27 February 2015

Thematic Focus: Work/Economic Issues

Opportunities:

FY 2015 Request for Research Concept Notes to Strengthen Evidence-based Humanitarian Decision Making by PRM and its Partners Worldwide [info]
- "Concept notes must respond to one of the following research questions: 1. Access to education for urban refugee children; 2. Costs/benefits of cash assistance in acute emergencies; 3. Economic impact of refugees on host communities; 4. Environmental impact of refugee camps." Submission deadline is 6 March 2015.

Call for Research Proposals to Assess the Economic Impact of Refugees on Host and/or Regional Economies [info]
- Submission deadline is 25 March 2015.

Publications:

"Asylum, Welfare and Work: Reflections on Research in Asylum and Refugee Studies," International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 34, no. 5/6 (2014) [eprint via Academia.edu]

Construction and Service-sector Labour Market Systems: A Study of the Opportunities in Employment for Iraqi IDPs and Syrian Refugees - Kurdistan Region of Iraq (Danish Refugee Council et al., Dec. 2014) [text via ReliefWeb]

From Dependence to Self-Reliance: Changing the Paradigm in Protracted Refugee Situations (Global Views Blog, Feb. 2015) [text]

Microfinance Programmes in UNHCR Operations: Innovative Microlending in Kenya (UNHCR, 2015) [text]

Operational Guidelines for Cash-Based Interventions in Displacement Settings (UNHCR, Feb. 2015) [text]

Za’atari Winter Contribution Vouchers: Distribution and Initial Findings (Norwegian Refugee Council & UNHCR, Feb. 2015) [text via ReliefWeb]

Research Project: 

*Labour Market Impacts of Forced Migration (2013-2015) [info]
- This project "aims to provide unique statistical evidence on the labour market implications of forced migration situations. The project looks at two different case studies in the African Great Lakes Region: forced migration in and from Burundi (main component of the project) and forced migration to Tanzania."

*UPDATED

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Work/Economic Issues 3 (Feb. 2015)

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

Events & Opportunities: More March 2015

Info sharing: ESPMI Guest Twitter Project, Online, 2 March-13 April 2015 [info]
- Follow tweets at @ESPMINetwork.

Meeting: Working Together in the Field for Effective Humanitarian Response, Berlin, 3-4 March 2015 [info]
- Follow link for background paper, discussion starter, agenda and programme.

Meeting: 62nd Meeting of the UNHCR Standing Committee, Geneva, 3-5 March 2015 [info]
- Documents will eventually be made available via the a/m link.

Webinar: Social Media and Refugee Rights, 5 March 2015 [info]

CFP: De-mythifing Forced Migration: Place, Temporariness and Access in an Era of (Im)Mobility, 10th Annual Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS) Student Caucus Conference, Toronto, 1-2 May 2015 [info]
- Abstract submission deadline *extended* to 13 March 2015.

Panel discussion: Syria Crisis: How Aid is Changing, London, 15 March 2015 [info]

Workshop: Interrogating Forced Migration: A Research & Workshop Programme, Kolkata, 16-21 March 2015 [info]

Conference: Regulating ‘Irregular’ Migration: International Obligations and International Responsibility, Athens, 20 March 2015 [info]

Call for Research Proposals to Assess the Economic Impact of Refugees on Host and/or Regional Economies [info]
- Submission deadline is 25 March 2015.

Request for Proposal RFP/2015/653 for the Establishment of a Frame Agreement for the Provision of Protection Information Service in Strengthening the Response Capacity to RSD and Country and Legal Information Needs [info]
- See also some questions and answers relating to this RFP. Submission deadline is 30 March 2015.

CFP: Humanitarian Innovation Conference 2015: Facilitating Innovation, Oxford, 17-18 July 2015 [info]
- Abstract submission deadline *extended* to 31 March 2015.

Related post:
- Events & Opportunities: Even More February 2015/New March 2015

Tagged Events & Opportunities. 

26 February 2015

Thematic Focus: Detention

Alternatives to Immigration and Asylum Detention in the EU: Time for Implementation (MADE REAL Project, Jan. 2015) [text]

Behind Bars: The Detention of Migrants in and from the East & Horn of Africa (RMMS, Feb. 2015) [text]

*The Business of Immigration Detention: Activisms, Resistances, Critical Interventions, Lancaster, UK, 22-23 Jan. 2015 [info]
- An overview of the conference is provided in this blog post.

Court Orders DHS to Stop Detaining Mothers and Children to Deter Future Immigration Flow (Immigration Impact, Feb. 2015) [text]

Evaluating the Impact of International Detention Coalition (IDC, Oct. 2014) [text via ReliefWeb]

The Forgotten Children: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention 2014 (Australian Human Rights Commission, Nov. 2014; publicly avail. Feb. 2015) [text]
- See also related media materials, discussion paper and UNHCR statement.

Greece Commits to Detaining Migrants Only Exceptionally and for No More than Six Months (AIDA, Feb. 2015) [text]
- See also related UNHCR statement.

"Hosting an Asylum Seeker in Australia: A Nationwide Exploratory Study," Australian Psychologist, Forthcoming 2015 [abstract]
- Note: A copy of the postprint of this article can be requested from the institutional repository.

How UK Detention Policy Worsens Migrants’ Mental Health (IRIN, Feb. 2015) [text]

*Island Detentions (Border Criminologies Blog, Jan. 2015) [text]

Review of Mental Health Issues in Immigration Removal Centres (Tavistock Institute, Feb. 2015) [access]
- The Home Office response is also available via the a/m link.


