30 November 2012

Moot Courts: Jessup International Law Competition

I recently learned from Guy Goodwin-Gill that the 2013 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is focusing on a hypothetical case involving, among other things, climate change-related migration, an island state that disappears, boat people, immigrant detention, and the proposed transfer of detainees to a third state.  For those of you who are not familiar with the Jessup competition, it is a "simulation of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice, the judicial organ of the United Nations. One team is allowed to participate from every eligible school. Teams prepare oral and written pleadings arguing both the applicant and respondent positions of the case."  It's organized by the International Law Students Association (ILSA).

The problem in this hypothetical case is presented in the form of a "compromis," which is defined as "a formal agreement between nations submitting a dispute to arbitration and defining the terms of the submission... ."  The 2013 Jessup compromis is officially titled "Compromis between Alfurna (Applicant) and the State of Rutasia (Respondent) to Submit to the International Court of Justice the Differences between the Parties concerning the Alfurnan Migrants"; the text is available here, where visitors will also find corrections to/clarifications of the text as well as additional competition materials (i.e., relevant legal instruments).

Moreover, this ILSA-IBA web cast features Guy Goodwin-Gill and Michael Waibel discussing the issues raised in the compromis with Joe Terrenzio, ILSA’s Jessup Competition Coordinator, and providing helpful suggestions for additional reading and resources that might assist teams in the preparation of their arguments.

The compromis certainly highlights a number of forced migration topics which are currently the subject of extensive debate and its "sinking island" scenario may not remain hypothetical for much longer.  It is no secret that many island states today are actively exploring different avenues for protecting themselves in the face of rising sea levels. So it will be interesting to see what the participating teams come up with next spring!  In the meantime, I hope the information provided on this blog can be useful to everyone with their research!

[Image credit: "Jessup Cup" on Wikipedia]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 




Focus: Statelessness

UNHCR has published a Self-Study Module on Statelessness that forms part of its E-Learning Course on Statelessness. (Note:  The former is publicly available, the latter is not.)  Other protection-related training modules in this series are provided on Refworld's Standards and Training web page.

Other recent items:

"Addressing Statelessness," Chapter in Global Appeal 2013 Update (UNHCR, Dec. 2012) [text]

"Book Review: Statelessness in the European Union: Displaced, Undocumented, Unwanted, Caroline Sawyer & Brad K. Blitz, eds., New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011," Law & Society Review, vol. 45, no. 4, p. 1077 (2011; posted Nov. 2012) [text via SSRN]

The CoE Tackles Statelessness, but Ends up Mired in the Politics of Multiple Nationalities (ENS Blog, Nov. 2012) [text]

The Gulf's Stateless People without Rights Decades after Independence (Human Rights First Blog, Nov. 2012) [text]

Terrorized, Starving and Homeless: Myanmar's Rohingya Still Forgotten (CNN, Nov. 2012) [text]

Under the Radar and Under Protected: The Urgent Need to Address Stateless Children’s Rights (ENS Blog, Nov. 2012) [text]
- A UNHCR Regional Protection Officer provides background re. this report.

Upcoming events:

Citizens of Nowhere: Solutions for the Stateless in the U.S., Washington, DC, 10 December 2012 [info]
- Report launch and panel discussion.

The Right to Citizenship: An Enquiry into the Meaning of Article 15 UDHR, Maastricht, 7 March 2013 [info]
- Programme not yet available.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

29 November 2012

Legal Items

Difficult to Believe: The Assessment of Asylum Claims in Ireland (Irish Refugee Council, Nov. 2012) [text]

Podcast: Stephen Yale-Loehr and Stanley Mailman on 125 Years of Matthew Bender (LexisNexis, Nov. 2012) [access]
- Discussion with editors of the 21-volume Immigration Law and Procedure.

"Protecting the Protectors or Victimizing the Victims Anew? 'Material Support of Terrorism' and Exclusion from Refugee Status in U.S. and European Courts," ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law, vol. 18, no. 2 (2012) [text via SSRN]

Return and Reintegration of Internally Displaced Persons in Post-Conflict Situations: Right Based Approach to Peacebuilding (SSRN, Nov. 2012) [text]

The Role of 'Credibility' in International Protection Claims, Dublin, 9 Nov. 2012 [info]
- Videos of speeches and other materials are available here.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

28 November 2012

Evaluations/Lessons Learned

Asylum and Population Control: Assessing UNHCR’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Programme in Guatemalan Refugee Settlements, Working Paper, no. 83 (RSC, Sept. 2012) [text]

Commander's Guide to Supporting Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons: Observations, Insights and Lessons (Center for Army Lessons Learned, Sept. 2012) [text]

