Recent Book Reviews

Access to Asylum: International Refugee Law and the Globalisation of Migration Control, by Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen (Cambridge University Press, 2011)
- Review in International Journal of Refugee Law, vol. 24, no. 2 (May 2012).

Frontier Justice: The Global Refugee Crisis and What to Do about It, by Andy Lamey (Doubleday Canada, 2011)
- Review from ForMHUB.

Global Migration Governance, ed. by Alexander Betts (Oxford Univ. Press, 2011)
- Review forthcoming in International Journal of Refugee Law.

Humanitarian Reason: A Moral History of the Present, by Didier Fassin (Univ. of California Press, 2012)
- Review from ForMHUB.

Managing the Undesirables: Refugee Camps and Humanitarian Government, by Michel Agier; transl. by David Fernbach (Polity Press, 2011)
- Reviews from ForMHUB and in eSharp, Special Issue (June 2012).

The Plight of the Stateless Rohingyas: Responses of the State, Society & the International Community, ed. by Imtiaz Ahmed (University Press Limited, 2010)
- Review from Refugee Watch Online.

Tagged Publications. 

New Issue of RSQ

The latest issue of the Refugee Survey Quarterly (vol. 31, no. 3, Sept. 2012) is now available.  Contents include:

• Complicity, Exclusion, and the Unworthy" in Refugee Law [abstract]
• Who must be Detained? Proportionality as a Tool for Critiquing Immigration Detention Policy [abstract]
• Rethinking Pre-removal Immigration Detention in the United States: Lessons from Europe and Proposals for Reform [abstract]
• Back to the Future: The Concept of "Comprehensive Solutions" [abstract]
• Gender and Conflict within Migrant Families: A Case Study of Mothers and Daughters of Moroccan Origin in Madrid [abstract]
• Of War, Flows, Laws and Flaws: A Reply to Hugo Storey [abstract]
• The Coping Skills of East African Refugees: A Literature Review [abstract]

Tagged Periodicals.   

Admin: Mini Summer Break!

This blog will be quiet for a few days next week... .  Posts will resume at the end of the month.

Focus: Humanitarian Assistance

Upcoming event:

Humanitarian Assistance Webcast 10: Public Health and Humanitarian Crisis, Online, 30 August 2012 [info]
- Register by 30 August 2012.

Publications:

Continuity, Change and Contest: Meanings of 'Humanitarian' from the 'Religion of Humanity' to the Kosovo War, HPG Working Paper (ODI, Aug. 2012) [text]

Future Directions in Civil-Military Responses to Natural Disasters (Australian Civil-Military Centre, May 2012) [text via Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement]

Housing and Disasters: Thoughts on Hurricane Katrina and Haiti (UpFront Blog, Aug. 2012) [text]

New Approaches to Humanitarian Migration (Policy Innovations, Aug. 2012) [text]

Past event:

Humanitarian Assistance Webcast 9: Peace Building and Humanitarian Engagement [access]
- For previous webcasts, see this earlier blog post.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.   

Events & Opportunities: September 2012

ATHA Specialized Training on Protection of Internally Displaced Persons, Härnösand, Sweden, 5-7 November 2012 [info]
- Apply by 13 September 2012.

ECRE's Annual General Conference, Dublin, 17-19 October 2012 [info]
- Open to members of ECRE; registration closes 21 September 2012.

Wanted: New Paradigms? Forced Migration, Mobilities and Humanitarianism in Australia and Beyond,  Melbourne, 12-13 November 2012 [info]
- Register by 26 September 2012 for a discounted rate; the Forced Migration Research Hub, a "new network of researchers working on issues of forced migration and mobility in the Asia‐Pacific region," will also be officially launched.

Call for Papers: Vulnerable Workers, Forced Labour, Migration and Ethical Trading Conference, Leeds, UK, 14 December 2012 [info]
- The deadline for submissions is 28 September 2012.

Annual Conference on EU Asylum Law 2012: Focus on the Impact of the Charter of Fundamental Rights on the Asylum Process, Malta, 29-30 October 2012 [info]
- Apply by 29 September 2012 for a discounted rate.

