31 July 2012

Development Displacement, Indigenous Peoples

Inclusive Development International (IDI) has put out a call for cases of forced displacement and resettlement caused by World Bank projects.  In response to a review that the World Bank is about to embark on to assess its safeguard policies, "[a] global campaign is now getting underway to push for stronger safeguards on involuntary resettlement to ensure that poor and vulnerable people are not made to shoulder the burden of development. In contribution to this campaign, IDI is collecting case studies and testimonies from around the world that illustrate why the current Bank policy and practice is failing to protect human rights."

For more information, read this post on TerraNullius.

Publications:

Indigenous Voices in Asia-Pacific: Identifying the Information and Communication Needs of Indigenous Peoples (UNDP, 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

The Concept of Human Security as a Tool for Analysing the Consequences of Development-Induced Displacement and Resettlement (SSRN, March 2012) [text]

Housing and Urbanization: A Socio-Spatial Analysis of Resettlement Projects in Hồ Chí Minh City (SIT Graduate Institute, May 2012) [text]

State of the World's Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 (Minority Rights Group International, June 2012) [access]

Workshop Report: Dana Declaration +10 (RSC, May 2012) [text]


Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.  

30 July 2012

Focus on Transitional Justice

The Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement and the International Center for Transitional Justice recently wrapped two years of research on "Transitional Justice and Displacement." The "project explored the ways in which transitional justice processes can address forced migration, involve refugees and IDPs, and support durable solutions to displacement. The results of this project suggest that transitional justice may be an important part of effective responses to forced migration. At the same time, incorporating displacement as a critical human rights concern may strengthen transitional justice initiatives."

Findings were presented at a panel discussion in New York and an event in Washington, DC.  Project outputs include the following:
- a book entitled Transitional Justice and Displacement, ed. by Roger Duthie (Social Science Research Council, July 2012),
- a series of case studies, and
- a final project report

Other recent publications include:

Advancing Accountability: Displacement and Transitional Justice (UpFront Blog, July 2012) [text]

The Crime of Displacement: Holding Leaders Accountable (Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement, May 2012) [text]

Displacement, Transitional Justice and Reconciliation: Assumptions, Challenges and Lessons, Policy Briefing no. 9 (RSC, April 2012) [text]

Ending the 2006 Internal Displacement Crisis in Timor-Leste: Between Humanitarian Aid and Transitional Justice, Migration Research Series, no. 44 (IOM, June 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

Where Law Meets Reality: Forging African Transitional Justice (Pambazuka Press, July 2012) [info]
- See esp. chapter entitled "The nexus between forced migration and transitional justice."

Zimbabwe: Taking Transitional Justice to the Diaspora (Chatham House, April 2012) [text]

Opportunity:

CFP: International Journal of Transitional Justice [info]
- Submit abstracts for a special issue on "The role of international criminal justice in transitional justice" by 1 March 2013.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 


27 July 2012

2012 Olympics

As the games begin, a few forced migration stories that relate to the London Olympics:

As Olympics Begin, a Reason to Celebrate (Refugees International Blog, July 2012) [text]

Olympic Athlete Seeks Asylum Prior to Opening Ceremony (The Asylumist, July 2012) [text]

Olympic Spirit Gives Hope to Refugees (UNHCR, July 2012) [text]
- Highlights the "Giving is Winning" campaign.

Britain’s Refugee Sporting Heroes Shine at Euros and Olympics (Refugee Week UK, June 2012) [text]

In addition, two efforts to raise awareness about human trafficking around sporting events:
- Slavery-free London Pledge [access]
- UN GIFT boxes [access]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

Recent UNHCR Items

Refworld is seeking feedback on how to improve its site.  Here is the text of the Information Alert that announced a recently posted survey: 

UNHCR's Refworld team is constantly trying to improve Refworld, to ensure that the database is most useful to you in your work or otherwise. For example; recently we have introduced new thematic Special Features and have updated others, added direct links to UNHCR research and to UNHCR statistical & operational data, and we are revitalizing the caselaw collection.
To ensure we continue to serve Refworld users in the best possible way, we would like to ask you to take a few minutes to complete a Refworld User Survey, accessible through the Refworld homepage (www.refworld.org) or directly through the link: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/survey.html.
It has been eight years since we received your feedback from a user survey and we believe it is high time we provide you with a platform to share your views, concerns and critical and constructive suggestions. We will carefully analyze all the feedback we receive, so that Refworld may be the best tool it can be to meet your needs.
Completing the user survey will only take a few minutes of your valuable time. Please do share this message with other Refworld users. The more users that complete the survey, the better we will know what Refworld's many users' information needs are.

