Conference Presentations: European Ministers of Justice, Global Symposium, Intl. Metropolis Project

Researchers can read reports and statements and, in some cases, even view presentations from several conferences that have recently concluded.

The 12th International Metropolis Conference, which met 8-12 October 2007 in Melbourne, has PowerPoint presentations for many of its presenters at http://www.metropolis2007.org/.

The 28th Conference of European Ministers of Justice, which met 25-26 October 2007 in Spain and focused on "Emerging issues of access to justice for vulnerable groups, in particular migrants and asylum seekers, and children," has statements and reports at http://www.coe.int/t/dg1/legalcooperation/minjust/mju28/default_en.asp.

The Global Symposium +5 ‘Information for Humanitarian Action’, which met from 22-26 October 2007 in Geneva, has video webcasts, PowerPoint presentations and photos at http://www.reliefweb.int/symposium/.

Posted in Events and Publications.

New Pubs. on Children, Darfur, Human Trafficking, Irregular Migration, Press Freedom, Sexual Health

EXCOM Conclusion on Children at Risk, no. 107 (Oct. 2007) [text]

Human Trafficking: Update (House of Lords & House of Commons, Oct. 2007) [text]

Humanitarian advocacy in Darfur: the challenge of neutrality (Humanitarian Policy Group, Oct. 2007) [text]

The myth of invasion: Irregular migration from West Africa to the Maghreb and the European Union (International Migration Institute, Oct. 2007) [text]

Press Freedom Index 2007 (Reporters without Borders, 2007) [text]

Sexual health, asylum seekers and refugees: A handbook for people working with refugees and asylum seekers in England (FPA, 2007) [text]

Posted in Publications.

New Pubs. on EXCOM, Human Rights/Iraq, Integration, Palestinian Refugees/Lebanon, Peace Efforts, Reconstruction

Addressing Internal Displacement in Peace Processes, Peace Agreements and Peace-Building (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, Sept. 2007) [text]

Developing Media in Stabilization and Reconstruction Operations (USIP, Oct. 2007) [text]

Exiled and Suffering: Palestinian refugees in Lebanon (Amnesty International, Oct. 2007) [text]

Human Rights Report, 1 April to 30 June 2007 (UN Assistance Mission for Iraq , Oct. 2007) [text]

Refugees' Experiences of Integration (Refugee Council and Univ. of Birmingham, Oct. 2007) [access]

Report of the fifty-eighth session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme, A/AC.96/1048, 10 October 2007 [text]

Posted in Publications.

Journal News/New Issues of IFIR, JRS, Resettlement News, Transcult Psych.

Journal News:

Disasters now offers access to articles published online prior to their inclusion in the print edition; visit the OnlineEarly page for titles and abstracts.

Health and Human Rights will become an open access journal online as of the issue Vol. 10, No. 1, January 2008. For more information, visit the journal's web page.

New Issues:

Journal of Refugee Studies, vol. 20, no. 3 (Sept. 2007) [contents]
- Includes report of the 10th International Association for the Study of Forced Migration conference, a debate on forced migration studies, and articles on refugees in Glasgow, Melbourne, and Michigan, Japanese asylum policy, the economy of a refugee camp, and UNHCR's Convention Plus initiative.

Newsletter of the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees, no. 1 (Sept. 2007) [text]

Resettlement News, no. 16 (July 2007) [text]
- News and reports relating to development induced displacement and resettlement.

Transcultural Psychiatry, vol. 44, no. 3 (Sept. 2007) [contents]
- Focus of this issue is "refugees and forced migration."

Posted in Periodicals.

Humanitarian Information Symposium

The first Symposium on Best Practices in Humanitarian Information Management and Exchange, held in 2002, endorsed a set of principles "now recognised as standards for the collection, processing and dissemination of humanitarian information." The aim of the second Symposium, scheduled for 22-26 October 2007 in Geneva, is to build on the foundations laid five years ago by continuing to identify, discuss and make recommendations for information management approaches in the humanitarian community.

A recent article in Information Management Journal reviews ReliefWeb and its recent redesign process. Other articles that focus on humanitarian information practices can be found in ReliefWeb's documents collection.

Posted in Events and Publications.

New Pubs. on Asylum/EU, Conflict Costs/Africa, Early Warning, Iraqis/EU, Livelihoods/Darfur, Peace Agreements, Refugees, Statistics

Accountability and Peace Agreements: Mapping Trends from 1980 to 2006 (Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, Sept. 2007) [text via ReliefWeb]

Africa’s missing billions: International arms flows and the cost of conflict (Oxfam, Oct. 2007) [text]

"Asylum applications in the European Union," Statistics in Focus 110/2007 (Eurostat, Sept. 2007) [text]

Fortress Europe and the Iraqi ‘intruders’: Iraqi asylum-seekers and the EU, 2003-2007, New Issues in Refugee Research, no. 144 (UNHCR, Oct. 2007) [text]

Global Survey of Early Warning Systems: Report of the Secretary-General,
A/62/340 (Sept. 2007) [text via UN Pulse]

"Refugee Generating States, Global Inequalities, Feminization, and Individual Strategies: An Assessment at the Beginning of the 21st Century," Refuge and Rejection: The Humanities in the Study of Forced Migration (ASU, Oct. 2007) [text]

Sharpening the Strategic Focus of Livelihoods Programming in the Darfur Region: A report of four livelihoods workshops in the Darfur region (June 30 to July 11, 2007) (Feinstein International Center, Sept. 2007) [text]

Statistics on Displaced Iraqis around the World (UNHCR, Sept. 2007) [text]

Submission from the European Council on Refugees and Exiles in response to the Commission’s Green Paper on the Future Common European Asylum System (COM (2007) 301) (ECRE, Sept. 2007) [text]

Posted in Publications.

Event Podcasts

Following on from yesterday's post, podcasts represent yet another tool that can be used to share conference discussions with a wider audience. The Humanitarian Practice Network (HPN) recently posted a podcast of "Can journalists and aid workers trust each other," a meeting held with "ALNAP and Reuters Alertnet to look at the relationship between journalists and aid workers, and the lack of trust that is often a central characteristic of this relationship." For more information about the meeting and access to the podcast, visit HPN's meeting page for the event.

Posted in Events and Web Sites/Tools.

Monitoring Conferences

How can people monitor conferences that they are not able to attend? Here are a few newly available resources:

The International Metropolis Conference is currently under way in Melbourne. Christopher McDowell, the director of the Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees in the UK (ICAR), is attending the conference and, in the process, providing brief summaries and assessments of the debates taking place through postings to ICAR's Policyblog. The first was posted on October 8th. The conference continues through the 12th. Presentations from past conferences are available on the Metropolis Project's web site.