Workshop on South-South Humanitarianism in Contexts of Forced Displacement, Oxford, 6 October 2012 [info]
- Registration is now open for this event.

Tagged Events & Opportunities. 

Focus: Middle East

African Asylum Seekers Arriving in Israel via the Sinai Desert (Hotline for Migrant Workers, June 2012) [text]

Bill Linking Palestinian and Jewish Refugees Sets a Dangerous Precedent (The Asylumist, Aug. 2012) [text]

"Cancer in Our Body": On Racial Incitement, Discrimination and Hate Crimes against African Asylum Seekers in Israel (Hotline for Migrant Workers, Jan.-June 2012) [text]

The Mounting Syrian Refugee Crisis (IRIN, Aug. 2012) [text]

Needs Assessment Report with a Special Focus on Older People in the Gaza Strip, Affected by the Conflict (HelpAge International, June 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

Syria: No Safe Haven - A Country on the Move, a Nation on the Brink (IDMC, Aug. 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

A Political Demography of the Refugee Question - Palestinians in Jordan and Lebanon: Between Protection, Forced Return and Resettlement, CARIM Research Reports 2012/02 (Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, 2012) [text]

Tagged Publications. 

Legal Items

"Court-Mandated Story Time: The Victim Narrative in U.S. Asylum Law," Washington University Law Review, vol. 89, no. 6 (2012) [full-text]

Immigration, Asylum, and Citizenship: A More Holistic Approach, Washington University in St. Louis Legal Studies Research Paper No. 12-08-03 (SSRN, Aug. 2012) [text]

Reforming the Immigration Courts of the United States: Why Is There No Will to Make It an Article I Court (Birdsong's Law Blog, Aug. 2012) [text]

Significant Relief at Last for Refugees and Asylees Mislabeled as 'Terrorists' (Human Rights First, Aug. 2012) [text]

"Who are Refugees?," Law and Philosophy, forthcoming [text via SSRN]

Tagged Publications.

WHD, after the fact

To add to what I highlighted in this earlier post, here are a few more resources relating to this year's World Humanitarian Day:

Panel Discussion on "The Contribution of Journalists in Reporting on Humanitarian Situations," Geneva, 21 August 2012
- View video in original language or English translation.

UNHCR Honours the Sacrifices of Aid Workers on World Humanitarian Day (UNHCR, Aug. 2012) [text]
- Includes a link to the Aid Worker Security Database web site, where can also find a preview of the Aid Worker Security Report for 2012.

World Humanitarian Day: It's Personal (UpFront Blog, Aug. 2012) [text]
- Includes a link to the "Remember the Fallen" memorial web site.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.   

Focus on LGBTI Asylum Seekers

(updated)

Opportunity:

Forced Migration Review (FMR) has issued a call for papers for articles on "Sexual orientation and gender identity and the protection of forced migrants," with a tentative deadline of 3 December 2012.

Publications:

Asylum: Claims Based on Sexual Identity (House of Commons Library, July 2011) [text]

Country-of-origin Information to Support the Adjudication of Asylum Claims from Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex ('LGBTI') Asylum-seekers, Reports Commissioned by UNHCR (Asylum Research Consultancy, 2012) [access]

Greenwich Declaration, Draft (Greenwich Declaration Advisory Group) [info]
- A final version of this declaration was due to be launched at the Double Jeopardy 2012 Conference, held 5-6 July 2012, in Greenwich, but I have not found a copy yet.

Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Asylum: Fleeing Homophobia (Routledge, forthcoming Dec. 2012) [info]
- Based on an earlier conference held in Amsterdam, 5-6 Sept. 2011; see abstract of one chapter on SSRN.

Multimedia:

The Road to Safety for LGBTI Refugees (Human Rights First, Aug. 2012) [access]
- Podcast providing "analysis and recommendations for the Obama administration on how to better protect LGBTI refugees from violence and persecution."

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.   

Focus on IDPs

This resolution (A/HRC/20/L.14) on the "Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons" was recently adopted by the UN Human Rights Council.  The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) calls it an "historical resolution" because it is, "for the first time, independent from the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on IDPs, representing a strengthened commitment from UN Member States to recognise their own role in promoting and protecting the human rights of IDPs."  For an analysis, read this post on TerraNullius.