Publications:

Asylum Trends 2009-2011: Provisional Statistical Figures for Central Europe (UNHCR Central Europe, 2012) [text]
- Includes Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia.

Distinction, Discretion, Discrimination: The New Frontiers of Gender-related Claims to Asylum, Presentation at Gender, Migration and Human Rights Conference, Florence, 18-19 June 2012 [text]

Listen and Learn: Participatory Assessment with Children and Adolescents (UNHCR, July 2012) [text]

UNHCR Accountability Framework for Age, Gender and Diversity Mainstreaming and Targeted Actions: 2011-2012 Global Analysis (UNHCR, July 2012) [text]
- Previous analyses are available here.

UNHCR Position on Returns to Rakhine State, Myanmar (UNHCR, July 2012) [text]

UNHCR Proposed Amendments to Clause 25 "Restriction on right of appeal from within the United Kingdom" of the Crime and Courts Bill (UNHCR UK, June 2012) [text]

UNHCR Recommendations on Important Aspects of Refugee Protection in Italy (UNHCR, July 2012) [text]

Working with Men and Boy Survivors of Sexual and Gender-based Violence in Forced Displacement (UNHCR, July 2012) [text] [text]


Tagged Publications. 


Events & Opportunities: August 2012

CFP: Refugee Review [info]
- Note: The deadline has extended to 1 August 2012!

Scholarship Opportunity: Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne [info]
- Apply by 1 August 2012.

CFP: Book on Migration in Western Mediterranean, Post Arab Spring, University of Liège [info]
- Submit an abstract by 15 August 2012.

Media & Communications Internship Vacancy, ECRE [info]
- Apply by 15 August 2012.

CFP: RLI Postgradua​te Workshop on Refugee Law, London, 5 December 2012 [info]
- Submit an abstract by 20 August 2012.

Asia Pacific Consultation on Refugee Rights (APCRR4), Seoul, 22-24 August 2012 [info]
- Registration is open.

CFP: "Technology’s Role in the Refugee Experience," Special Issue of Refuge [info]
- Deadline for submissions is 31 August 2012.

CFP: Irish Yearbook of International Law [info]
- Submissions sought for symposium issue on "Climate Justice in International Law"; "Climate Justice, Migration and Asylum" is one of the themes of interest. Deadline is 31 August 2012.

Tagged Events & Opportunities. 

Focus on Humanitarian Assistance

The Global Humanitarian Assistance Report for 2012 was launched on 19 July 2012.  It "uses the latest data to present the most comprehensive assessment of the international humanitarian financing response. The report considers how this response has measured up to the scale of global humanitarian crises and reflects on the timeliness, proportionality, and phasing of investments."

The text can be accessed via the GHA Reports page.  See also reflections on the report from Oxfam and the Feinstein International Center, as well as related news stories from IPS and IRIN.

Other publications:

Building Resilient Managers in Humanitarian Organisations: Strengthening Key Organizational Structures and Personal Skills that Promote Resilience in Challenging Environments (People In Aid, Dec. 2011) [text via ReliefWeb]

Ending the Everyday Emergency: Resilience and Children in the Sahel (World Vision and Save the Children, July 2012) [text via PreventionWeb]

Essential Medicines List for Emergencies and Disasters in the Caribbean (PAHO, July 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

Platforms for Private Sector: Humanitarian Collaboration (Humanitarian Futures Programme, July 2012) [text via PreventionWeb]

Learning opportunities:

Communication is Aid (infoasaid) [access]
- This 5-module course "aims to raise awareness about the key components of effective communication with crisis-affected communities and to build knowledge and skills on how to communicate in practice."