Coordinated Assessments in Emergencies - What We Know Now: Key Lessons from Field Experience (ACAPS, Nov. 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

Dangerous Liaisons? A Historical Review of UNHCR’s Engagement with Non-state Armed Actors, PDES/2012/03 (UNHCR, Dec. 2012) [text]

Evaluation and Review of Humanitarian Access Strategies in DG ECHO Funded Interventions (Global Public Policy Institute, June 2012) [text via ALNAP]

Evaluation of the Consortium of British Humanitarian Agencies (CBHA) Pilot (DARA, 2012) [text via ALNAP]

Evaluation of the Protection Standby Capacity (ProCap) and Gender Standby Capacity (GenCap) Projects (Global Public Policy Institute, Dec 2011) [text via ReliefWeb]

Organisational Effectiveness Assessment: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) (Multilateral Organisation Performance Assessment Network, Dec. 2011) [vol. 1] [vol. 2]

Special Evaluation Study: ADB’s Response to Natural Disasters and Disaster Risks (Asian Development Bank, Oct. 2012) [text]

Tagged Publications. 



UNHCR: Activities & Assessments

On 12-13 December 2012 in Geneva, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees will hold a Dialogue on Protection Challenges that focuses on "Faith and Protection."  The aim is to "highlight the important role that local religious communities play in protecting asylum-seekers, refugees and other persons of concern to UNHCR and the core values shared with the broader humanitarian community" and "explore how humanitarian actors can better engage with religious communities to improve the protection of forcibly displaced and stateless people."

For more information on topics that will be addressed, check the schedule, and read the background document and the concept note.  In addition, the web page for the meeting provides access to a series of documents that shed light on the perspective of various religious traditions towards refugee assistance and protection.

Recent publications by or about UNHCR on its work and activities:

Forced Displacement in 2012: Current Dilemmas for UNHCR (UNHCR, Oct. 2012) [text]

Global Appeal 2013 Update (UNHCR, Dec. 2012) [access]

Organisational Effectiveness Assessment:  Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) (Multilateral Organisation Performance Assessment Network, Dec. 2011) [vol. 1] [vol. 2]

Report of the Sixty-third Session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme, UN Doc. No. A/AC/96/1119 (UN General Assembly, Oct. 2012) [text]

Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: Covering the Period 1 January 2011-30 June 2012, UN Doc. No. A/67/12 (UN General Assembly, 2012) [text]
- See also related HC speech and ICRC statement.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 





27 November 2012

Focus: Africa

"The 1969 African Refugee Convention: Innovations, Misconceptions, and Omissions," McGill Law Journal, vol. 58, no. 5 (Nov. 2012) [abstract]

Back from the Field: Mali (Refugees International, Nov. 2012) [text]

"Food Aid and Dependency Syndrome in Ethiopia: Local Perceptions," Journal of Humanitarian Assistance (Nov. 2012) [full-text]

Hidden Victims: Mali’s Internally Displaced People (RI Blog, Nov. 2012) [text]

North Kivu Situation Report No. 12 (OCHA, Nov. 2012) [text]
- The latest report as of this posting; previous sitreps can be found on ReliefWeb.

Round-up: Congo Conflict Uproots More than 140,000 (AlertNet, Nov. 2012) [text]

Rwanda: Why UNHCR is Wrong about Cessation (openDemocracy, Nov. 2012) [text]

Sahrawi Refugees' Double Trouble: Obesity and Malnutrition (Nature, Nov. 2012) [text]

South Sudan's Hidden Crisis (Doctors without Borders, Nov. 2012) [text]

Training Sessions on Human and Women’s Rights to Address Violence against Persons Accused of Witchcraft, Gender Equality Unit - Field Practice Series (UNHCR, Oct. 2012) [text]
- Project in Central African Republic.

UNHCR Position on Returns to North Kivu, South Kivu and Adjacent Areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo Affected by On-going Conflict and Violence in the Region (UNHCR, Nov. 2012) [text]
- See also related press release.

Tagged Publications.

Free Encyclopedia Content

The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration is currently accessible online on a subscription basis, and will be published in print as a five-volume set in February 2013.  Various articles have been made freely available as sample content; happily, several of them focus on forced migration issues, including:

  • Climate change and migration: an overview [text]
  • Environmentally-induced migration, theoretical and methodological research challenges [text]
  • Forced migration [text]
  • International human rights norms on migrants [text]

More information about this resource is available on the publisher web site.

Tagged Publications. 