The resolution also acknowledged the twentieth anniversary of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons.  The first Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons, as the position was then named, was Francis Deng, appointed in 1992. Walter Kälin served next, as the Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons.  Chaloka Beyani is the current mandate holder.  For more information about his activities, visit his profile page on the Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement site.

Other publications:

Conflict-Induced Internally Displaced Persons in Afghanistan: Interpretation of Data as of 31 May 2012 (UNHCR, July 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

"Crise militaro-politique interne et santé psychophysique des personnes déplacées internes (PDIs): le cas de la Côte d’Ivoire," Santé Publique, vol. 24, no. HS (2012) [full-text]

The Internal Displacement of the Roma, Ashkali, & Egyptians in the Former Yugoslavia and Their Denial of an Effective Remedy (SSRN, 2010; posted Aug. 2012) [text]

Mainstreaming IDP Principles in Capacity Building Efforts: A Chance Missed in Kosovo (TerraNullius, July 2012) [text]

Web site:

Joint IDP Profiling Service (JIPS) [access]  
- "JIPS was set up to support the preparation, implementation and analysis phases of profiling IDP situations" by "collecting reliable information about IDPs, disaggregated by sex, age and location... ."  It is hosted by UNHCR in Geneva.  JIPS also had a hand in developing the Profiling and Assessment Resource Kit (PARK) database, which makes "methodologies, tools and other practical resources used in previous profiling and assessment exercises readily available to practitioners around the world."

And last but not least...

Here is another shout-out to readers to take a few minutes to complete a survey of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) web site.  The survey will close on 7 September 2012, and while the results will not be made public, they will provide IDMC with a better sense of how best to cater to the information needs of users and how to improve their design and structure accordingly.

Tagged Publications and Web Sites/Tools.  

More Developments in Australia

Following the release of a report from an Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers, the Australian government has now "passed a law allowing it to transfer asylum-seekers arriving by boat to other countries [Nauru and Papua New Guinea], despite objections that refugees could be held indefinitely in remote camps."  For more information, read a lengthy analysis from Inside Story and reactions from Human Rights Watch, Refugee Council of Australia, and UNHCR Australia.

Other publications:

The Constitution, the High Court and Asylum-Seekers, UNSW Law Research Paper No. 2012-31 (SSRN,   posted Aug. 2012) [text]

Design Options for the "Building a New Life in Australia Longitudinal Survey of Humanitarian Migrants" (Department of Immigration and Citizenship, June 2012) [text]

Houston Report on Asylum Seekers: Did the Panel Listen to the Experts? (The Conversation, Aug. 2012) [text]

An Overview of NSW's Hidden Homeless: Issues Surrounding Asylum Seeker Homelessness (Asylum Seekers Centre of New South Wales, 2012) [text]

[Map credit: UNHCR Canberra]

Tagged Publications.   

Focus on Children, Education

"Being Young and Out of Place," Forced Migration Review, no. 40 (Aug. 2012) [full-text]
- Includes "26 articles in the theme section of FMR 40 [that] examine the stresses of 'being young and out of place', explore young people’s needs and coping strategies, and ask why relatively little attention is paid to their rights and needs."

A Creeping Crisis: The Neglect of Education in Slow-onset Emergencies (Save the Children, 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

In Search of Safety and Solutions: Somali Refugee Adolescent Girls at Sheder and Aw Barre Camps (Women's Refugee Commission, Aug. 2012) [text]
- See also related blog posts here and here.

No School Today: Why Syrian Refugee Children Miss out on Education (IRIN, Aug. 2012) [text]

The Fact of Age: Review of Case Law and Local Authority Practice since the Supreme Court Judgment in R(A) v Croydon LBC [2009] (Children's Commissioner, July 2012) [text]
- Report into the age assessment of children seeking asylum in the UK.

Fostering Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Young People: A Research Project (British Association for Adoption & Fostering, 2012) [text]
- Note: The final research study referenced in this project description has been published.

Tagged Publications.