Mini-Exploring Humanitarian Law: The Essence of Humanitarian Law (ICRC) [access]
- "This resource kit introduces young people to the principles and basic rules of international humanitarian law (IHL). It provides 5 x 45 minutes of sequential learning activities designed for both formal and non-formal education settings for young people and other interested groups."

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.  


26 July 2012

Focus on Human Trafficking

Publications:

Anti-Trafficking Review, no. 1 (June 2012) [full-text]
- Theme for this new periodical published by GAATW is "Where's the Accountability?". Includes the article "A Lie More Disastrous than the Truth: Asylum and the identification of trafficked women in the UK."

The EU Strategy towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings 2012-2016 (European Commission, June 2012) [text via Refworld]

Forced Labor, Human Trafficking and Mental Health: The Experiences of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Malaysia (Health Equity Initiatives, May 2012) [text]

Human Trafficking in Mexico and Neighbouring Countries: A Review of Protection Approaches, New Issues in Refugee Research, no. 229 (UNHCR, June 2012) [text]

People Trafficking in Australia, Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, no. 441 (Australian Institute of Criminology, June 2012) [text]

Upcoming opportunities:

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.

Call for Papers: Migration and Forced Labor [info]
- Position papers are sought for an edited volume on human trafficking entitled, Human Trafficking: Reconsidering the Problem.  The deadline is 31 October 2012.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 



New Issue of IJRL

The latest issue (vol. 24, no. 2, May 2012) of the International Journal of Refugee Law is now available. Articles include:
  • States’ Obligations under Human Rights Law towards Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings: Positive Developments in Positive Obligations [free full-text]
  • Institutionalizing Statelessness: The Revocation of Residency Rights of Palestinians in East Jerusalem [abstract] [preprint]
  • Uganda’s Invocation of Cessation Regarding its Rwandan Refugee Caseload: Lessons for International Protection [abstract]
  • Invisible Refugees and/or Overlapping Refugeedom? Protecting Sahrawis and Palestinians Displaced by the 2011 Libyan Uprising [abstract] [working paper]

Also included are:  1) Introductory notes to and summary conclusions for expert meetings on "International Cooperation to Share Burdens and Responsibilities" and "Refugees and Asylum-Seekers in Distress at Sea"; 2) two case comments; and 3) three book reviews.

Tagged Periodicals.  

Focus on Health

"Accessing Maternal and Child Health Services in Melbourne, Australia: Reflections from Refugee Families and Service Providers," BMC Health Services Research, 12:117 (May 2012) [open access text]

"Combining Biofeedback and Narrative Exposure Therapy for Persistent Pain and PTSD in Refugees: A Pilot Study," European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 3:17660 (June 2012) [open access text]

Family Planning in Emergencies: Urgent Need to Focus on Women Made Vulnerable by Humanitarian Disasters (Huffington Post, July 2012) [text]

"Health Care for Canada’s Medically Uninsured Immigrants and Refugees: Whose Problem Is It?," Canadian Family Physician, vol. 58, no. 7 (July 2012) [free full-text]

"An HIV/STI Prevention Intervention for Internally Displaced Women in Leogane, Haiti: Study Protocol for an N-of-1 Pilot Study," BMJ Open, 2:e001634 (July 2012) [open access text]

Income Inequality and Health: Lessons from a Refugee Residential Assignment Program, IZA Discussion Paper, no. 6554 (Institute for the Study of Labor, May 2012) [text via SSRN]

"A Moral Duty: Why Canada’s Cuts to Refugee Health Must be Reversed," Canadian Family Physician, vol. 58, no. 7 (July 2012) [free full-text]

"Violence against Women: An Exploration of the Physical and Mental Health Trends among Immigrant and Refugee Women in Canada," Nursing Research and Practice, vol. 2012:434592 (Feb. 2012) [open access text]


Tagged Publications. 