*UPDATED

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Detention (2 Feb. 2015)

Tagged Publications. 

Thematic Focus: Humanitarian Assistance, incl. World Humanitarian Summit

Event & opportunity: 

Regional Humanitarianism in Action, Dubai, 24-26 February 2015 [info]
- Follow link for background paper, agenda and other related materials.

Introduction to Evaluating Humanitarian Action, Online (available in early March) [info]
- Registration required.

Publications:

Addressing Causation in Humanitarian Evaluation: A Discussion on Designs, Approaches and Examples (ALNAP, Jan. 2015) [text]

The Aid Industry: What Journalists Really Think (International Broadcasting Trust, Nov. 2014) [text]
- See also related Guardian article and live Q&A.

Comment les humanitaires travaillent face à Al-Qaïda et l’Etat islamique (MSF CRASH, Jan. 2015) [text]

Drones for Good? (IRIN, Feb. 2015) [text]

"The Existence of the Right to Humanitarian Assistance in the Event of Natural Disasters," Czech Yearbook of Public & Private International Law, vol. 5 (2014) [full-text via ILR)

Humanitarian Action, Professional Development Reading Pack, no. 2 (GSDRC, Dec. 2014) [text via ReliefWeb]

Islamic Humanitarianism? The Evolving Role of the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation in Somalia and Beyond (ODI, Feb. 2015) [text]

"One Step Forward, Two Steps Back? Humanitarian Challenges and Dilemmas in Crisis Settings," Journal of Humanitarian Assistance (Feb. 2015) [full-text]

Rhetoric or Reality? Putting Affected People at the Centre of Humanitarian Action (ALNAP, Oct. 2014) [text via ReliefWeb]

New resource:

Videos (ReliefWeb) [access]
- A selection of high-quality videos selected by ReliefWeb's editorial team; videos can be located by country, topic or organization.  See also related blog post.

World Humanitarian Summit:

Regional Consultation: Europe and Others Group, Budapest, 3-4 February 2015 [text via ReliefWeb]
- Follow link for Co-Chairs' Summary; see also additional related materials.

Regional Consultation: Middle East and North Africa, Amman, 3-5 March 2015 [text]
- Follow link for scoping paper; see also additional related materials.

The World Humanitarian Summit: Talking Shop or Game Changer? (IRIN, Feb. 2015) [text]

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Humanitarian Assistance (2 Feb. 2015)

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

New - and Free - Issue of JICJ Explores Intersection of Refugee & Criminal Law

A special issue of the Journal of International Criminal Justice (JICJ) has just been published.  The theme is "The Interaction between Refugee Law and International Criminal Justice."  It includes 16 articles and four book reviews, all of which - happily! - are freely available (although on a temporary basis only). Read the introduction for a complete overview of the contents.

Topical Issues:
  • Systematising Systemic Integration: ‘War Refugees’, Regime Relations, and a Proposal for a Cumulative Approach to International Commitments [text]
  • The Laws of War and the Protection of ‘War Refugees’: Reflections on the Debate and its Future Directions [text]
  • Gender at the Intersection of International Refugee Law and International Criminal Law [text]
  • The Interaction between International Refugee Law and International Criminal Law with respect to Child Soldiers [text]
  • Assessing Ability and Willingness of States: What Can the ICC Learn from International Refugee Law? [text]
  • Human Trafficking: Mapping the Legal Boundaries of International Refugee Law and Criminal Justice [text]
Symposium on Exclusion and Post-Exclusion from Refugee Status:
  • Harmonizing Exclusion under the Refugee Convention by Reference to the Evidentiary Standards of International Criminal Law [text]
  • Exclusion under Article 1F(b) of the Refugee Convention: The Uncertain Concept of Internationally Serious Common Crimes [text]
  • Terrorism and Article 1F(c) of the Refugee Convention: Exclusion from Refugee Status in the United Kingdom [text]
  • Jurisdictional Competence Through Protection: To What Extent Can States Prosecute the Prior Crimes of Those to Whom They Have Extended Refuge? [text]
  • Refugee Exclusion and Extradition in the Netherlands: Rwanda as Precedent? [text]
  • Protecting Witnesses at the International Criminal Court from Refoulement [text]
National Issues:
  • Australia’s Treatment of Asylum Seekers: From Human Rights Violations to Crimes Against Humanity [text]
  • Left Out of Exclusion: International Criminal Law and the ‘Persecutor Bar’ in US Refugee Law [text]
  • The Notion of Complicity in UK Refugee Law [text]
  • Ezokola v. Canada: The Correct Place of International Criminal Law in International Refugee Law-making [text]


Tagged Periodicals.