New Issues of APRRN News, FMR, IASFM News, Ind. J. Global Leg. Stud., JID, Positions, WAN, Yrbk. IHL

APRRN Newsletter (July 2012) [full-text]
- From the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network.

Forced Migration Review, no. 40 (August 2012) [full-text]
- "FMR 40 examines the stresses of 'being young and out of place', explores young people’s needs and coping strategies, and asks why relatively little attention is paid to their rights and needs. It also includes articles on other subjects such as national IDP policies in Afghanistan and Nigeria, resettlement in Argentina, mental health in Lebanese camps and why some issues make it onto the international agenda while others do not."

IASFM Newsletter (July 2012) [full-text]
- From the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration.

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, vol. 19, no. 1 (Winter 2012) [full-text]
- Features sections on "Borders, Diaspora and Trafficking" and "Citizenship and Human Rights."  Articles include "Human Rights and the Elusive Universal Subject: Immigration Detention Under International Human Rights and EU Law" and "International Human Rights in Canadian Immigration Law: The Case of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada."

Journal of Internal Displacement, vol. 2, no. 2 (July 2012) [contents]
- Editorial on "Forced Migration and Displacement during the Arab Spring." Note: This is an open access journal; however, readers must first register to access the complete text.

Positions: Asia Critique, vol. 20, no. 3 (Summer 2012) [contents]
- Theme is "Southeast Asian American Studies" with several articles focusing on refugees.

Women's Asylum News, no. 112 (July/August 2012) [full-text via Refworld]
- Lead article is "Human Trafficking and Asylum: Problematic Overlap."

Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law, vol. 14 (2011) [contents via International Law Reporter]
- Mix of articles, including "Protecting the ‘Helpers’: Humanitarians and Health Care Workers During Times of Armed Conflict."

Tagged Periodicals.  

World Humanitarian Day

World Humanitarian Day 2012 is using social media and Beyoncé to promote "doing something good, somewhere, for someone else."  Visit the WHD site for more information.  Background about WHD is available via this UN page.

Here's a sampling of news stories and views on this year's WHD:

• For World Humanitarian Day, UN Flags Power of Individual Action to Spark Change (UN News) [text]
• Honoring Those Who Put Their Lives at Risk to Help Others (Women's Refugee Commission Blog) [text]
• One Billion Messages Shared for World Humanitarian Day (OCHA) [text]
• Remembering the Humanitarians (HPN Blog) [text]
• World Humanitarian Day: Aid Worker Security Needs Continued Investment (RedR) [text]
• World Humanitarian Day: Community Health Workers Get the Job Done (IRIN) [text]
• World Humanitarian Day 2012 - Fundamental Weaknesses in International Humanitarian System Cost Lives (Humanitarian Futures Programme) [text]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.  

Focus on Health

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) recently published an article entitled "The State of the World's Refugees: Adapting Health Responses to Urban Environments," which "argue[s] that traditional responses to the healthcare needs of refugees are no longer adequate and that new and more innovative approaches are required."

Other health-related articles:

"Comparative Study of Mental Health and Quality of Life in Long Term Refugees and Host Populations in Oru-Ijebu, Southwest Nigeria," BMC Research Notes 5:394 (July 2012) [open access text]

"Evaluation of a Surgical Service in the Chronic Phase of a Refugee Camp: An Example from the Thai-Myanmar Border," Conflict and Health 6:5 (Aug. 2012) [open access text]

"Health in Colombia: Treating the Displaced," CMAJ, vol. 184, no. 6 (April 2012) [full-text]

"Insecticide-Treated Plastic Sheeting for Emergency Malaria Prevention and Shelter among Displaced Populations: An Observational Cohort Study in a Refugee Setting in Sierra Leone," American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, vol. 87, no. 2 (Aug. 2012) [open access text]

"Neonatal Survival Interventions in Humanitarian Emergencies: A Survey of Current Practices and Programs," Conflict and Health 6:2 (July 2012) [open access text]

Tagged Publications.

Detention Items

American Bar Association Adopts the ABA Civil Immigration Detention Standards (ABA, Aug. 2012) [text]
- The ABA Civil Immigration Detention Standards "provide the Department of Homeland Security with a blueprint for developing civil detention standards and are designed to help DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement reform the U.S. immigration detention system."