The latest issue of the Journal of Refugee Studies has been published. It includes reflections on the last International Association of Forced Migration Studies (IASFM) conference, which was held in Toronto in 2006. A conference blog also provided summaries of quite a few of the discussions. Unfortunately, IASFM does not provide abstracts of past meetings on its web site.

Posted in Events and Web Sites/Tools.

New Periodical Issues: Harvard Human Rights J., JEMS, Migration Lett., Researcher, Torture

Harvard Human Rights Journal, vol. 20 (Spring 2007) [full-text]

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 33, no. 8 (2007) [contents]

Migration Letters, vol. 4, no. 2 (Oct. 2007) [full-text]
- Special issue on "Migration and Human Security in the Balkans."

The Researcher, vol. 2, no. 3 (Sept. 2007) [full-text]

Torture Journal, vol. 17, no. 2 (2007) [full-text]
- Shared reports from the IRCT Symposium on Torture, the theme for which was "Providing Reparation and Treatment, Preventing Impunity."

Posted in Periodicals.

New Pubs. on Asylum-Seekers/Malta, Evaluations, Expulsion/Russia, Famine Relief/Zimbabwe, Health, HIV/AIDS, IDPs, Iraqis, Peace Efforts, Women

Access to health care and human rights of asylum seekers in Malta: Experiences, results and recommendations (Médecins du Monde, 2007) [text]

Fighting HIV/AIDS together with refugees and internally displaced populations: Summary of 2006 UNHCR Missions (UNHCR, Sept. 2007) [text]

Impact Assessment of the Gokwe Integrated Recovery Action Project Zimbabwe (Feinstein International Center, August 2007) [text]

Real-time Evaluations of UNHCR's Involvement in Operations for Internally Displaced Persons and the Cluster Approach: Analysis of Findings, EC/58/SC/CRP.23 (EXCOM Standing Committee, August 2007) [text]

Report of the Secretary-General on women and peace and security, S/2007/567 (12 Sept. 2007) [text via UN Pulse]

Singled Out: Russia’s Detention and Expulsion of Georgians (Human Rights Watch, Oct. 2007) [text]

"Where to Now? Decreasing Options for Displaced Iraqis," by A. Harper, Migration Information Source (Sept. 2007) [text]

Posted in Publications.

UNHCR Executive Committee, 58th Session

The 58th session of UNHCR's Executive Committee began yesterday and will continue through Friday, October 5th.

Relevant documents:

- See the provisional agenda for more details of topics that will be addressed throughout the week.

- Consult the schedule for when and where events take place.

- Read the opening speech of the High Commissioner, Mr. António Guterres.

- Browse the reports and documents that will be discussed during the session.

The Nansen Refugee Award ceremony was held the evening of October 1st, honoring Katrine Camilleri, a lawyer with the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in Malta.

Posted in Publications and Events.

New Pubs. on Drug Donations, Intl. Law, Palestinian Refugees/Iraq, Post-Conflict, ReliefWeb, Separated Children

Dealing with the Past in Post-Conflict Societies: Ten Years after the Peace Accords - in Guatemala and Bosnia-Herzegovina (Swiss Peace Annual Conference, Sept. 2007) [text via ReliefWeb]

Determining the Best Interests of Unaccompanied and Separated Children: Lessons from Guinea (International Rescue Committee, Sept. 2007) [text via ReliefWeb]

"Drug Donations in Emergencies, the Sri Lankan post-tsunami experience," by R. Hechmann, Journal of Humanitarian Assistance (26 Sept. 2007) [text]

International Law Commission: Report on the work of its fifty-ninth session (7 May to 5 June and 9 July to 10 August 2007), A/62/10; see esp. Chapter 6, “Expulsion of Aliens” (UN, 2007) [text]

Iraq: Human rights abuses against Palestinian refugees (Amnesty International, Oct. 2007) [text]

"Redesigning the ReliefWeb," by S. Naidoo, in Information Management Journal (Sept. 2007) [text]

Posted in Publications.

2007 UNHCR/NGO Consultations

The annual consultations between UNHCR and NGOs began yesterday and will continue through the 28th. Discussions will focus on a variety of themes, including: partnership and accountability, durable solutions, protection in mixed migration flows, creating safe schools, delivering humanitarian assistance and protection in complex emergencies, and refugee resettlement. The agenda provides more details.

One aim of the consultations is to consider promoting an EXCOM Conclusion on refugee self-reliance. Background documents relating to this session can be retrieved here.

Several side meetings are also taking place; these are described in a separate agenda.

A profile of the NGOs participating in this year's consultations is available for review.

A final report of the meeting will eventually be issued. Reports from previous years' meetings can be accessed via UNHCR's NGO web page.

For more information and a complete overview of events occurring during these three-day consultations, please visit http://www.unhcr.org/ngo-consultations/.

Posted in Publications and Events.

New Pubs. on Asylum Decisions/U.S., Children in Armed Conflict, Good Governance/Africa, IDPs/Sri Lanka & Uganda, Post-Conflict Reconstruction

Asylum Disparities Persist, Regardless of Court Location and Nationality (TRAC, Sept. 2007) [text]

The building blocks of sustainable peace: The views of internally displaced people in Northern Uganda, Oxfam Briefing Paper 106 (Sept. 2007) [text]

Civilians in the way of conflict: Displaced people in Sri Lanka (IDMC, Sept. 2007) [text]

Getting the Policies Right: The Prioritization and Sequencing of Policies in Post-Conflict Countries, by A. R. Timilsina (RAND Dissertation, 2007) [access]

Ibrahim Index of African Governance (Sept. 2007) [access]
- Assessment of governance quality in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict,
A/62/228 (Aug. 2007) [access via UN Pulse]

Posted in Publications.

New Reports on Iraqi Displacement Crisis

Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries: Second Quarter 2007 (UNHCR, Sept. 2007) [text]
- See also the related UNHCR press release entitled, "Almost 20,000 Iraqis seek asylum in industrialized world in first half of 2007" (21 Sept. 2007).

IOM Emergency Needs Assessments: Post Feb. 2006 Displacement in Iraq (15 Sept. 2007) [text]

Meeting the Health Needs of Iraqis Displaced in Neighbouring Countries: Joint Appeal by UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP and WHO (18 Sept. 2007) [text]

Millions in Flight: The Iraqi Refugee Crisis (Amnesty International, 24 Sept. 2007) [text] [press release]

Proposed Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2008: Report to Congress (U.S. State Dept., Sept. 2007) [text]
- Includes figures for and information re. Iraqi refugee admissions and processing.

Posted in Publications.

