Focus on Asia/Oceania

The ASEAN Human Rights Declaration: Establishing a Common Framework, RSIS Commentaries, no. 114/2012 (RSIS, July 2012) [text]

Australia's Boat People: Asylum Challenges and Two Decades of Policy Experimentation (Migration Information Source, July 2012) [text]

Bhutanese Refugee Problem at the Backdrop of Marriage, Childbirth Registration and Citizenship (SSRN, April 2011, posted July 2012) [text]

Boat Arrivals in Australia since 1976 (Parliamentary Library, Jan. 2011; stat. app. updated July 2012) [text]

Did the UNHCR Fail Vietnamese Refugees in Hong Kong? (e-International Relations, June 2012) [text]

A Practical Guide to Gender-sensitive Approaches for Disaster Management (IFRC, July 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

Refugee Newsletter (June 2012) [full-text]
- From UNHCR's Regional Office for Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific.

"Sovereignty, Protection and the Limits to Regional Refugee Status Determination Arrangements," Merkourios, vol. 28, no. 75 (2012) [open access text]

Submission by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: New Zealand Immigration Amendment Bill 2012 (UNHCR, June 2012) [text]

[Photo credit: Rescuing asylum-seekers on Christmas Island, Migration Information Source]

Tagged Publications.   

Last Minute Opportunity: NSN Executive Committee Elections

The New Scholars Network (NSN) is the Refugee Research Network's cluster dedicated to supporting and promoting the work of new scholars undertaking research in the field of refugee and forced migration studies.  NSN is currently seeking nominations for its Executive Committee.  For more details, visit the "Get Involved" section of their web site.  The deadline for nominations is 20 July 2012.

You must be a member of NSN to join the Executive Committee.  To learn more about NSN generally, explore the network's web site and/or join its Google Group.

Tagged Events & Opportunities. 

Statelessness Update

UNHCR has issued its third set of Guidelines on Statelessness.  The focus is "The Status of Stateless Persons at the National Level."  The previous two guidelines can be accessed via this earlier post.

Other recent items relating to statelessness include:

Burning Homes, Sinking Lives: A Situation Report on Violence against Stateless Rohingya in Myanmar and their Refoulement from Bangladesh (Equal Rights Trust, June 2012) [text]
- See also related blog post.

Global Statelessness (Pulitzer Center, 2012) [access]
- Map application, using UNHCR data.

Guidelines to Protect Stateless Persons from Arbitrary Detention (Equal Rights Trust, July 2012) [text]

Law Talks: Laura Bingham on Statelessness (Open Society, June 2012) [access]
- Podcast interview.

The Right to a Nationality: Women and Children, UN Human Rights Council Doc. No. A/HRC/20/L8 (UN General Assembly, June 2012) [text]

Statelessness at the UN: Reaffirming the Right to Nationality (Open Society Blog, July 2012) [text]
- See also related blog post with video.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

Focus on MENA, esp. Syria

Syrian Displacement:

Jordan: Bias at the Syrian Border (Human Rights Watch, July 2012) [text]

Number of Syrian Refugees Triples to 112,000 since April (UNHCR, July 2012) [text]

Syria Crisis: The Humanitarian Response, London, 15 June 2012 [text]
- Round-table report now available.

Syria Refugees Create Humanitarian, Security Crisis (Oxford Analytica, June 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

Syrian Refugees: Anxious Neighbors Stretched Thin (Refugees International, July 2012) [text]

Syria Regional Refugee Response: Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey (UNHCR, July 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

Other recent MENA items include:

Migration, Displacement and the Arab Spring: Prospects for the Next Year (Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement, July 2012) [text]

Palestinian Refugees under Attack in Iraq (Euro-Mid Observer, July 2012) [text]

"Understanding the Impact of Conflict on Health Services in Iraq: Information from 401 Iraqi Refugee Doctors in Jordan," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, vol. 27, no. 1 (January/March 2012) [free full-text]

UNHCR Operation Iraq - Overview - 2011 (UNHCR, 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

Tagged Publications.  

