Admin.

This blog will be quiet until the new year. Best wishes to you all.

Events, after the fact

4th European Conference on Nationality: Concepts of Nationality in a Globalised World, Strasbourg, 17 Dec. 2010 [selected presentations]
- See also Commissioner for Human Rights statement re. stateless persons.

Climate Change and Displacement: Side Event to HC Dialogue, 8 Dec. 2010
- Executive summary of presentation entitled "Protecting environmentally displaced people: Developing the capacity of legal and normative frameworks."

High Commissioner's Dialogue on Protection Challenges, Geneva, 8-9 Dec. 2010 (UNHCR, Dec. 2010) [discussions & outcomes]

In/equality for Third Country Nationals: Implementation and Effects of EU Directives on Migration and Asylum, Oxford, 28-30 June 2010 [programme]
- See also paper presented entitled "Third Country Nationals Versus EU Citizens: Discrimination Based on Nationality and the Equality Directives."

Refugee Status Determination and Rights in Southern and East Africa, Kampala, 16-17 Nov. 2010 (RSC, Dec. 2010) [workshop report]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.

Law Review Articles

(updated)

"Human Trafficking in Russia and Other Post-Soviet States," Human Rights Review, Online First, 10 Dec. 2010 [open access text]

"Matter of S-E-G-: The Final Nail in the Coffin for Gang-Related Asylum Claims?," Berkeley La Raza Law Journal, vol. 20 (2010) [full-text]

"Membership in a particular social group: all approaches open doors for women to qualify," Arizona Law Review, vol. 52, no. 2 (May 2010) [full-text]

"A Refugee from Justice? Disparate Treatment in the Federal Court of Canada," Law & Policy, vol. 32, no. 4 (Oct. 2010) [full-text]

"Refugee Credibility Assessment and the 'Religious Imposter' Problem: A Case Study of Eritrean Pentecostal Claims in Egypt," Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, vol. 43, no. 5 (Nov. 2010) [full-text]

Tagged Publications.

Publications: Asylum/EU, Cooperation & Anti-Trafficking, Human Trafficking & Conflict, Iraqis/US, Unacc. Minors/EU, WDR Papers

(updated)

"Health of Resettled Iraqi Refugees, San Diego County, California, October 2007-September 2009," Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 59, no. 49 (Dec. 2010) [text]

Human Trafficking and Conflict, Policy Brief, no. 49 (Inst. for Security & Development Policy, Dec. 2010) [text]

International Cooperation and the Antitrafficking Regime, Working Paper, no. 71 (RSC, Dec. 2010) [text]

Right of Asylum in Europe: The “Dublin Regulation” – An Unfair System both for Asylum Seekers and for States (PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, Dec. 2010) [text]

Unaccompanied Minors in the Migration Process (Frontex, Dec. 2010) [text]

World Development Report 2011: Input Papers (World Bank, July 2010) [access]
- Relevant titles include "The Impacts of Refugees on Neighboring Countries" and "The Development Challenge of Finding Durable Solutions for Refugees and Internally Displaced People."


Tagged Publications.

More on Israel's Asylum Policy

(updated)

Building Barricades to Protection (IntLawGrrls, Nov. 2010) [text]

Egypt: End Traffickers’ Abuse of Migrants - Rescue People Held for Ransom From Sinai Hideouts, Prosecute Captors (HRW, Dec. 2010) [text]
- Scroll down for info. on Israeli policy.

Hostages, Torture, and Rape in the Sinai Desert: A PHR-Israel update about recently arriving asylum seekers (Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, Dec. 2010) [text]

"Israel Repatriates 150 Sudanese in Broader Effort to Discourage African Influx," Christian Science Monitor (14 Dec. 2010) [text]

"'Let Me Go to the City': African Asylum Seekers, Racialization and the Politics of Space in Israel," Journal of Refugee Studies, Advance Access (posted 22 Dec. 2010) [abstract]

Procedure for Handling Political Asylum Seekers in Israel (Israel Minister of Interior, 2011) [text]

"Refugee Protection in Israel: Recent Developments," Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter, no. 10 (Dec. 2010), pp. 3-4 [full-text]

Worrying Developments in Israel's Asylum Policy (SRLAN List, Dec. 2010) [text]
- Note: Scroll to bottom of message to access attachment (.doc) entitled "Brief update on Israel's new asylum policies (December 16, 2010)."