Focus: Climate/Environmental Change

"Climate Change and Migration: An Overview," Chapter in The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration (Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Feb. 2013) [free full-text]

Climate Change: Natural Disasters Made History in 2011 (IRIN, Nov. 2012) [text]

The Climate Reality Project: Climate Displacement in Africa (Refugees International, Nov. 2012) [access]

Climate-Related Migration Often Short Distance and Cyclical, Not International (Worldwatch Institute, Nov. 2012) [text]

Environmental Change and Migration: Perspectives for Future Action, Briefing Paper 15/2012 (German Development Institute, Nov. 2012) [text]

"Environmentally-induced Migration, Theoretical and Methodological Research Challenges," Chapter in The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration (Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Feb. 2013) [free full-text]

"Environmentally-induced Migration, Vulnerability and Human Security: Consensus, Controversies and Conceptual Gaps for Policy Analysis," Policy Arena Focus Section, Journal of International Development, vol. 24, no. 8 (Nov. 2012) [contents]

"Should the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Recognize Climate Migrants?," Environmental Research Letters, vol. 7, no. 4 (2012) [open access article]
- Note: This article is included in a special focus section on "Environmental Risks and Migration: Causes and Consequences."

"Sinking Islands? Formulating a Realistic Solution to Climate Change Displacement," New York University Law Review, vol. 87, no. 4 (Oct. 2012) [full-text]

Tagged Publications. 

CFPs/New Issues of EJML, Geopolitics, Immig. & Min., Interventions, J. Immig. & Min. Health, Quebec Bull.

News:

Refuge recently underwent two changes: First, it is now Canada's Journal on Refugees, rather than "Periodical."  And second, it is now officially Open Access.  In the past, articles had been made available online in full at no cost, in tandem with the release of the print version.  The latter has now been dispensed with, and Refuge is online only.

Calls for papers:

Forced Migration Review
- Issue on "Fragile States"; submission deadline is 7 January 2013.
- Reminder: deadline for submissions to issue on "Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity" is 3 December 2012.

Oxford Monitor of Forced Migration
- Submissions sought for vol. 3, no. 1, to be published in April 2013; the deadline is 14 February 2013.

New issues:

Bulletin de veille stratégique, vol. 9, no. 3 (Sept. 2012) [full-text via Oppenheimer Chair]
- Mix of articles including "Parrainage privé des réfugiés au Canada : Quel passé? Quel avenir?" and "Année 2011, la pire de la décennie pour les réfugiés."

European Journal of Migration and Law, vol. 4, no. 4 (2012) [contents]
- Mix of articles.

Geopolitics, vol. 17, no. 2 (2012) [contents]
- Special issue on "The Geopolitics of Migration and Mobility"; includes "The Geopolitics of Migrant Mobility: Tracing State Relations through Refugee Claims, Boats, and Discourses" and several articles on detention and deportation.

Immigrants & Minorities, vol. 30, nos. 2-3 (2012) [contents]
- Special issue on "Refugees in Britain: Cultural and Political Transfer since c.1830"; the preface and introduction are freely available in full-text.

Interventions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies, vol. 14, no. 3 (2012) [contents]
- Special issue on "Cinemas of Displacement and Destitution."

Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, vol. 14, no. 6 (Dec. 2012) [contents]
- Special focus on chronic disease; includes three articles on refugees.

Tagged Periodicals and Events & Opportunities. 

26 November 2012

Focus: Oceania

Various reactions to Australia's asylum policies:

  • From two human rights organizations: Nauru Camp a Human Rights Catastrophe with No End in Sight (Amnesty International)  [text]; End Offshore Transfer of Migrant Children (Human Rights Watch) [text]
  • From an international organization: UNHCR Calls for Compassion and Legal Principles to be at Centre of Policy Responses [access]
  • From a media group: The Conversation [access]
  • From an overseas news network: Canada.com [access]
  • From a refugee advocacy group: Refugee Council of Australia’s Response to Minister of Immigration [access via BroCAP]

If you would like to have a chance to sound off on asylum issues in Australia, consider submitting a piece to Right Now: Human Rights in Australia.  The deadline is 10 December 2012.

Other publications:

The Last Mile: Experiences of Settlement and Attitudes to Return among People from South Sudan in Australia (STATT, Nov. 2012) [text]
- See also related blog post.

Refugees in Western Australia: Settlement and Integration (Metropolitan Migrant Resource Centre, Aug. 2012) [text]

Review of Refugee Decision Making within the Current POD Process (Australian Dept. of Immigration and Citizenship, June 2012) [text]
- POD stands for "Protection Obligations Determination."

