Publications: Aid & Ethics, Asylum Policy, Housing/Scotland, IOM & Env. Migration, Urban Refugees

Asylum Policy Primer (Migration Observatory, 2011) [text]

Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation in IOM's Response to Environmental Migration (IOM, 2011) [text via PreventionWeb]

"The Ethics of Refugee Aid," Éthique et économique, vol. 8, no. 1 (2011) [full-text]

A Practitioners' Guide to Housing Refugees (Scottish Refugee Council, March 2011) [text]

Urban Refugees "101" (Women's Refugee Commission Blog, March 2011) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Legal Items

"Determining Refugee Status Under Directive 2004/83: Comment on Bolbol (C-31/09)," European Law Review, vol. 36, no. 1 (Feb. 2011) [full-text]
- Scroll down to p. 135

Do I Need to Pin a Target to My Back?: The Definition of 'Particular Social Group' in U.S. Asylum Law (SSRN, March 2011) [text]

"Externalized Borders and the Invisible Refugee," Columbia Human Rights Law Review, vol. 40, no. 3 (Spring 2009) [full-text]

"Navigating North: How the Canadian Approach to Firm Resettlement Should Guide U.S. Implementation of the Refugee Conventions," Columbia Human Rights Law Review, vol. 40, no. 3 (Spring 2009) [extract]

"Unrepeatable Harms: Female Genital Mutilation and Involuntary Sterilization in U.S. Asylum Law," Columbia Human Rights Law Review, vol. 40, no. 1 (Fall 2008) [extract]

Tagged Publications.

Publications: Asylum Stats., Colombians/Panama & Ecuador, Gender & Disasters, Gender & Mental Health, Info. Sharing/Haiti

Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries 2010: Statistical overview of asylum applications lodged in Europe and selected non-European countries (UNHCR, March 2011) [text]

- See also related press release.

Disaster Relief 2.0: The Future of Information Sharing in Humanitarian Emergencies (UN Foundation, March 2011) [text]

Gender and Disaster (IntLawGrrls Blog, March 2011) [text]

"Gender-related Mental-health Differences between Refugees and Non-refugee Immigrants: A Cross-sectional Register-based Study," BMC Public Health 11:180 (March 2011) [open access article]

Living on the Edge: Colombian Refugees in Panama and Ecuador (Refugee Council USA, March 2011) [text]

"Quiet Crisis: Colombian Refugees in Panama and Ecuador," The Refugee Voice (Jesuit Refugee Service USA, March 2011) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Focus on Libya

This new blog from Hein de Haas provides commentary on recent developments in Libya.

See also these recent blog posts:

• Libya: The Humanitarian Emergency We See and the One We Don’t (UpFront Blog, March 2011) [text]
• Libya: Will it remain the southern wall of Fortress Europe (Asylum-Network, March 2011) [text]
• Libya and Refugees: Dirty Dealing with Qaddafi [text via LGBT Asylum News]
• The Libyan Refugee Crisis (NCADC News, March 2011) [text]

Other types of resources include:

• Read the Libya Crisis Diary from UNHCR for reports from staff on the ground
• Check out two geo-resources that display map-based updates and local reports: UNHCR's Google map app on Facebook and OCHA's Libya Crisis Map
• Browse through ICT4Peace's crisis information wiki on Libya

Tagged Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

Events after the fact

"Contemporary Challenges for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons," Annual Student Conference, Human Rights Law Centre, Nottingham, UK, 26 Feb. 2011 [info]
- Videos of most of the keynote speakers are available; check back for papers presented by students.

"Humanitarian Engagement with Nonstate Armed Groups: Enhancing the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict," New York, 20 July 2010 [info]

- Some presenters' remarks and photos are available at the link above, along with a meeting summary.

"Humanitarian Space: A Review of Trends and Challenges," London, 20 Oct. 2010-30 April 2011 [info]
- Six round-tables were held; meeting summaries currently available for "Humanitarian Space: concepts, definitions and uses" and "Politicisation and securitisation of Aid: challenges to humanitarian space in Somalia." Check back for the others.

"Launch of the 2010 Global Overview Report on Internal Displacement," New York, 23 March 2011 [info]

- A transcript of the panel discussion is available, along with photos and a link to the report. A video of the presentation is available here.

"Reinforcing the International Legal Framework for Protecting and Assisting IDPs: The Kampala Convention," 22 March 2011 [info]
- A recording of the discussion is now available; see also a related video of a post-seminar interview with Chaloka Beyani.

Third Asia Pacific Consultation on Refugee Rights, Bangkok, 25-27 Nov. 2010 [info]

- In addition to the meeting report, some presentations from the consultation are now available via the link above.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.

Opportunity: Small Grants Programme

UNHCR's Policy Development and Evaluation Service (PDES) invites applications to its 2011 Small Grants Programme.