25 February 2015

New Issue of RSQ

The latest issue of the Refugee Survey Quarterly (RSQ) has been published.  The theme is "The Role of International Organizations and Human Rights Monitoring Bodies in Refugee Protection." Contents of vol. 34, no. 1, March 2015 include:
  • Introduction: The Role of International Organizations and Human Rights Monitoring Bodies in Refugee Protection [abstract] [postprint]
  • Refugee Protection under International Human Rights Law: From Non-Refoulement to Residence and Citizenship [abstract] [postprint]
  • Time for Reform? Refugees, Asylum-seekers, and Protection under International Human Rights Law [free full-text]
  • Recent Jurisprudence of the United Nations Committee against Torture and the International Protection of Refugees [abstract]
  • Reframing Relationships: Revisiting the Procedural Standards for Refugee Status Determination in Light of Recent Human Rights Treaty Body Jurisprudence [free full-text]
  • International Protection in Court: The Asylum Jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the EU and UNHCR [abstract]

Many thanks to Fernando M. Mariño Menéndez for making his article Open Access!  He follows in the footsteps of David Cantor who was the first to go OA in an earlier issue of RSQ.  [See this post for background on the access status of this article!]

Tagged Periodicals.


News: New Edition of AI's Annual Report on Human Rights

Amnesty International has launched the 2014/2015 edition of its annual report on the state of human rights around the world.  Here is part of the description:
"The Amnesty International Report 2014/15 documents the state of human rights in 160 countries and territories during 2014. Some key events from 2013 are also reported. This report also celebrates those who stand up for human rights across the world, often in difficult and dangerous circumstances. It represents Amnesty International’s key concerns throughout the world, and is essential reading for policymakers, activists and anyone with an interest in human rights."

For overviews of the report's coverage, read the press release and the foreword.

Also note that Amnesty International has reorganized its web site.  One happy result is that now visitors can finally access ALL AI annual reports from one location!  And when I say all, I mean dating back to the very first AI report published in 1962. Thank you, Amnesty International!

Moreover, the various language editions of the report can be located via the same link.  It looks like as of 2007, the report was available in English and Spanish. Then with each subsequent year, more and more language editions were published, with the current report available in 17 languages.  

(The downside of the reorganization is that RSS feeds appear to have disappeared! But that's the subject of a different post...!)

Tagged Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

24 February 2015

Thematic Focus: Sexual Orientation

Asylum and Sexual Orientation: Lost Opportunities in the CJEU (UK Immigration Law Blog, Jan. 2015) [text]

Asylum Policy Instruction: Sexual Identity Issues in the Asylum Claim (UK Home Office, Feb. 2015) [text via Refworld]

Envisioning LGBT Refugee Rights in Canada: The Impact of Canada's New Immigration Regime (Envisioning Global LGBT Human Rights, June 2014) [text via RRN]
- Related information sheets can also be accessed via the same link.

"The International Refugee Regime: A Failing System," Ramapo Journal of Law & Society, vol. 1, no. 2 (Fall 2014) [full-text]
- Includes analysis of sexual orientation as a missed category of protection in the 1951 Convention.

"L’orientation sexuelle comme motif de persécution doit être appréciée dans la dignité," Lettres Actualités Droits-Libertés, 15 Jan. 2015

Seeking Protection: LGBTI Asylum Seekers (Right Now Blog, Jan. 2015) [text]

Sexualities, vol. 17, no. 8 (Dec. 2014) [contents]
- Special issue on "Queer Migration, Asylum, and Displacement."

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity (18 Dec. 2014)

Tagged Publications.

Regional Focus: Europe

Publications:

Book Review: "On the Doorstep of Europe: Asylum and Citizenship in Greece. Heath Cabot. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014," American Ethnologist, vol. 42, no. 1 (Feb. 2015) [free full-text]

"The Common European Asylum System: Bric-à-Brac or System?," Chapter in Reforming the Common European Asylum System: The New European Refugee Law (Martinus Nijhoff, Forthcoming 2015) [eprint via SSRN]

Italy: Lampedusa Survivors' Tales of Despair Should Shock EU into Action (Amnesty International, Feb. 2015) [text]

"PEGIDA: The Last Stronghold of a ‘Fortress Europe’ Asylum Policy?," ECRE Weekly Bulletin, 20 Feb. 2015 [text]

Rapport par Nils Muižnieks, Commissaire aux droits de l'homme du Conseil de l'Europe, suite à sa visite en France, du 22 au 26 septembre 2014 (Council of Europe, Feb. 2015) [text via Refworld]

Setting Policy on Asylum: Has the EU got it Right? (IZA World of Labor, Feb. 2015) [access]

Two Charts Showing that 'Deterring' Migrant Boats is Failing (IRIN, Feb. 2015) [text]

You Faked Your Life? Towards a Culture of Protection in UK Asylum (openDemocracy, Feb. 2015) [text]

New blog:

FlüchtlingsforschungsBlog = Refugee Research Blog [access]
- A German-language blog provided by the Netzwerk Flüchtlingsforschung (Refugee Research Network) that aims to serve as a platform for information and exchange. Posts often focus on - but are not limited to - refugee/asylum issues in Germany and Europe. Guest posts are welcome.  Email blog[at]fluechtlingsforschung.net for more info.

Related post:
- Regional Focus: Europe (13 Feb. 2015)

Tagged Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

23 February 2015

Thematic Focus: Statelessness & Nationality

Event:

Symposium: What Awaits the Dutch Stateless in 2015?, Amsterdam, 2 March 2015 [info]

Publications:

Good Practices Paper (Action I): Resolving Existing Major Situations of Statelessness (UNHCR, Feb. 2015) [text]
- New series of "Good Practices Papers to help States, with the support of other stakeholders, achieve the goals of its Campaign to End Statelessness within 10 Years."

"The Interwoven Trajectories of Stateless Vietnamese," International Examiner, 6 Feb. 2015 [text]
- Interview with film maker; includes link to documentary site.

