Publications: Diasporas & Dev., Humanitarian Aid, Internal Displ./Sri Lanka, Migration & Displ./Afghanistan, Security & Refugee Prot.

Diasporas: Doing Development or Part of Development - A Study of Two Sierra Leonean Diaspora Organisations in London (ODI, April 2009) [text]

International Humanitarian Aid: Policy Document (Austrian Development Cooperation, March 2009) [text]

Masses in Flight: The Crisis of Internal Displacement in Sri Lanka (Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses) [text via Human Security Gateway]

The Migration-Displacement Nexus in Afghanistan (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, May 2009) [text]

Selected Documents Relating to National Security and Counter-Terrorism Relevant to International Refugee Protection (UNHCR, May 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

New Issues of Intl. Migration, JHA, J. of Peace Res., Notre Dame J. of Law, RSC

International Migration, vol. 47, no. 2 (June 2009) [contents]
- Mix of articles, including one on trafficked women from Greater Mekong.

Journal of Humanitarian Assistance (May 2009) [full-text]
- New article posted in May: "Evaluation of effectiveness of mental health training program for primary health care staff in Hambantota District, Sri Lanka post-tsunami."

Journal of Peace Research, vol. 46, no. 3 (May 2009) [contents]
- Special issue on "Micro-Level Dynamics of Violent Conflict." Includes articles on forced migration in Aceh and displacement in Colombia.

Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy, vol. 23, no. 1 (2009) [contents]
- Focus is on immigraton; two articles delve into human trafficking issues.

RSC Newsletter, no. 3 (Summer 2009) [full-text]
- Feature article is "Leaving Mogadishu: Researching the causes of displacement, 2007 – 2008."

Tagged periodicals.

Web Sites/Tools: EU Integration, Iraqi Displacement, Peace Media, Resettlement Projects, UN, UNRWA, Water & Sanitation

European Web Site on Integration [access]
- This site "aims to provide policy makers and practitioners working on integration in Europe with a tool for the exchange of information and good practice on integration across Europe."

The Iraqi Displaced (Associated Press) [access]
- Interactive resource that uses IOM data to illustrate displacement situation in Iraq since 2006.

Peace Media Clearinghouse [access]
- "[A] collection of key audio and visual resources and best practices related to conflict management."

Resettlement Projects Database (International Network on Displacement & Resettlement) [access]
- "Find hundreds of resettlement action plans. ...[S]earch and review hundreds of projects by country, title or data."

United Nations [access]
- New look and organization.

UNRWA at 60 [access]
- Commemorates the 60th anniversary of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Water and Sanitation (UNHCR) [access]
- New UNHCR web page with links to key resources.

Tagged Web Sites/Tools.

Publications: ECRE Comments, Employing Refugees, EU Asylum Policy, Mental Health, Natural Disasters, Palestinian Refugees

Comments on the proposals to recast the Dublin Regulation and the Reception Conditions Directive and to establish a EASO (ECRE, April 2009) [text]

Employing Refugees - A guide for employers: documents providing evidence of entitlement to work (Refugee Council & Equality and Human Rights Commission, March 2009) [text]

Forecasting the numbers of people affected annually by natural disasters up to 2015 (Oxfam, April 2009) [text via PreventionWeb]

"Group Helps Refugees Overcome Dislocation Sequelae," Psychiatric News, vol. 44, no. 9 (May 2009) [text]

Migration as Foreign Policy? The External Dimension of EU Action on Migration and Asylum (Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies, April 2009) [text]

Palestinian Refugees: The Regional Perspective (Chatham House, April 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Publications: Children in Detention/UK, Detention/U.S., Human Trafficking, IDPs/Sri Lanka, Ratification/Migrant Workers' Conv.

The Arrest and Detention of Children Subject to Immigration Control: A report following the Children's Commissioner for England’s visit to Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre (Children's Commissioner for England, April 2009) [text]

Guide on Ratification: International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (Steering Committee for the Campaign for Ratification of the Migrants Rights Convention, April 2009) [text]

"Sex Trafficking: Identifying Cases and Victims," NIJ Journal, no. 262 (March 2009) [text]

Sri Lanka: Civilians displaced by conflict facing severe humanitarian crisis (IDMC, May 2009) [text]

U.S. Detention of Asylum Seekers: Seeking Protection, Finding Prison (Human Rights First, April 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

New Global Overview of Internal Displacement

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) has just released Internal Displacement: Global Overview of Trends and Developments in 2008. This annually-produced report notes that efforts to reduce the number of internally displaced persons around the world have not been successful; the estimated total remains 26 million, the same as 2007. The report begins with key findings for 2008 and discusses global and thematic developments. It continues with regional and country-specific overviews. A quick overview is provided in the press release. Previous editions can be accessed via the publications page.

Tagged Publications.

New Issues of AJEM, Conflict Tr., Dis. Prev. & Mgmt., Intervention, JHA, Pace Intl. Law Rev.

Australian Journal of Emergency Management, vol. 24, no. 1 (Feb. 2009) [full-text]
- Focus is on "Risk Assessment in Risk Management Programs."

Conflict Trends, no. 2009/1 [full-text]
- Mix of articles.

Disaster Prevention and Management, vol. 18, no. 2 (2009) [contents]
- Mix of articles including a systematic review on disaster management.

Intervention: International Journal of Mental Health, Psychosocial Work and Counselling in Areas of Armed Conflict, vol. 7, no. 1 (March 2009) [contents]
- This issue addresses "A range of recurring problems arising from practical issues in the field..., raising questions about the definition of such terms as 'reintegration', 'well-being', 'resilience', and 'social functioning'." Includes two articles on Iraqi refugees in Jordan.

Journal of Humanitarian Assistance (April 2009) [full-text]
- Two articles on fuel supply in IDP camps in Northern Uganda and the proliferation of NGOs.

Pace International Law Review, vol. 21, no. 1 (Winter 2009) [contents]
- Includes "Claims of Political Asylum Based on Non-Physical Forms of Harm Such as Economic Sanctions and Deprivations" and "UNHCR's Involvement in the Great Lakes Refugee Crisis."

Tagged periodicals.

Obama's First 100 Days: Humanitarian and Human Rights Perspectives

Here are some assessments from the humanitarian/human rights communities on Barack Obama's accomplishments during his first 100 days in office:

• Mixed Messages: Counter Terror and Human Rights - President Obama's First 100 Days (Amnesty International) [text]
• Obama’s First 100 Days: A Humanitarian Perspective (Refugees International) [text]
• Obama's first 100 days: Key humanitarian issues (AlertNet) [text]
• Report Card on President Obama's First 100 Days (Human Rights Watch) [text]

More generally, see the Telegraph's day-by-day guide to the first 100 days.

Tagged Publications.

Law Articles/Papers: Credibility, Human Trafficking, Immigration Policy/U.S., Refugee Instruments

Convention Relative au Statut des Réfugiés ; Protocole Relative au Statut Des Réfugiés (UN Audiovisual Library of International Law, April 2009) [French text]
- "The French version of the introductory note by Mr. Goodwin-Gill to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951, and the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, 1967, was added to the Historic Archives section of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law website on 28 April 2009."