The Detention of Asylum Seekers in Europe (University of Bristol, 2012?) [text via Guildhall Chambers]

"Rethinking Pre-removal Immigration Detention in the United States: Lessons from Europe and Proposals for Reform," Refugee Survey Quarterly, Advance Access, 4 July 2012 [text via Oppenheimer Chair]

Special Issue on Immigration Detention (Compas, Aug. 2012) [text]

"Who Must be Detained? Proportionality as a Tool for Critiquing Immigration Detention Policy," Refugee Survey Quarterly, Advance Access, 4 July 2012 [text via Oppenheimer Chair]

Tagged Publications.

Julian Assange & Asylum

The BBC has reported that Julian Assange was granted asylum by Ecuador.  He sought refuge in Ecuador's London embassy in June.  See also this Q&A from the BBC.

Earlier thoughts on Assange's strategy are available from The Asylumist, Dipublico, and EJIL Talk.

To learn more about diplomatic asylum generally, here is a recently published thesis on the subject: Diplomatic Asylum in the Context of Public International Law (Mykolas Romeris University, 2012)

Tagged Publications.  

Asylum Policy in Australia

The Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers that I referenced in this earlier post has released its report "on the best way forward for Australia to prevent asylum seekers risking their lives on dangerous boat journeys to Australia."  A summary of the recommendations is available on FlagPost.

As a counterpoint, the Conversation's expert panel has issued its own report on "Saving Lives at Sea."

Here are a few initial reactions to the government's panel proposals:

• Pacific Solution #2 Sparks Humanitarian Concerns (Crikey, Aug. 2012) [info via Brookings-LSE]
• Premier of Australia Backs Plan on Refugees (New York Times, Aug. 2012) [text via Oppenheimer Chair]
• Protection Sidelined in Rush to Implement Deterrence (Refugee Council of Australia, Aug. 2012) [text]
• Reaction to Australian Policy Reforms (IRIN, Aug. 2012) [text]
• Refugees and the Houston Report (Independent Australia, Aug. 2012) [text]
• Refugees: What We Should Do (Centre for Policy Development, Aug. 2012) [text]
• Report on Asylum Seekers Won’t Please Everyone (Pro Bono News, Aug. 2012) [text]
• UNHCR Statement: Expert Panel Report (UNHCR Australia, Aug. 2012) [text]
• What the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers Should Say (Amnesty International Australia, Aug. 2012) [text]

Earlier, the Expert Panel had solicited comments from the public, which it factored into its deliberations; submissions are available on the group's web site as well as on this RCOA page.

Other recent items relating to Australia:

Can a TV Series Change the Refugee Debate, for Good? (Amnesty International Australia, Aug. 2012) [text]
- Note: One screening of the a/m series will be hosted by the Brotherhood of St. Laurence on 30 Aug. 2012.

Leading the Way on Asylum (Inside Story, Aug. 2012) [text]

Parliamentary Approval Sought for Off-shore Processing (Centre for Policy Development, Aug. 2012) [access]

Six Days on Nauru (Inside Story, Aug. 2012) [text]

"Studying the Health Needs of Refugees," Eureka Street, vol. 22, no. 15 (2012) [access]

Tagged Publications.  

Geneva Meetings: EXCOM, HC Dialogue, UNHCR/NGO Consultations

Upcoming Meetings

1. Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme, Sixty-third session, Geneva, 1-5 October 2012 [info]
- The provisional agenda is now available.  Other relevant documents include the Note on International Protection, the Addendum to the Note on International Protection (a report of the Ministerial Meeting last December), and the report of the 53rd meeting of the Standing Committee. While the report for the most recent meeting, the 54th, is not yet available, other documents from that session can be found here.

Recent publications referencing EXCOM Conclusions:

"La fabrique des normes internationales sur la protection des réfugiés au sein du comité exécutif du HCR," Critique internationale, no. 54 (janvier-mars 2012) [abstract]

"Observations on EXCOM’s 60th Session (2009): Does UNHCR Need (More) EXCOM Conclusions?," Refuge, vol. 27, no. 2 (2010) [full-text]

2. High Commissioner's Dialogue on Protection Challenges, Geneva, 12-13 December 2012 [info]
- This year's theme is "Faith and Protection"; read the concept paper for more information.  Documentation from previous Dialogues can be accessed here.