Is It Legal to Strip Dual Nationals of Citizenship? (RN Breakfast, Feb. 2015) [access via Kaldor Centre]

Q&A: Abidjan Meeting Brings Hope for Stateless People in West Africa (UNHCR, Feb. 2015) [text]

The Return of Banishment: Do the New Denationalisation Policies Weaken Citizenship?, RSCAS Working Paper, no. 2015/14 (EUI, 2015) [text]

Statelessness in Italy: What’s Next? (ENS Blog, Feb. 2015) [text]

Statelessness Increases Risk of Exploitation and Trafficking (Tilburg Univ., Feb. 2015) [text]

Why Malta Needs to Accede to the UN Statelessness Conventions (ENS Blog, Feb. 2015) [text]

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Statelessness (5 Feb. 2015)

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

19 February 2015

Regional Focus: Americas

Aftershocks: The Human Impact of U.S. Deportations to Post-Earthquake Haiti (Univ. of Miami & Univ. of Chicago, 2015) [text]

The Humanitarian Dimension in the Aftermath of a Peace Agreement: Proposals for the International Community in Colombia (Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre, Feb. 2015) [text via ReliefWeb]

"The Invisible Displaced: A Unified Conceptualization of Population Displacement in Brazil," Journal of Refugee Studies, Advance Access, 21 Jan. 2015 [full-text via ResearchGate]

Refugee, Asylum and Other Humanitarian Policies: Challenges for Reform, Washington, DC, 29 Oct. 2014 [roundtable report]

Refugees, Law and the Courts, Toronto, 25 Nov. 2014 [info] [access]
- Follow access link for videos.

Smuggled Migrant or Migrant Smuggler: Erosion of Sea-borne Asylum Seekers' Access to Refugee Protection in Canada, Working Paper, no. 106 (RSC, Feb. 2015) [text]
- See also related thesis.

Note: See also these earlier posts on children [Feb. 13] [Feb. 17] as they both include multiple references to unaccompanied Central American minors.

Related posts:
- Regional Focus: Americas (9 Feb. 2015)

Tagged Publications.

18 February 2015

Regional Focus: MENA

Events:

Seminar: Refugees after the Arab Spring: Challenges Facing Service Providers, Cairo, 25 February 2015 [info]

Panel discussion: Syria Crisis: How Aid is Changing, London, 15 March 2015 [info]

Publications:

"Home is Where the Heart is? Forced Migration and Voluntary Return in Turkey's Kurdish Regions," Journal of Refugee Studies, Advance Access, 9 Oct. 2014 [full-text via Univ. of Kent IR]

Only Five Percent of Pledged Aid Reaches Gaza (IRIN, Feb. 2015) [text]

Refugees in Egypt Urgently Need Protection (Human Rights First Blog, Jan. 2015) [text]

"Refugee Repatriation and Voluntariness," International Journal of Human Rights, vol. 19, no. 1 (2015) [full-text via ResearchGate]

"Rights, Needs or Assistance? The Role of the UNHCR in Refugee Protection in the Middle East," International Journal of Human Rights (Forthcoming, 2015) [eprint via Academia.edu]

"The Role of Non-Governmental Organizations in the Repatriation of Refugees," Philosophy & Public Policy Quarterly, vol. 32, no. 1 (2014) [open access]

UNHCR Thematic Updates: Yemen (UNHCR, Jan. 2015)
- Internal Displacement;
- Mixed Migration;
- Urban Refugee Programme

Related post:
- Regional Focus: MENA, incl. Syria (4 Feb. 2015)

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

17 February 2015

Thematic Focus: Children

The Big Dilemma of Small Soldiers: Recruiting Children to the War in Syria (Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre, Feb. 2015) [text via ReliefWeb]

Children Living and Working on the Streets in Lebanon: Profile and Magnitude (ILO et al., Feb. 2015) [text via ReliefWeb]

*Children's Rights in Return Policy and Practice in Europe: A Discussion Paper on the Return of Unaccompanied and Separated Children to Institutional Reception or Family (UNICEF, Feb. 2015) [text via Refworld]

"Dispelling the Myths: Unaccompanied, Undocumented Minors in US Immigration Custody," Anthropology Today, vol. 31, no. 1 (Feb. 2015) [free full-text]
- Note: Readers are invited to debate the issues raised in this article on the Royal Anthropological Institute's web site.

Guidelines for Detention Center Personnel Working with Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Minors (National Latina/o Psychological Association, Jan. 2015) [text]

Guidelines for Mental Health Professionals Working with Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Minors (National Latina/o Psychological Association, Jan. 2015) [text]

Protecting the Best Interests of the Child in Dublin Procedures: UNHCR's Comments on the European Commission's Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council Amending Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 as Regards Determining the Member State Responsible for Examining the Application for International Protection of Unaccompanied Minors with no Family Member, Sibling or Relative Legally Present in a Member State (UNHCR, Feb. 2015) [text]

What Kind of Welcome? Integration of Central American Unaccompanied Children into Local Communities (ISIM, Feb. 2015) [text]

*UPDATED

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Children (13 Feb. 2015)

Tagged Publications. 