"Credibility Assessments and the REAL ID Act’s Amendments to Immigration Law," Texas International Law Journal, vol. 44, no. 2 (Winter 2009) [text]

"First Circuit’s Deferential Standard for Reviewing Adverse Credibility Determinations in Asylum Cases Remains Unchanged—Cuko v. Mukasey, 522 F.3d 32 (1st Cir. 2008)," Suffolk University Law Review, vol. 42, no. 2 (2009) [text]

Kucana v. Holder (SCOTUSBlog, April 2009) [text]
- Analysis of U.S. Supreme Court case involving petitioner who overslept and missed his asylum hearing. The Court "agreed to rule on whether the 2005 REAL ID Act strips courts of jurisdiction over discretionary decisions made by the Board of Immigration Appeals (source)."

"The Modern-Day Slave Trade: How the United States Should Alter the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act in Order to Combat International Sex Trafficking More Effectively," Texas International Law Journal, vol. 44, no. 1 (Fall 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Publications: Asylum/Mashrek, ECCD/Emergencies, Iraqi Displacement, Iraqis/U.S., Somalis/Dadaab

Asylum and Migration in the Mashrek (Euro-Med Human Rights Network, Dec. 2008) [text]

IOM Emergency Needs Assessments: Three Years of Post-Samarra Displacement in Iraq (IOM, Feb. 2009) [English text] [Arabic text]

Life in the World's Largest Refugee Settlement (openDemocracy, April 2009) [text]

The Path of Most Resilience: Early Childhood Care and Development in Emergencies - Principles and Practice (INEE, April 2009) [text via ReliefWeb]

Promises to the Persecuted: The Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act of 2008 (Human Rights First, April 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Disparities in Asylum Decisions

I just finished reading a fascinating book called Asylum Denied: A Refugee's Struggle for Safety in America. It's written by David Ngaruri Kenney and Philip G. Schrag, and published by UC Press. Here's the blurb from the publisher:

Asylum Denied is the gripping story of political refugee David Ngaruri Kenney's harrowing odyssey through the world of immigration processing in the United States. Kenney, while living in his native Kenya, led a boycott to protest his government's treatment of his fellow farmers. He was subsequently arrested and taken into the forest to be executed. This book, told by Kenney and his lawyer Philip G. Schrag from Kenney's own perspective, tells of his near-murder, imprisonment, and torture in Kenya; his remarkable escape to the United States; and the obstacle course of ordeals and proceedings he faced as U.S. government agencies sought to deport him to Kenya. A story of courage, love, perseverance, and legal strategy, Asylum Denied brings to life the human costs associated with our immigration laws and suggests reforms that are desperately needed to help other victims of human rights violations.

You can read the first chapter online, read a transcript of an interview with the authors, and/or watch a YouTube video/listen to a podcast of a panel discussion about the book.

One outcome of Philip Schrag's work on David Ngaruri Kenney's case was a study of inconsistencies in asylum decisions issued at all four levels of the asylum adjudication process: asylum officers, immigration judges, Board of Immigration Appeals, and U.S. Courts of Appeal. The article, "Refugee Roulette: Disparities in Asylum Adjudication," is available through SSRN.com.

As "Seeking Asylum..." reports, two of the study's authors - Philip Schrag and Andrew Schoenholtz - are now in the process of compiling a book on how asylum cases are dealt with in the U.S.

Other studies of the asylum process and decisions have been produced since then, including:
- "Refugee Roulette in an Administrative Law Context: The Deja Vu of Decisional Disparities in Agency Adjudication," Stanford Law Review, vol. 60, no. 2 (2007) [text]
- "A Well-Founded Fear of Having My Sexual Orientation Asylum Claim Heard in the Wrong Court," New York Law School Law Review, vol. 52 (2007/2008) [text]
- "A Review of the 2006 Measures of Improvement to the Immigration Courts and Board of Immigration Appeals," Refugee Law Paper (posted Feb. 2009) [text]
- "The Path to Asylum in the US and the Determinants for Who Gets In and Why," International Migration Review, vol. 43, no. 1 (March 2009) [abstract]

A recent study looked at Canadian asylum adjudication rates; see "Troubling Patterns in Canadian Refugee Adjudication," Ottawa Law Review, vol. 39 (2008), as well as the author's data sets for 2006-2008.

Studies in other countries that examine fairness in the asylum process include:
- Irish Asylum Decisions made at First Instance lack Consistency and Sustainability in Law (Irish Refugee Council, 2000) [text]
- Watching the Watchmen: Reviewing the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in the UK (Law and Society Association, 2008) [access]
- Reasons for Refusal: an audit of 200 refusals of Ethiopian asylum-seekers in England, conference paper (2009) [access; scroll down to title]

Tagged Publications.

Publications: Eligibility/Iraqis, Human Trafficking/Ireland, Integration/Ireland, Protection/Natural Disasters, Remittances/Darfur

Globalisation, Sex Trafficking and Prostitution: The Experiences of Migrant Women in Ireland (Immigrant Council of Ireland, 2009) [text]

Humanitarian Perspectives on "Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters" (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, April 2009) [text]

Livelihoods, Migration and Conflict: Discussion of Findings from Two Studies in West and North Darfur, 2006 - 2007 (Feinstein International Center, April 2009) [text]

Mapping Integration: UNHCR's Age, Gender and Diversity Mainstreaming Project on Refugee Integration in Ireland - 2008/2009 (UNHCR, April 2009) [text]

UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Iraqi Asylum-Seekers (UNHCR, April 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Law Articles

"Bringing Law to Refugee Camps," IntLawGrrls Blog (April 2009) [text]

"Can Tax Policy Stop Human Trafficking?" Georgetown Journal of International Law, vol. 40 (2009) [text via SSRN]

"Hope for the Future? The Asylum Claims of Women Fleeing Sexual Violence in Guatemala," University of Pennsylvania Law Review, vol. 157, no. 4 (April 2009) [text]

"Refugees Themselves: The Asylum Case for Parents of Children at Risk of Female Genital Mutilation," Harvard Human Rights Journal, vol. 22, no. 1 (Winter 2009) [text]

"Revisiting Germany's Residenzpflicht in Light of Modern E.U. Asylum Law," Michigan Journal of International Law, vol. 30, no. 2 (Winter 2009) [text]

"The Second Circuit’s Expedited Adjudication of Asylum Cases: A Case Study of a Judicial Response to an Unprecedented Problem of Caseload Management," Brooklyn Law Review, vol. 74, no. 2 (Winter 2008) [text]

For a title list of law review articles and other legal papers for which I have not located the full-text, check out the new addition to the sidebar: "New Law Articles and Papers."

Tagged Publications.