Related posts:
- African Refugees in Israel

Tagged Publications.

New Web Sites

New(ish) sites:

Analyzing Asylum Applications [access]
- A service from Migration Information Source. This tool allows you to analyze the numbers and origins of people seeking asylum in 39 countries in Europe, North America, Oceania, and Asia between 1980 and 2004.

Asylum Country-by-Country [access]
- Described as a "legal tool and a practical resource on LGBTI asylum in Europe."

Migration Oxford [access]
- One site that presents information on the research and teaching of the three centres at Oxford that focus on migration: Compas, IMI and RSC.

Reconstruction Planning [access]
- A blog on "humanitarian planning and development."

Refugee Lives [access]
- A web site set up by journalism students from Northwestern University in the U.S. who "documented the lives of refugees from three different places in the world – Jordan, Malawi and Namibia." See related news story.

Safe Haven from Trauma and Torture: World’s Refugees Resettle in Chicago [access]
- This page highlights the stories of refugees from 8 countries: Cambodia, Guatemala, Sudan, Burma, Iraq, Palestine, Ethiopia and Tibet. More generally, it also includes an FAQ, with questions about refugees and "stories that bring the answers to life."

Existing sites:

AlertNet [access]
- Read "10 Things to Know about the New-Look AlertNet" for an overview.

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) [access]
- English version of the site has been re-designed to help visitors find information more efficiently. Sites in the other six language versions will follow in 2011.

Tagged Web Sites/Tools.

Looking ahead to January...

Looking to the Future, Learning from the Past: A Conference to Mark 60 Years of the Refugee Convention, Sydney, 14-17 June 2011 [info]
- "The Conference will provide a timely opportunity to reflect on the strengths and achievements of the Refugee Convention and refugee protection system, and to consider what further action is needed to secure the rights of refugees during flight, in countries of asylum and in resettlement." Submit abstracts by 28 January 2011.

Forced Migration: Human Rights Challenges, Montreal, 11-13 May 2011 [info]
- "The 2011 CARFMS Conference will...discuss the human rights of migrants in the context of national and international security policies." Deadline for abstracts extended to 31 January 2011.

Centre for Refugee Studies Summer Course, Toronto, 8-15 May 2011 [info]
- "[E]ight-day course for academic and field-based practitioners working in the area of forced migration." Early bird registration = 30 December 2010, visa applicants' registration = 31 January 2011.

Related posts:
- Things to do in December/January

[Photo credit: "UNHCR's 60th anniversary," UNHCR Australia]

Tagged Events & Opportunities.

New Issues of AWR, Bitter Lemons, Humanity J., J. Am. Acad. Psych. & Law, J. Pacific Rim Psych., Torture J.

AWR Bulletin, vol. 48, no. 2-3 (2010) [contents]
- Reproduces papers from the 60th AWR Congress, Berlin, 29 Sept. - 1 Oct. 2010 (see program). The theme of the conference was "Migration as a Challenge for the Social Welfare State."

Bitter Lemons, ed. 4, vol. 1 (Dec. 2010) [full-text]
- Online journal that discusses the Arab peace initiative; this week's edition focuses on "refugees."

Humanity, vol. 1, no. 1 (Oct. 2010) [full-text]
- Inaugural issue of an international journal focusing on human rights, humanitarianism, and development.

Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, vol. 38, no. 4 (Dec. 2010) [full-text]
- Includes sub-section on asylum, with the following articles: "The Role of Mental Health Professionals in Political Asylum Processing," "Central American Victims of Gang Violence as Asylum Seekers: The Role of the Forensic Expert," and "Commentary: The Role of Forensic Psychiatry in the Asylum Process."

Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology, vol. 4, no. 1 (2010) [contents]
- Theme is "Psychological Impacts of Forced Migration."

Torture, vol. 20, no. 3 (2010) [full-text]
- This issue is comprised of the following desk study: "Combating torture with medical evidence: The use of medical evidence and expert opinions in international and regional human rights tribunals."

Tagged Periodicals.