16 February 2015

Thematic Focus: General

"Assessing Advocacies for Forcibly Displaced People: A Comprehensive Approach," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Online First, 21 Jan. 2015 [full-text via Academia.edu]

Guest Blogger Elizabeth Ferris Describes “the Dangers of Mainstreaming IDPs into Oblivion” (IDMC Blog, Jan. 2015) [text]

Harnessing the Potential of Cities and Refugees (ALNAP Blog, Feb. 2015) [text]

Humanitarian Responses Alone Won’t Solve Refugee Crises (Right Now Blog, Feb. 2015) [text]

Refuge and Protection in the Late Ottoman Empire, Oxford, 28 Jan. 2015 [access]
- Follow link for podcast.

"Refugee Repatriation and Voluntariness," International Journal of Human Rights, vol. 19, no. 1 (2015) [full-text via ResearchGate]

Why Assisted Return Programmes Must Be Evaluated, Policy Brief, no. 8 (PRIO, 2014) [text]

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: General (29 Jan. 2015)

Tagged Publications.

13 February 2015

Regional Focus: Europe

Accommodation and Financial Support for Asylum Seekers (UK House of Commons Library, Feb. 2015) [text via EIN]

Asylum in the Republic of Croatia One Year after Accession to the European Union, New Issues in Refugee Research, no. 273 (UNHCR, Jan. 2015) [text]

Best Practice Guide to Asylum and Human Rights Appeals (Electronic Immigration Network, updated 2015) [access]

The CJEU and its Interaction with International Law in the Qualification Directive: A Calculated Selectivity? (EDAL, Feb. 2015) [text]

EU ‘Burying Heads in the Sand’ as Hundreds More Migrants Die at Sea off Italy (Amnesty International, Feb. 2015) [text]

Missing the Point: Lack of Adequate Investigation of Hate Crimes in Bulgaria (Amnesty International, Feb. 2015) [text]

Recommendations for the Development of Safe and Legal Paths to Protection in the EU (JRS et al., Nov. 2014) [text]

Ukraine's Internally Displaced: Close to 1 Million and Rising (Order from Chaos Blog, Feb. 2015) [text]

Related post:
- Regional Focus: Europe (9 Feb. 2015)

Tagged Publications.

Opportunities/New Issues of Anti-Traff. Rev., FEX, Grief Matters, Humanit. Exch., IJMHSC, JEMS, Rts. in Exile

Opportunities:

Volunteer Editor, Rights in Exile Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter [info]
- No application deadline indicated.

CFP: Journal of Human Trafficking [info]
- Articles sought for special issue of this new journal on "Traffickers and Slaveholders: Human Rights Violators in Comparative Perspective." Submission deadline is 3 April 2015.

CFP: Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees [info]
- York University faculty members invited to submit to special issue showcasing multidisciplinary research on migration. Submission deadline is 15 May 2015.

CFP: Forced Migration Review [info]
- Articles sought for theme issue on "Dayton + 20: The Balkans Twenty Years on from the Dayton Agreement." Submission deadline is 18 May 2015.

New issues:

Anti-Trafficking Review, no. 3 (2014) [open access]
- Theme is " Following the Money: Spending on Anti-Trafficking."

Field Exchange, no. 48 (Nov. 2014) [full-text]
- Special focus on "Programming Experiences and Learning from the Nutrition Response to the Syrian Crisis."

Grief Matters: The Australian Journal of Grief and Bereavement, vol. 17, no. 3 (Summer 2014) [contents]
- Theme is "Displacement and Isolation: The Grief of Immigrant, Refugee and Indigenous Peoples."

Humanitarian Exchange, no. 63 (Jan. 2015) [full-text]
- Theme is "The Typhoon Haiyan Response."  See also related blog post.

International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 11, no. 1 (2015) [contents]
- Mix of articles including two on finding family doctors for refugees and one on Tamil refugees in Canada.

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 41, no. 3 (2015) [contents]
- Mix of articles.

Rights in Exile Newsletter, no. 56 (Feb. 2015) [full-text]
- News and information for refugee legal aid providers.

Tagged Periodicals and Events & Opportunities.

Thematic Focus: Children

Here are several just released publications that address two issues that have been widely reported on recently: children in detention in Australia and migrating unaccompanied minors in the Americas.

Childhood and Migration in Central and North America: Causes, Policies, Practices and Challenges (Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, Feb. 2015) [text]

"Children’s Migration to the United States from Mexico and Central America: Evidence from the Mexican and Latin American Migration Projects," Journal on Migration and Human Security, vol. 3, no. 1 (2015) [open access]

The Forgotten Children: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention 2014 (Australian Human Rights Commission, Nov. 2014; publicly avail. Feb. 2015) [text]
- See also related media materialsdiscussion paper and UNHCR statement.

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Children (11 Feb. 2015)

Tagged Publications. 

12 February 2015

Thematic Focus: Mental Health

"Chronic Diseases, Lack of Medications, and Depression among Syrian Refugees in Jordan, 2013–2014," Preventing Chronic Disease, vol. 12 (Jan. 2015) [public domain]

"Disclosure and Silencing: A Systematic Review of the Literature on Patterns of Trauma Communication in Refugee Families," Transcultural Psychiatry, vol. 52, no. 5 (Oct. 2015) [open access]

"Managing Ethical Challenges to Mental Health Research in Post-Conflict Settings," Developing World Bioethics, Early View, 8 Jan. 2015 [open access]

"Psychological Trauma and Help Seeking Behaviour amongst Resettled Iraqi Refugees in Attending English Tuition Classes in Australia," International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 9:5 (Jan. 2015) [open access]

"Stigma of Mental Illnesses as Perceived by North Korean Defectors Living in South Korea," Psychiatry Investigation, vol. 12, no. 1 (Jan. 2015) [full-text]

"A Study of Mental Health Literacy among North Korean Refugees in South Korea," Journal of Preventive Medicine & Public Health, vol. 48, no. 1 (Jan. 2015) [open access]

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Mental Health (14 Jan. 2015)

Tagged Publications.