The purpose of the programme is to encourage and enable original research and writing to be undertaken on refugee, displacement, migration and humanitarian issues and situations that are closely related to UNHCR's mandate and operational activities.

The maximum amount payable under this programme is $7,500, for projects that can be completed within a maximum of six months and which result in the preparation of a 20-40 page paper that can be published in the PDES working paper series 'New Issues in Refugee Research'.

To apply for a grant under this programme, please submit (1) a one-page project proposal, (2) an indicative budget, (3) a CV and (4) a writing sample, to hqpd00@unhcr.org, with 'Small grant' in the subject line. Applications that do not conform to this format will not be considered.

The application period closes on 31 May 2011.

Please apply for a grant under this programme only if you are serious about undertaking the proposed research. PDES has a limited amount of resources available for this initiative and if you are awarded a grant that is not effectively used for the stated purpose, you will be depriving other people of the opportunity to participate in the programme and will be contractually required to repay any funds advanced to you.

With best regards,

Dr. Jeff Crisp,
Head, PDES

Tagged Events & Opportunities.

Focus on Europe

The European Union will celebrate its Annual Resettlement Day on 30 March 2011 in Brussels. For more information about the programme, how to attend, and background documents, visit ECRE's page on the event.

Here are some other recent resources relating to a variety of forced migration issues in Europe:

Access to Justice for Migrants and Asylum Seekers in Europe (Council of Europe, 2009) [text]

Integration of Beneficiaries of International Protection in the European Union: Observations and Recommendations to the European Commission in its consultation on the upcoming Second European Union Agenda for Integration (UNHCR, March 2011) [text]

Public Statement concerning Greece (European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, March 2011) [text]

Report Submitted by the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Manfred Nowak: Mission to Greece, UN Doc. No. A/HRC/16/52/Add.4 (UN Human Rights Council, March 2011) [text]

Trafficking in Human Beings, 7860/11 (Council of the European Union, March 2011) [text]

Unaccompanied Children in Europe: Issues of Arrival, Stay and Return (Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, March 2011) [text via Refworld]

Tagged Publications.

Publications: Bidoon/Kuwait, Bhutanese/US, Civilian Protection, Statelessness/Americas, Violence/Libya

Fleeing the Violence in Libya: At the Saloum Border Crossing (Humanitarian Practice Network, March 2011) [text]

Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and Protection of Stateless Persons in the Americas, AG/RES. 2599 (XL-O/10) (OAS, June 2010) [text via Refworld]

Protecting Civilians in Disasters and Conflicts, Policy Brief #182 (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, March 2011) [text]

Stateless in Kuwait: Who Are the Bidoon? (Open Society Blog, March 2011) [text]

"Vitamin B12 Deficiency in Resettled Bhutanese Refugees, United States, 2008-2011," Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 60, no. 11 (March 2011) [full-text]

Tagged Publications.

Last minute March events/More April deadlines

March:

Les migrations environnementales, Paris, 25-26 March 2011 [info]

- Reservations advised.

Asian Refugee Legal Aid Network (ARLAN) Workshop, Kuala Lumpur, 29 March-1 April 2011

- For more info., contact ARLAN regional partner, the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN).

National Refugee and Statelessness Consultation, New Delhi, 30-31 March 2011

- Organized by The Other Media; for more info., contact the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN).

La Détention des demandeurs d'asile au Canada: impact et alternatives, Montréal, 31 mars 2011 [info]

- Hosted by the Centre de santé et de services sociaux (CSSS) de la Montagne.

April:

Reminder: Refugee Rights Day, Canada, 4 April 2011 [info]

- Theme is "Honouring Refugee Rights: 60 Years of the Refugee Convention."

Student Colloquium on International Migration Law, Montreal, 9 April 2011 [info]

- Includes panel on "The Protection of Refugees and Migrants."

Refugee Rights Leadership Training, Geneva, 24-26 June 2011 [info]

- Confirm your participation by 20 April 2011.

Call for Papers: Fences, Networks, People - Exploring the EU/AFRICA Borderland, Pavia, Italy, 15-17 Dec. 2011 [info]

- Submit abstract by 30 April 2011.

Related posts:

- More March Events & Opportunities

Tagged Events & Opportunities.

Publications: Asylum Process./E. Timor, Humanit. Info./N. Africa, Intl. Disaster Resp. Law, Irreg. Migrants/Norway, Palestinians/Lebanon

Asylum Seeker Processing in East Timor: A Solution for Whom? (Inside Story, March 2011) [text]

Beyond the Disaster: A Call for Japanese Leadership in International Disaster Response Law (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, March 2011) [text]

Humanitarian Information Assessment at Choucha Camp on the Tunisia/Libya Border (Internews, March 2011) [text]

Investigating Grey Areas: Access to Basic Urban Services in the Adjacent Areas of Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon (UN-HABITAT & UNDP, 2011) [text]

No Way In, No Way Out? A Study of Living Conditions of Irregular Migrants in Norway (Fafo, March 2011) [text]

Tagged Publications.

