Regional Focus: MENA

Opportunities:

Call for participation: Information Session on "Tomorrow’s Leaders Graduate Students Program," 21 January 2021 [info]

- Note: This initiative "offers students from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) a unique opportunity to pursue higher education and earn a master degree at The American University in Cairo" in several graduate programs including Migration and Refugee Studies.

Region-specific sessions at "UNHCR at 70" virtual conference, hosted by the Centre for Migration and Refugee Studies at the American University in Cairo:

- Session 1: Legal and Policy Frameworks in Refugee Hosting Countries: Perspectives from the MENA region, 21 January 2021 [info]

- Session 2: International Cooperation in the face of the Syrian Refugee Crisis, 21 January 2021 [info]

- More info available on the CMRS Facebook page.

Blog posts & press:

Building resilience in strained refugee-hosting states? The EU in the face of Lebanon’s cumulative crises (Asile Project Forum, Oct. 2020) [text]

The Impact of Covid-19 on Syrian Refugees and IDPs (Refugee Pathways, Dec. 2020) [text]

Israel is Legally Obligated to Ensure the Population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip Are Vaccinated (Just Security Blog, Jan. 2021) [text]

Lebanon: Dire Conditions for Syrian Refugees in Border Town (Human Rights Watch, Jan. 2021) [text]

Redistributing EU ‘burdens’: the Tunisian perspective on the new Pact on Migration and Asylum (Asile Project Forum, Jan. 2021) [text]

Refugees receive COVID-19 vaccinations in Jordan (UNHCR, Jan. 2021) [text]

- See also related news story.

Reports:

Breathless: Situation Report on social services for vulnerable asylum seekers in Israel - Executive Summary (Aid Organization for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Israel, Oct. 2020) [text]

- Note: Includes link to full report in Hebrew.

Contribution de la Société Civile à la Coopération UE-Afrique en Matière de Retour, de Réadmission et de Réintégration: Le Cas du Maroc (ECRE, Nov. 2020) [text]

Coping with the Influx: Service Delivery to Syrian Refugees and Hosts in Jordan, Lebanon, and Kurdistan, Iraq, Policy Research Working Paper, no. 9326 (World Bank, July 2020) [text]

Migration Shocks and Housing: Short-Run Impact of the Syrian Refugee Crisis in Jordan, IZA Discussion Paper, no. 13969 (Institute of Labor Economics, Dec. 2020) [text]

Preparing for and responding to emergency crises with efficient and accountable referral pathways (Danish Refugee Council, Nov. 2020) [text via ReliefWeb]

- Focuses on Lebanon.

Relevant Country of Origin Information to Assist with the Application of UNHCR's Country Guidance on Iraq: Ability of Persons Originating from Formerly ISIS-Held or Conflict-Affected Areas to Legally Access and Remain in Proposed Areas of Internal Relocation (UNHCR, Jan. 2021) [text]

Research snapshot: Humanitarian COVID-19 safety protocols (ELRHA, Jan. 2021) [text]

- Focuses on Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan.

VASyR 2020: Key Findings of the 2020 Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon (WFP, UNHCR & UNICEF, Dec. 2020) [text]

- See also related press release.

Vulnerability Assessment of Refugees of Other Nationalities in Lebanon 2019 (UNHCR, Sept. 2020) [text via ReliefWeb]

Journal articles:

"The capability ‘to be secure’: Media coverage of African asylum seekers during Covid-19 in Israel," Journal of Refugee Studies, Advance Articles, 6 Jan. 2021 [full-text via PUBMED]

"Community Resilience and the Return of Iraqi IDPs with Perceived Affiliation to the Islamic State," Refugee Survey Quarterly, vol. 39, no. 4 (Dec. 2020) [free full-text]

*"Doing or Not Doing the Mitzvah of Hachnasat Orchim? Managing Tensions Between International Obligations and the State’s National Interests: The Case of Eritrean Asylum-Seekers in Israel," Oxford Monitor of Forced Migration, vol. 9, no. 1 (Dec. 2020) [full-text]

- Scroll to p. 101.

"Governing practices and strategic narratives for the Syrian refugee returns," Journal of Refugee Studies, Advance Articles, 19 Jan. 2021 [open access]

"Identifying Syrian refugees in Turkish microdata," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, vol. 11, no. 1 (2020) [open access]

"What Difference Do Mayors Make? The Role of Municipal Authorities in Turkey and Lebanon’s Response to Syrian Refugees," Journal of Refugee Studies, Advance Articles, 30 March 2020 [postprint]

*UPDATED

Related post:

- Regional Focus: MENA (29 Dec. 2020)