Thematic Focus: Women

Opportunity:

CPD Training Event: Gender Sensitivity in the Asylum Process, London, 25 February 2015 [info]

Publications:

Congolese Women: What Happened to the Promise to Protect? (Refugees International, Feb. 2015) [text]

Does Domestic Violence Constitute Valid Ground to Claim Refugee Status? (Summary Judgments Blog, Jan. 2015) [text]

"A Feminist (Legal) Analysis of the Interface between Refugee Law and the Mandates of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions," Chapter in Current Issues in Transitional Justice: Towards a More Holistic Approach (Springer, 2015) [eprint via SSRN]

"The Obama Administration Pledged to Fix the Asylum System for Women. 6 Years Later…," Mother Jones (Jan. 2015) [text]

"Suicide in the Name of Honor: Why and How US Asylum Law Should be Modified to Allow Greater Acceptance of Honor-Violence Victims to Prevent 'Honor Suicides'," William & Mary Journal of Women and the Law, vol. 21, no. 1 (2014) [full-text]

"Women and Forced Migration in Serbia," Zbornik Matice Srpske za Drustvene Nauke, no. 148 (2014) [full-text via Academia.edu]

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Women (22 Jan. 2015)

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

Thematic Focus: Climate Change & Natural Disasters

Events & opportunities:

Seminar: The Nansen Initiative: Linking Climate Change, Disasters and Human Mobility, Montreal, 18 February 2015 [info]

Seminar: Climate Change, Disasters and Cross-Border Displacement: Novel Legal Responses in Africa and the Americas?, London, 19 February 2015 [info]

CFP: South-South Migration in Context of Environmental Change [info]
- Submit paper proposal by 23 February 2015.

Resources:

Climate Change, Disasters, and Human Mobility in South Asia, Kathmandu, 2-3 Feb. 2015 [info]
- Follow link for information note and agenda.

"Governing 'Climate Migration'," Chapter in Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation (Springer, Forthcoming 2015) [text via author site]

Guidance Note: New Land for Climate Displaced Persons in Bangladesh (Displacement Solutions, Feb. 2015) [text via ReliefWeb]

No Room to Fake It: The Role of Regional Organizations in Building the DRM Capacities of Pacific Island Countries (Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement, Feb. 2015) [text]

Should the 1951 Refugee Convention Include People Displaced by Climate-linked Events?, London, 4 Feb. 2015 [info]
- A podcast of this debate is now available.

Understanding a Slow Disaster: Getting to Grips with Slow-onset Disasters, and What They Mean for Migration and Displacement (UKCCMC, Feb. 2015) [text]

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Climate Change & Migration (21 Jan. 2015)

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

11 February 2015

Events & Opportunities: Even More February 2015/New March 2015

Feb. 2015:

CFP: "Dark Heritage: The Archaeology of Internment and Forced Wartime Migration," Session at 21st Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists, Glasgow, 2-5 September 2015 [info]
- Abstract submission deadline is 16 February 2015.

Seminar: The Nansen Initiative: Linking Climate Change, Disasters and Human Mobility, Montreal, 18 February 2015 [info]

Funding: PhD Scholarships in Migration Research, UK Institute for Migration Research [info]
 - Apply by 20 February 2015.

CFP: South-South Migration in Context of Environmental Change [info]
- Submit paper proposal by 23 February 2015.

CPD Training Event: Gender Sensitivity in the Asylum Process, London, 25 February 2015 [info]

CFP: De-mythifing Forced Migration: Place, Temporariness and Access in an Era of (Im)Mobility, 10th Annual Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS) Student Caucus Conference, Toronto, 1-2 May 2015 [info]
- Abstract submission deadline is 27 February 2015.

March 2015:

Course & Funding: International Summer School in Forced Migration, Oxford, 6-254 July 2015 [info]
- Deadline for bursary applications is is 1 March 2015.

CFP: Humanitarian Evidence Programme [info]
- Applications sought "to conduct evidence syntheses on the topics of acute malnutrition; market support interventions; and shelter and settlement strategies." Submission deadline is 4 March 2015.

Funding: FY 2015 Request for Research Concept Notes to Strengthen Evidence-based Humanitarian Decision Making by PRM and its Partners Worldwide [info]
- "Concept notes must respond to one of the following research questions: 1. Access to education for urban refugee children; 2. Costs/benefits of cash assistance in acute emergencies; 3. Economic impact of refugees on host communities; 4. Environmental impact of refugee camps." Submission deadline is 6 March 2015.

Seminar: The Protection of Conscientious Objectors and UNHCR's Role as a Norm Entrepreneur, London, 10 March 2015 [info]

CFP: Reframing the Migration Debate, 1st Postgraduate Workshop on Migration, Sheffield, UK, 11 June 2015 [info]
- Submit abstracts by 15 March 2015.

CFP: Migration and Asylum Law Section, The Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference, York, 1-4 September 2015 [info]
- Deadline for abstracts is 20 March 2015.