Vulnerable Groups: Disabled, Older Persons

Disabled Asylum Seekers, the Social Model of Disability and United Kingdom Government Policy and Legislation (Univ. of Leeds, 2011) [text]

Elderly Syrian Refugees Need More Care (IRIN, June 2012) [text]

"Enabling Refugee and IDP Law and Policy: Implications of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities," Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law, vol. 28, no. 2 (2011) [full-text via William & Mary Law School]

Guidelines for Mainstreaming the Needs of Older Persons in Disaster Situations in the Caribbean (PAHO, 2012) [text via PreventionWeb]

"Humanitarian Financing and Older People," Humanitarian Exchange, no. 54 (May 2012) [full-text]

The Neglected Generation: The Impact of Displacement on Older People (IDMC & HelpAge International, June 2012) [text]
- See also related IRIN article.

A Study of Humanitarian Financing for Older People and People with Disabilities, 2010–2011 (ECHO & HelpAge International, Feb. 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

Tagged Publications.  

COI News

The EASO Monitor blog noted that the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) was due to release its first country of origin information report on 10 July 2012.  Here is the audio for the press conference and access to both the report ("Afghanistan: Taliban Strategies - Recruitment ") and a description of the methodology employed.  For an initial reaction to the report, read UNHCR's perspective.

In the UK, the Independent Advisory Group on Country Information has issued the following tenders:

• Invitation to tender for evaluation of the coverage of children’s issues in Country of Origin Information (COI) Reports produced by COI Service, UK Border Agency, Home Office (deadline = 27 July 2012) [text]
• Invitation to tender for evaluation of UK Border Agency Country of Origin Information (COI) Reports and Operational Guidance Notes (OGNs): Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan  (deadline = 27 July 2012)  [text]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

Focus on Africa

Africa Regional Session: Protracted Refugee Situations (UNHCR, July 2012) [text]
- Background paper for UNHCR/NGO Consultations.

"Crise militaro-politique interne et santé psychophysique des personnes déplacées internes (PDIs): le cas de la Côte d’Ivoire," Santé Publique, vol. 245 (2012) [full-text] 

A Dream Deferred: Is the Equality Clause in the South African Constitution’s Bill of Rights (1996) Just a Far-off Hope for LGBTI Asylum Seekers and Refugees? (Open Society Foundation for South Africa, June 2012) [text via Refworld]

Humanitarian Action in LRA-affected Areas: Regional Overview of Needs and Response (OCHA, June 2012) [text]

Malian Refugees: Underfunded Response Adds Stress to Sahel Food Crisis (Refugees International, June 2012) [text]

Mauritania: Beyond Big Refugee Camps (IRIN, July 2012) [text]

Protracted Refugee Situations in Liberia and Angola to Finally End (UNHCR, June 2012) [text]

Refugee Host Communities Must Not Be Forgotten (Refugees International, July 2012) [text]

Tagged Publications.    

Urban Issues

"Moving from the ‘Why’ to the ‘How’: Reflections on Humanitarian Response in Urban Settings," Disasters, vol. 36, issue suppl. 1 (July 2012) [full-text via ALNAP]

"Protecting People in Cities: The Disturbing Case of Haiti," Disasters, vol. 36, issue suppl. 1 (July 2012) [preprint via Brookings]

Rio+20 Summit: UN Refugee Chief Calls for Joint Approach to Urban Refugees, Displaced (UNHCR, June 2012) [text]

Sanctuary in the City? Urban Displacement and Vulnerability in Kabul, HPG Working Papers (ODI, June 2012) [text]

Urban Violence and Humanitarian Challenges: Joint Report, EUISS-ICRC Colloquium Brussels, 19 January 2012 [text via ReliefWeb]

"Urban Vulnerability and Displacement: A Review of Current Issues," Disasters, vol. 36, issue suppl. 1 (July 2012) [full-text via CMAM Forum] 

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

Focus on Europe

Cyprus has assumed the presidency of the European Union for the July to December 2012 term.  This is a key period for the EU, given its aim of implementing a Common European Asylum System (CEAS) by the end of the year.  Here are recommendations from UNHCR and Amnesty International.

Other recent publications:

Analysing European Case Law on Migration: Options for Critical Lawyers, Chapter in Migration and European Law: Collected Courses of the Academy of European Law XXI (Oxford University Press, Forthcoming) [preprint via SSRN]

"Hidden Violence is Silent Rape: Sexual and Gender-based Violence in Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Undocumented Migrants in Belgium and the Netherlands," Culture, Health & Sexuality: An International Journal for Research, Intervention and Care, vol. 14, no. 5 (2012) [open access text]

Human Cargo: Arbitrary Readmissions fron the Italian Sea Ports to Greece (Pro Asyl, July 2012) [text]

The Internal Flight Alternative Practices: A UNHCR Research Study in Central European Countries (UNHCR, June 2012) [text]

Merkourios, vol. 28, no. 75 (2012) [open access]
- Special issue on "International and European Migration Law."