New Pubs.: Education, Human Trafficking, Indonesia, Peace, Return, Standing Comm., Zambia

Asylum from Trafficking: A Failure of Protection, Immigration Briefings (July 2007, posted by DocuTicker, Sept. 2007) [text]

Country of Return Information (CRI) Project, Country Sheets (Aug. 2007) [access]
- See the Project web site for more info.

Documents from the 19-20 September 2007 Standing Committee Meeting (UNHCR, Sept. 2007) [access]

Dynamics of Conflict and Displacement in Papua, Indonesia: A collection of papers developed in conjunction with a one-day workshop held on the 26th October 2006 at St. Antony’s College, Oxford, RSC Working Paper no. 42 (RSC, Sept. 2007) [text]

New Policy Solutions for Closing Educational Gaps for Immigrant Children (Migration Policy Institute, Sept. 2007) [access]
- Announcement of three new policy papers that focus on education for immigrant children.

"Peace operations: The clash of moral and strategic demands," Enjeux Internationaux, no. 16 (2007) [text]

Rights Here, Rights Now: Recommendations for Protecting Trafficked Children (ECPAT UK & UNICEF UK, Sept. 2007) [text]

Zambia: Analysis of the Gaps in Protection of Refugees (UNHCR, Sept. 2007) [text]

Posted in Publications.

Peace Publications

Following up on my post yesterday about measuring peace trends, some of the data cited in the CDH report came from the School for a Culture of Peace in Barcelona. The specific source referenced is the 2007 Peace Process Yearbook (available in English and Spanish).

Other information resources the School makes available include:
- Semáforo, fortnightly news service;
- Monthly newsletter;
- Barómetro, a quarterly analysis of trends in nine areas: armed conflicts, tensions, peace processes, post-war rehabilitation, humanitarian crises, militarisation and disarmament, human rights, development and gender; and
- Alert, an annual state of the world assessment of the above areas.

Posted in Publications.

New Issues of Disaster Prev. & Mgmt., E&R Studies, EJML, Hom. & Mig., Intl. Mig.

Disaster Prevention and Management, vol. 16, no. 4 (2007) [contents]
- Mix of articles.

Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 30, no. 5 (2007) [contents]
- Mix of articles.

European Journal of Migration and Law, vol. 9, no. 3 (2007) [contents]
- Mix of articles.

Hommes et Migrations, no. 1266 (mars/avril 2007) [contents, selected full-text]
- Focus is on "Nouvelles figures de l’immigration en France et en Méditerranée."

International Migration, vol. 45, no. 4 (Oct. 2007) [contents]
- Mix of articles.

Posted in Periodicals.

Measuring Trends in Peace, Conflict and Refugee Protection

The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue recently published Charting the Roads to Peace: Facts, Figures and Trends in Conflict Resolution (Sept. 2007), which provides a statistical overview of global peace developments. As the introduction notes, this reflects a growing movement in the use of quantitative data to analyze and interpret trends in conflicts and peace processes.

Mirroring this trend, UNHCR undertook a pilot project to represent the organization's protection activities from a quantitative perspective. The result, Measuring Protection by Numbers (Nov. 2006), "provide[s] valuable indicators of protection gaps, illustrate[s] emerging trends and developments over time, and serve[s] as a measure of the impact of our protection activities."

The U.S. Institute of Peace just convened a panel to discuss "Behind the Numbers: Assessing Indices of Peace, Conflict, and Instability" (17 Sept. 2007). The primary question posed was "Can peace and stability be measured?." The following indices were examined as part of the discussion:
- Failed States Index
- Global Peace Index
- Peace and Conflict Instability Ledger

Posted in Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

Developments in Europe

The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) offers a useful weekly round-up of news on developments in Europe, at both the regional and national levels. The service was discontinued temporarily during the summer, but has now resumed operation once again with a September 15 update.

Here are links to some of the reports referenced in the update:

Country Reports (European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 2007) [access]
- Latest reports are highlighted on the CPT's home page; others can be accessed through the CPT database.

Forced to Flee: frequently asked questions about refugees and asylum seekers in Northern Ireland (Refugee Action Group, June 2007) [text]

Forgotten without Reason: Protection of Non-Refugee Stateless Persons in Central Europe (Hungarian Helsinki Committee, June 2007) [text]

Report on Racism and Xenophobia in the Member States of the EU (EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, August 2007) [text]

Third Annual Report on Migration and Integration (European Commission, Sept. 2007) [text]

Unwelcome Responsibilities: Spain’s Failure to Protect the Rights of Unaccompanied Migrant Children in the Canary Islands (Human Rights Watch, July 2007) [text]

Posted in Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

New Pubs.: Children/Sudan, IDPs/DRC, Mental Health/Sri Lanka, Religious Freedom, Somalis/Kenya

2007 Report on International Religious Freedom (U.S. Dept. of State, Sept. 2007) [text]

"After the Wave: A Pilot Project to Develop Mental Health Services in Ampara District, Sri Lanka Post-Tsunami," Journal of Humanitarian Assistance (Sept. 2007) [text]

Protracted displacement and remittances: The case of Somalis in Eastleigh, Nairobi, New Issues in Refugee Research Paper No. 143 (UNHCR, Aug. 2007) [text]

Real-time evaluation of UNHCR's IDP operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, PDES/2007/02 - RTE 5 (UNHCR, Sept. 2007) [text]

Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict in the Sudan, S/2007/520 (UN Security Council, Aug. 2007) [text]

Posted in Publications.

New Periodical Issues: Archives Focus, FEX, Monday Dev., Women's Asylum News

Archive Focus, vol. 1, no. 1 (Sept. 2007) [text]
- Inaugural issue from the Refugee Archives, UEL.

Field Exchange, no. 31 (Sept. 2007) [text]
- From the Emergency Nutrition Network (ENN).

Monday Developments, vol. 25, no. 8 (Aug. 2007) [text]
- From InterAction; focus is on climate change.

Women's Asylum News, no. 69 (Sept./Oct. 2007) [text]
- From the Refugee Women's Resource Project (RWRP).

Posted in Periodicals.

New Pubs.: Burmese Refugees, IDPs/Somalia, Migration, Refugees/Zambia, Returnees/Sudan

Gaining from Migration: Towards a New Mobility System (OECD, Sept. 2007) [text]

Information Services for Refugee Communities in Zambia, Paper presented at 73rd IFLA General Conference (15 Aug. 2007) [text]

Library Services for Displaced People: Activities in Burmese Refugee Camps, Paper presented at 73rd IFLA General Conference (15 Aug. 2007) [text]

The long road home: Opportunities and obstacles to the reintegration of IDPs and refugees returning to Southern Sudan and the Three Areas. Report of Phase I (Humanitarian Policy Group, ODI, Aug. 2007) [text]

Real time evaluation of UNHCR's IDP operation in Somalia, PDES/2007/02 - RTE 4 (Sept. 2007) [text]

Posted in Publications.