Seminar: Syrians Suffering Injuries and Displacement: Perspectives from the Field, Toronto, 24 March 2015 [info]

CFP: Human Migration and the Environment: Futures, Politics, Invention, Durham, UK, 28 June-1 July 2015 [info]
- Paper submissions deadline is 27 March 2015.

Course: International Summer School on Refugee Law: Western Balkans in Focus, Sarajevo, 6-16 July 2015 [info]
- Deadline for early registration is 30 March 2015.

Funding: Rights of Migrants in Action: Call for Proposals and Award of Grants for Civil Society Organizations for Protecting and Promoting the Rights of Migrant Domestic Workers and Victims of Human Trafficking [info]
- Deadline for submitting concept notes is 31 March 2015.

Related posts:
- Events & Opportunities (scroll through posts tagged with this label for additional last minute Feb. 2015 items)
- Legal/Protection-related Events & Opportunities

Tagged Events & Opportunities. 

Thematic Focus: Children

Deported Children Face Deadly New Dangers on Return to Honduras (UNHCR, Jan. 2015) [text]

"Frequent Relocations between Asylum-seeker Centres are Associated with Mental Distress in Asylum-seeking Children: A Longitudinal Medical Record Study," International Journal of Epidemiology, vol. 43, no. 1 (Feb. 2014) [free full-text]

Migration and Youth: Challenges and Opportunities (Global Migration Group, 2014) [text]
- See esp. Chapter 5, "The Refugee Dimension: Adolescent and Youth's Right to Seek and Access Asylum and Protection."

NGOs Call for the Rights of Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking Children to be Respected in Dublin Procedures (AIDA, Feb. 2015) [text]

Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Including Ways and Means to Promote the Human Rights of Migrants: Report of the Secretary-General, UN Doc. No. A/69/277 (UN General Assembly, Aug. 2014) [text]
- "The report contains an analysis of ways and means to promote and protect the human rights of migrant children, including unaccompanied children or those separated from their families, with a focus on the risks faced by adolescents."

"Reducing Further Harm to Asylum-seeking Children: The Global Human Rights Context," International Journal of Epidemiology, vol. 43, no. 1 (Feb. 2014) [free full-text]

Tested at the Margins: The Contingent Rights of Displaced Iraqi Children in Jordan, New Issues in Refugee Research, no. 272 (UNHCR, Jan. 2015) [text]

Young Paperless Lives: Understanding ‘Illegality’ through the Experiences of Young Undocumented Migrants (Discover Society, Feb. 2015) [text]

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Children (26 Jan. 2015)

Tagged Publications. 

Guest Post: Too Much Information?

There has been an exponential expansion in the amount of information and analysis on refugee-related issues over the past 30 years. But has quantity outstripped quality? Jeff Crisp provides this commentary.

Too much information?

Back in the early 1980s, when I first became interested in refugee issues, it was possible to argue that there was a paucity of information and analysis on forced migration and humanitarian action.

That is no longer the case. Readers wishing to learn about refugee issues now have access to a variety of different academic journals, including the International Journal of Refugee Law, Journal of Refugee Studies, Oxford Monitor of Forced Migration, Refuge and Refugee Survey Quarterly, not to mention the research paper series published by organizations such as the Refugee Studies Centre in Oxford and UNHCR.

To which must be added journals and research papers series dealing with broader humanitarian issues: Disasters, for example, as well as Humanitarian Exchange, the web-based Journal of Humanitarian Assistance and the International Review of the Red Cross.

Turn to the Internet and even more information and analysis on refugee and humanitarian issues can be found. OCHA, for example, maintains ReliefWeb, which describes itself as “the leading source for reliable and timely information on global crises and disasters.” Until very recently, OCHA also funded IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Network) which in its own words “delivers unique, authoritative and independent reporting from the frontlines of crises” and which is about to become an independent entity. A similar purpose is served by the website of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, formerly known as AlertNet.

Finally, if you despair at keeping track of the dozens of articles, reports and books being written on refugee-related themes, then help is at hand with the excellent Forced Migration Current Awareness blog, an independent digest of new literature which is updated on a daily basis by information specialist Elisa Mason. 

In some respects, the proliferation of publications dealing with refugee and humanitarian issues can be considered to be a healthy development. It is evidently preferable for people to be aware of the human consequences of conflicts and crises than to be ignorant of them. And it is positive to see that the work of refugee and humanitarian agencies is now being more thoroughly examined and evaluated. In 1984, for example, celebrated author William Shawcross observed that “humanitarian agencies do not often publish discussions of their work. They release lists of the assistance they have given, but rarely offer real analysis. As a result, mistakes are repeated again and again.” Using remarkably similar language two years later, the legendary academic Barbara Harrell-Bond stated, “Inside the agencies it is well known that the same mistakes have been repeated over and over again. The importance of evaluating the impact of relief programs is not widely appreciated.”

No one could say that any more.

Despite this apparent progress, there are reasons to be cautious about the massive expansion that has taken place in the volume of information and analysis now available on refugee and humanitarian issues.

The first question is that of quality control. Are there sufficient articles with something interesting and original to say, and which are sufficiently well-written, to usefully fill the pages of the many magazines, journals and websites that are now on the market? My own and probably old fogeyish reading suggests that there are not, and that some of the articles published today simply would not have seen the light of day 20 or 30 years ago, when editorial standards were arguably higher.