25 July 2012

Focus on Africa

All Roads Lead to Rejection: Persistent Bias and Incapacity in South African Refugee Status Determination (African Centre for Migration & Society, June 2012) [text]

"The AU Convention on Refugees and the Concept of Asylum," Pace International Law Review Online Companion (July 2012) [text]

Comprehensive Solutions Strategies for Angolan, Liberian and Rwandan Refugees Affected by the Cessation of Refugee Status: Special Appeal (UNHCR, July 2012) [text]

CORI Thematic Report: Darfur (Country of Origin Research and Information, March 2012) [text]

Enough 101: Displaced from Darfur - Refugees in Chad and IDPs in Sudan (Enough Said, July 2012) [text]

"Fear Stalks Mali’s Refugees Despite Escape to Safety," New York Times, 18 July 2012 [text]

Sudan Field Dispatch: Refugees Provide Details of Attacks in Isolated Blue Nile State (Enough, July 2012) [text]

Sudan-Chad: The Strains of Long-term Displacement (IRIN, July 2012) [text]


Tagged Publications. 

The Interplay between IHL & IRL

The Refugee Studies Centre (RSC) and the Refugee Law Initiative (RLI) are co-hosting the conference, "Refuge from Inhumanity: Enriching Refugee Protection Standards through Recourse to International Humanitarian Law," in Oxford on 11-12 February 2013.  Here's the call for papers.  The deadline for receiving abstracts is fast approaching: 30 July 2012.

Scheduled presenters include: Vincent Chetail; Geoff Gilbert; Guy Goodwin-Gill; Françoise Hampson; Kate Jastram; Hélène Lambert; Jennifer Moore; Hugo Storey; and Michel Veuthey.

Here is a sampling of resources published since 2010 that relate to the themes of the conference; starred items were authored by one of the presenters above:

Armed Conflict and Displacement: The Protection of Refugees and Displaced Persons under International Humanitarian Law (Cambridge University Press, Forthcoming in Nov. 2012) [info]

*Armed Conflict and Refugee Law: Are the Courts Getting It Right?, Paper prepared for International Refugee Law Seminar, London, 10 Nov. 2011 [text]

*"Armed Conflict in Asylum Law: The 'War-Flaw'," Refugee Survey Quarterly, vol. 31, no. 2 (June 2012) [free full-text]

The Causes, Character and Conduct of Armed Conflict, and the Effects on Civilian Populations, 1990-2010, Legal and Protection Policy Research Series (UNHCR, April 2012) [text]

*"The Changing Character of Armed Conflict and the Implications for Refugee Protection Jurisprudence," International Journal of Refugee Law, vol. 22, no. 2 (July 2010) [free full-text]

*"Cross-border Conflict and International Law," Accord, no. 22 (2011) [text]

Examining Flight from Generalized Violence in Situations of Conflict: An Annotated Bibliography on Article 15(c) of the Qualification Directive, Prepared for the 9th IARLJ World Conference, Bled, 7-9 September 2011 [text]

First Do No Harm: Refugee Law as a Response to Armed Conflict, Paper presented at "Violence, War and Terrorism: Ethical, Legal and Political Perspectives," Canberra, 25-26 Aug. 2010 [audio]
- See also chapter of same title in Protecting Civilians during Violent Conflict: Theoretical and Practical Issues for the 21st Century (Ashgate, May 2012).

*Humanitarian Law in Action within Africa (Oxford University Press, Feb. 2012) [info]

"International Humanitarian Law in Subsidiary Protection Applications," The Researcher, vol. 5, no. 1 (March 2010) [full-text]

"The Interplay Between International Humanitarian Law and Refugee Law," Journal of International Humanitarian Legal Studies, vol. 1, no. 2 (Dec. 2010) [abstract]

*The Law of Exclusion from Refugee Status: Recent Developments, Presentation for International Refugee Law Seminar, London, 6 June 2012 [podcast]

*The Role of the ICRC in Protecting and Assisting Refugees and Displaced Persons: Workshop Report, London, 20 September 2011 [text]

Safe at Last? Law and Practice in Selected EU Member States with Respect to Asylum-Seekers Fleeing Indiscriminate Violence (UNHCR, July 2011) [text]

Subsidiary Protection and International Humanitarian Law, Paper prepared for Nordic Refugee Law Seminar, Copenhagen, 26-27 May 2011 [text]

"Subsidiary Protection and the Function of Article 15(c) of the Qualification Directive," Refugee Survey Quarterly, vol. 31, no. 1 (March 2012) [abstract]

In addition, resources relating to exclusion and military service evasion are referenced in the Fahamu Refugee Programme's Current Awareness Bibliography.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.