Publications: Asylum Seekers/Ukraine, COI Fact-finding/EU, Human Trafficking Principles, Returnees/Iraq, Right of Asylum

Buffeted in the Borderland: The Treatment of Asylum Seekers and Migrants in Ukraine (Human Rights Watch, Dec. 2010) [text]

EU Common Guidelines on (Joint) Fact Finding Missions: A Practical Tool to Assist Member States in Organizing (Joint) Fact Finding Missions (European Country of Origin Sponsorship, Nov. 2010) [text via Ecoi.net]

Going Back to Baghdad (IntLawGrrls, Dec. 2010) [text]

Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Trafficking: Commentary (OHCHR, Nov. 2010) [text via UNGIFT]

"Whatever Happened to the Right of Asylum?," Inside Story (16 Dec. 2010) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Asia-Pacific: Round-up of Resources

"Australian Funded Care and Maintenance of Asylum Seekers in Indonesia and PNG: All Care But No Responsibility?," University of New South Wales Law Journal, vol. 33, no. 2 (2010) [text via SSRN]

"Difficult Journeys: Accessing Refugee Protection in Indonesia," Monash University Law Review, vol. 36, no. 3 (2010) [text via SSRN]

"Forced Eviction and Resettlement in Cambodia: Case Studies from Phnom Penh," Washington University Global Studies Law Review, vol. 9, no. 1 (2010) [text]

"North Korean Escapees in China: Granting Prima Facie Refugee Status Based on a Group Determination," Journal of East Asia and International Law, vol. 3, no. 2 (Autumn 2010) [full-text]

Refugee Protection in ASEAN: National Failures, Regional Responsibilities (People's Empowerment Foundation, Nov. 2010) [text]

UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Asylum-Seekers from Afghanistan (UNHCR, Dec. 2010) [text]

[Map credit: UNHCR]

Tagged Publications.

LGBT Asylum Seekers: Round-up of Resources

Homophobia, Transphobia and Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: 2010 Update (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 2010) [text]
- Sections four and five focus on "'Family Members' in Free Movement, Family Reunification and Asylum" and "Asylum and Subsidiary Protection for LGBT People," respectively.

LGBT Asylum Applicants Need to Prove Persecution, Not Sexual Orientation (LGBT Asylum News, Dec. 2010) [text]

Objectivity, Authority, and Truth: Confirming a Homosexual Identity in Lesbian and Gay Fights for Asylum, Paper for Peace Studies Student Conference, Grinnell, Iowa, 4-6 March 2010 (Grinnell College, 2010) [text]

The Protection of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Asylum-Seekers and Refugees (UNHCR, Sept. 2010) [text]
- Discussion paper prepared for UNHCR Roundtable on Asylum-Seekers and Refugees Seeking Protection on Account of Their Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Geneva, 30 September–1 October 2010; see also Summary Conclusions from the meeting.

Testing Sexual Orientation: A Scientific and Legal Analysis of Plethysmography in Asylum and Refugee Status Proceedings (ORAM, Dec. 2010) [text]

Tagged Publications.

Publications: Disast. Relief/EU, IDPs/Sudan, Internal Displ. & RSD, Iraqis & US Resettle., Protract. Sit./Serbia & Croatia, Reprod. Health, UNHCR

Analysis of Law in the EU and a Selection of Member States pertaining to Cross-Border Disaster Relief: Synthesis Report and Recommendations (IFRC, Dec. 2010) [text via ReliefWeb]

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Displacement and Reintegration in Post-referendum Southern Sudan (Norwegian Refugee Council, Dec. 2010) [text]

Inter-agency Field Manual on Reproductive Health in Humanitarian Settings: 2010 Revision for Field Review (Inter-agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in Crises, 2010) [text via Refworld]

Internal Displacement and Refugee Status Determination (Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, Dec. 2010) [text]

Living in Limbo: Iraqi Refugees and U.S. Resettlement (Human Rights First, Dec. 2010) [text]

Should I stay or Should I go? A review of UNHCR's response to the protracted refugee situation in Serbia and Croatia, PDES/2010/14 (UNHCR, Dec. 2010) [text]

"UNHCR at 60: Sixty not out," The Economist, 14 Dec. 2010 [text]

Tagged Publications.