Recent publications referencing faith/religion:

International Religious Freedom Report for 2011 (U.S. Dept. of State, 2012) [text]

Sacred Aid: Faith and Humanitarianism (OUP, July 2012) [info]
- "Collectively, the chapters in this volume comprise an original and authoritative account of [how] religion has reshaped the global humanitarian movement in recent times."

Past Meeting

UNHCR/NGO Annual Consultations, Geneva, 3-5 July 2012 [info]
- While the final rapporteur reports for this meeting are not yet available, some informal reports have been provided by the European Network on Statelessness blog, the Joint IDP Profiling Service, NGLS, and the Refugee Council of Australia.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

Focus on Africa

Chad IDPs Face Homecoming Hurdles (IRIN, Aug. 2012) [text]

Living on the Edge: A Livelihood Status Report on Urban Refugees Living in Nairobi, Kenya (Danish Refugee Council, May 2012) [access]

Negotiating Belonging: The Integration of Mozambican Refugees in South Africa, Dissertation submitted to the Department of International Development (London School of Economics & Political Science, Dec. 2011) [text]
- Includes the following five previously-written articles which apply the author's "analytical framework on refugee integration": "Negotiating Rights: The Politics of Local Integration," Refuge, vol. 26, no. 2 (2009);  "Histories of Integration: The Local Politics of Mozambican Refugees in South Africa, 1830-2006," eprint submitted to Journal of Refugee Studies, 28 Sept. 2011; "Invisible Integration: How Bureaucratic, Academic and Social Categories Obscure Integrated Refugees, Journal of Refugee Studies, vol. 21, no. 4 (2008); "Adapting to Changing Legal Frameworks: Mozambican Refugees in South Africa, International Journal of Refugee Law, vol. 19, no. 1 (2007); and "Together Apart: Migration, Integration and Spatialised Identities in South African Border Villages," Geoforum, vol. 43, no. 2 (May 2012).

"Refugees, Resettlement, and Land and Resource Conflicts: The Politics of Identity among !Xun and Khwe San in Northeastern Namibia," African Study Monographs, vol. 33, no. 2 (June 2012) [text]

UNHCR Reassures Burundi Refugees (Tanzania Daily News, Aug. 2012) [text via Refugee Case Law]

An Urgent Briefing on the Situation of Burundian Refugees in Mtabila Camp in Tanzania (International Refugee Rights Initiative, Aug. 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

Tagged Publications.

Focus on Europe

Upcoming event:

ECRE's Annual General Conference, Dublin, 17-19 October 2012 [info]
- Open to members of ECRE; registration closes 21 Sept. 2012.

Publications:

"Courting Access to Asylum in Europe: Recent Supranational Jurisprudence Explored," Human Rights Law Review, vol. 12, no. 2 (2012) [text via Oppenheimer Chair]

European Migration Network: What's Next? (European Commission, Aug. 2012) [access]

"Migration and Asylum Policy in the Slovak Republic," Clinical Social Work, vol. 3, no. 2 (2012) [full-text]
- Scroll to p. 9.

Miscarriage of Justice: Wrongly Convicted Asylum Seekers and Trafficked Persons (Free Movement, Aug. 2012) [text]

Progress Can Be Made (ENS Blog, Aug. 2012) [text]
- Focuses on stateless Roma in Serbia.

Rescue at Sea: Human Rights Obligations of States and Private Actors, with a Focus on the EU’s External Borders, RSCAS Policy Paper, no. 2012/05 (RSCAS, June 2012) [text]

Some Thoughts about the Yearly Report of the European Commission on Immigration and Asylum (Debate Migration, Aug. 2012) [text]

The Syrian Refugee Crisis: A Common EU Response Needed (Debate Migration, July 2012) [text]

Past events:

Podcasts are available for (most of) the seminars in the RSC's recent series, "Forward, backward, stalling? Critical reflections on the completion of the Common European Asylum System."