Publications: Diagnosing Infections, Diaspora Lit. Rev., Hum. Action/India, Iraqi Refugee Assistance, Refugees/Turkey, UNHCR Amicus Brief

The Diaspora–Conflict–Peace–Nexus: A Literature Review (Diaspeace, March 2009) [text]

Guidelines for the Diagnosis, Management and Prevention of Infections in Recently Arrived Refugees (Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases, March 2009) [text]

Iraqi Refugee Assistance: Improvements Needed in Measuring Progress, Assessing Needs, Tracking Funds, and Developing an International Strategic Plan (U.S. GAO, April 2009) [text]

The Role of the Affected State in Humanitarian Action: A Case Study on India (ODI, April 2009) [text]

Stranded: Refugees in Turkey Denied Protection (Amnesty International, April 2009) [access]

Valdiviezo-Galdamez v. Holder, Attorney General: Brief of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as Amicus Curiae in Support of the Petitioner (UNHCR, April 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Regional Focus: Asia

"Only 17 out of 55 countries in the Asia Pacific region have acceded to the international legal instruments for refugee protection, and there are no related regional conventions or mechanisms." (source)

Various developments have taken place recently to raise the profile of refugees in Asia and to promote greater protection of their rights, including the following:

Asia Pacific Consultation on Refugee Rights, Kuala Lumpur, 20-21 November 2008 [site]
- The presentations included overviews of refugee situations in different sub-regions and advocacy strategies.

Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN)
- One outcome of the Asia Pacific Consultation was the establishment of the APRRN. A recent example of its advocacy focus is the statement it issued calling for a regional solution for the Rohingyas.

Researchers present at the consultation and involved in the network will also be presenting at the upcoming IASFM meeting in Cyprus. At least two panels will focus on Asia: The Protection of Forced Migrants in South-East Asia and Protection Gaps in Asia.

Finally, the UNHCR Global Appeal 2009 Update indicates that two Asian countries are preparing to accede to the refugee convention: Indonesia and Mongolia.

For additional information relating to forced migration in Asia, visit:

• Asian Research Center for Migration (ARCM) [access]
• Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) [access]
• IDMC, "Internal Displacement in Asia and the Pacific" [access]
  
• Online Burma/Myanmar Library [access]
• Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) [access]
• Refugee Watch Online [access]
• Refworld, "Asia" [access]
  

Tagged Web Sites/Tools.

Publications: Climate Change, Evaluation/Burundi Repat., Human Trafficking Handbk., Timing of Indictments

Combating Trafficking in Persons: A Handbook for Parliamentarians (UNODC, IPU & UNGIFT, April 2009) [text]

Impact Evaluation of PRM Humanitarian Assistance to the Repatriation and Reintegration of Burundi Refugees (Terra P Group; U.S. Dept. of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, Sept. 2008, release date Feb. 2009) [text]

The Right to Survive: The humanitarian challenge in the twenty-first century (Oxfam, April 2009) [access to English, French, Spanish texts]

When to Indict? The Impact of Timing of International Criminal Indictments on Peace Processes and Humanitarian Action (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, April 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Publications: Burmese Refugees, Detention/Malta, Detention & Trafficking, Health & Conflict, Mig. & Dev.

Health and Conflict: A Review of the Links (Fafo, April 2009) [text]

Life in Exile: Burmese Refugees along the Thai-Burma Border (IRC, Feb. 2009) [text]

Migration, Development and Social Service, Transatlantic Perspectives on Migration, Policy Brief no. 6 (ISIM, Feb. 2009) [text]

"Not Criminals": Medecins sans Frontieres Exposes Conditions for Undocumented Migrants and Asylum Seekers in Maltese Detention Centers (MSF, April 2009) [text]

On the detention of trafficking victims (IntLawGrrls, 20 April 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Publications: Changing UNHCR, Dev. & Conflict/Sri Lanka, HIV, Human Rights/Eritrea, Land/Iraq, Poverty/Colombia

Development Assistance and Conflict in Sri Lanka: Lessons from the Eastern Province (ICG, April 2009) [text]

Do Conflicts Create Poverty Traps? Asset Losses and Recovery for Displaced Households in Colombia, MICROCON Research Working Paper 10 (MICROCON, March 2009) [text]

HIV and Emergencies: One Size Does Not Fit All (ODI, March 2009) [text]

Land, Property, and the Challenge of Return for Iraq’s Displaced, Special Report no. 221 (USIP, April 2009) [text]

Service for Life: State Repression and Indefinite Conscription in Eritrea (Human Rights Watch, April 2009) [text]
- See also related press release, "Eritrea: Repression Creating Human Rights Crisis - Host Countries Should Cease Forced Returns of Eritrean Refugees."

"Struggling to change UNHCR: Explaining why a top recruit of the High Commissioner for Refugees recently quit," Global Post, 13 April 2009 [text]
- HT to Seeking Asylum from the Mainstream.

Tagged Publications.

New Issues of Dev. in Practice, Intl. J. Multicultural Soc., Norweg. J. Geog., Women's Asylum News

Development in Practice, vol. 19, no. 3 (2009) [contents]
- Mix of articles.

International Journal on Multicultural Societies, vol. 10, no. 2 (2008) [full-text]
- Special theme for this issue is "The Conditions of Modern Return Migrants." Includes articles on the return of Libyans from the UK and the repatriation of Afghan and Iraqi refugees from Iran.

Norwegian Journal of Geography, vol. 63, no. 1 (March 2009) [contents]
- Focus of this issue is the "Tsunami of 2004 in Sri Lanka: Impacts and Policy in the Shadow of Civil War."

Women's Asylum News, no. 82 (April 2009) [full-text via Refworld]
- Lead article is "The Trafficking Convention – Meaningful Protection or Rhetoric?"

Tagged periodicals.

Detention Resources

The Global Detention Project is a new web site launched by the Graduate Institute of Geneva's Programme for the Study of Global Migration. It aims to "investigate the role detention plays in states’ responses to global migration, with a special focus on the policies and physical infrastructures of detention." The site provides access to country profiles, the domestic and international legal framework for migration-related detention, and a detention news feed in English, French and Spanish. Other resources will be added in the future.

The International Detention Coalition also monitors detention policies and practices around the world. It offers a newsletter (most recent edition), a resource library, and a global survey (scroll down for findings).

Other resources:

• Migration-Related Detention: A research guide on human rights standards relevant to the detention of migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees (Amnesty International, Nov. 2007) [text]
• Refworld's Detention Page [access]
• Selected Documents Relating to Detention (UNHCR, Feb. 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

Publications: IDP Guide, Iraq, Irish Asylum Procedures, Parliamentarians & IDPs, Refugee Health Course

"Effects of a refugee elective on medical student perceptions," BMC Medical Education 9:15 (April 2009) [open access text]

Internal Displacement and the Role of Parliamentarians in Times of Crises (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, April 2009) [text]

Internally Displaced Persons: Guide to Legal Information Resources on the Web (LLRX.com, April 2009) [text]

Iraq: Preventing the Point of No Return (Refugees International, April 2009) [text]

The Single Protection Procedure: A Chance for Change (Irish Refugee Council, April 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Update on Zimbabweans

Additional developments re. Zimbabweans, following on from this earlier post:

• SA grants legal status to Zim asylum seekers (Hatnews, April 2009) [text] (see other Hatnews stories relating to Zimbabweans)
• SA sets up new refugee reception facility in Pretoria (ZimOnline, April 2009) [text via ReliefWeb]
  