Publications: Asylum-Seekers/Libya & Malta, Detention/EU, Health & IDPs/Kenya, IDPs/Chad, Legal Aid/NZ, Separated Children/EU

Comments by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [on the] New Zealand Legal Aid Quality Framework (UNHCR Regional Office, Oct. 2010) [text]

Detention on the Borders of Europe: Report on the Joint Global Detention Project–International Detention Coalition Workshop in Geneva, Switzerland, 2‐3 October 2010 (Global Detention Project, Nov. 2010) [text]

"Mortality and Health among Internally Displaced Persons in Western Kenya Following Post-election Violence, 2008: Novel Use of Demographic Surveillance," Bulletin of the World Health Organization, vol. 88, no. 8 (Aug. 2010) [text]

Seeking Safety, Finding Fear: Refugees, Asylum-seekers and Migrants in Libya and Malta (Amnesty International, Dec. 2010) [text]

Separated, Asylum-seeking Children in European Union Member States: Comparative Report (EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, Nov. 2010) [text]

Still in Need of Safety: The Internally Displaced in Eastern Chad (Amnesty International, Dec. 2010) [text]

Tagged Publications.

UNHCR's 60th Anniversary...

...is today, 14 December 2010.

Here's a press release from the agency: "60th Anniversary: UNHCR marks landmark with appeal for renewed commitment to helping the world's forcibly displaced." See also the "UNHCR Turns 60" video in the sidebar. A message from the High Commissioner is also available on video.

To learn more about UNHCR's history, visit:

From Hungary to Kyrgyzstan, 60 years of helping the world's forcibly displaced [access]
- See also the photo collection in the sidebar.

A Global Humanitarian Organization of Humble Origins [access]
- More historical photos in the sidebar.

Visit other UNHCR web sites to see how this anniversary is being commemorated around the world.

[Photo credit: "Eastern European refugees, 1953"; FMO]

Related posts:
- Anniversary-related events
- Commemorating Refugee Protection Milestones

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.

More on Climate Displacement: Past Events, Publications

The UN Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico is over. For a brief summary of what the meetings accomplished, read this post on IntLawGrrls.: Winning & losing (mostly losing) in Cancun. See also this related op ed in the Sydney Morning Herald by Jane McAdam, written partly in response to a news story in The Observer.

Also from Jane McAdam is her presentation on "Climate Change Displacement and International Law," given at a Side Event to the High Commissioner's Dialogue on Protection Challenges, 8 Dec. 2010.

A few other resources:

Assessing the Evidence: Environment, Climate Change and Migration in Bangladesh (IOM, Nov. 2010) [text via ReliefWeb]

"Climate Change Displacement to Refuge," Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation, vol. 25, no. 1 (2010) [text]

Global Responses to Eco-Migration and Environmental Disasters: The Role of U.S. and International Law and Policy. Symposium issue of Fordham Environmental Law Review, vol. 20, nos. 2&3 (Winter 2010) [contents]

"When Islands Drown: The Plight of 'Climate Change Refugees' and Recourse to International Human Rights Law," University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, vol. 31, no. 4 (Summer 2010) [text]

Recent related posts:
- Round-up of Climate Change Resources
- Climate Change: Conference & Resources

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.

Publications: Cholera/Haiti, Migrants & HRW, RBM & UNHCR, Security & Aid Agencies, UNHCR Recom./Hungary

"Haiti’s Disaster after the Disaster: The IDP Camps and Cholera," Journal of Humanitarian Assistance (13 Dec. 2010) [text]

Managing Aid Agency Security in an Evolving World: The Larger Challenge (European Interagency Security Forum, Nov. 2010) [text via ReliefWeb]

Measure for Measure: A Field-based Snapshot of the Implementation of Results Based Management in UNHCR (UNHCR, Nov. 2010) [text]

Rights on the Line: Human Rights Watch Work on Abuses against Migrants in 2010 (HRW, Dec. 2010) [text]

UNHCR's Recommendations to Hungary for its EU Presidency (January-June 2011) (UNHCR, Dec. 2010) [text]


Tagged Publications.

New Issues of Disasters, IMR, JEMS, Refugee Watch, REMI

Disasters, vol. 35, no. 1 (Jan. 2011) [contents]
- Mix of articles, including "Revisiting Sphere: new standards of service delivery for new trends in protracted displacement."

International Migration Review, vol. 44, no. 4 (Winter 2010) [contents]
-Mix of articles.

