Publications: Education/Liberia, Humanitarian NGOs/Iraq, Refugee Policy/Australia & NZ, Refugees/Africa, Resettlement FAQ

Assistance to refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Africa: report of the Secretary-General, UN Doc. No. A/64/330 (UN General Assembly, August 2009) [text via Refworld]

Does History Matter? Making and debating citizenship, immigration and refugee policy in Australia and New Zealand (ANU Press, Sept. 2009) [text]

Dreams Deferred: Educational and Skills-building Needs and Opportunities for Youth in Liberia (Women's Refugee Commission, Sept. 2009) [text]

Frequently Asked Questions about Resettlement (UNHCR, Sept. 2009) [text]

Research to Improve the Effectiveness of INGO Activities and Future Humanitarian Coordination in Iraq (Norwegian Refugee Council, August 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

EXCOM Side Event, September 30: Detention Alternatives

The following Executive Committee side event is scheduled to take place today:

Alternatives to the Detention of Asylum-Seekers and Refugees: Panel Discussion Moderated by Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Ms. Erika Feller [info]

For additional resources, visit Refworld's "detention" page.

Tagged Events & Opportunities.

Fora on Climate Change and Migration

Coming up on October 19th is the Refugee and Migrant Climate Change Forum, hosted by the Climate Outreach Information Network, Migrants Rights Network, Praxis, Refugee Action and the Refugee Council. For more information, see the flyer.

Towards Recognition has posted videos of presentations made during the Global Humanitarian Forum's "Climate Change: Migration and Displacement" focus session, held in June as part of the GHF's annual meeting. The report of the meeting is also available.

Also available are papers/presentations from the "Climate Induced Migration" segment of UNFPA's Expert Group Meeting on Population Dynamics and Climate Change. Scroll down to session 3 on day 1.

Tagged Events & Opportunities.

EXCOM Side Events, September 29: Somali Emergency & Humanitarian Space

Two Executive Committee side events are scheduled to take place today:

Update on the Somali Refugee Emergency and Protracted Refugee Situation in Dadaab, Kenya: Briefing by Ms. Liz Ahua, UNHCR Representative in Kenya and Mr. Guillermo Bettochi, UNHCR Representative for Somalia [info]

Humanitarian Space and Human Security: Panel discussion moderated by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Mr. António Guterres [info]

Tagged Events & Opportunities.

Publications: IDPs/Sri Lanka, Right not to be a Refugee, Somali Refugees/Kenya, Unaccompanied Minors/EU, Women Asylum Seekers

Addressing the Protection Gap for Unaccompanied and Separated Children in the EU: The Role of the Stockholm Programme (Save the Children, Sept. 2009) [text]

Asylum-seeking Women: Violence and Health (Scottish Refugee Council et al., Sept. 2009) [text]

"Constructing the Right 'Not to Be Made a Refugee' at the European and Inter-American Courts of Human Rights," Harvard Human Rights Journal, vol. 22, no. 2 (2009) [text]

Defusing Dadaab: The Security Implications of Somali Refugee Flows in Kenya (Henry L. Stimson Center, Sept. 2009) [text]

"Time Running Out for Sri Lanka's IDPs," World Politics Review, 24 Sept. 2009 [text]

Tagged Publications.

60th Session of EXCOM

The 60th session of UNHCR's Executive Committee opened today in Geneva and will close on October 2nd. The officers include Mr. Alberto J. Dumont of Argentina as Chairperson, Ms. Caroline Millar of Australia as Vice-Chairperson, and Ms. Nicoleta Birladianu of Romania as Rapporteur. There are currently 78 members of EXCOM.

As indicated in the draft agenda, items to be addressed over the course of the week include the following:

1. Opening of the session

2. Adoption of the agenda and other organizational matters

3. Introductory statement by the High Commissioner [see also related news story]

4. General debate

5. Consideration of reports on the work of the Standing Committee:

(a) International Protection
(i) Note on International Protection (A.AC.96/1066);
(ii) Report on the work of the Standing Committee (A/AC.96/1075) [not yet available];
(iii) Reports of the 44th and 45th meetings of the Standing Committee (A/AC.96/1065 and A/AC.96/1073)