Settling In: Refugees in Nelson (Nelson Multicultural Council, Oct. 2012) [text]
- Note: Nelson is in New Zealand.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

23 November 2012

Focus: LGBT Asylum Claims

Country-of-origin Information to Support the Adjudication of Asylum Claims from Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex ('LGBTI') Asylum-seekers: Belize (Asylum Research Consultancy, Nov. 2012) [text via Refworld]

Gay Rights and the UN: One Step Back, One Step Forward (The Asylumist, Nov. 2012) [text]

Guidelines on International Protection no. 9: Claims to Refugee Status based on Sexual Orientation and/or Gender Identity within the context of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (UNHCR, Oct. 2012) [text]
- See also related Human Rights First blog post.

Judging Gender: Asylum Adjudication and Issues of Gender, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation, Keynote Statement at Intergovernmental Consultations on Migration, Asylum and Refugees' Workshop on Asylum Issues relating to Gender, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Geneva, 25-26 October 2012 [text]

Over Not Out: Refreshed 2012 - A Research Report on LGBTI Asylum Seekers (Metropolitan Migration Foundation, July 2012) [access]

Strengthening Protection for LGBTI Refugees (Human Rights First, Sept. 2012) [text]

US Recognizes LGBT Rights for Immigration, Asylum and Refugee Purposes (Human Rights Brief Blog, Oct. 2012) [text]

Tagged Publications. 

Focus: Europe

Access to an Asylum Process: Experiences of the Asylum System in Europe from the Perspective of Unaccompanied Refugee Children (Malmö University, 2012) [text]

An Efficient and Protective Eurodac: UNHCR Comments... (UNHCR, Nov. 2012) [text]

Immigrants and Refugees: Legislation, Institutions and Competences (EMN Italy, May 2012) [text]

Information for Persons Who Wish to Seek Asylum in the Russian Federation (UNHCR, Nov. 2012) [text]

An Inspection of the UK Border Agency’s Handling of Legacy Asylum and Migration Cases (Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, Nov. 2012) [text]

JHA Council 25-26 October: One Step Closer to a Common European Asylum System (Council of the European Union, Oct. 2012) [text via EMN Belgium]

Seeking Asylum, Ending Destitution (openDemocracy, Nov. 2012) [text]

Tagged Publications. 

21 November 2012

Taking Stock...

In 2012:

As part of a larger feature on migration, IRIN has released a list of the Top 10 Neglected Refugee Crises in the world today.  Highlighted displacement situations include:
  • Sudanese refugees in Chad
  • Eritrean refugees in eastern Sudan
  • Sudanese refugees in South Sudan
  • IDPs in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
  • Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh
  • Tamil refugees in India
  • Afghan refugees in Iran
  • Horn of Africa refugees in Yemen
  • Malian IDPs and refugees in neighbouring countries
  • IDPs in Colombia

Keep an eye on the Migration Information Source, as it usually compiles a "Top Ten" list of its own at about this time.

Earlier in the month, Human Rights Watch's Refugee Program circulated a letter documenting five particularly serious incidents of non-refoulement this year.

Anniversaries also present an opportunity for reviewing the past and planning for the future.  Several recent ones include:

20th Anniversary of the Mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons
- Letter from Chaloka Beyani: 20th Anniversary of the IDP Mandate (Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement, Nov. 2012) [text]
- Protection of and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons, UN Doc. No. A/67/289 (UN General Assembly, Aug. 2012) [text]

25th Anniversary of Forced Migration Review (FMR)
- From the Current Editors in 2012 [text]
- 25 Years of Forced Migration [text]


30th Anniversary of the Refugee Studies Centre (RSC)
- Annual Report, 2011-2012 [text]
- Understanding Global Refugee Policy: 30th Anniversary Conference, Oxford, 6-7 Dec. 2012 [info]



Tagged Publications.

Legal Items

Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture 2012: The Architecture of Refugee Protection, Oxford, 7 Nov. 2012 [access]
- Podcast of lecture (see photo from event).

"Introductory Note to the European Court of Justice's Decision on Preconditions for Exclusion from Refugee Status (Federal Republic of Germany v. B and D)," International Legal Materials, vol. 50, no. 1 (2011; posted Nov. 2012) [preprint via SSRN]

"Is Switzerland an EU Member State? Asylum Law Harmonization through the Backdoor," Chapter in The Global Reach of European Refugee Law (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming 2013) [preprint via SSRN]

"A Pirate and a Refugee: Reservations and Responses in the Fight Against Piracy," ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law, vol. 17, no. 2 (2011; posted Nov. 2012) [free full-text via SSRN]

"Sources of International Migration Law," Chapter in Foundations of International Migration Law (Cambridge University Press, 2012) [text via SSRN]

Training resources:

Free Online Course: International Law and Africa (Think Africa Press, Nov. 2012) [access]
- No. 9 focuses on "International Refugee Law."