"Moving Migrants, States and Rights: Human Rights and Migrant Deaths," Law and Ethics of Human Rights, Forthcoming (2012?) [preprint via SSRN]

Punished for Persecution: An Analysis of the Criminalization of the Asylum Seeker in the United Kingdom (University of Gothenburg, Roehampton University & University of Tromsø, Spring 2012) [text]
- Dissertation submitted for the degree of Master in Human Rights Practice; see related blog posts here,  here and here.

Tagged Publications.   

Events after the fact

CARFMS12, Toronto, 16-18 May 2012 [access]
- See "Resources" and "Plenaries."

Crisis in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel: The Cost of Late Response to Early Warnings, Washington, DC, 22 May 2012 [access]

Displacement in the Western Balkans Calls for Regional Solutions, Vienna, 25 May 2012 [info]

How UNHCR Is Facing a World of New Protection Challenges, Washington, DC, 15 May 2012 [access] 

Informal Meeting of Experts on Refugee Claims relating to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Bled, Slovenia, 10 September 2011 [access]

Moving to Safety: Migration Consequences of Complex Crises, Geneva, 24-25 April 2012 [access]

States, Sovereignties and Refugees: A view from the margins?, Oxford, 6 June 2012 [access]

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

ETDs in Anthropology, Criminology, Development Studies, Government, Health, Migr/Ref. Studies, Political Science, Social Work

Asile et genre: analyse anthropologique des demandes d’asile pour les violences de genre au Canada (Université de Montréal, Avril 2011) [text]

Discourses on Home and Return in Sweden: Similarities and Differences in Discourses on Home and Return between Government Officials and Refugees from Afghanistan in Sweden (Lund University, [text]

Disabled Asylum Seekers, the Social Model of Disability and United Kingdom Government Policy and Legislation (Univ. of Leeds, 2011) [text]

Les effets de la violence organisée sur le processus d'intégration des réfugiés: le cas des Colombiens au Québec (Université de Montréal, Juin 2011) [text]

Examining the Psychosocial Context of Mental Health: Bhutanese Refugees and their Story of Resettlement (Duke University, May 2012) [text]
- Note: Embargoed until Nov. 2012.

Investing in Refugee Health: The Role of Caste Hierarchy on Mental Health among Bhutanese Refugees (Duke University, May 2012) [text]

Post-conflict Governance in Nahr El Bared Palestinian Refugee Camp: The State's Technologies of Control and Shifts in UNRWA Practices (American University in Cairo, May 2012) [info]
- Note: There is a one-year embargo on access to this text.

The Protection and Security of Vulnerable Populations in Complex Emergencies in the North Eastern Province of Kenya as a Case Study (University College Cork, Feb. 2012) [text]

Le retour des réfugiés et des personnes déplacées dans le cadre de la consolidation de la paix: les cas de la Croatie et de la Bosnie-Herzégovine (Université de Montréal, Aout 2011) [text]

Solidarity and Struggle: An Ethnography of the Associational Lives of African Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Glasgow (University of Glasgow, December 2011) [text]

Tagged Publications.   

Statelessness Maps

These maps complement UNHCR's compilation of states pledges referenced in this earlier post, by providing a graphic summary of some of the statelessness pledges made at the Ministerial Meeting in December 2011:

• State Parties to the Statelessness Conventions, as at 25 June 2012 [access]
• States Party to the Statelessness Conventions and Pledges to Accede, as at 25 June 2012 [access]
• States which have Pledged to Undertake Studies or Awareness Campaigns in Relation to Statelessness, as at 1 May 2012 [access]
• States which Pledged to Establish or to Take Steps to Establish Statelessness Determination Procedures, as at 25th June 2012 [access]
• States which Pledged to Undertake Law Reform or to Improve Access to Civil Registration or Identification Documentation to Prevent and Reduce Statelessness, as at 25 June 2012 [access]

Tagged Publications.   

Focus on Children, esp. Age Assessments

Publications:

Age Assessment (Scottish Refugee Council, June 2012) [access]
- Practice Guidance and an Information Guide are available.