More on Europe

Publications:

Annual Report on the Situation of Asylum in the European Union and on the Activities of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO, 2012) [text]

Contesting Fraternité: Vulnerable Migrants and the Politics of Protection in Contemporary France, Working Paper, no. 82 (RSC, July 2012) [text]

Imagined Immigration: The Different Meanings of “Immigrants” in Public Opinion and Policy Debates in Britain, Working Paper, no. 96 (COMPAS, 2012) [text]

Linking-in EU Resettlement Newsletter, no. 3 (July 2012) [text]

A Narrative Study of Social Work with Refugees in UK (Political Social Work Blog, March 2012) [text]

Stateless in the Netherlands: Stuck in Paradise? (European Network on Statelessness, July 2012) [text]

Two Boats in the Mediterranean and their Unfortunate Encounters with Europe’s Policies towards People on the Move, CEPS Papers in Liberty and Security in Europe, no. 48 (Centre for European Policy Studies, July 2012) [text]

UNHCR Recommendations on Important Aspects of Refugee Protection in Italy (UNHCR, July 2012) [text]

Multimedia:

How Much Further? [access]
- Documentary film on refugees in Greece.

Tagged Publications and Web Sites/Tools.   

24 July 2012

Resettlement News

*(updated)

The 18th Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement were held recently in Geneva.  As this Briefing Note indicates, 859,300 refugees around the world are in need of resettlement, but "there are just 81,000 resettlement places each year offered among some 26 States, meaning that in any year only one-in-10 persons needing resettlement will have an opportunity to be resettled."

*UNHCR's projected global resettlement needs for 2013 are available here.

The Refugee Council of Australia's report of the gathering is available here, beginning on p. 8.

Other recent resettlement items include:

Frequently Asked Questions about Resettlement (UNHCR, April 2012) [text]

Implementation of the Strategic Use of Resettlement (UNHCR, Sept. 2011) [text]
- Discussion paper for Working Group on Resettlement, Geneva, 11‐12 October 2011.

Linking-in EU Resettlement Newsletter, no. 3 (July 2012) [full-text]

Progress Report on Resettlement, 54th Meeting of the Standing Committee, UN Doc. No. EC/63/SC/CRP.12 (EXCOM, June 2012) [text]

Refugee Resettlement: Expanding its Reach and Effectiveness through Broader NGO Participation, Background Paper for Annual Consultations with NGOs, Geneva, 3-5 July 2012 [text]

UNHCR Guidelines on the Resubmission of Resettlement Cases (UNHCR, June 2012) [text]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.   

23 July 2012

Focus on Climate Migration, Sustainable Development

The Feinstein International Center has published Climate Change as a Driver of Humanitarian Crises and Response, which "explores the relationships between climate change, humanitarian crises, and humanitarian response through a review of published and grey literature." 

Other recent publications include:

Center for American Progress Takes on Climate Change, Migration, and Why They Matter to U.S. National Security (New Security Beat, July 2012) [text]

Climate Change and Australia: Warming to the Global Challenge (Federation Press, 2012) [info]
- See esp. chapter entitled "Climate Change 'Refugees'? Climate-Related Displacement and Migration"; book will be launched 9 August 2012 at event hosted by the University of Sydney Law School.

Displacement and Development: Moving Forward from Rio +20 (UpFront Blog, July 2012) [text]

'Environmental Refugees’?: A Critical Perspective on the Normative Discourse (SSRN, July 2012) [text]

"An Ill Wind? Climate Change, Migration and Health," Environmental Health Perspectives, 120:5 (May 2012) [open access text]
- See also related news story.

"Migration as a Contribution to Resilience and Innovation in Climate Adaptation: Social Networks and Co-development in Northwest Africa," Applied Geography, vol. 33 (2012) [text via ACP Observatory on Migration]

The Securitisation of Climate-induced Migration: Critical Perspectives, Hamburg, 10-12 June 2012 [conf. report]

"Sustainable Development Law on Environmental Migration: The Story of an Obelisk, a Bag of Marbles, and a Tapestry," Environmental Law Review, vol. 14, no. 2 (2012) [text via SSRN]

Urgent Call for a Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights (Environmental Justice Foundation, June 2012) [access]

What Should the Rio +20 Outcomes Document Have Said about Migration and Displacement Linked to Climate Change? (UK Climate Change & Migration Coalition, July 2012) [text]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.  

