencies: An active ageing perspective (WHO, 2008) [access to Eng. and French texts]
- See also "Older people in emergencies: considerations for action and policy development" (2008)

Putting the asylum seekers at the heart of a human and fair procedure: the EU Commission proposes to modify the Common European Asylum System (Europa, Dec. 2008) [text]
- See also ECRE's response.

Relocation, Relocation: The Impact of Internal Relocation on Women Asylum Seekers (Asylum Aid, Nov. 2008) [text]

Posted in Publications.

Expanded Refugee Law Reader

The fifth edition of the Refugee Law Reader is now available. This resource is "designed to provide a full curriculum for a 48-hour course in International Refugee Law and contains over 700 documents and materials." This expanded version now includes "sections on international and regional frameworks of refugee law, covering Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America."

Posted in Web Sites/Tools.

FMO's Open Access Repository

The Forced Migration Online (FMO) team has just completed a project to migrate its full-text documents and journals collection to an open access repository. Before this move occurred, the information was housed in a structured, proprietary database that had its own search engine and was more difficult to maintain and update. Now, while the content has stayed the same, it is much easier and faster to search and it is more open to being discovered by web search engines like Google. This development also means that all FMO resources across the web site are now searchable, via one standard search interface.

To search just the document/journal collection, go to the advanced search page. One caveat: Currently, journals can only be searched via the "full text" option; in the future, they will be searchable by field as well (i.e., title, author, publication year, etc.). So, for example, enter "kakuma" in the title field, and you will retrieve five documents. Enter "kakuma refugee camp" in the full-text field, and you will retrieve 80 items, a mix of documents and journal issues.

Posted in Web Sites/Tools.

Three Research Guides

Here are three recent guides that are designed to help with different facets of the research process:

Guide to Locating Migration Policies in the European Commission, 2nd ed. (Migration Policy Group, Oct. 2008) [access]
- This guide helps readers to locate migration policy measures in the rather complex machinery of the European Commission.

Immigration Data Matters (Population Reference Bureau & Migration Policy Institute, Oct. 2008) [text]
- Points readers to the best online sources for U.S. immigration data and international migration data.

Participatory Impact Assessment: A Guide for Practitioners (Feinstein International Center, Oct. 2008) [text]
- "Other than in some health, nutrition, and water interventions in which indicators of project performance should relate to international standards, for many interventions there are no ‘gold standards’ for measuring project impact. For example, the Sphere handbook has no clear standards for food security or livelihoods interventions. This guide aims to bridge this gap
by outlining a tried and tested approach to measuring the impact of livelihoods projects."

Posted in Publications.