Arrested Development: Colombian Youth in Panama (Women's Refugee Commission, June 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

"Child Acute Malnutrition and Mortality in Populations Affected by Displacement in the Horn of Africa, 1997–2009," International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 9:3 (March 2012) [open access]

A Framework for the Protection of Children (UNHCR, June 2012) [text]

New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, vol. 2012, no. 136 (Summer 2012) [contents] [Google preview]
- Special issue on “Independent Child Migration—Insights into Agency, Vulnerability, and Structure.” 

Position Paper on Age Assessment in the Context of Separated Children in Europe (Separated Children in Europe Programme, 2012) [text]

Unaccompanied Minors in the Greek-Turkish Borders: Evros Region, March 2011-March 2012 (Greek Council for Refugees, 2012) [text]

Upcoming events:

Separated Children and Young People in the Asylum System, London, 10 October 2012 [info]
- An "early bird" discount is available for people who register by 20 July 2012.

EASO will hold a series of expert meetings on unaccompanied minors and age assessment (for more information, see p. 1 of the EASO Newsletter):
- Expert Meeting on EASO training and the EAC Interviewing Children Module, Malta, 25 - 26 July; 
- Expert Meeting on Interviewing Children Procedures, Malta, 26 - 27 July; 
- Expert Meeting on the use of x-ray and other medical evidence, Brussels, 6-7 September; 
- Expert Meeting focusing on legal aspects, including the roles of the courts and judiciary as well as evidence assessment, Malta, 9 October; 
- Working Party to explore the impact and connection between age assessment and other asylum procedures, Malta, 10 October; 
- Expert meeting to consider the way forward and the possibilities for guidelines on unaccompanied minors and age assessment, Malta, 13 November.

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.  

Focus on Humanitarian Assistance

The first State of the Humanitarian System report was launched yesterday.  Here is part of the blurb:

This report presents a system-level mapping and analysis of the performance of international humanitarian assistance. The pilot report on the State of the Humanitarian System (SOHS) was published in 2010 and focused on the years 2007 and 2008. This report includes descriptive statistics from the following two years, 2009 and 2010, and reviews performance assessments from 2009 to the end of 2011, comparing findings from the two periods. The ‘international humanitarian system’ is defined here as the network of national and international provider agencies, donors and host-government authorities that are functionally connected to each other in the humanitarian endeavour and that share common overarching goals, norms and principles. The system also includes actors that do not have humanitarian assistance as their central mission but play important humanitarian roles, such as military and private-sector entities.

Other items relating to humanitarian assistance include: 

Annual Report 2011 (ICRC, June 2012) [access]

Are They Listening? Aid and Humanitarian Accountability (IRIN, July 2012) [access]
- New In-Depth report on aid policy.

The SG’s Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict: A Humanitarian Perspective (International Peace Institute, June 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

Talking to the Other Side: Humanitarian Engagement with Armed Non-state Actors, HPG Policy Briefs, no. 47 (ODI, June 2012) [text]

Request for input:

Wide stakeholder survey on the value of the Humanitarian Response Index (DARA) [access]
- "...[W]e are launching a wide stakeholder consultation with key partners to rethink the best way to improve the effectiveness and impact of humanitarian action. We would accordingly welcome your views on the value and utility of the HRI to date and how it can become a more effective tool for a systemic improvement."


Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.  

UNHCR/NGO Annual Consultations

UNHCR's Annual Consultations with NGOs opened today and will continue through 5 July 2012.  Here is the agenda.  Access to background papers for thematic and regional sessions and side events are available here.

A wide range of issues will be discussed including resettlement, climate change, information management, legal aid, statelessness, among others.

Reports from past consultations are accessible on this UNHCR page.



Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

Development-induced Displacement Conference

Next March, the Refugee Studies Centre (RSC) will host the "International Conference on Development-Induced Displacement and Resettlement: Bridging Research and Practice, Filling the Knowledge Gaps."  Here is the description:

There is virtually no limit to what can be called a development project. It can range from a small-scale infrastructure or mining project to a mega hydropower plant construction; can be public or private, well-planned or rushed into. Land-based development initiatives may and often do cause physical and economic displacement that results in impoverishment and disempowerment of affected populations. Despite decades of experience and study on development-induced displacement and resettlement, the severity of the problem persists, with its adverse impacts not yet being effectively addressed.