• South Africa: Permits Will Make Zimbabweans Safer (HRW, April 2009) [text]
• "Stateless former farm workers in Zimbabwe," Forced Migration Review, no. 32 (April 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Publications: Eligibility/Eritreans & Sri Lankans, Intl. Custom & Internal Displacement, Iraqi Refugees, Mental Health Care

The Emerging Customary Nature of International Norms on Internal Displacement, by M. Kovac, MSc dissertation (Faculty of Law, University of Maribor, 2009) [text]

Guide to Providing Mental Health Care Support to Asylum Seekers in Primary Care (HatNews, April 2009) [text]

Iraqi Refugees and Regional Stability (Stimson Center, April 2009) [access via Human Security Gateway]

UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Asylum-Seekers from Eritrea (UNHCR, April 2009) [text]

UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Asylum-Seekers from Sri Lanka (UNHCR, April 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

2009 Alert! Report on conflicts, human rights and peace building

The 2009 edition of Alert! Report on conflicts, human rights and peace building is now available in Spanish on the Escola de cultura de pau web site. This annual report "analyses developments and relevant trends in the international scene in terms of armed conflicts, tensions, peace processes, post-war rehabilitation and international involvement, humanitarian crises, disarmament, human rights and transitional justice and the gender perspective in peacebuilding."

English editions as of 2004 are also available.

Tagged Publications.

Publications: AU & Resp. to Protect, Somalia, Stateless Persons/Detention, Violence against Aid Workers

The African Union and the Challenges of Implementing the "Responsibility to Protect" (Nordic Africa Institute, 2009) [text]

The Protection of Stateless Persons in Detention (Equal Rights Trust, Jan. 2009) [text]

The Protection of Stateless Persons in Detention Under International Law (Equal Rights Trust, Jan. 2009) [text]

Providing aid in insecure environments: 2009 Update. Trends in violence against aid workers and the operational response, HPG Policy Brief 34 (HPG, April 2009) [text]

Somalia: Political Progress, Humanitarian Stalemate (Refugees International, April 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

New Issues of FMR, Human Rts. Brief, ICRC Rev., JHRP

Forced Migration Review, no. 32 (April 2009) [full-text]
- Focus of this issue is "statelessness." Also includes mini-feature on refugee status determination, various general articles, and notes from regular contributors.

Human Rights Brief, vol. 16, no. 2 (Winter 2009) [full-text]
- Mix of articles.

International Review of the Red Cross, no. 871 (2008) [full-text]
- Full-text version of the journal, with special theme on the inter-relationships between international human rights and humanitarian law.

Journal of Human Rights Practice, vol. 1, no. 1 [free full-text]
- New journal from OUP; first issue is made available at no cost. Aim of the journal is "to capture learning and communicate the lessons of practice across professional and geographical boundaries, within and beyond the human rights mainstream, and to provide a vehicle for innovative national and local practitioners world-wide who currently lack a platform for sharing their expertise internationally."

Tagged periodicals.

Publications: Insecure Environments, Intl. Law & Natural Disasters, Mental Health/Unacc. Minors, Migration/Scotland, Seeking Refuge Papers

Department for International Development: Operating in insecure environments (UK House of Commons, Public Accounts Committee, April 2009) [text]

International Law and Standards Applicable in Natural Disaster Situations (International Development Law Organization, March 2009) [text via ReliefWeb]

"Mental health issues in unaccompanied refugee minors," Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 3:13 (April 2009) [open access text]

Papers prepared for "Seeking Refuge: caught between bureaucracy, lawyers and public indifference?" conference, Centre of African Studies, SOAS, University of London, April 16-17 2009 [access]
- Peruse the list of panels.

Recent Migration into Scotland: The Evidence Base (Scottish Government, March 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Country of Origin Information

Here are a few articles/papers that I've come across lately that examine the role played by country of origin information in the asylum process:

"Consistency in Asylum Adjudication: Country Guidance and the Asylum Process in the United Kingdom," International Journal of Refugee Law, vol. 20, no. 4 (Dec. 2008) [full-text via Manchester Univ. IR]

Did That Really Happen? Determining The Status of Asylum Applicants Through Corroborative Evidence (Birdsongslaw’s Weblog, posted March 2009) [text]
- Analyzes several recent court decisions that have implications for establishing credibility and the need for corroborative evidence (or country conditions information).

"The politics of knowledge: an examination of the use of country information in the asylum determination process," Paper prepared for "Seeking Refuge: Caught between bureaucracy, lawyers and public indifference?", Centre of African Studies, SOAS, University of London,
April 16-17 2009 [draft text; scroll down to locate]
- Prepared for the "Courts, experts and deciding the law" panel.

"Source Assessment in COI Research," The Researcher, vol. 4, no. 1 (March 2009): 2-6 [text]
- Discusses how to evaluate country of origin information, particularly when it involves web-based sources.

Working Party on Country of Origin Information and Country Guidance: Recent Developments (IARLJ, Jan. 2009) [text]
- Reviews several developments relating to COI, including the growing acceptance of standard guidelines for COI, an ECHR case that addressed in part the use and role of COI in decisions on asylum-related cases, and an IJRL article reporting the results of a scholarly study of the UK's country guidance system.

Tagged Publications.

INEE Global Consultation, Upcoming Events in May and June

The INEE Global Consultation took place 31 March - 4 April 2009. The theme was "Bridging the Gaps: Risk Reduction, Relief and Recovery." A detailed programme is available in PDF or can be viewed by individual session. The proceedings were reported on in the Global Consultation Blog; scroll down to the bottom and read up to get a chronological overview.

Upcoming events in May, June:

AUC Center for Migration and Refugee Studies Short Courses, Cairo, May-June 2009 [site]
- Courses will be held on "International Law on Migrant and Refugee Women and Children" (31 May - 4 June); "Advanced International Refugee Law" (7-11 June); "and Meeting the Psychosocial Needs of Refugees" (14-18 June). Register by 15 April.

16th World Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicine, Victoria, BC, Canada, 12-15 May 2009 [site]
- "[D]evoted to equipping health professionals to prepare for and respond to disasters and health emergencies around the world." Register by April 24th.

The Great Lakes Pact – Two Years On: Issues of Implementation and Enforcement, London School of Economics and Political Science, 29-30 May 2009 [info.]
- Documents relevant to the conference are available here.

2nd Annual Conference of the Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (CARFMS), University of Ottawa, 1-3 June 2009 [info.]
- Theme is "Forced Migration and Shifting Borders." No programme available at present.

13th Management of Humanitarian Emergencies: Focus on Children and Families, Cleveland, Ohio, 15-19 June 2009 [site]
- "[E]xamines the most important problems and priorities in disaster situations as they relate to the most vulnerable and numerous victims of disasters -- children and families." Register by 15 May.

12th International Association for the Study of Forced Migration Conference, University of Nicosia, Cyprus, 28 June – 2 July 2009 [site]
- Theme is "Transforming Boundaries."

UNHCR Annual Consultations with NGOs, Geneva, 29 June - 1 July 2009 [site]
- Registration deadline is 5 June.

Tagged Events & Opportunities.