New Survey of Palestinian Refugees & IDPs

The 2006-2007 edition of BADIL's Survey of Palestinian Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons was released today. This resource begins with an historical overview of Palestinian displacement, provides facts and figures about the current Palestinian refugee/IDP population and their status, reviews assistance and protection measures, and concludes with a discussion of attempts to find durable solutions for this longstanding displacement crisis. A glossary, statistical tables, and maps are included.

Posted in Publications.

Highlighting New Books

I recently inserted a new feature into the right-hand sidebar of this blog: New Books. The titles are sourced from Amazon.com. The listing is compiled from RSS feeds that I have generated using this tool. Basically, I enter various keywords, create the feeds, and copy and paste them into Google Reader (the application I use to read my RSS feeds). When relevant titles that have recently been published show up as matches to my keywords, I mark them to "share" (a feature in Google Reader) and in turn they display in the "new books" box on my blog.

While the listing is certainly not an exhaustive inventory of all new book titles for a given month, I hope it is a useful mechanism for alerting researchers to some of the work that has been done in their field of interest.

Posted in Web Sites/Tools.

New Pubs. on Civil-Military Guidelines, Economic Opps., EU Asylum, IDPs, Migration Policy

Expert Seminar on Protracted IDP Situations (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, June 2007; posted August 2007) [text]

Guidelines for Relations between U.S. Armed Forces and Non-Governmental Humanitarian Organizations in Hostile or Potentially Hostile Environments (InterAction, posted August 2007) [text]

On Migration and the Policy Process, Working Paper no. T20 (Development Research Centre on Migration, Globalisation & Poverty, August 2007) [text]

Rebuilding Lives: Refugee Economic Opportunities in a New Land (Women's Commission, August 2007) [text]

Response to the European Commission’s Green Paper on the Future Common European Asylum System (UNHCR, Sept. 2007) [text]

Posted in Publications.

New Periodical Issues: CSD, DPR, ICRC Review, SDI

Conflict, Security and Development, vol 7, no. 3 (2007) [contents]
- Focus is on disarmament, demobilisation & reintegration (DDR); includes an article on protracted refugee situations.

Development Policy Review, vol. 25, no. 5 (Sept. 2007) [contents, selected full-text]
- Special issue focusing on the "developmental state": "the issue seeks to inform the process of rethinking how more effective and responsive states can be (re)built – and what the role of the international assistance community may be in that process." Note: This issue will be launched at an ODI event in October.

International Review of the Red Cross, no. 865 (2007) [full-text]
- The theme of this issue is "humanitarian actors," with a particular focus on the role of private miliary companies in armed conflict situations.

Security Dialogue, vol. 38, no. 3 (Sept. 2007) [contents]
- Mix of articles.

Posted in Periodicals.

New Publications/Event relating to Displacement in Iraq

"Escape into insecurity: Iraqi refugees find a precarious home in Jordan," National Catholic Reporter (3 August 2007) [text]

The Ongoing Plight of Iraqi Refugees, 10 September 2007 [info.]
- This panel will be hosted by the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, DC. The speakers are scheduled to discuss their recent mission to the Middle East "to observe the plight of refugees fleeing the conflict in Iraq." A press release regarding the mission was recently issued by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Security, Displacement and Iraq: A Deadly Combination (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, August 2007) [text]

UNHCR's Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Iraqi Asylum-Seekers (August 2007) [text]

Update for partners on the situation of children in Iraq (UNICEF, August 2007) [text]


Posted in Publications and Events.

More on the Media and Humanitarian Crises

I posted recently on the role of the media in humanitarian crises. Another aspect of these topic will be explored in an ALNAP/HPN/ODI/AlertNet-hosted panel entitled, "The blame game: Can journalists and aid workers trust each other?," scheduled for 24 September at ODI in London. Sign up to attend at ODI's events page.


Posted in Events.

New Issues of Disasters, HRQ, JHA, Refugees; new migration journal

New Issues:

Disasters, vol. 31, no. 3 (Sept. 2007) [contents]
- Mix of articles.

Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 3 (August 2007) [contents]
- Mix of articles.

Journal of Humanitarian Assistance (August 2007) [full-text]
- New article posted on humanitarianism and the Muslim world.

Refugees Magazine, no. 147 (August 2007) [full-text]
- Special issue on stateless people.

New Journal:

Migrations & Identities, Liverpool University Press [access]
- Published twice a year, inaugural issue in Spring 2008.

Posted in Periodicals.

Child Soldiers

A few recent reports/articles relating to child soldiers:

Child Soldiers: New Evidence, New Advocacy Approaches, USIP Briefing (August 2007) [text]

Report of the International Forum on armed groups and the involvement of children in armed conflict: Summary of themes and discussions, Château de Bossey, Switzerland, 4-7 July 2006 (August 2007) [text]
- Background documents prepared for the forum and referenced in the report are available on the web site of the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.

"Violence and Human Rights: A JAMA Theme Issue," Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 298, no. 5 (1 August 2007) [abstracts]
- Several articles focus on the mental health consequences of exposure to war trauma, with one focusing on former Ugandan and Congolese child soldiers.

Posted in Publications.

The Media and Humanitarian Crises

The Brookings Institution recently launched a series of meetings on "the relationship of the media, relief agencies and the US government in determining humanitarian response. The purpose of the series is to analyze trends in media coverage of world-wide humanitarian crises and the impact this coverage has on government policies, relief operations, and ultimately on the victims of the crises." The first seminar focused on reporting crises, and included discussions of the problem of forgotten emergencies. The next two seminars, to be held in the fall 2007, will focus on "Bloggers, buzz and soundbites" and "Public diplomacy, military involvement, humanitarian response and the media."

The interplay among the media, NGOs, and governments in humanitarian crises and conflict situations can be complex. A recent report from the Instituto de Estudios sobre Conflictos y Acción Humanitaria (IECAH) attempts to analyze and shed light on these relationships.

In May the U.S. Institute of Peace hosted a meeting on "The Role of the Media in Conflict," which looked at the impact the media can have both on conflict prevention as well as on the escalation of conflict. A briefing note summarizing the discussions was issued in July.

Reporting in conflict situations is inherently risky. The International News Safety Institute and the International Federation of Journalists Africa Office teamed up to produce "Live News Africa: A Survival Guide for Journalists" (July 2007), to help journalists learn how to reduce risks when covering wars and other conflicts.

Posted in Publications and Events.

Southern Refugee Legal Advocates Network

The Southern Refugee Legal Advocates Network (SRLAN) was established in January 2007 with the aim of being able to "advocate more effectively on behalf of refugees as a collective." The FMO blog announced that the network's Charter, Code of Ethics and report of the January meeting are now available in the forced migration digital library. The report includes a listing of legal aid clinics and resource persons based in Southern Africa.