Videos: "Well-Founded Fear: and "Practicing Refugee Law" (Epidavros Project) [access via Fahamu Refugee Programme]

Tagged Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

20 November 2012

Refugees in Camps and Cities

From Camp to City: Refugee Camps of the Western Sahara (Lars Müller Publishers, Sept. 2012) [publisher info] [author info]

Hidden Lives: The Untold Story of Urban Refugees (IRC, ECHO & Panos Pictures, Nov. 2012) [access]
- Trailer describing photo project of Andrew McConnell; see also related interview.

"Implementing a Revised Refugee Policy for Urban Refugees in Tanzania," Oxford Monitor of Forced Migration, vol. 2, no. 2 (Nov. 2012) [full-text]

Space, Time, Dignity, Rights: Improving Palestine Refugee Camps [access]
- Exhibition that aims to re-conceptualize refugee camps.  See also info. from UNRWA.

"There’s No Place Like a Refugee Camp? Urban Planning and Participation in the Camp Context," Refuge, vol. 28, no. 1 (2012) [open access text]

Three-part Report Series on "Urban Refugees in Amman & Cairo" (Institute for the Study of International Migration, Nov. 2012)
- Urban Refugees in Amman: Mainstreaming of Healthcare [text]
- Urban Refugees in Amman, Jordan [text]
- Urban Refugees in Cairo [text]

"The 'Urban Redesign' of Jenin Refugee Camp: Humanitarian Intervention and Rational Violence," Journal of Palestine Studies, vol. 41, no. 2 (Winter 2012) [preview]

*Urban Refugees: Hidden in Plain Sight (Huffington Post, Nov. 2012) [text]


*updated

Tagged Publications.




Focus: Detention

Publications:

Back in the Spotlight: The Detention of Mentally Ill Asylum Seekers (UK Human Rights Blog, Oct. 2012) [text]

Immigration Detention: Penal Regime or Step towards Deportation? About Respecting Human Rights in Immigration Detention (National Ombudsman of the Netherlands, Aug. 2012) [text via Euromed MigrAsyl Blog]

In the Name of the Italian People (Za Lab, 2012) [access via Fortress Europe Blog]
- Documentary focusing on immigration detention.

One Size Fits All: Immigration Detention Fails to Deliver Expected Outcomes (JRS Europe, Oct. 2012) [text]

Population, Space and Place, vol. 18, no. 6 (Nov./Dec. 2012) [contents]
- Special issue on immigration detention.

Upcoming seminar series:

Exploring Everyday Practice and Resistance in Immigration Detention, Feb. 2013-Oct. 2014, UK [info]
- "Through five one-day workshop events, the seminar series will span the academic disciplines of criminology, geography, politics and sociology in order to examine the phenomenon of detention as it relates to supporting detainees, penology and prisons, everyday experiences of detention and the politics of, and resistance to, detention practices."

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

19 November 2012

Events & Opportunities: Last Minute November, Upcoming December 2012

November 2012:

Life in Burma and Life as a Refugee, London, 21 November 2012 [info]
- A Centre of South East Asian Studies seminar.

Understanding Global Refugee Policy, RSC 30th Anniversary Conference, Oxford, 6-7 December 2012 [info]
- Registration deadline is 23 November 2012.

IASFM14: Contested Spaces and Cartographic Challenges, Kolkata, India, 6-9 January 2013 [info]
- Deadline for early bird registration is 30 November 2012.


December 2012:

Research Symposium: Health in Humanitarian Settings, Liverpool, 3 December 2012 [info]
- Programme is not yet available, but registration is open.

Looking for Graduate School Applicants for Research in Forced Migration, Trauma and Stress at Fordham University [info]
- Deadline for the 2013 cohort is 5 December 2012.

Inquiry into Asylum Support for Children and Young People, London [info]
- Deadline for submission of written evidence to The Children's Society is 7 December 2012.

Call for Papers: Special Issue on Forced Migration/Convocatoria Edición Especial de Migración Forzada [info]
- Submit articles for special issue of the Colombian Law Review on International Law by 10 December 2012.

High Commissioner's Dialogue on Protection Challenges, Geneva, 12-13 December 2012 [info]
- The theme is "Faith and Protection."

Call for Papers: Lived Experiences of Contemporary Membership, Oxford, 11-12 April 2013 [info]
- Scroll to p. 4; submit abstract by 17 December 2012.