New Journal Articles: Alerts and Full-text Retrieval

As I mentioned in this past post, I've added some new features to the sidebar of this blog. While I already highlight the contents of new issues of forced migration-specific journals on a regular basis, I have not had a mechanism in place to systematically point readers to all the other relevant articles that appear in non-forced migration journals. The "New Journal Articles" list is one solution for this gap. It works like this: As I come across articles of interest, I bookmark them in Delicious with the tag "newjournalarticles." Each time this occurs, the list of article titles in the sidebar updates accordingly. So whenever you visit the blog, be sure to check the list for any new titles of interest.

If you forget to check, you can always 1) click on the link to go to the bookmarked titles in Delicious, or 2) subscribe to the RSS feed for the listing and peruse the updates at your leisure in your own newsreader.

One thing to note is that these journal articles are not necessarily available in full-text online. To retrieve the full-text, you have several options:

- purchase the individual article
- sign up for a free online trial for the journal you are interested in (for example, Sage Journals is offering free access to all of its journals during April)
- search Worldcat.org for libraries that subscribe to a particular journal; enter your postal or zip code to determine which library is closest to you, and retrieve the text from that library
- if you are based in a developing country, you might have access to full-text journals through one of these initiatives: Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL); GDN Journal Services; HINARI Access to Research Initiative; JSTOR Developing Nations Initiative.

Finally, it's always worth searching online for keywords in the title of journal article you are seeking. Why?
- Sometimes journal publishers designate specific issues as free online samples: see, e.g., "A Heterotopian Analysis of Maritime Refugee Incidents," abstracted in IngentaConnect, but available at no cost by Wiley InterScience.
- Some articles are posted online in openly accessible journals: see, e.g., "The humanitarian consequences and actions in the Eastern Mediterranean Region over the last 60 years – a health perspective", which was indexed in PubMed.
- Some articles are available as preprints or conference papers: see, e.g, the abstract for "Resettling Refugees in Rural and Regional Australia: Learning from Recent Policy and Program Initiatives"; a report with a slightly different title but with the same authors was published earlier.

Tagged Web Sites/Tools

Cross-posted in Researching Refugees.

Publications: Bhutanese/Nepal, Hum. Crisis/Kenya & Somalia, Iraqi IDPs/Resettlement, Labour Trafficking, Particular Social Group

Addressing the Humanitarian Crisis on the Kenya/Somalia Border (Oxfam International, March 2009) [text via Human Security Gateway]

Bhutanese Refugees in Nepal, CRED Refugee Population Brief (Feb. 2009) [text]

"The Emerging Importance of Social Perception in Defining a 'Particular Social Group' and Its Potential Impact on Gender-Related Asylum Cases," Yale Law & Policy Review, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 47-106 (Fall 2008) [extract]

Labour Trafficking: Key Concepts and Issues, Transnational crime brief, no. 3 (Australian Institute of Criminology, 2009) [text]

Resettling Iraq's Four Million Displaced (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, Feb. 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

New Issues of AWR, HIV/AIDS Policy Law Rev., ICRC Review, JEMS, J. of Intl. Peacekeeping

AWR Bulletin, vol. 46, no. 4 (2008) [contents]
- Mix of German-, Italian- and English-language articles, including one on the contribution of refugees to cultural society in Hungary.

HIV/AIDS Policy & Law Review, vol. 13, no2. 2/3 (Dec. 2008) [full-text]
- Mix of articles including several asylum-related legal decisions.

International Review of the Red Cross, vol. 90, no. 3 (Sept. 2008) [contents]
- Mix of articles on the theme of "Humanitarian Debate: Law, Policy, Action, Human Rights."

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 35, no. 4 (2009) [contents]
- Mix of articles.

Journal of International Peacekeeping, vol. 13, nos. 1/2 (Jan. 2009) [free full-text]
- Continues International Peacekeeping; aim is to serve as an "up-to-date source of information on peacekeeping, remaining abreast of the most important developments in the field." Includes a mix of interdisciplinary articles on peace operations around the world.

Tagged periodicals.

Publications: Human Trafficking/EU, IARLJ History, Refugees/UK, Somalis/Kenya, Zimbabwe COI

Country of Origin Information Report: Zimbabwe (UK Border Agency, March 2009) [text via Refworld]

From Horror to Hopelessness: Kenya’s Forgotten Somali Refugee Crisis (HRW, March 2009) [text]

Moving on Together: Government's Recommitment to Supporting Refugees (UK Border Agency, March 2009) [text]

Ten Years On: A Short History of the IARLJ (March 2009) [text]

Third annual report on the development of a common policy on illegal immigration, smuggling and trafficking of human beings, external borders, and the return of illegal residents (Commission of the European Communities, March 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Publications: Child Trafficking/Wales, Education, Environmental Migration, IASC, Sudan

Bordering on Concern: Child Trafficking in Wales (ECPAT UK & Children's Commissioner for Wales, March 2009) [text]

"Environmental Migration Governance," University of New South Wales Faculty of Law Research Series, no. 1 (UNSWLRS, March 2009) [text]

IASC Annual Report 2008 (Inter-Agency Standing Committee, March 2009) [text via ReliefWeb]

"Not Just Numbers": Educational Toolkit on Migration and Asylum in Europe (UNHCR & IOM, March 2009) [text]
- See related press release and other access options.

Where to Now? Agency Expulsions in Sudan: Consequences and Next Steps (ALNAP, March 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Publications: Human Trafficking

Considerations on the Issue of Human Trafficking from the Perspective of International Refugee Law and UNHCR’s Mandate (UNHCR, March 2009) [text]

Human Trafficking Corner in the Library: An issue very close to university students (UNIAP, March 2009) [text]
- Info. about the parent library housing this center is available here.

"Law, Otherness and Human Trafficking," Santa Clara Law Review, vol. 49, no. 3, pp. 605-672, 2009 [text via SSRN]

"Rights and responsibilities in trafficking for forced labour: Migration Regimes, Labour law and Welfare States," Web Journal of Current Legal Issues [2009] 1 Web JCLI [text]

Safeguarding Children in Scotland who may have been Trafficked (Scottish Government, Feb. 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Publications: Disaster IDPs, Education, Hum. Governance/Ethiopia, Human Trafficking/EU, Iraqis, Refugee Settlement/NZ

Certification Counts: Recognizing the Learning Attainments of Displaced and Refugee Students (UNESCO, March 2009) [text via ReliefWeb]

Humanitarian Governance in the New Millennieum: An Ethiopian Case Study, HPG Working Paper (ODI, Feb. 2009) [access]

Iraqi Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons: A Deepening Humanitarian Crisis? (Congressional Research Service, Feb. 2009) [text via Human Security Gateway]

Long Term Settlement of Refugees: An Annotated Bibliography of New Zealand and International Literature (New Zealand Dept. of Labour, March 2009) [text]

Proposal for a Framework Decision on preventing and combating trafficking in human beings, and protecting victims, repealing Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA (European Comm., March 2009) [text]

Protection of Internally Displaced Persons in Situations of Natural Disasters, A/HRC/10/13/Add.1 (Human Rights Council, March 2009) [text via Refworld]

Tagged Publications.