SRLAN will hold its first annual meeting in September 2007, in conjunction with the UNHCR/NGO Consultations.

Posted in Publications and Web Sites.

New Pubs.: Climate Change, DR Congo, EU Asylum, IDPs/Uganda, Peace & Conflict Report, Refugee Camps/Lebanon

DR Congo: A Regional Analysis (WriteNet, July 2007) [text]

EU needs common policy on asylum (ISN Security Watch, 31 July 2007) [text]

The New Myth about Climate Change (Foreign Policy, August 2007) [text]

Peace and Conflict 2008 (CIDCM, 27 July 2007) [access]
- Chapter extracts, supplemental materials, and executive summary provided.

Real-time evaluation of UNHCR's IDP operation in Uganda (UNHCR, August 2007) [text]

A Socio-economic Profile of the Nahr El-Bared and Beddawi Refugee Camps of Lebanon (Fafo, June 2007) [text]

Posted in Publications.

Recent Newsletters

Asylum News, no. 55 (July 2007) [text]

CrisisWatch, no. 48 (August 2007) [text]

Disasters: Preparedness and Mitigation in the Americas, no. 107 (June 2007) [text]

Human Rights Professionals Newsletter, no. 6 (July 2007) [text]

Human Security Research (23 July 2007) [text]
- Focus is on the costs of conflict.

Serbian Refugee Council Newsletter, no. 4 (August 2007) [text]

UN Chronicle, no. 2 (2007) [text]
- Focus is on climate change; includes article on humanitarian impact.

The Wire: AI's Monthly Magazine (August 2007) [text]

Women's Asylum News, no. 68 (August 2007) [text]

Posted in Periodicals.

New Issues of AWR, IMR, JHA, JIRS

AWR Bulletin: Quarterly on Refugee Problems, vol. 45, no. 2 (2007) [contents]
- Mix of articles including one on terrorisim and asylum in Europe.

International Migration Review, vol. 41, no. 3 (Sept. 2007) [contents]
- Mix of articles.

Journal of Humanitarian Assistance (Aug. 2007) [text]
- Two new articles on the anthropology of humanitarianism and on systematic rape in Eastern Congo.

Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, vol. 5, no. 3 (2007) [prepublication contents]
- Mix of articles including one on befriending programs for refugees, and another on resettling refugee children in the U.S.

Posted in Periodicals.

Interview Sources

Forced Migration Online (FMO) has launched a new podcast series. Initially, it will consist of "discussions between experts on forced migration issues from academia, practitioner organizations and international agencies. In the near future, the team plan to add interviews and life histories of refugees and other displaced people." (Similar to the forced migrant stories reported on earlier.)

The first podcast is a conversation between Roger Zetter, current director of the Refugee Studies Centre (RSC), and Barbara Harrell-Bond, the founder and first director of the RSC. (Read her brief bio here. The complete text of her seminal study, Imposing Aid: Emergency Assistance to Refugees is available through Sussex and FMO's Digital Library.)

Other fora have been established to elicit the views of people who work with forced migrants or who make policy decisions that impact their lives. Examples include:

- AidBlogs aggregates the blogs kept by humanitarian workers around the world.

- Eurasylum offers Monthly Policy Interviews of "leading player[s] in international migration and asylum affairs."

- UNHCR's Q&A is a series designed to give "policymakers, the uprooted, UNHCR staff, academics, aid workers and celebrities [a chance to] speak their mind."

Posted in Web Sites/Tools.

Recent Policy/Research Papers from Compas, DIIS, FIC, ICTJ, RLP, RSC, and Sussex

Anderson, B., "Motherhood, Apple Pie and Slavery: Reflections on Trafficking Debates," Compas Working Paper No. 48 (2007) [text]

Bradley, M., "Return in Dignity: A Neglected Protection Challenge," RSC Working Paper No. 40 (June 2007) [text]

Capjon, A., "Coordinating the Humanitarian Response to Refugee Situations: The Role of Power and Trust in Humanitarian Networks," Sussex Migration Working Paper No. 42 (2007) [text]

Eastmond, M., "Transnational Returns and Reconstruction in Post-War Bosnia-Herzegovina," DIIS Brief (June 2007) [text]

Lindley, A., "The early morning phonecall: remittances from a refugee diaspora perspective," Compas Working Paper No. 47 (2007) [text]

Refugee Law Project, "Rapid Assessment of Population Movement in Gulu and Pader," Briefing Paper (June 2007) [text]

Vigneswaran, D., "Free Movement and the Movement’s Forgotten Freedoms: South African Representation of Undocumented Migrants," RSC Working Paper No. 41 (July 2007) [text]

Walker, P. & K. Pepper, "Follow the Money: A Review and Analysis of the State of Humanitarian Funding," Briefing Paper (July 2007) [text]

Williams, R.C., "The Contemporary Right to Property Restitution in the Context of Transnational Justice," ICTJ Occasional Paper Series (May 2007) [text]

Posted in Publications.

Environmental Refugees

Discussions about climate change have invariably renewed the debate about "environmental refugees." I have collected a number of random references to various resources on this topic. Some are recent publications, some provide background information. The list is definitely not comprehensive.

Reports:
Climate Change and Forced Displacements: Towards a Global Environmental Responsibility? (CEDEM, 2006) [text]

Control, Adapt or Flee: How to Face Environmental Migration? (UNU-EHS, May 2007) [text]

Environmental change and forced migration: making sense of the debate, New Issues in Refugee Research no. 70 (UNHCR, 2002) [text]

Environmental Refugees: An Emergent Security Issue, Presentation at 13th Economic Forum (OSCE, 2005) [text]

Environmental Refugees: The Case for Recognition (New Economics Foundation, 2003) [text]

“Environmental Refugees: The forgotten migrants,” Report of UNU Conference, May 16th 2007, UN Headquarters [text]

Environmental refugees: myth or reality?, New Issues in Refugee Research no. 34 (UNHCR, 2001) [text]

Feeling the Heat: Why governments must act to tackle the impact of climate change on global water supplies and avert mass movements of climate change refugees (Tearfund, 2006) [text]

Human tide: The real migration crisis (Christian Aid, May 2007) [text]

Re-thinking Policies to Cope with Desertification (UNU International Network on Water, Environment and Health, June 2007) [text]

Sudan Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment (UNEP, June 2007) [text]

Understanding Migration Choices: The UNCCD as a Mechanism for Developing Coping Strategies, Presentation at International Symposium on Desertification and Migration, 2006 [text]

Research Projects:
Environmental Change and Forced Migration Scenarios (Each-For) [access]

Population-Environment Research Network (PERN) [access]

Les réfugiés environnementaux. L'émergence d'un nouveau phénomène migratoire, CEDEM [access]

Blog Posts:
Climate change refugees?, on ICAR's Policyblog (15 May 2007) [text]

Environmental Refugees & the Growing Desert, on Britannica Blog (1 May 2007) [text]

Intersections Summer Call for Papers: Migration and Environmental Change, on Intersections (10 July 2007) [text]

A word of caution on climate change and 'refugees', on Grist (24 July 2007) [text]

Other Resources:
LISER: World Information Centre on Environmental Refugees [access]

Posted in Publications.