Focus on Information & Technology

Refuge has circulated a call for contributions to an upcoming issue on "Technology’s Role in the Refugee Experience."  Here's part of the CFP:
The aims of this proposed special edition are to: examine the role of technology in the lives of asylum seekers and refugees, explore how the fields of refugee studies and technology studies intersect in the study of technology use by refugees, present a range of responses to this cross-disciplinary topic from different voices and sectors.
The deadline for submissions is 31 August 2012.

Other recent items relating to information and/or technology include:

Do You Hear Me? Understanding Information Needs for Disaster, Preparedness and Compensation (IOM, 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

Evaluation of PreventionWeb and Related UNISDR Information Services for Disaster Risk Reduction: Final Report (ITAD, May 2012) [text]

An Exploration of Information and Communication Technology Use on the Part of Eritrean Refugees in Rome, Italy, Thesis submitted for MA in Applied Anthropology (Oregon State University, June 2012) [text]

Hitching Social Media to Humanitarian Assistance (IRIN, July 2012) [text]

Perceptions and Sources of Information in the Obo Region, CAR (Internews, July 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

"A Pilot with Computer-assisted Psychosocial Risk-assessment for Refugees," BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 12:71 (July 2012) [open access]

Social Media and Humanitarian Protection: Baseline Survey Results (Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research, May 2012) [text]

Surveillance without Borders: The Case of Karen Refugees in Sheffield, Paper presented at Fifth Biannual Surveillance and Society Conference, "Watch This Space: Surveillance Futures", Sheffield, 2-4 April 2012 [text]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.  

Work Issues

The Women's Refugee Commission is hosting an online webinar - "Peril or Protection: Making Work Safe" - on 25 July 2012.  You can reserve a "virtual seat" via this Facebook page.

Other work-related items:

"Comments on 'Determinants of Labor Market Participation and Wages of North Korean Female Refugees in South Korea'," Asian Economic Policy Review, vol. 7, no. 1 (June 2012) [free full-text: comment 1comment 2]

"Encouraging Self-Reliance," UNHCR Global Report 2011 (UNHCR, June 2012) [text]

Refugee Employment in Health Policy Paper (AHHA & AMES, May 2012) [text]

"Social Networks and the Dynamics of Labour Market Outcomes: Evidence from Refugees Resettled in the U.S.," Review of Economic Studies, vol. 79, no. 1 (2012) [free full-text]

Updates from Geneva: UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner Touts the Right to Work (Refugees and the Right to Work Blog, July 2012) [text]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.  

SSRN: Recently Posted Working Papers, Law Review Articles

Asylum Law or Criminal Law: Blame, Deterrence and the Criminalisation of the Asylum Seeker, Research Paper No. 12-04 (University of Westminster School of Law, Dec. 2011, posted May 2012) [text]

Assessing GLBTI Refugee Claims: Using Human Rights Law to Shift the Narrative of Persecution within Refugee Law, Melbourne Legal Studies Research Paper, no. 586 (Melbourne Law School, May 2012) [text]

"El Desplazamiento Forzado en Colombia y la Intervención del Estado = Forced Displacement and State Intervention in Colombia," Revista de Economía Institucional, vol. 14, no. 26 (2012) [text]

"A Liberal Theory of Asylum," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, Forthcoming,  [text]

"Protecting Those Who Go Beyond the Law: Contemplating Refugee Status for Individuals Who Challenge Oppression Through Resistance," Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, vol. 25, no. 3 (Spring 2011) [text]

Protection of Refugees in Non Signatory States (KIIT University School of Law, March 2012) [text]

"Tracking Genocide: Persecution of the Karen in Burma," Texas International Law Journal, vol. 48, no. 1 (2012) (SSRN, posted April 2012) [text] [full-text]

Using Clinical Education to Innovate the Law Curriculum and Address an Unmet Legal Need: A Hong Kong Perspective (SSRN, June 2012) [text]

When Women Were Aliens: The Neglected History of Derivative Marital Citizenship, Sydney Law School, Research Paper No. 12/47 (University of Sydney, July 2012) [text]

Tagged Publications. 