New Issues of al-Majdal, Coping w/ Crisis, HRQ, Intl. Migration, Torture J.

al-Majdal, no. 45 (Winter 2010) [full-text]
- "[T]he second of two issues focusing on the secondary forced displacement of Palestinian refugees."

Coping with Crisis, no. 1 (2011) [full-text]

- Focus is on "Children in Emergencies."

Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 33, no. 1 (Feb. 2011) [contents]

- Mix of articles.

International Migration, vol. 49, no. 2 (April 2011) [contents]

- Includes feature on "Immigration Policy in the EU."

Torture Journal, vol. 21, no. 1 (2011) [full-text]

- Focus is on best practices for serving torture survivors.

Tagged Periodicals.

Internal Displacement Report

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) has just launched its latest annual report, Internal Displacement: Global Overview of Trends and Developments in 2010. This "summary of the humanitarian and human rights situations of people internally displaced by conflict and violence...offers detailed figures and global, regional and national analysis of the more than 50 displacement situations which IDMC monitors."

According to the report, the total figure for people displaced within their own countries is now up to 27.5 million. However, while displacement continued to rise in the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, it declined in Africa. This factsheet provides more figures and trends.

The focus of the report is on people displaced by conflict and violence. This year, though, the report includes a brief chapter on "internal displacement and natural disasters."

Previous editions are available via IDMC's publications pages.

Tagged Publications.

SRLAN Bibliography: Apostasy/Religion

"Germany's Asylum Policy and Iran's New Apostasy Law," International Journal for Religious Freedom, vol. 2, no. 1 (2009) [full-text]

- Scroll down to p. 133.

"Paradise Lost: The Impact of the Changed Country Conditions in Post-Soviet Ukraine on Pending Religious Asylum Proceedings in the United States," Rutgers Journal of Law & Religion, vol. 6 (2004) [full-text]

"Persecution for Reasons of Religion under the 1951 Refugee Convention," Chapter 2 in Permutations of Order: Religion and Law as Contested Sovereignties (Ashgate, 2009) [info] [preview]

"Proving Persecution: The Burden of Establishing a Nexus in Religious Asylum Claims and the Dangers of New Reforms," Ave Maria Law Review, vol. 5, no. 2 (2007) [full-text]

"Refining Chevron—Restoring Judicial Review to Protect Religious Refugees," Administrative Law Review, vol. 60, no. 3 (Summer 2008) [full-text]

"The Religion Clauses and Political Asylum: Religious Persecution Claims and the Religious Membership-Conversion Imposter Problem," Georgetown Law Journal, vol. 88, no. 7 (July 2000) [excerpt]

"Standing with the Persecuted: Adjudicating Religious Asylum Claims After the Enactment of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998," Brigham Young University Law Review, vol. 2003, no. 2 (2003) [full-text]

Visit the SRLAN Current Awareness Bibliography for other related resources.

Tagged Publications.

SRLAN Bibliography: Military Service Evasion

"Assessing Jus ad Bellum and Jus in Bello within the Refugee Status Determination Process: Contemplations on Conscientious Objectors Seeking Asylum," Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, vol. 20, no. 3 (Spring 2006) [full-text]

"Examining Sexual Violence in the Military within the Context of Eritrean Asylum Claims Presented in Norway," International Journal of Refugee Law, vol. 19, no. 3 (2007) [full-text]

Visit the SRLAN Current Awareness Bibliography for other related resources.

Tagged Publications.

SRLAN Bibliography: Gangs and Asylum

I regularly update the "Current Awareness Bibliography" I compiled for SRLAN. However, not much information is available for several of the special RSD issues I track, including "gang-based asylum claims," "military service evasion," and "apostasy/religious conversion." In light of this, I recently carried out a number of searches to try to locate additional resources that address these issues in particular, and I'm posting the results accordingly. Here is the first of three posts:

Central American Gang-related Asylum: A Resource Guide (Washington Office on Latin America, May 2008) [text via USCRI]

Central American Gang Related Asylum Cases: Background, Leverage Points and the Use of Expert Witnesses (ILW.com, Dec. 2009) [text]

"Challenging the 'Political': U.S. Asylum Law and Central American Gang Warfare," Guild Practitioner, vol. 65, no. 4 (2008) [full-text]
- Go to p. 242.

Gang-related Asylum Resources (U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants) [access]

- Includes case law, decisions, reports, and news articles.