Revised Handbook for Emergencies

ReliefWeb's library now provides access to the third edition of UNHCR's Handbook for Emergencies (Feb. 2007). Among other changes, the revised version includes updates relating to the following issues: security; UNHCR and the military; addressing HIV/AIDS; responding to sexual-/gender-based violence; and conducting participatory assessments to promote protection and assistance across a population. The text can also be accessed via Refworld.

Companion resources for the handbook include:
- Catalogue of Emergency Response Resources (Sept. 2006)
- Checklist for the Emergency Administrator (latest update, Nov. 2006; included in the handbook as Annex 1 to Chapter 23, "Administration, Staffing and Finance"; pp. 480-89)

[As an aside, I learned about this revised version of the handbook from ReliefWeb's email update about new additions to its "Policy & Issues" collection. I went to UNHCR's site to look for their copy but curiously, could only retrieve the second edition from 2000. When I searched more widely on the web, I discovered that UNHCR has posted the 2007 edition but on Refworld rather than the main web site. So when in doubt, search both places - and ReliefWeb - for UNHCR publications!]

Posted in Publications.

Anthropological Approaches to Forced Migration

The Journal of Humanitarian Assistance just published an article entitled "Toward an Anthropology of Humanitarianism." In his essay, the author reviews research that stems from:

1) the work of historians writing on the origins of contemporary humanitarianism; 2) works explicitly addressing humanitarianism from the perspectives of policy and journalism; 3) relevant works from the anthropology of development; 4) writings on the issue of refugees. These divisions are based on topic rather than position, as each contains divergent and sometimes conflicting perspectives and approaches. In conclusion, I present emerging works on humanitarianism and biopolitics by anthropologists and other social scientists [emphasis added].

Anthropologists have long studied and written about forced migraton issues. Richard Black, in his analysis of articles published in the Journal of Refugee Studies, found that anthropologists as a group were the second largest contributor to the journal, after political scientists. They are particularly active in the study of development-induced displacement.

For an introduction to the anthropological perspective on forced migration, here are a few sample references:

- Colson, Elizabeth, "Forced Migration and the Anthropological Response," Journal of Refugee Studies, vol. 16, no. 1 (2003) [abstract]

- Eastmond, Marita, "Refugees in Anthropology," International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Elsevier, 2001) [abstract]

- Lubkemann, Stephen C., "Refugees: Worldwide Displacement and International Response," AnthroNotes, vol. 23, no. 2 (Fall 2002), pp. 1-10 [text]

Further references can be found via the Refugee Studies Centre library catalogue. Search on "anthropology" or "anthropological" for relevant references.

Posted in Publications.

New Periodical Issues: Dev. in Practice, HR Brief, Hum. Exchange, Intervention, JEMS, J. Peace Res., JRS, Researcher, REMI

Development in Practice, vol. 17, nos. 4&5 (2007) [contents]
- Focus is on "Buzzwords and Fuzzwords: Deconstructing Development Discourse." Special development "lotto board" available here.

Human Rights Brief, vol. 14, no.3 (Spring 2007) [full-text]
- Includes focus on migration issues.

Humanitarian Exchange Magazine, no. 38 (June 2007) [full-text]
- Features articles on disaster risk reduction.

Intervention: International Journal of Mental Health, Psychosocial Work and Counselling in Areas of Armed Conflict, vol. 5, no. 2 (July 2007) [contents]
- Mix of articles; overview provided in the introduction.

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 33, no. 7 (2007) [contents]
- Special issue on the "second generation in Europe."

Journal of Peace Research, vol. 44. no. 4 (July 2007) [contents]
- Special issue on protecting human rights.

Journal of Refugee Studies, vol. 20, no. 2 (June 2007) [contents]
- Special issue commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Refugee Studies Centre (RSC). Focus is on "refugee research methodologies."

The Researcher, vol. 2, no. 2 (July 2007) [full-text]
- Produced by the Refugee Documentation Centre, Ireland. Focus is on issues relating to refugee status determination, international human rights law, and country of origin information.

Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales, vol. 23, no. 1 (2007) [contents]
- Mix of articles including one that discusses the prospects for the legal protection of ecological refugees.

Posted in Periodicals.

Surveying Forced Migration Research

The Refugee Studies Centre (RSC) is undertaking an "International Forced Migration Research Mapping Survey," with support from UNHCR and UK DFID. The aim is to promote greater collaboration among institutions and individuals working on forced migration issues who are involved in such activities as field research, evidence-based policy making, developing academic programmes, and international conferences.

As a first step towards achieving this goal, the RSC is inviting people to participate in a survey. The data from the survey will form the basis of a "global forced migration network, which will provide a member-driven forum for the development of creative approaches to capacity building, collaboration, and resource sharing." An online database will be built accordingly.

For more information about the mapping exercise and to complete the survey (either online or in Word format), visit the RSC web page for the project.

Other research networks/surveys of research:
- The Odysseus Network was set up to undertake studies of EU/European migration and asylum legislation. It is in the process of developing a European Forum of Research on Immigration and Asylum Law, and inviting interested parties to complete questionnaires about their interests and activities.

- The Scottish Refugee Research Network aims to "promote links between people researching refugee and asylum issues in Scotland and to promote research into refugee and asylum issues." A bibliography and a directory of members will be among the outputs.

- Integrating Ireland commissioned a "map of the research that has been carried out in Ireland on or with immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers and related issues." The resulting Guide was published in 2004. The aim is to update the guide on an ongoing basis to reflect new research.

Unfortunately, several similar initatives to promote research collaboration that were developed in the past have since been discontinued because of funding and resource constraints. Examples include:

- The European Migration Information Network produced a directory to facilitate linkages among researchers.

- The ICAR/UNHCR postgraduate network sought to promote linkages among postgraduates. The project included a members' database but this has been taken offline. The hope is that the network will be hosted by another academic institution.

- The IDP Research Network database was created several years ago as one means to "encourage researchers to address the research gaps in current understandings of displacement."

Posted in Web Sites/Tools and Publications.