CARFMS 2013 Graduate Student Essay Contest [info]
- Submit paper by 31 December 2012.

Tagged Events & Opportunities.   


Focus: Health

"Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy and Treatment Outcomes among Conflict-affected and Forcibly Displaced Populations: A Systematic Review," Conflict and Health 6:9 (Oct. 2012) [open access text]

Assessing Mental Health and Psychosocial Needs and Resources: Toolkit for Humanitarian Settings (WHO & UNHCR, 2012) [text]

Canadian Doctors Speak Out on the Impacts of Cuts to Refugee Healthcare (CCR Blog, Nov. 2012) [text]
- Includes links to two videos.

"Emotional and Behavioural Problems amongst Afghan Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking Children: Results from a Large-scale Cross-sectional Study," European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, OnlineFirst, 15 November 2012 [free full-text]

"Factors Associated with Latent Tuberculosis among Asylum Seekers in Switzerland: A Cross-sectional Study in Vaud County," BMC Infectious Diseases 12:285 (Nov. 2012) [open access text]

"Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Contraception among Afghan Refugee Women in Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Study," PLoS ONE 7(11) (Nov. 2012) [open access text]

"Migrants, Refugees and Displaced people," Section in State of World Population 2012 (UN Population Fund, Nov. 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]
- Scroll to pp. 62-64.

"Pervasive Refusal Syndrome among Inpatient Asylum-seeking Children and Adolescents: A Follow-up Study," European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, OnlineFirst, 2 November 2012 [free full-text]

"Remembering Episodes of Sexual Violence: The Impact of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder on Evidence," Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter, no. 30 (Oct. 2012) [full-text]

"Resilience among Asylum Seekers Living with HIV," BMC Public Health 12:926 (Oct. 2012) [open access text]

"Resilience and Its Association with Depression, Emotional and Behavioural Problems, and Mental Health Service Utilisation among Refugee Adolescents Living in South Australia," International Journal of Population Research, vol. 2012, article ID 485956 (March 2012) [open access text]

Tagged Publications.

Focus: Middle East

Opportunity:

FY 2013 Funding Opportunity Announcement for NGO programs benefiting displaced Syrians in Jordan and Lebanon (U.S. Department of State) [info]
- Proposal submission deadline is 3 December 2012.

Publications:

Denationalizing Bahrainis, Ousting the Opposition (Statelessness Programme Blog, Nov. 2012) [text]

Don't Forget about the Successes of the UNRWA (The UN Agency for Palestine Refugees) (Huffington Post, Nov. 2012) [text]

Israel and the Criminalization of Asylum Seekers (DIIS Comment, Nov. 2012) [text]

The Palestinians are De Jure Stateless: Centralising Them in the Discourse as a Means to Better Address Statelessness (Statelessness Programme Blog, Nov. 2012) [text]

*Rethinking the Response to Refugees in Jordan: Local Based Assistance, Urban Refugees and Host Communities (USCRI, Nov. 2012) [text]
- See also other related notes from the field.

Syria: Turkey Opens up to International Aid in Camps (IRIN, Nov. 2012) [text]

Syrian Refugees in Lebanon: The Humanitarian Approach under Political Divisions, MPC Research Report 2012/13 (Migration Policy Centre, 2012) [text]
- Note: Watch for an upcoming MPC "edited volume of reports on the Syrian refugee crisis containing studies from Syria, Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt." More information is in their newsletter.

Syrian Women & Girls: No Safe Refuge (Refugees International, Nov. 2012) [text]

*updated

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

16 November 2012

Focus: Education

Beyond School Books (Unicef) [access via Refugee Education Initiative]
- "[S]eries of radio programmes on education in countries affected by conflict and natural disasters."  Provided via podcast.

"Connecting with New Information Landscapes: Information Literacy Practices of Refugees," Journal of Documentation, vol. 69, no. 1 (2013) [postprint via ResearchGate]
- See also earlier related article, "Settling in: The Relationship between Information and Social Inclusion."

Integrating Refugee and Asylum-seeking Children in the Educational Systems of EU Member States (Center for the Study of Democracy, 2012) [text via EMN Belgium]

Prioritizing Education in the Face of Natural Disasters (UpFront Blog, Oct. 2012) [text]

Seeds of Hope (UNHCR, Nov. 2012) [access]
- "20 Years of DAFI: A UNHCR exhibition highlights the impact of higher education for refugee communities."

Wisdom is like a Baobab Tree: No Individual Can Embrace it - Working and Learning Together towards Empowerment of Female Refugees (Maastricht School of Management, Sept. 2012) [text]

Tagged Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

Employment/Labour Matters

The UNHCR web site has added a new page that focuses on Labour Mobility for Refugees.  The page provides access to materials and presentations from the recently-held conference of the same name, as well as links to a number of related discussion papers and laws/policies.