"Marked for Death: The Maras of Central America and Those Who Flee Their Wrath," Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, vol. 20, no. 3 (Spring 2006) [full-text via USCRI]

Visit the SRLAN Current Awareness Bibliography for other related resources.

Tagged Publications.

Publications: Detention/US, Human Trafficking & ICC, Migration/Libya, Sampling Refugee Groups, Sexual Violence/Haiti

The Libyan Migration Corridor (CARIM, March 2011) [text]

Prosecuting Human Trafficking as a Crime Against Humanity under The Rome Statute (SSRN, March 2011) [text]

Report on Immigration in the United States: Detention and Due Process (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Dec. 2010; released March 2011) [text]

- See also related blog post, "Packing a Regional Punch."

"Sampling Challenges in a Study Examining Refugee Resettlement," BMC International Health and Human Rights 11:2 (March 2011) [open access article]

Sexual Violence in Haiti's IDP Camps: Results of a Household Survey (Center for Human Rights & Global Justice, March 2011) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Anniversary Items

Publications:

The UN Refugee Convention at 60: The Challenge for Europe (Chatham House, March 2011) [text]

Events:

Strengthening the International Legal Framework on Statelessness: Expert Meeting Series (venue TBD, 2nd quarter 2011) [info]
- Aim of the meetings is to "develop the international legal framework on statelessness through the development and dissemination of UNHCR guidelines on statelessness-related issues."

Looking Forward: The Refugee Convention at 60, Washington, DC, 20 April 2011 [info]
- This conference "examines the current dynamics of forced displacement, highlighting the challenges that particular flows pose to existing legal standards, and focusing attention on the breadth and limits of the Convention as a framework for international refugee protection."

Honouring Refugee Rights: 60th Anniversary of the Refugee Convention, Hamilton, Canada, 26-28 May 2011 [info]
- The Canadian Council for Refugees Spring Consultation is now open for registration.

"UNHCR and Landmark Commemorations in 2011," The Researcher, vol. 6, no. 1 (March 2011) [text]
- Scroll down to p. 23 for events taking place in Ireland during the latter part of the year.

Year of International Human Rights (YIHR), 2011-2012: Refugees and Migration, Webster University [info]
- Activities have not yet been planned but likely will include films, art exhibits, speakers and conferences.

For more information, see UNHCR's updated calendar of events.

Related posts:

- Commemorations during 2011
- Events Commemorating 1951 Convention

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.

Film Festivals/Competitions

Refuge in Films 2011 [info]

- Organizers are calling for "films produced between January 2008 and April 2011, on the subjects of Immigration, Refuge and Displacement." Films will be shown during UK Refugee Week. The deadline is 30 March 2011.

Refugee Film Festival [info]

- Films are sought on "issues of refugees, internal displacement and statelessness, and/or films made by former/current refugees." Submit by 30 April 2011.

UNRWA Film Competition for Young Palestinian Refugees [info]

- Youth are invited to submit films on the theme of "My World" to mark World Refugee Day. Send films in by 9 May 2011.

Tagged Events & Opportunities.

Publications: Colombians/Canada, Human Traff. Concepts, IDPs/Horn of Africa, Islamic Humanit., Peace Efforts/Sudan, Tunisia

[Blogging from Tunisia] (WorldBridge, 2011) [access]

- Series of blog posts documenting Refugees International's mission to Tunisia.

The Forgotten People (Horn of Africa: Global Affairs Blog Network, March 2011) [text]

The Future of Colombian Refugees in Canada: Are We Being Equitable? (Canadian Council for Refugees, March 2011) [text]

Qatar Charity in Niger: Biopolitics of an International Islamic NGO, RSC Working Paper, no. 73 (RSC, March 2011) [text]

Slavery, Forced Labor, Debt Bondage, and Human Trafficking: From Conceptual Confusion to Targeted Solutions (Rights Work, Feb. 2011) [text]

Sudan: Overcoming Obstacles to Peace (Refugees International, March 2011) [text]

Tagged Publications.

CFPs: Disasters, FMR, JID, OxMo

The Journal of Internal Displacement (JID) has extended its CFP deadline for its July 2011 issue to 1 April 2011. The theme for prospective articles is "Definitions, Scopes, Theories and Concepts: Focus on Africa."

Disasters has issued a CFP for a special issue on "Humanitarian Action in Urban Areas." Send in an abstract by 4 April 2011. Full papers will be due 27 June 2011.

Forced Migration Review (FMR) is allowing more time for submissions to its Sept. 2011 issue on "Technology and Communications." Articles are now due 18 April 2011.

After a successful launch of its inaugural issue, the Oxford Monitor of Forced Migration (OxMo) is now seeking contributions to its second issue, to be published in September 2011. The deadline is 24 June 2011.

Tagged Events & Opportunities.