More Information Resources from UNHCR

My previous post described the "Protracted Refugee Situations" resource now available through UNHCR's Policy Development and Evaluation Service (PDES). Apparently, this is the first of several subject-based document sets in the works. Future collections will be grouped around the following themes:

- Refugee protection, asylum and international migration
- The protection of refugee women and children
- Humanitarian challenges and humanitarian action
- Internally displaced persons
- Return, reintegration and peacebuilding

These will be made available between now and the end of the year.

Posted in Publications.

Protracted Refugee Situations

A new set of documents focusing on protracted refugee situations can now be accessed via UNHCR's Policy Development and Evaluation Service (PDES) web pages. The collection includes UNHCR and other evaluation reports, research papers, and official documents dating from 1999 to 2004.

A protracted refugee situation is defined as "one in which refugees find themselves in a long-lasting and intractable state of limbo. Their lives may not be at risk, but their basic rights and essential economic, social and psychological needs remain unfulfilled after years in exile. A refugee in this situation is often unable to break free from enforced reliance on external assistance" (EXCOM Standing Comm. Doc. EC/54/SC/CRP.14, 10 June 2004). In statistical terms, such situations are measured as refugee populations of 25,000 or more people in exile for five-plus years.

The most recent edition of The State of the World's Refugees: Human Displacement in the New Millennium (2006) devotes its fifth chapter to a useful overview of the problem of "protracted refugee situations," with profiles of populations caught up in these situations, statistics on the numbers involved, and a discussion of possible solutions.

Elsewhere, the June-August 2007 UNU Update highlighted a recent Policy Brief on "Protracted Refugee Situations and Peacebuilding." This along with a workshop and an anticipated edited volume represent the culmination of a UNU project on the subject entitled "The Politics, Human Rights and Security Implications of Protracted Refugee Situations."

In addition, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants' campaign to end "refugee warehousing" provides more background about this issue, along with news and publications updates.

Posted in Web Sites and Publications.

New Pubs.: Children, Human Trafficking, Iraq, Iraqis/Syria, Reproductive Health, Somalis/UK, Uganda

Human Trafficking: A Strategic Framework Could Help Enhance the Interagency Collaboration Needed to Effectively Combat Trafficking Crimes (GAO, July 2007) [text; posted on beSpacific.com]

Human Trafficking: Monitoring and Evaluation of International Projects Are Limited, but Experts Suggest Improvements (GAO, July 2007) [text; posted on beSpacific.com]

Listening to Youth: The Experiences of Young People in Northern Uganda. Contribution to Machel 10-Year Strategic Review (Women's Commission, June 2007) [text]

Prospects for Sustainable Peace in Uganda: Ninth Report of Session 2006–07 (House of Commons, International Development Committee, July 2007) [text]

Refugee and Displaced Children: A Rough Guide to International Standards (CRIN, June 2007) [text]

Rising to the humanitarian challenge in Iraq (NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq, Oxfam, July 2007) [text]

The Situation of Iraqi Refugees in Syria (Amnesty International, July 2007) [text]

The Somali Refugee Community in the UK (ICAR, July 2007) [text]

We Want Birth Control: Reproductive Health Findings in Northern Uganda (Women's Commission, June 2007) [text]

Posted in Publications.

Giving a Voice to Forced Migrants

IDP Voices was launched recently by the IDMC with the aim of giving the displaced a chance to tell their stories in their own words. Visitors can either read transcripts or listen to the testimonies of internally displaced Colombians to learn about the impact of forced migration on peoples' lives. Voices from other countries will be added in the near future.

In November 2006, ECRE unveiled the Refugee Stories site, which presents the narratives and experiences of people seeking asylum in 12 different European Union countries.

For other resources that give a voice to forced migrants, visit USCRI's Refugee Voices, the Refugee Community History Project, and the many other sites listed on ECRE's related links page.

Posted in Web Sites/Tools.

Women and Asylum

The Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees in the UK (ICAR) recently compiled a briefing paper on "Women Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the UK" (July 2007) to complement its navigation guide on the same topic. Both resources highlight the fact that women experience different forms of persecution than men, and as a result their claims for asylum should be assessed within a gender-sensitive framework.

According to a recent briefing paper by the Refugee Women’s Resource Project, it is often more difficult for female asylum-seekers to substantiate their "asylum and human rights claims due to a lack of research documenting women’s experiences of human rights violations in their countries of origin." The latest issue of Women's Asylum News recommends the HJT database and its "country of origin information relating to women" as a resource for researching gender persecution. This is available by subscription through the Electronic Immigration Network.

Other databases that can be searched for gender-related country of origin information include Refworld and ecoi.net.

Posted in Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

Accelerated Asylum Procedures

In 2006, the Council of Europe established a Working Group "to examine the question of human rights protection in the context of accelerated asylum procedures and, as appropriate, to draft guidelines in this field." The group held its first meeting in December 2006. Draft Terms of Reference for the group's mandate are provided in English as Appendix III to the report of the meeting. (A final version is also provided in French here.) Documents considered during the meeting included the following:

- Secretariat Memorandum on Recommendation 1727 (2005) of the Parliamentary Assembly Accelerated asylum procedures in Council of Europe member states [text]
- Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005 on minimum standards on procedures in member states for granting and withdrawing refugee status [text]
- UNHCR Provisional Comments on the Proposal for a Council Directive on Minimum Standards on Procedures in member States for Granting and Withdrawing Refugee Status (Council Document 14203/04, Asile 64, of 9 November 2004) [text]
- Amnesty International: Council of Europe: Briefing to the Working Group on Human Rights Protection in the Context of Accelerated Asylum Procedures (GT-DH-AS), IOR 61/024/2006 [text]

More recently (July 2007), Amnesty International reported its observations of the December meeting and recommendations for concerns to be addressed.

An earlier Sussex Centre for Migration Research working paper (April 2007) focused on the issue of accelerated procedures in the European context; it provides useful background to the current discussions and looks at the use of such procedures in the UK as a case study.

For more information about EU developments relating to asylum and refugee policies, visit ECRE, UNHCR and the European Commission.

Posted in Publications and Web Sites.

New Pubs.: Armed Conflict, Burmese/Thailand, IDPs/Chad, IDPs/Liberia, Property Restitution, Safety in Refugee Schools, World Pop.

2007 Armed Conflicts Report: Preview (Project Ploughshares, 2007) [text]

Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and Displaced Persons: Implementing the ‘Pinheiro Principles’ (OCHA/IDD, UN HABITAT, UNHCR, FAO, OHCHR, NRC & IDMC, March 2007 (print), July 2007 (electronic)) [text]

Internally displaced in Chad: Trapped between civil conflict and Sudan’s Darfur crisis (IDMC, July 2007) [text]

Planning for the future - The impact of resettlement on the remaining camp population (Thailand Burma Border Consortium, July 2007) [text]
- Refugees International discusses this report in a July 25th blog post.