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 37, no. 2 (2011) [contents]
- Special issue on "'Integration': Migrants and Refugees between Scandinavian Welfare Societies and Family Relations"; includes "Egalitarian Ambitions, Constructions of Difference: The Paradoxes of Refugee Integration in Sweden," "Tamil Refugees in Pain: Challenging Solidarity in the Norwegian Welfare State" and "Becoming Part of Welfare Scandinavia: Integration through the Spatial Dispersal of Newly Arrived Refugees in Denmark."

Refugee Watch, no. 36 (Dec. 2010) [contents]
- Mix of articles, including "Refugee, Memory and the State: A Review of Research in Refugees Studies" and "Reconciling R2P with IDP Protection."

Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales, vol. 26, no. 2 (2010) [contents]
- Mix of articles.

Tagged Periodicals.

Publications: Humanitarian Aid, IDPs & SMS/Colombia, Operational Security, Somalis/Kenya, Sudanese/Uganda

Empowering IDP with SMS: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Bogotá, HiCN Working Paper 84 (Households in Conflict Network, 2010) [text]

From Life without Peace to Peace without Life: The Treatment of Somali Refugees and Asylum-seekers in Kenya (Amnesty International, Dec. 2010) [text]

Humanitarian Assistance: Truly Universal? A Mapping Study of Non-Western Donors (Global Public Policy Institute, Sept. 2010) [text via ReliefWeb]

Operational Security Management in Violent Environments, Good Practice Review, no. 8 (Humanitarian Practice Network, Dec. 2010) [text]
- Revised edition.

There's No Place Like Home (IntLawGrrls, Dec. 2010) [text]

Tagged Publications.

UNHCR events, after the fact

Various UNHCR events that have taken place recently are listed here, in reverse chronological order, with links to their resources:

High Commissioner's Dialogue on Protection Challenges, Geneva, 8-9 December 2010 [info]
- The theme was "Protection Gaps and Responses." This year's discussion focused on "gaps in the existing international protection framework for forcibly displaced and stateless people, as well as possible ways to respond. In particular, this year's Dialogue...focus[ed] on international cooperation, burden sharing and comprehensive regional approaches; implementation and normative gaps; and issues relating to statelessness." Read the HC's opening speech, and visit the link above for the agenda, background paper, and collected relevant documents.

45 Años en el Sur de América Latina, Buenos Aires, 3 December 2010 [info]
- Event commemorating 45 years of the work of the UNHCR Regional Office for South of Latin America. Visit the link for a summary of the event, photos and videos.

Seminar to Support the AU Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Outcomes of the October 2009 AU Special Summit held in Kampala, Uganda, Addis Ababa, 29-30 November 2010 [info]
- Visit the link for the agenda and some of the presentations.

UNHCR Roundtable on Asylum-Seekers and Refugees Seeking Protection on Account of Their Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Geneva, 30 September–1 October 2010
- Read the discussion paper "The Protection of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Asylum-Seekers and Refugees" and the "Summary Conclusions." See also related UNHCR news story and briefing notes.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.

Round-up of Climate Change Resources

The UN Climate Change Conference in Cancun ends tomorrow. The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research released its climate change research findings to coincide with the start of the conference; one of the reports is: "Climate-induced population displacements in a 4◦C+ world," Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, vol. 369, no. 1934 (Jan. 2011) [text via Tyndall Centre; scroll down to "People"]

Here are just a few thoughts on the Cancun discussions from various blogs/sites:

• Cancun: Climate Change, Displacement and Migration (Blog 4 Global Health, Dec. 2010) [text]
• Climate Forced Migration: A High Profile Panel and Me (World Development Movement, Dec. 2010) [text]
• ‘Climate Refugees’ not Recognized as ‘Refugees’ by UN (It's Getting Hot in Here, Nov. 2010) [text]
• Whither Go Climate Refugees? (Eco Walk the Talk, Dec. 2010) [text]

Elsewhere, a side event to the High Commissioner's Dialogue on Protection Challenges 2010 was held 8 Dec. 2010 in Geneva on "Climate Change and Displacement." One of the speakers was Roger Zetter, RSC Director, who presented on "Protecting Environmentally Displaced People: Developing the Capacity of Legal and Normative Frameworks."

Finally, here's a web site I just came across with a collection of articles and reports prepared by a group of lawyers advocating for a climate change displacement convention: A Convention for Persons Displaced by Climate Change.

Tagged Publications and Web Sites/Tools.