Web site:

Migration Policy Centre [access]
- The MPC "conducts advanced research on global migration to serve migration governance needs at European level, from developing, implementing and monitoring migration-related policies to assessing their impact on the wider economy and society."  See also the MPC's blog.

Tagged Events & Opportunities, Publications and Web Sites/Tools.   

Focus on Asia

Afghan refugees in Pakistan:

Pakistan Plans to Revoke Afghans' Refugee Status Could Displace 3 Million (The Guardian, July 2012) [text]

Pakistan Says Goodbye to Refugees Not Leaving (Inter Press Service, Aug. 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

Pressure Mounts on Afghan Refugees (IRIN, July 2012) [text]

Other publications:

Conflicting Voices: The Struggle over the Representation of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Malaysian Discourse, Paper prepared for "Strangers, Aliens and Foreigners: A Diversity and Recognition Project," Oxford, 21-23 September 2012 [text]

Gap Analysis Report: A Review of Tajikistan’s Asylum Law and Practice (Danish Refugee Council, June 2012) [text via Refworld]

"'The Scum of the Earth'? Foreign People Smugglers and Their Local Counterparts in Indonesia," Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, vol. 30, no. 4 (2011) [open access text]

Tackling Land Grabbing and Speculation in the New Myanmar (Displacement Solutions, Aug. 2012) [text]


Tagged Publications. 

Focus on Humanitarian Assistance

Upcoming events/opportunities:

Can You Identify What Humanitarian Aid Workers Need to Make Evidence-based Decisions? (ALNAP Forum) [info]
- Introduction to and request for participation in the Evidence Aid needs assessment survey.

World Humanitarian Day, 19 August 2012 [info]
- Use social media to show your support for humanitarian work and workers in the lead-up to WHD 2012.

XIV Humanitarian Congress, Berlin, 12-13 October 2012 [info]
- The theme is "Tough Choices: Ethical Challenges in Humanitarian Action." Registration is now open for this event; the deadline is 1 October 2012.

Publications:

Annual Disaster Statistical Review 2011: The Numbers and Trends (CRED, 2012) [text]

Constructive Memory and Collective Knowledge: Information Gaps in Humanitarian Action (ODI Blog, Aug. 2012) [text]

Country-specific Civil–military Coordination Guidelines, HPG Working Papers (ODI, Aug. 2012) [text]

Helpdesk Research Report: Donors’ and Agencies’ Humanitarian Protection Frameworks (Governance and Social Development Resource Centre, Nov. 2011) [text]

Meeting the Urban Challenge: Adapting Humanitarian Efforts to an Urban World (ALNAP, July 2012) [text]

New Players through Old Lenses: Why History Matters in Engaging with Southern Actors, HPG Policy Briefs, no. 48 (ODI, July 2012) [text]

Protecting Civilians? The Interaction between International Military and Humanitarian Actors, HPG Working Papers (ODI, Aug. 2012) [text]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

New Web Resources

UNHCR's Policy Development and Evaluation Service (PDES) has revived its dormant Facebook page. All PDES reports can now be accessed from the page, which also includes recent posts on incentive payments for refugees, alternatives to refugee camps, assisted voluntary return programmes, and an internship opportunity.

Other new sites/blogs:

Country of Origin Research and Information Centre (CORI) [access]

- New web site for "an independent centre providing specialist research to support refugee status determination."

Forced Migration Research Hub [access]
- Hosted by Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne; "provides a space to generate dialogue, drive research agendas, inspire collaborations and also to share research tools, resources and outcomes." Focus is on Asia Pacific.

Forced Migration Review [access]
- Check out FMR's newly re-designed site, with enhanced access to issues and articles.

Justice Matters in Africa [access]
- The International Refugee Rights Initiative's blog; aim is to "make connections between conversations that often fail to connect – between issues of citizenship, forced migration, governance, the politics of inclusion and exclusion, international criminal justice, local understandings of justice, transitional justice, land rights, mass atrocity... ."

Know Reset [access]
- New web site for a project that "aims to map and analyse legal and policy frameworks, as well actual practices related to refugee resettlement in the 27 EU Member States."