Zimbabweans: Humanitarian Situation, Status in South Africa & UK

Zimbabwe:

Beyond Cholera: Zimbabwe's Worsening Crisis (MSF, Feb. 2009) [text]

In-depth: Zimbabwe's Humanitarian Crisis (IRIN, March 2009) [access]

South Africa:

Lawyers for Human Rights Asks Court to Stop Illegal Detentions at Zimbabwe Border (LHR, March 2009) [text]
- See also related news story and earlier LHR report on Musina.

"SAfrica to ease immigration rules for Zimbabweans," IHT, 10 March 2009 [text]

South Africa: End Strain on Asylum System and Protect Zimbabweans (HRW, Jan. 2009) [text]
- See also earlier HRW report.

Zimbabwe: Migrants’ needs and vulnerabilities in the Limpopo province, Republic of South Africa (IOM, Feb. 2009) [text via ReliefWeb]
- See also related press release.

UK:

Asylum seekers from Zimbabwe (House of Commons Library, March 2009) [text]

"Home Office Rejects Zimbabwe Country Guidance Case," Free Movement Blog, 24 March 2009 [text]
- See also link to earlier posts re. Zimbabwe.

Operational Guidance Note: Zimbabwe (UK Border Agency, March 2009) [text]
- Referenced in blog post above.

Tagged Publications.

Publications: African Ref./Israel, Asylum Stats., Mauritanian Ref./Senegal & Mali, Palestinians/Arab Sts., Refugees/Neth.

African Refugees' Influx in Israel from a Socio-Political Perspective, CARIM-RR 2009/04 (Euro-Mediterranean Consortium for Applied Research on International Migration, 2009) [access via open repository]

Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries 2008 (UNHCR, March 2009) [access]

"How important is homeland education for refugees’ economic position in The Netherlands?" Journal of Population Economics, vol. 22, no. 1 (Jan. 2009) [open access article]

Palestinian Refugees in Arab States: A Rights-Based Approach, CARIM-RR 2009/08 (Euro-Mediterranean Consortium for Applied Research on International Migration, 2009) [access via open repository]

Le retour des réfugiés mauritaniens au Sénégal et au Mali, vingt ans après la crise de 1989, CARIM-RR 2009/11 (Euro-Mediterranean Consortium for Applied Research on International Migration, 2009) [access via open repository]

Tagged Publications

Theses from 2008

Every now and then, I come across the full-text of theses and dissertations. I don't track these in any systematic way, so by the time I discover them, they are no longer truly "current"! However, they are useful resources since they tend to include extensive literature reviews. So here is a listing of a few titles from 2008:

• Abdi, S., Evaluation of approaches to disability and rehabilitation, in the context of Somali refugees in Kenya (Sept. 2008) [access]
• Corfield, S., Negotiating existence: asylum seekers in East Anglia, UK (July 2008) [access]
• Furr, G., Refugees' Employment, Job and Life Satisfaction, Perceptions of Racism, and Experiences of Discrimination (Dec. 2008) [text]
• Malek, D., Exposing the Protection Gap: Detention as Perpetuating Refoulement in Egypt (May 2008) [text]
• Mortensen, A., Refugees as 'others' : social and cultural citizenship rights for refugees in New Zealand health services (March 2008) [access]
• Orchard, P., A right to leave : refugees, states, and international society (July 2008) [access]
• Schulz, S., Disaster relief logistics: benefits of and impediments to horizontal cooperation between humanitarian organizations (Sept. 2008) [access]
• Tamulevičiūtė, A., The application of human rights for EU asylum policy (June 2008) [access]

To locate additional theses, review this earlier post.

Tagged Publications

Publications: Destitute Asylum Seekers/UK, Exclusion, Human Trafficking, IDPs/Georgia, Mapping, Resettlement/UK

Annotated bibliography on IDPs in Georgia (Transparency International, March 2009) [text via ReliefWeb]

"Breaking the Chains: Combating Human Trafficking at the State Level," Boston College Third World Law Journal, vol. 29, no. 1 (Winter 2009) [text; scroll to p. 151]

Field Guide to Humanitarian Mapping (MapAction, March 2009) [access]

Key issues: Resettlement programmes and the UK. Briefing (ICAR, updated 2009) [text]

Underground Lives: An Investigation into the Living Conditions and Survival Strategies of Destitute Asylum Seekers in the UK (PAFRAS, March 2009) [text]

UNHCR Note on the Interpretation of Article 1E of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (UNHCR, March 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications

New Issues of childRIGHT, Disasters, JIMI, Torture J., Yrbk. of IHL

childRIGHT, no. 253 (Feb. 2009) [contents, selected full-text]
- Mix of articles, including one on unaccompanied children seeking asylum in the UK.

Disasters, virtual ed. (March 2009) [full-text]
- Special issue on the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004.

Journal of International Migration and Integration, vol. 10, no. 1 (Feb. 2009) [contents]
- Mix of articles.

Torture Journal, vol. 19, no. 1 (2009) [full-text]
- Focus is on falanga torture; includes two articles on asylum-seekers, in Sweden and Denmark.

Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law, vol. 10 (2007) [contents]
- Just published, despite the year indicated!

Tagged periodicals.

Publications: Afghanistan, Credibility, EU Asylum, Gaza, Sudan

Afghanistan: Humanitarianism under Threat (Feinstein International Center, March 2009) [text]

Reconstructing Gaza – Lessons from Lebanon, USIPeace Briefing (USIP, March 2009) [text]

Sudan: Situation Report #2 (OCHA, March 2009) [text]

"Truth Without Consequence: Reality and Recall in Refugees Fleeing Persecution," Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, vol. 37, no. 1 (March 2009) [text]

UNHCR comments on the European Commission's Proposal for a recast of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council... (UNHCR, March 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications

Research Reports: Iraqi Resettlement & Return, Protecting Civilians, RSD/South Africa, Sudanese Return

National Survey of the Refugee Reception and Status Determination System in South Africa (FMSP, Feb. 2009) [text]

The Prospects of Assisted Voluntary Return among the Sudanese Population in Greater Cairo (Center for Migration and Refugee Studies, March 2009) [text]

Protecting Civilians: Key Determinants in the Effectiveness of a Peacekeeping Force (Ford Institute for Human Security, 2009) [text]

"Stuck" in Egypt: Iraqi refugees' perceptions of their prospects for resettlement to third countries and return to Iraq (Center for Migration and Refugee Studies, Feb. 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications

Publications: Emergency Aid, EU Asylum, Human Rights/Neth., Iraqi Women, Sexual Violence, Women in Detention/U.S.

Detained and Dismissed: Women's Struggles to Obtain Health Care in United States Immigration Detention (Human Rights Watch, March 2009) [text]

Determinants Of International Emergency Aid: Humanitarian Need Only?, Research Working Papers, March 2009 , pp. 1-38(38) [text]

In Her Own Words: Iraqi Women Talk about Their Greatest Concerns and Challenges - A Survey (Oxfam, March 2009) [text]

Report by the Commissioner for Human Rights Mr. Thomas Hammarberg on His Visit to the Netherlands, 21 - 25 September 2008 (Council of Europe, March 2009) [text]

Shattered Lives: Immediate Medical Care Vital for Sexual Violence Victims (MSF, March 2009) [text]

UNHCR Comments on the European Commission’s Proposal for a recast of the Directive laying down minimum standards for the reception of asylum-seekers (UNHCR, March 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications

New Issues of Global R2P; Med., Conflict & Survival; Social Id.; Women's Asylum News

Global Responsibility to Protect, vol. 1, no. 1 (Feb. 2009) [full-text]
- New journal that "seeks to publish the best and latest research on the R2P principle, its development as a new norm in global politics, its operationalization through the work of governments, international and regional organizations and NGOs, and finally, its relationship and applicability to past and present cases of genocide and mass atrocities including the global response to those cases."