Real-time evaluation of UNHCR's IDP operation in Eastern Chad, PDES/2007/02 - RTE 1 (UNHCR, July 2007) [text]

Real-time evaluation of UNHCR's IDP operation in Liberia, PDES/2007/02 - RTE 2 (UNHCR, July 2007) [text]

Safe Schools and Learning Environment: How to Prevent and Respond to Violence in Refugee Schools. A Guide (UNHCR, June 2007) [text]

The State of World Population 2007: Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth (UNFPA, July 2007) [text]

Posted in Publications.

New Periodical Issues: IJRL, Intl. Mig., JEMS, Women's Asylum News

International Journal of Refugee Law, vol. 19, no. 2 (July 2007) [contents]
- Includes articles on expanding the scope of the gender guidelines in Canada; North Korean refugees; refugees in India; and assessing credibility of asylum applicants.

International Migration, vol. 45, no. 3 (August 2007) [contents]
- Focus is on "illegal" and "irregular" immigrants.

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 33, no. 6 (2007) [contents]
- Special issue on "Governing Islam in Western Europe: Essays on Governance of Religious Diversity."

Women's Asylum News, no. 67 (June/July 2007) [text]

Posted in Periodicals.

Measuring Mortality

In May 2007, two publications that focused on measuring mortality were circulated. The first, "Armed Conflict as a Public Health Problem: Current Realities and Future Directions," USIPeace Briefing, summarized a presentation that discussed the different methodologies for measuring conflict-related deaths. These variable approaches have resulted in significant discrepancies between datasets generated by public health and epidemiological studies as compared with studies reported in the social science literature.

Because of the debate such discrepancies set off in the scientific community, Human Security Research reported on a number of conflict-related mortality studies undertaken in specific countries. It also highlighted a paper produced by the Humanitarian Practice Network, entitled "Interpreting and using mortality data in humanitarian emergencies: A primer for non-epidemiologists" (September 2005).

The second publication, "Health and Mortality of Internally Displaced Persons: Reviewing the Data and Defining Directions for Research" from the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, points to a dearth of health information relating to IDPs. It cites a 2002 CRED report that reviewed existing public health research and "found that roughly 50 percent of studies reviewed were for refugee populations, 35 percent had residents as subjects, and only 15 percent were on IDPs." To address this gap, the Brookings-Bern report set out to "review existing data on mortality and health indicators for IDP situations, identif[y] some of their limitations, and identif[y] an agenda for future research."

Posted in Publications.

Recent HIV Research

A reference to the following article showed up in my newsreader on July 13th. I have a search string saved in PubMed for "refugees and reviews"; search results are sent as an RSS feed. Coincidentally, the full-text of the same article was just posted on UNHCR's site today (most of the authors are with the organization).

"Prevalence of HIV infection in conflict-affected and displaced people in seven sub-Saharan African countries: a systematic review," The Lancet, vol. 369 (30 June 2007) [access]

Posted in Publications.

Library Services to Refugees: Update

I've posted previously about "library programs and services designed specifically to target refugee and/or immigrant populations." Just recently, UNHCR published a working paper entitled "Refugees and asylum seekers in the Caribbean region: library service implications," which includes a useful breakdown of the kind of typical information needs refugees often have.

A few of the online resources that the author mentions:

- Library and Information Services for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (Birmingham, UK) [access]
- Multicultural Resources and Services (National Library of Canada) [English access, French access]
- Multikulki [access] (service that provides translations of advice and practical information in 12 languages)

In addition, in her Public Libraries and Multicultural Relationships blog, Helen Carpenter has been reporting on her travels to Canada and the U.S. (to date; she'll also be touring Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium in the fall) and how public libraries in these countries connect with refugees and asylum seekers. Here are some of the resources she links to:

- Civics and Citizenship Toolkit (U.S. Task Force on New Americans) [info.]
- New Americans Program (Queens Library) [access]
- Working Together (Human Resources and Social Development Canada) [access]

Posted in Web Sites/Tools.

New Periodical Issues: AJEM, FMR, GILJ, H&M, IJMHSC, RSQ

Australian Journal of Emergency Management, vol. 22, no. 2 (May 2007) [full-text]
- Mix of articles.

Forced Migration Review, no. 28 (July 2007) [full-text]
- Focus is on Southern capacity-building. Also includes a range of articles on other topics.

Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, vol. 21, no. 3 (Spring 2007) [contents]
- Includes articles on human trafficking, African refugee resettlement and FGM asylum claims.

Hommes et Migrations, no. 1265 (jan./fev. 2007) [selected full-text]
- Focus is on the Armenian diaspora.

International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 3, no. 1 (July 2007) [contents]
- Focus is on health. Includes full-text article on older refugees in Australia; other articles focus on mental health of Ethiopians resettled in London and refugee access to health care in Canada.

Refugee Survey Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 2 (2007) [contents]
- Focus is on refugees and religion.

Posted in Periodicals.

New Pubs.: Eastern Europe, Environment, Humanitarianism, IDPs/Azerbaijan, Iraq, Mental Health, Protection, Sudan, Violence against Women

Azerbaijan: Displaced then Discriminated Against - The Plight of the Internally Displaced Population (Amnesty International, June 2007) [text]

Country Reports 2006: Belarus, Moldova, Russian Federation and Ukraine - Situation for Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Internally Displaced Persons (ECRE, June 2007) [text]

IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings (IASC, 2007) [text]

Laws Without Justice: An Assessment of Sudanese Laws Affecting Survivors of Rape (Refugees International, June 2007) [text]

Lost in Translation: Managing Coordination and Leadership Reform in the Humanitarian System, HPG Policy Brief 27 (ODI, July 2007) [text]

Re-thinking Policies to Cope with Desertification (UNU International Network on Water, Environment and Health, June 2007) [text]

Taking Sides or Saving Lives: Existential Choices for the Humanitarian Enterprise in Iraq (Feinstein International Center, June 2007) [text]

A Tale of 10 Post-its: The Depressing Fate of Iraqi Refugees (Anna Husarska, June 2007) [text]

Towards a European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid (European Commission, June 2007) [text]

Update Report No. 1: Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict (Security Council, June 2007) [text]

Posted in Publications.

World Refugee Survey 2007

The 2007 World Refugee Survey is now available from the U.S. Committee on Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI). As in the past, it provides country updates with profiles of refugee populations and an overview of their rights within host countries. An article on the situation of Iraqi refugees, a dedication to Gerald Ford and statistical tables are also included.

Past editions can be accessed here.

Posted in Publications.