New Issues of ABA News, EJML, GILJ, ICRC Rev.

The latest issue (vol. 14, no. 3, 2012) of the European Journal of Migration and Law is now available and focuses on statelessness.  Contents include the following:
  • Fighting Statelessness and Discriminatory Nationality Laws in Europe [abstract]
  • UNHCR's Mandate and Activities to Address Statelessness in Europe [abstract]
  • Statelessness in the EU Framework for International Protection [abstract]
  • Minorities, Citizenship and Statelessness in Europe [abstract]
  • Nationality, Statelessness and ECHR's Article 8: Comments on Genovese v. Malta [abstract]  
  • The Human Rights of Stateless Persons in Europe - Interview with Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg 
  • Guidelines to Protect Stateless Persons from Arbitrary Detention: Introduction

Other new issues:

ABA International Refugee Law Committee Newsletter (Summer 2012) [full-text]
- News and announcements relating to IRL.

Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, vol. 25, no. 3 (Spring 2011) [contents]
- Mix of articles including "Protecting Those Who Go Beyond the Law: Contemplating Refugee Status for Individuals Who Challenge Oppression Through Resistance," "The Ninth Circuit's Internal Adjudicative Procedures and Their Effect on Pro Se and Asylum Appeals," and "Internally Displaced Persons and Electoral Participation: A Call for Best Practices."

International Review of the Red Cross, vol. 93, no. 884 (Dec. 2011) [contents]
- Sneak peek at articles that will appear in the next issue, the theme of which is "The Future of Humanitarian Action."

Tagged Periodicals.  

20 July 2012

Australia: Preventing Deaths at Sea

The Conversation has assembled a panel of six academic experts to discuss how best to prevent deaths of asylum seekers at sea. This initiative shadows the efforts of a government panel established to "provide a report on the best way forward for Australia to prevent asylum seekers risking their lives on dangerous boat journeys to Australia."  The objective of The Conversation's panel:
"Over the coming week, members of the panel and other leading academics will consider what research can tell us about the loss of lives at sea en route to Australia. In the second week, the panel will use this research to form a set of policy responses. During this period, panel members will debate through a blog the various aspects of the research and the policy options and implementation."
Blog posts from expert panel members include (watch for more later):
  • Asylum seekers in Indonesia: why do they get on boats? [text]
  • How immigration policy harms asylum seekers' mental health [text]

Researchers beyond those on the panel are invited to contribute their work to the repository and their comments to the debate.  To learn how, click here and scroll down to "We need you and your research."

Here are some of the comments submitted earlier to the government's expert panel:

For other analysis on asylum seeker issues in Australia, visit the relevant web page on The Conversation's site.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.  

Focus on Detention

Boat Ride to Detention: Adult and Child Migrants in Malta (Human Rights Watch, July 2012) [text]

"Inhuman Detention Conditions in Bangkok?," Oxford Monitor of Forced Migration, vol. 2, no. 1 (June 2012) [full-text]

"I’d rather be in prison": Experiences of African in Immigration Detention in the UK (African Health Policy Network, 2012) [text]
- See also summary report.

Punishment without a Crime: Detention of Migrants and Asylum-seekers in Cyprus (Amnesty International, June 2012) [text]

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, François Crépeau, UN Doc. No. A/HRC/20/24 (UN Human Rights Council, April 2012) [text via Human Rights First]
- Focus is on detention; see also related press release.

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

"We are not animals": Concern Intensifies over Detention of Migrants in Europe (Statewatch, July 2012) [text]

"Who must be Detained? Proportionality as a Tool for Critiquing Immigration Detention Policy," Refugee Survey Quarterly, Advance Access, 4 July 2012 [abstract]

Tagged Publications. 

19 July 2012

CFPs/New Issues of Conflict Tr., Disasters, eSharp, Merkourios, R2P Monitor, Ref. Newsletter

CFPs:

Refugee Review [info]
- The deadline for submissions has been extended to 1 August 2012 (although it's not yet indicated on the web site!).