Other resources include:

The Enforcement of Refugees’ Employment Rights in Africa and the Regional Human Rights Framework (Refugee Work Rights, Oct. 2012) [text]

Forced Displacement and Labor Market Access for Women in Colombia, 2001-2011 (Lund University, June 2012) [text]

"From Urban to Rural: Livelihoods and Adaptation of Armenian Refugees," Chapter in Observing Transformation: Adaptation Strategies in the South Caucasus (Henrich Boell Foundation, 2011) [text]
- Scroll to p. 14.

The Impact of Precarious Legal Status on Immigrants’ Economic Outcomes, IRPP Study, no. 35 (Institute for Research on Public Policy, Oct. 2012) [text]
- Note: The authors of this study will present their findings at a workshop on 29 Nov. 2012 in Toronto.

Precarious Lives: Exploring Experiences of Forced Labour among Asylum Seekers and Refugees in England [access]
- 18-month research project, culminating in conference on 14 Dec. 2012 in Leeds.

Refugee Recyclers, Gender Equality Unit - Field Practice Series (UNHCR, Aug. 2012) [text]

Refugees and Early Childhood Human Capital (Arizona State Univ., Oct. 2012) [text]
- Paper presented recently at UC Davis seminar.

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

15 November 2012

Focus: ICTs

More on the subject of innovation, with a focus on Information and Communication Technologies...

Another Tool in the Toolbox, Report on the Aid & International Development Forum, Washington, DC, 6-7 June 2012 [text]

ICT Humanitarian Emergency Platform [access]
- "[D]eveloped to support IT and telecommunications specialists operating in humanitarian emergencies. This platform is a unique communication and collaboration tool that can help the entire humanitarian community in exchanging knowledge and creating a live network of expertise."

Interoperability of Mobile Devices for Crisis Management: Outcomes of the 1st JRC ECML Crisis Technology Workshop on Mobile Interoperability for International Field Deployment, Ispra, Italy, 12-13 March 2012 (European Commission, May 2012) [access]
- Follow link for final report and workshop documents.

"New Information Technologies and their Impact on the Humanitarian Sector," International Review of the Red Cross, no. 884 (2011) [full-text]

Uniting through Technology: A Case Study of the Collaboration between Ericsson, Refugees United and UNHCR for Uniting Refugees (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sept. 2012) [text]

What Percentage of Tweets Generated during a Crisis are Relevant for Humanitarian Response? (iRevolution, Nov. 2012) [text]
- Includes link to related earlier post describing new project to develop a Twitter Dashboard for the Humanitarian Cluster System.

Tagged Publications and Web Sites/Tools.




Humanitarian Innovation Project

The Refugee Studies Centre's Humanitarian Innovation Project (HIP) was officially launched today.  Its aim is to "improve the innovation process within the humanitarian world" by developing "a methodology for bottom-up humanitarian innovation, which can be applied at the field level."  More information about the project can be found on its newly created web site.  Visitors can also explore the HIP Database, which records information about a wide variety of  humanitarian solutions in such a way as to better assess their potential for innovation.

Other sections of the web site provide access to news about the project and other humanitarian innovations, the project's blog, and its resources.  The latter category includes videos/podcasts, background reading, and the latest publications from the HIP team, specifically:
  • Humanitarian Innovation and Refugee Protection, Working Paper, no. 85 (RSC, Nov. 2012) [text]
  • Refugee Livelihoods and the Private Sector: Ugandan Case Study, Working Paper, no. 86 (RSC, Nov. 2012) [text]
Finally, you can follow developments at HIP via its Facebook page and Twitter feed.

Tagged Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

14 November 2012

Kampala Convention Update

With Swaziland as the 15th ratification, the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention) will officially enter into force on 6 December 2012!

For more information, read "A Great Day for Africa! A Great Day for IDPs!" on the Brookings Institution UpFront Blog.

For background on the Convention and its adoption, visit the relevant page on the IDMC web site.

Tagged Publications. 

Focus: Europe

(Update: See the comments section for a note contributed by Alessandro Fiorini at Asilo in Europa regarding new instructions from the Italian Ministry of the Interior for dealing with North African migrants.)