Medicine, Conflict and Survival, vol. 25, no. 1 (Jan. 2009) [contents]
- Mix of articles, including one on military assistance in emergency relief and one on refugee resilience.

Social Identities, vol. 15, no. 1 (Jan. 2009) [contents]
- Special issue on "Living through Terror: (Post) Conflict, (Post) Trauma and the South." Includes three articles on forced migration.

Women's Asylum News, no. 81 (March 2009) [full-text; also via Refworld]
- Mix of articles.


Tagged periodicals.

New Blog Features

I just wanted to point out a couple of changes in the sidebar of this blog. I'm now using Delicious to bookmark journal article abstracts and new book announcements. Delicious is great because it makes all sorts of tools freely available to its users, including one to automatically create lists of links based on bookmarked items - and you don't have to have any technical knowledge to do it. As I bookmark more article and book references, the lists will update accordingly. You can also subscribe to the associated RSS feeds to monitor updates in your newsreader.

Hope you find these useful!

Tagged Web Sites/Tools.

Publications: Child Asylum-seekers/UK, Country Info., EU Asylum, Unacc. Minors/US

Asylum Aid’s comments on EU Qualification and Procedures Directives (Asylum Aid, Jan. 2009) [text]

CIA World Factbook (updated country info. as of March 2009) [access]

Does every child matter? Children seeking asylum in Britain (Refugee and Migrant Justice, March 2009) [text]

Unaccompanied Minor Refugee Children in the United States: Their Difficult Search for Legal Identity, Safety, and Family (Birdsonglaw's Weblog, posted 5 March 2009) [text]

UNHCR Comments on the European Commission's Proposal for a recast of the Directive laying down minimum standards for the reception of asylum-seekers (UNHCR, March 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications

8th IARLJ Conference

The International Association of Refugee Law Judges (IARLJ) held its 8th World Conference in Cape Town, 28-30 January 2009. The theme was "Where to now: Charting the future course of international protection."

Papers from the following Working Parties are now available on the IARLJ web site:
- Expert evidence
- Vulnerable persons
- Country of origin and country guidance
- The 1951 Convention and subsidiary protection
- Human rights nexus
- Membership in a particular social group
- Asylum procedures

In addition, here are the texts of two of the speeches at the conference:
- Baleka Mbete, Dep. President of the Rep. of South Africa [address]
- Erika Feller, UNHCR's Assistant HC for protection [statement]

Other papers from the conference are still due to be posted. In the interim, you can watch streaming video of a presentation by James Simeon entitled "Charting the Future Course of International Refugee Protection: A Review of the 8th IARLJ World Conference in Cape Town, South Africa" (scroll down page to locate the talk).

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.

Publications: Climate-induced Displ., Education/Emergencies, EU Asylum, Non-refoulement, Sudan, Unacc. Children & Credibility

ECRE Memorandum to the JHA Council (ECRE, Feb. 2009) [text]

Education in Emergencies: Including Everyone - INEE Pocket Guide to Inclusive Education (INEE, Feb. 2009) [text via ReliefWeb]

Human insecurity: Climate-induced displacement and international law (IntLawGrrls, March 2009) [text]

"Misperceived Child Testimony: Why Credibility Should Be Presumed for Unaccompanied and Separated Children Seeking Asylum," Thomas Jefferson Law Review, vol. 31, no. 1 (Fall 2008): 121-156 [text]

"The Principle of Non-refoulement and the Right of Asylum-seekers to Enter State Territory," Interdisciplinary Journal of Human Rights Law, vol. 3, no. 1 (2008-2009): 66-94 [text]

Sudan: Situation Report #1 (OCHA, March 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Statelessness: Progress Report & Global Survey

Refugees International (RI) released an indepth report today, which notes that while progress that has been made in addressing statelessness for some groups, more still needs to be done to find solutions. The report begins with an introduction to the issues, then reviews the right to nationality, national and international responses, and lessons learned. The second part serves as a global survey of statelessness with a geographic breakdown of the extent of the problem.

The phenomenon of statelessness is receiving more attention these days. UNHCR recently posted a report of its own, and Forced Migration Review (FMR) is due to publish an issue on the matter sometime this month.

Tagged Publications.

New Issues of EJML, FEX, GAATW News, Researcher

Alliance News, no. 30 (Dec. 2008) [full-text]
- Produced by the Global Alliance against Traffic in Women; this issue looks at developments in Europe.

European Journal of Migration and Law, vol. 11, no. 1 (2009) [contents]
- Mix of articles including one on asylum-seeking children and a legislative update on EC asylum law.

Field Exchange, no. 35 (March 2009) [full-text]
- Mix of articles. See also new online catalogue of all previous FEX issues.

The Researcher, no. 12 (March 2009) [full-text]
- Mix of articles relating to asylum and RSD.

Tagged periodicals.

Publications: Aid Agencies/Sudan, Dutch Asylum Policy, Human Trafficking, Interpreting, Refused Asylum-Seekers, Uganda & LRA

Assessing Uganda's cross-border pursuit of the Lord's Resistance Army (Feinstein International Center, Feb. 2009) [text]

Developments in Dutch Migration and Asylum Policy: 1 January 2007 - 31 December 2007 (European Migration Network, orig. publ. August 2008; revised Jan. 2009) [text]

No direction home? The politics of return for refused asylum seekers, PAFRAS Briefing Paper no. 8 (PAFRAS, Jan. 2009) [text]

Report submitted by the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, A/HRC/10/16 (Human Rights Council, Feb. 2009) [text]

Self-Study Module 3: Interpreting in a Refugee Context (UNHCR, Jan. 2009) [text]

Sudan: Expulsion of aid agencies (ReliefWeb, March 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Refugee Women & Gender-based Violence

Following on from International Women's Day, the Women's Refugee Commission has recently posted the last two reports in a series of three that look "at the intersection between refugee women's livelihoods strategies and their vulnerability to gender-based violence."

The reports are, in reverse order of publication:

3. Working Women at Risk: The Links Between Making a Living and Sexual Violence for Refugees in Ethiopia [text]

2. Earning Money/Staying Safe: The Links Between Making a Living and Sexual Violence for Refugee Women in Cairo [text]

1. Desperate Lives: Burmese Refugee Women Struggle to Make a Living in Malaysia [text]

Tagged Publications.

International Women's Day

March 8th is International Women's Day. This year's theme is UNite to End Violence against Women. As part of this effort, the UN Secretary-General has launched a database "on the extent, nature and consequences of all forms of violence against women, and on the impact and effectiveness of policies and programmes for, including best practices in, combating such violence."