Refuge [info]
- Special issue on "Technology’s Role in the Refugee Experience." Submission deadline is 31 August 2012.

New issues:

Conflict Trends, no. 2 (2012) [full-text]
- Focus is on the protection of civilians.

Disasters, vol. 36, no. 3 (July 2012) [contents]
- Mix of articles.

eSharp, Special Issue (June 2012) [full-text]
- Theme is "The 1951 UN Refugee Convention - 60 Years On"; a number of the articles were initially presented at a colloquium by the same name which took place in Glasgow, 13 June 2011.

Merkourios: Utrecht Journal of International and European Law, vol. 28, no. 75 (2012) [open access]
- Special issue on "International and European Migration Law."

R2P Monitor, no. 4 (July 2012) [full-text]
- From the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect.

Refugee Newsletter (June 2012) [full-text]
- From UNHCR's Regional Office for Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific. Includes a special feature on "National security assessments for refugees, asylum seekers and stateless people."

Tagged Periodicals and Events & Opportunities. 

Focus on Europe

*(updated)

The European Ombudsman Office posted the following comment on my last Focus on Europe listing:
"The European Ombudsman just opened a public consultation on Frontex and the EU’s charter of fundamental rights: 'In 2009, the Charter of Fundamental Rights became legally binding on Frontex, which is based in Warsaw. Since then, a number of civil society organisations have questioned whether Frontex is doing enough to comply with the Charter, for example, in its deployment of EU border guards to Greece where migrant detainees were kept in detention centres under conditions which have been criticised by the European Court of Human Rights.' You can find more information here."  
Comments re. this inquiry are welcome and can be submitted to the Ombudsman until 30 September 2012.

Publications:

*ECRE Recommendations to the Cypriot Presidency of the EU (ECRE, July 2012) [text]

Hate on the Streets: Xenophobic Violence in Greece (Human Rights Watch, July 2012) [text]

"Key Priorities of the Cyprus Presidency of the European Union in the Fields of Immigration and Asylum Policy," Interview with Eleni Mavrou, Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Cyprus (Eurasylum, July-August 2012) [text]

No Duty to Snitch on Another EU Country’s Asylum Conditions (UK Human Rights Blog, July 2012) [text]

Schengen and Solidarity: The Fragile Balance Between Mutual Trust and Mistrust (European Policy Centre, July 2012) [text]

UNHCR Comments on the European Commission’s Amended Recast Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council Laying Down Standards for the Reception of Asylum-seekers (UNHCR, July 2012) [text]

Multimedia:

Boats4People Releases Mapping Platform to Monitor the Maritime Borders of the EU for Violations of Migrants' Rights (Migrants at Sea, July 2012) [access]

Closed Sea: Documentary Examines Italy’s Controversial "Pushbacks" of Migrants (Open Society, May 2012) [access]

ECRE Interview with Cecilia Malmström, Commissioner for Home Affairs (ECRE, May 2012) [access]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 



Focus on Asia/Oceania

The ASEAN Human Rights Declaration: Establishing a Common Framework, RSIS Commentaries, no. 114/2012 (RSIS, July 2012) [text]

Australia's Boat People: Asylum Challenges and Two Decades of Policy Experimentation (Migration Information Source, July 2012) [text]

Bhutanese Refugee Problem at the Backdrop of Marriage, Childbirth Registration and Citizenship (SSRN, April 2011, posted July 2012) [text]

Boat Arrivals in Australia since 1976 (Parliamentary Library, Jan. 2011; stat. app. updated July 2012) [text]

Did the UNHCR Fail Vietnamese Refugees in Hong Kong? (e-International Relations, June 2012) [text]

A Practical Guide to Gender-sensitive Approaches for Disaster Management (IFRC, July 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

Refugee Newsletter (June 2012) [full-text]
- From UNHCR's Regional Office for Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific.

"Sovereignty, Protection and the Limits to Regional Refugee Status Determination Arrangements," Merkourios, vol. 28, no. 75 (2012) [open access text]

Submission by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: New Zealand Immigration Amendment Bill 2012 (UNHCR, June 2012) [text]

[Photo credit: Rescuing asylum-seekers on Christmas Island, Migration Information Source]

Tagged Publications.