(b) Programme budgets, management, financial control and administrative oversight
(i) Report on the work of the Standing Committee (A/AC.96/1075) [not yet available];
(ii) Report of the 44th Meeting of the Standing Committee (A/AC.96/1065);
(iii) Report of the 45th Meeting of the Standing Committee (A/AC.96/1073);
(iv) Report of the 46th Meeting of the Standing Committee (A/AC.96/1074) [to be available 20 Sept.];
(v) Report of the Extraordinary Meeting of the Executive Committee (A/AC.96/1077);
(vi) Voluntary Funds Administered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Accounts for the Year 2008) (A/AC.96/1064);
(vii) Report of the Board of Auditors to the General Assembly on the Financial Statements of the Voluntary Funds administered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for the year ended 31 December 2008 (A/AC.96/1067), and Measures Taken or Proposed in Response to the Recommendations of the Report of the Board of Auditors (A/AC.96/1067/Add.1) [docs. not yet available];
(viii) Report on Internal Audit in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2008-2009) (A/AC.96/1069) [not yet available]

6. Reports relating to programme and administrative oversight and evaluation
(i) Report on Activities of the Inspector General’s Office (A/AC.96/1070);
(ii) Report on Policy Development and Evaluation (A/AC.96/1071)

7. Consideration and adoption of the Biennial Programme Budget 2010-2011
(i) UNHCR’s Biennial Programme Budget for 2010-2011 (A/AC.96/1068);
(ii) Report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (A/AC.96/1068/Add.1);
(iii) The Committee will also consider the proposed revision of the Financial Rules for Voluntary Funds Administered by the High Commissioner for Refugees (A/AC.96/503/Rev. 9) [not yet available]

8. Review of the Annual Consultations with non-governmental organizations [see report]

9. Other statements

10. Meetings of the Standing Committee in 2010

11. Consideration of the provisional agenda of the sixty-first session of the Executive Committee

12. Election of officers

13. Any other business

14. Adoption of the report of the sixtieth session of the Executive Committee

15. Closing of the session

[Photo by J-M FERRE / September 2009; source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/unhcr/3962705310/]

Tagged Events & Opportunities.

New Issue of IJRL

The latest issue of the International Journal of Refugee Law is now available: vol. 21, no. 3 (October 2009). Contents include the following three articles: "Doomed to Fail from the Outset? UNHCR's Convention Plus Initiative Revisited," "Getting the Property Questions Right: Legal Policy Dilemmas in Post-Conflict Property Restitution in Kosovo (1999–2009)," and "War Criminals Not Welcome; How Common Law Countries Approach the Phenomenon of International Crimes in the Immigration and Refugee Context."

Tagged Periodicals.

AU Special Summit on Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons

Uganda will host the African Union's Special Summit on Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons in Africa from 19-23 October 2009. A principal item on the agenda is the consideration and adoption of the Draft AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa. For more background information on the summit and its objectives, read the Information Note and the lead article in UNHCR's Highlights from Addis newsletter.

Related posts:
IDPs in Africa
AU Convention on Internal Displacement

[Emblem from AU Symbols page.]

Tagged Events & Opportunities.

New Issues of E&RS, ICRC Rev., Intervention, Res. Refugee Health

Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 32, no. 8 (2009) [contents]
- Special issue on "Diasporas, Cultures and Identities."

International Review of the Red Cross, no. 873 (2009) [full-text]
- Theme is "Typology of armed conflicts"; full-text now available on ICRC site.

Intervention: International Journal of Mental Health, Psychosocial Work and Counselling in Areas of Armed Conflict, vol. 7, no. 2 (July 2009) [contents]
- Mix of articles including "Coping with displacement: problems and responses in Kitgum, northern Uganda" and "Iraqi refugees in Egypt: an exploration of their mental health and psychosocial status."

Researching Refugee Health, no. 10 (July 2009) [full-text]
- Lead article is "Researching Australia's impact on asylum seekers in Indonesia and PNG."

Publications: HIV/AIDS, Humanitarian Reform, Iraqi Minorities, Protection & Disasters, Torture Rehabilitation

HIV/AIDS, Security and Conflict: New Realities, New Responses (AIDS, Security and Conflict Initiative, Sept. 2009) [access]
- Links to the executive summary and full report are provided under "publications" in the sidebar.

NGOs and Humanitarian Reform Project (ICVA, Sept. 2009) [access]
- Five mapping studies available on Afghanistan, DRC, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Zimbabwe.

Protection and Response in Situations of Natural Disaster (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, Sept. 2009) [text]
- Focus is on Central America.

"Rehabilitating torture survivors," Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, vol. 41, no. 9 (Sept. 2009) [open access text]

Returned to Risk: Deportation of HIV-Positive Migrants (HRW, Sept. 2009) [text]

Uncertain Refuge, Dangerous Return: Iraq’s Uprooted Minorities (Minority Rights Group, Sept. 2009) [text via Refworld]

Tagged Publications.