Many forced migration organizations work to advance the causes of refugee and internally displaced women. Here are several examples of how some are commemorating International Women's Day:

• Forced Migration Online, IWD page
• ICRC, IWD page (see also "Women and War")
• IFRC, IWD 2009
• IRC, Ending Violence against Women
• UNHCR, IWD press release (see also "Refugee Women")
• Women's Refugee Commission web site
  

Tagged Web Sites/Tools.

New Issues of DMPHP, JIRS, Journees d'etude, JRS

Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, vol. 3, no. 1 (March 2009) [contents]
- Mix of articles including one on gender-based violence among IDP women in Mississippi post-Katrina.

Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, vol. 7, no. 1 (2009) [contents]
- Mix of articles including one on Greek-Cypriot refugees.

Journal of Refugee Studies, vol. 22, no. 1 (March 2009) [contents]
- Includes IASFM11 conference report and articles on forced migration studies as a discipline, Palestinian refugees, irregular movements in Europe, and compulsory dispersal in the UK.

Les journées d’étude (June 2008) [contents]
- Focus is "Quel statut pour les réfugiés environnementaux?"

Tagged periodicals.

Updated International Refugee Law Guide

I've updated my Guide to International Refugee Law Resources on the Web, and it's now available on LLRX.com. Here's the blurb from beSpacific: "This updated research guide...directs readers to some of the key texts and resources available on the Web that can help shed light on, and provide a context for, many of the issues currently being deliberated in the refugee law arena. The guide covers international and regional instruments, human rights and humanitarian law, international bodies (especially the UNHCR), national legislation, case law, and periodicals."

Tagged Web Sites/Tools.

Publications: Darfur, Hum. Space/Iraq & Afghanistan, Iraqis/U.S., Indonesia, Mental Health/Sudan

Humanitarian Principles, Humanitarian Space: Experiences from Iraq and Afghanistan (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, Feb. 2009) [text]

The International Criminal Court and Darfur: Questions and Answers (FIDH, March, 2009) [text via Refworld]

Iraqi Immigrants in the United States (Migration Information Source, March 2009) [text]

"Post-conflict mental health needs: a cross-sectional survey of trauma, depression and associated factors in Juba, Southern Sudan," BMC Psychiatry, 9:7 (March 2009) [open access text]

The Role of the Affected State in Humanitarian Action: A Case Study on Indonesia (ODI, Feb. 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Publications: CAT Protection/U.S., Climate Change, Human Rights/Africa, Mental Health/Iraqi Refugees, Peace Processes

Anuario: Procesos de Paz 2009 (Escola de cultura de pau, March 2009) [Spanish text]

Asylum and Withholding of Removal Relief: Convention Against Torture Protections (U.S. Dept. of Justice, EOIR, Jan. 2009) [text]

Climate Change & Migration, Vijverberg session no. 3 (SID Netherlands, Jan. 2009) [text]

Freedom in Sub-Saharan Africa 2009: A Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties (Freedom House, Feb. 2009) [text]

"The Physical and Mental Health Effects of Iraq War Media Exposure on Iraqi Refugees," Journal of Muslim Mental Health, vol. 3, no. 2 (Sept. 2008) [free access]

Tagged Publications.

U.S.-Islamic World Forum

Here are the texts of several papers presented by the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement at the "Human Development and Social Change Dialogue" sessions that took place during the recent 6th U.S.-Islamic World Forum, held 14-16 February 2009 in Doha:

- Displacement in the Muslim World [text]
- Displacement, Human Development, and Security in Afghanistan [text]
- Iraqi Displacement: The Need for Solutions [text]

Tagged Publications.

Events, past, present and future

The first World Conference on Humanitarian Studies is over and done with, but you can still experience the plenary sessions through the links provided (note: you will need to use Internet Explorer for proper viewing).

Webster University's 14th Humanitarian Conference ended on 27 February. If you didn't have a chance to attend, you can read a summary and view photos. The theme was "Facing the Psychological Impact of Humanitarian Crises."

American University's Washington College of Law is hosting a meeting on 17 March in Washington, DC. The topic is "Iraqi Refugee Crisis: Present-day Challenges & Opportunities for Lasting Solutions." Even if you miss the program, you will have a chance to view the webcast (note: requires downloading MS Silverlight).

The Royal Geographical Society’s Climate Change Research Group Easter meeting will focus on "Climate Change, Adaptation and Migration," on 24 April at the University of Sussex. Register and provide an abstract by 21 March.

Tagged Events & Opportunities.

New Issues of Anuario de Acc. Hum., Conf. & Health, IMR, KANERE, Refugee Rts. News

Anuario de Acción Humanitaria y Derechos Humanos = Yearbook of Humanitarian Action and Human Rights, vol. 5 (2008) [contents]
- Mix of articles.

Conflict and Health, vol. 3 (Jan. & Feb. 2009) [full-text]
- Two new articles, one on documenting mortality in conflict situations and the other on HIV care in the Rep. of Congo.

International Migration Review, vol. 43, no. 1 (March 2009) [contents]
- Mix of articles, including two on asylum matters, in the U.S. and in the Netherlands.

Kakuma News Reflector, vol. 1, no. 3 (Feb. 2009) [full-text]
- Third issue of this blog-format news service from Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya.

Refugee Rights News, vol. 5, no. 1 (Feb. 2009) [full-text]
- Mix of articles, including one on development-induced displacement in Uganda.

Tagged periodicals.

Publications: Donations/Humanitarian NGOs, Ethnic Politics/U.S. Refugee Policy, Evaluation/Humanitarian Action, Human Trafficking, IDP Conf. Rpt.

Human Trafficking and the Effectiveness of Asylum Policies, German Working Papers in Law and Economics, no. 3 (2008) [access]

Public Support for Humanitarian Crises through NGOs (Development Initiatives, Feb. 2009) [text]

Real-time Evaluations of Humanitarian Action - An ALNAP Guide (ALNAP, March 2009) [access]

Report of the Representative of the Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Walter Kälin : addendum : high-level conference on "Ten years of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement - achievements and future challenges" (Oslo, 16 and 17 October 2008): summary of the Conference Chair (UN Human Rights Council, Feb. 2009) [text via Refworld]

The Role of Ethnic Politics in U.S. Immigration and Refugee Policy: the Case of Soviet Jewry, CCIS Working Paper, no. 175 (CCIS, Feb. 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

New Issues of Dev. in Practice, H&HR, HR Law Rev., JHA, Mig. Letters

Development in Practice, vol. 19, no. 2 (2009) [contents]
- Mix of articles, including one on UNHCR/NGO partnerships.

Health and Human Rights, vol. 10, no. 2 (2008) [full-text]
- Mix of articles.

Human Rights Law Review, vol. 9, no. 1 (2009) [contents]
- Mix of articles, including one on the ICRC and human rights law.

Journal of Humanitarian Assistance (Feb. 2009) [full-text]
- Three articles, on post-war insecurity, NGOs in the aid community, and ethical aspects of humanitarian action.

Migration Letters, vol. 6, no. 1 (April 2009) [contents]
- Special issue on "Costs of Transnational Migration." Note: This journal was formerly open access, but as of 2009, has moved to a fee-based model.

Tagged periodicals.