Publications:

Common European Asylum System: An Answer to Asylum Burdens in the EU? (International Studies Society – Belgrade, Oct. 2012) [text]

Judicial Implementation of Article 3 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Europe: The Case of Migrant Children Including Unaccompanied Children (Unicef & OHCHR, June 2012) [text]

The Key Tenets and Implications of the Proposed Amendments to the Dublin Regulation and the Reception Conditions Directive, Interview with Cecilia Wikström, Member of the European Parliament and Rapporteur on the Recast of the Dublin Regulation (Eurasylum, Nov. 2012) [text]

"The Limits of EU Hospitality," The Refuge, vol. 10, no. 3 (Oct. 2012) [text]

"From Urban to Rural: Livelihoods and Adaptation of Armenian Refugees," Chapter in Observing Transformation: Adaptation Strategies in the South Caucasus (Henrich Boell Foundation, 2011) [text]
- Scroll to p. 14.

Multimedia:

The Left to Die Boat (BBC, Oct. 2012) [access]
- Documentary on how African migrants "were left to die in a boat in one of the most heavily-monitored seas on earth."

Tagged Publications and Web Sites/Tools.


Focus: Americas

Publications:

"Canada, EU Working on New Agreement on Asylum Seekers," Embassy, 7 Nov. 2012 [text]

"Humanitarian Aid is Never a Crime? The Politics of Immigration Enforcement and the Provision of Sanctuary," Syracuse Law Review, vol. 63 (2012) [full-text]

Forced Displacement and Labor Market Access for Women in Colombia, 2001-2011 (Lund University, June 2012) [text]

"Refugee Women as Cultural Others: Constructing Social Group and Nexus for FGM, Sex Trafficking, and Domestic Violence Asylum Claims in the United States," Seattle Journal for Social Justice, vol. 10, no. 2 (2012) [open access text]

Situation of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Ecuador (Human Rights Brief Blog, Nov. 2012) [text]
- Special coverage of testimony heard by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights during its 146th Session.

Situation of Victims of Forced Displacement in Colombia (Human Rights Brief Blog, Nov. 2012) [text]
- Special coverage of testimony heard by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights during its 146th Session.

Upcoming events:

Preparing for C-31, Webinar, 12 December 2012 [info]
- Focus is "on preparing for new refugee claim rules in Canada."

A Liberal Tide: Towards a Paradigm Shift in Latin American Migration and Asylum Policy-making, London, date to be determined [info]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

13 November 2012

Focus: Africa

Publications:

Assistance to Refugees, Returnees and Displaced Persons in Africa : Report of the Secretary-General, UN Doc. No. A/67/323 (UN General Assembly, Aug. 2012) [text via Refworld]

Gatekeepers and Evictions: Somalia’s Displaced Population at Risk (Refugees International, Nov. 2012) [text]

"Implementing a Revised Refugee Policy for Urban Refugees in Tanzania," Oxford Monitor of Forced Migration, vol. 2, no. 2 (Nov. 2012) [full-text]

Notes from the Field: Congolese Refugee Girls in Tanzania Speak Out (WRC Blog, Nov. 2012) [text]

Refugee Livelihoods and the Private Sector: Ugandan Case Study, Working Paper, no. 86 (RSC, Nov. 2012) [text]

Shifting Sands: Risk and Resilience among Refugee Youth in Cairo (Women's Refugee Commission, Nov. 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

"We are foreigners, we have no rights": The Plight of Refugees, Asylum-seekers and Migrants in Libya (Amnesty International, Nov. 2012) [text via Refworld]

Opportunity:

FY 2013 Funding Opportunity Announcement for NGO Programs Benefiting Refugees in Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda (U.S. Department of State) [info]
- Submit proposal by 6 December 2012.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

12 November 2012

Focus: Humanitarian Assistance

Publications:

Aid to Syria: Winning Friends and Influence (IRIN, Nov. 2012) [text]

Beyond the 'French Doctors': The Evolution and Interpretation of Humanitarian Action in France, HPG Working Paper (ODI, Oct. 2012) [text]

Cultures of Humanitarianism: Perspectives from the Asia-Pacific, Keynotes, no. 11 (Australian National University, Sept. 2012) [text]

Humanitarian Policy Notes (Oxfam) [access]
- "A series of short papers on Oxfam's positions on the important issues facing humanitarian response to conflicts and natural disasters."

Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action (Protection Cluster, Oct. 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

Forthcoming opportunity:

MA in Humanitarian Assistance (Tufts University) [info]
- A "one-year joint degree offered by the Friedman School and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. The program is geared toward mid-career professionals who have significant field experience in humanitarian assistance."  Apply by 28 Feb. 2013.

Web site:

Stuff Expat Aid Workers Like [access]
- "...an ongoing series of sometimes satirical, sometimes ironic, usually humorous (but sometimes dead serious), always honest vignettes of the humanitarian aid industry from the inside."

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