Publications: Disaster Displacement & Climate Change, Field Surveys/DRC, Iraqi Refugees, TB & Asylum Seekers/Norway, Young Asylum Seekers

Iraqi Refugees in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey (CARIM, 2009) [access]
- 10 papers available.

"Learning lessons from field surveys in humanitarian contexts: a case study of field surveys conducted in North Kivu, DRC 2006-2008," Conflict and Health, 3:8 (10 September 2009) [open access text]

Monitoring Disaster Displacement in the Context of Climate Change (IDMC & OCHA, Sept. 2009) [text]

"Tuberculosis screening and follow-up of asylum seekers in Norway: a cohort study," BMC Public Health, 9:141 (14 May 2009) [open access text]

Young Asylum Seekers: What Help do They Need to Plan Learning and Work? (National Institute for Careers Education and Counselling, 2009) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Pushbacks to Libya

Human Rights Watch's latest report - Pushed Back, Pushed Around: Italy’s Forced Return of Boat Migrants and Asylum Seekers, Libya’s Mistreatment of Migrants and Asylum Seekers - "documents Italy's practice of interdicting boats full of migrants on the high seas and pushing them back to Libya without the required screening. ...The policy is an open violation of Italy's legal obligation not to commit refoulement - the forced return of people to places where their lives or freedom would be threatened or where they would face a risk of torture or inhuman and degrading treatment."

JRS Europe's August newsletter includes a related article, entitled "This is Friendship? Italy/Libya Friendship Treaty Heavily Criticised," while the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' recent statement to the Human Rights Council prioritizes the plight of migrants at sea as an overarching issue for her office.

Additional news and information are available from the Euromed-MigrAsyl blog, the Italian Refugee Council's "Speciale Lampedusa" section, and UNHCR's Asylum and Migration pages.

Tagged Publications.

Urban Displacement

According to UNHCR, "almost half of the world’s 10.5 million refugees now reside in cities and towns, compared to one third who live in camps." In response to this trend, the organization has developed a new policy relating to urban refugees that replaces its 1997 policy approach.

The High Commissioner's Dialogue on Protection Challenges, scheduled for 9-10 December 2009, will focus on "people of concern to UNHCR in urban settings." Visit the meeting's web page for links to evaluation reports and New Issues in Refugee Research papers that focus on the situation of refugees and IDPs in urban contexts.

Forced Migration Review will also spotlight this issue in a forthcoming issue. Read the CFP for more information. Contributions must be submitted by 28 September 2009.

For previously published articles and reports on urban displacement, browse through postings on this blog that have been labeled "urban areas."

Tagged Events & Opportunities and Publications.

Even More Publications: DRC, IDPs/Georgia, National Law/UK, R2P, Sports/Kakuma Refugee Camp

The Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 (Refugee Council, Sept. 2009) [text]

DR Congo: Protect Civilians & End Military Operations (Refugees International, Sept. 2009) [text]

Out of the margins - Securing a voice for internally displaced people: lessons from Georgia (Conciliation Resources, 2009) [text]

"Reconstructing the Responsibility to Protect in the Wake of Cyclones and Separatism," Tulane Law Review, vol. 84 (2009) [text via SSRN]
- See also commentary on IntLawGrrls.

"Young Peacemakers in the Kakuma Refugee Camp and Mathare Slums in Kenya," 6th Play the Game World Communications Conference on Sport and Society Coventry, United Kingdom, June 8-12, 2009 [text]

Tagged Publications.

Publications: Aid Worker Safety/DRC, Asylum Glossary, Burundians/Tanzania, RSD/Canada, WDR

Asylum and Migration Glossary: A tool for better comparability (European Migration Network, July 2009) [text via Refworld]

Fast, Fair and Final: Reforming Canada’s Refugee System (Maytree, Sept. 2009) [access]

“I don’t know where to go”: Burundian Refugees in Tanzania under Pressure to Leave (Centre for the Study of Forced Migration & International Refugee Rights Initiative, Sept. 2009) [text]

Security Incidents against humanitarian workers: OCHA North Kivu (DR Congo) (OCHA, Aug. 2009) [text]

World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change (World Bank, Sept. 2009) [access]

Tagged Publications.