Realizing Rights [access]
- Newish blog with posts from Asylum Access volunteer legal advocates.

Help improve these web sites by taking a user survey:

International Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) [access]

Refworld [access]

Tagged Web Sites/Tools. 

Focus on Ethics

Two upcoming conferences have included "ethics" among the themes to be explored in panels and presentations:

IASFM14: Contested Spaces and Cartographic Challenges, Kolkata, India, 6-9 January 2013 [info]
- The sub-theme on "Protection, Ethics and Justice" takes as its objective, "Exploring the strategies of protection: what are the protection strategies that are adopted today? What are the best practices in this regard? The segment aims to analyse the national, regional and international protection strategies against the backdrop of ethics and justice."
- One of the panels proposed for this meeting will focus on "Research Ethics in Conflict Situations and Humanitarian Crises."

International Conference on Development-induced Displacement and Resettlement, Oxford, 22-23 March 2013 [info]
- Papers are invited to address "conceptual and ethical discussions": "For a broader understanding and critical engagement of policy and processes, there is a need to continue conceptual and ethical discussions on development-induced displacement and resettlement. Under this theme, the conference invites papers conceptualising and theorising aspects and processes of DIDR and ethical and/or human rights perspectives on DIDR."

Other recent related items include:

"Addressing Ethical and Methodological Challenges in Research with Refugee-background Young People: Reflections from the Field," Journal of Refugee Studies, Advance Access, 7 May 2012 [abstract]

Dignity across Borders: Rethinking the Protection of Refugees and IDPs from an Ethical Perspective, Thesis submitted to the School of Theology and Ministry (Boston College, March 2010) [text]

"Dilemmas and Strategies in Research on Migrants: A Case Study in Law and Sociology," Chapter in Law and Method: Interdisciplinary Research into Law (Mohr Siebeck, 2011; posted July 2012) [preprint via SSRN]

"New Perspectives on the Ethics of International Migration," American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 56, no. 9 (Sept. 2012) [full-text]
- Introductory article to the special issue.

In addition, interested readers can follow an online discussion of the book Displacement by Development: Ethics, Rights and Responsibilities (Cambridge University Press, 2011).  Here's the line-up of scheduled commenters; begin with the introduction by the authors of the book and continue chronologically with posts listed under the Archives in the navigation panel on the right.


Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

Impact of Climate/Environmental Change

Upcoming event:

Tracing Social Inequalities in Environmentally-Induced Migration, Bielefeld, Germany, 9-13 December 2012 [info]
- Apply to participate in this conference by 26 August 2012.

Publications:

Climate Change and Statelessness (ICMHD Blog, Aug. 2012) [text]

Climate Change, Migration and Human Security in Southeast Asia, RSIS Monograph, no. 24 (S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, 2012) [text]

Protection and Planned Relocations in the Context of Climate Change, Legal and Protection Policy Research Series, no. PPLA/2012/04 (UNHCR, Aug. 2012) [text]

Research: The Curious Fate of the Natural Environment in Migration Studies (UK Climate Change & Migration Coalition, July 2012) [text]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.   

Focus on Human Trafficking

"Human Trafficking and Asylum: Problematic Overlap," Women's Asylum News, no. 112 (July/August 2012) [full-text]

Joint Task Force in Reducing Human Trafficking, Thesis submitted to the Dyson College of Arts & Sciences (Pace University, May 2012) [text]

The Protection Project Review of the Trafficking in Persons Report (Protection Project, July 2012) [text]
- Provides an analysis of the information presented in the TIP Report.

Reporting on the Status of Trafficking in Women in Accordance with Article 6 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women: Guidelines on the Interpretation of the Text of Article 6 of the Convention (Protection Project, July 2012) [text]

"States' Obligations under Human Rights Law towards Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings: Positive Developments in Positive Obligations," International Journal of Refugee Law, vol. 24, no. 2 (2012) [full-text via Oppenheimer Chair]

Trafficking in Persons: International Dimensions and Foreign Policy Issues for Congress (U.S. Congressional Research Service, July 2012) [text via Refworld]

The UK's Response to Human Trafficking: Fit for Purpose? (IPPR, July 2012) [text]

Tagged Publications.