A second concern is that of over-intellectualization, and not least the steady penetration of impenetrable post-modernist social theory into the once readable field of refugee studies. Harrell-Bond’s seminal 1986 study of Ugandan refugees in southern Sudan, Imposing Aid: Emergency Assistance to Refugees,* for example, is a gripping page-turner. Whereas much of the more recent literature on refugees is cluttered with the same predictable phrases: 'contested spaces', 'narratives', 'discursive power' and 'deconstruction'. And I can hardly remember the last time that I read an undergraduate essay or Masters dissertation on a refugee-related theme which did not include the now obligatory reference to Italian academic Giorgio Agamben, whose work refers to refugee camps “as a biopolitical paradigm of the modern.” Thanks Giorgio, that's very helpful.

Finally, at a time when the humanitarian system is being stretched to and beyond the limit by a spate of major crises across the world, it seems reasonable to ask whether we are getting value for money from the millions of dollars being absorbed each year by an ever-growing number of refugee-related publications, conferences, workshops, 'webinars', 'peer learning events' and consultations.

It has been astonishing - and in some senses gratifying - to witness the explosion of academic interest in refugee affairs over the past decade. But at the same time, how can we ensure that the task of providing protection and solutions to the world's displaced populations does not get lost in this exponential increase in information and analysis?


*Note: Access to FMO's Digital Library, which houses a copy of Imposing Aid, is currently intermittent!

Tagged Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

10 February 2015

Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking & Migrant Smuggling

Event:

Book launch: Researching the Nexus between Statelessness and Human Trafficking: The Example of Thailand, Tilburg, Neth., 13 February 2015 [info]

Publications:

13th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Doha, 12-19 April 2015 [info]
- In the run-up to this meeting, the Crime Congress' web site is highlighting different transnational crimes including human trafficking and migrant smuggling.

"Cece v. Holder: An Unprecedented Look at the Asylum Claim for Victims of Attempted Sex Trafficking," Emory International Law Review, vol. 29, no. 2 (2014) [full-text]

"Public Discourse on Human Trafficking in International Issue Arenas," Societies, vol. 5, no. 1 (Jan. 2015) [open access]

Questions and Answers: Smuggling of Migrants in Europe and the EU Response (European Commission, Jan. 2015) [text]

Smuggled Migrant or Migrant Smuggler: Erosion of Sea-borne Asylum Seekers' Access to Refugee Protection in Canada, Working Paper, no. 106 (RSC, Feb. 2015) [text]

Trafficking Risks and Prevention of Exploitation in Times of Crisis: The Case of the Middle East and North Africa (IOM Blog, Nov. 2014) [text]

Resource:

Bibliographic Database on Migrant Smuggling in Asia (UNODC) [access]
- "[A] database of 300 synthesized publications on migrant smuggling previously collected, synthesized and published by UNODC in two Annotated Bibliographies." More information.

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Human Trafficking (24 Nov. 2014)

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

Thematic Focus: Health, General

"Examining Strain Diversity and Phylogeography in Relation to an Unusual Epidemic Pattern of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in a Long-term Refugee Camp in Kenya," BMC Infectious Diseases, 14:178 (April 2014) [open access]

"Frequent Relocations between Asylum-seeker Centres are Associated with Mental Distress in Asylum-seeking Children: A Longitudinal Medical Record Study," International Journal of Epidemiology, vol. 43, no. 1 (Feb. 2014) [free full-text]

"Gaps in Smiles and Services: A Cross-sectional Study of Dental Caries in Refugee-background Children," BMC Oral Health, 15:10 (Jan. 2015) [open access]

"Quality of Intrapartum Care by Skilled Birth Attendants in a Refugee Clinic on the Thai-Myanmar Border: A Survey Using WHO Safe Motherhood Needs Assessment," BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 15:17 (Feb. 2015)[open access]

Safeguarding Health: A Global Health and Humanitarian Policy (Humanitarian Space, Jan. 2015) [text]

"Unmet Contraceptive Needs among Refugees: Crossroads Clinic Experience," Canadian Family Physician, vol. 60, no. 12 (Dec. 2014) [free full-text]

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Health, General (20 Jan. 2015)

Tagged Publications.

09 February 2015

Regional Focus: Americas

Event:

Webcast: Unsafe Passage: Treating Vulnerable Migrants in Mexico, 12 February 2015 [info]

Publications:

The Defence of Duress in Canadian Refugee Law, Ottawa Faculty of Law Working Paper, no. 2015-1 (Univ. of Ottawa, Jan. 2015) [text]

Refugee Research Synthesis: 2009-2013 (CERIS, May 2014) [access]
- Scroll down for report, infographic, PowerPoint presentation and video.

Resilience Helps Refugees Thrive in Unfamiliar Cultures (Univ. of Alberta, Jan. 2015) [text]
- The ETD referenced in this article is entitled "An Exploratory Study of Resilience in Refugee Post-Secondary Students."

"The Scandal of Refugee Family Reunification," Boston College Law Review, vol. 56, no. 1 (2015) [full-text]

Understanding Refugees in Worcester, MA: A Demographic Snapshot (Clark University, Dec. 2014) [text]

"Violations to the Principle of Non-refoulement under the Asylum Policy of the United States," Anuario Mexicano de Derecho Internacional  vol. XV (2015) [full-text] [full-text via Academia.edu]

Related post:
- Regional Focus: Americas (26 Jan. 2015)

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.