New Issues of Disasters, J. Conflict Res., J. Emp. Res. Human Res. Ethics, Women's Asylum News

Disasters, vol. 33, no. 4 (Oct. 2009) [contents]
- Mix of articles, including "Cross-sectional survey methods to assess retrospectively mortality in humanitarian emergencies" and "Using the 'protective environment' framework to analyse children's protection needs in Darfur."

Journal of Conflict Resolution, vol. 53, no. 5 (Oct. 2009) [contents]
- Mix of articles.

Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, vol. 4, no. 3 (Sept. 2009) [contents]
- Special focus on refugee research: "Assessing the Needs of Refugee Populations."

Women's Asylum News, no. 86 (Sept. 2009) [full-text]
- Lead article is "Key US cases relating to women asylum seekers."

Tagged Periodicals.

Publications: Climate Migration, Displacement/Africa, OAU Convention, Peace & Conflict, Statelessness/Dominican Rep.

Climate-related Migration Estimates Flawed, Researchers Say (IRIN, Sept. 2009) [text via Towards Recognition]
- Note: This article references the forthcoming report "Crisis or adaptation? Migration and climate change in a context of high mobility"; an earlier version of it is available via UNFPA.

Helpdesk Research Report: Climate Change and Migration (GSDRC, Sept. 2009) [text]
- This report was referenced in the IRIN story noted above.

Migration and Displacement in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Security-Migration Nexus II (Bonn International Center for Conversion, 2009) [text via Human Security Gateway]

Peace and Conflict 2010 (Center for International Development and Conflict Management, Sept. 2009) [exec. summary]

Q&A: OAU Convention remains a key plank of refugee protection in Africa after 40 years (UNHCR, Sept. 2009) [text]

"State of Uncertainty: Citizenship, Statelessness, and Discrimination in the Dominican Republic," Boston College International and Comparative Law Review, vo. 32, no. 2 (Spring 2009) [text]
- Article begins on p. 377.

Tagged Publications.

More New Issues: Equal Rts. Rev., ICRC Rev., RTDH, Sec. & HR

Equal Rights Review, vol. 3 (2009) [full-text]
- Focus is on stateless people.

International Review of the Red Cross, vol. 91, no. 873 (March 2009) [contents]
- Focus is the "Typology of armed conflicts."

Revue trimestrielle des droits de l'homme, no. 79 (juillet 2009) [sommaire]
- Mix of articles, with several focusing on the European Court of Human Rights, including "L’accès au territoire et la détention de l’étranger demandeur d’asile (Cour eur. dr. h., Gde Ch., Saadi c. Royaume-Uni, 29 janvier 2008)."

Security and Human Rights, vol. 20, no. 3 (Sept. 2009) [contents]
- Continues "Helsinki Monitor"; mix of articles, including "A human rights based approach to trafficking in human beings."

Tagged Periodicals.

New Issues of AJEM, APMJ, IJMHSC, Intl. Mig., JIRS, JRS

Asian and Pacific Migration Journal Collection on CD-ROM [info]
- Includes articles from 1992 to 2006. A list of titles is available here.

Australian Journal of Emergency Management, vol. 24, no. 3 (August 2009) [full-text]
- Mix of articles.

International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 5, no. 1 (June 2009) [selected full-text]
- Mix of articles.

International Migration, vol. 47, no. 4 (Oct. 2009) [contents]
- Mix of articles.

Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, vol. 7, no. 3 (2009) [contents]
- Special issue on "Immigrant and Refugee Experiences in North American Cities."

Journal of Refugee Studies, vol. 22, no. 3 (Sept. 2009) [contents]
- Special Issue on "Representation and Displacement."

Tagged Periodicals.

Training Items: IDPs, Human Trafficking, Refugee Protection, U.S. Asylum

Anti-Human Trafficking Manual for Criminal Justice Practitioners (UNODC, 2009) [access]
- "Purpose is to...support criminal justice practitioners in the prevention of human trafficking, the protection of its victims, the prosecution of its culprits and in the international cooperation needed to achieve these goals." Includes 15 modules, the first of which is entitled "Definition of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants."

Asylum Division Training Programs (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, updated 2009) [access]
- Provides access to the training modules used in the "Asylum Officer Basic Training Course." One module is entitled "Country Conditions Research and the Country of Origin Information Research Section (COIRS)."

Standards and Training (UNHCR) [access]
- Section in Refworld which provides access to a series of self-study modules relating to refugee protection. One on statelessness is forthcoming.

Training Material (IDMC) [access]
- These modules review "key aspects of the protection of internally displaced persons (IDPs)" and can be used for self-study or to facilitate training workshops.

Tagged Publications.