DIDR has been intensifying in frequency and scope propelled by the increasing needs of growing populations and globalisation, whereas the discussions on the subject have become disproportionately scant. Different interests and ethical considerations pull the academia, private and civil sectors apart, creating inescapable traps and sources of bias in research, policy and practice. This disconnection manifests itself in the knowledge gaps. Whilst controversies in policy-making and practice remain understudied, academic findings endure unincorporated.

This conference aims to revive the discussions on DIDR and to facilitate critical engagement with the current impasse. It will facilitate cross-communication between different stakeholders, disciplines and perspectives; and will seek to bridge research and practice with a view to fill the knowledge gaps and move the DIDR studies forward.

Here is the call for papers; abstracts are due 31 October 2012.  Registration opens in November.

For information posted on this blog that relates to development-induced displacement, browse the subject label.  See also relevant resources referenced on my wiki.

Tagged Events & Opportunities.   

Focus on Europe

Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of LGBTI People in Europe 2011 (ILGA Europe, May 2012) [text]

Contested Policies of Exclusion: Resistance and Protest against Asylum Policy in the Netherlands (ACCEPT Pluralism, 2012) [text]

The Dynamic Relationship between Asylum Applications and Recognition Rates in Europe (1987-2010) (Leiden University, May 2012) [text] [appendix]

Fundamental Rights: Challenges and Achievements in 2011 (European Agency for Fundamental Rights, June 2012) [access]
- See esp. Chapter 1, which addresses "asylum, immigration and integration."

"The Legality of Intercepting Boat People under Search and Rescue and Border Control Operations with Reference to Recent Italian Interventions in the Mediterranean Sea and the Ecthr Decision in the Hirsi Case," Journal of International Maritime Law, vol. 18, no. 1 (2012) [full-text via SSRN]

"Refugee and Migrant Protection at Sea: Lessons from the Mediterranean," Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter, no. 28 (July 2012) [full-text]

Refugees in Greece Smuggled into Europe (EU Observer, June 2012) [text]

Tagged Publications.   

Focus on the Americas

Challenges to Refugee Protection in Ecuador: Reflections from World Refugee Day (Georgetown Public Policy Review, June 2012) [text]

"Clinical Practice with Latin American Refugees, Construction of a Practice," Chapter in South, Dictatorship and After...:  Psychosocial and Clinical Elaboration of Collective Traumas (EATIP, 2012) [full-text]
- Pp. 77-84.

"Expanding Asylum Law’s Pattern-or-Practice-of-Persecution Framework to Better Protect LGBT Refugees," Journal of Law and Social Change (Forthcoming) [text via SSRN]
- Uses Jamaica as a case study.

Human Trafficking in Mexico and Neighbouring Countries: A Review of Protection Approaches, New Issues in Refugee Research, no. 229 (UNHCR, June 2012) [text]

Methodologies for Tracking Refugees Longitudinally (Nelson A. Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College, June 2012) [text]

Refugees and Asylees: 2011, Annual Flow Report (Homeland Security, May 2012) [text]
- "[P]rovides information on the number of persons admitted to the United States as refugees or granted asylum in the United States in 2011."

Stopping Irreparable Harm: Acting on Colombia’s Afro-Colombian and Indigenous Communities Protection Crisis (NOREF, June 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]


Tagged Publications. 

Focus on Statelessness

As reported on Refworld's Statelessness feature page, Paraguay is the most recent accession to the 1961 Statelessness Convention.  This updated map of "States Parties to the Statelessness Conventions" (as of 25 June 2012) provides the most current status of signatories.

In addition, UNHCR has prepared two compilations, one for state pledges made at the Ministerial Meeting in December last year, and the other for the summary conclusions of UNHCR expert meetings (three of which focused on statelessness issues).

Additional items:

Guidelines to Protect Stateless Persons from Arbitrary Detention (Equal Rights Trust) [info]
- To be launched on 18 July 2012.

Important Judgment on Statelessness (ECHR Blog, June 2012) [text]
- Comment on Kuric v. Slovenia.

No Nationality, No Rights? Strategies and Tools for the Protection of Stateless Persons, Geneva, 4 July 2012 [text]
- Background paper for UNHCR's Annual Consultations with NGOs.

"People Who Don't Exist," Le Monde Diplomatique (June 2012) [text]

Statelessness in 2012: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back? (Statelessness Programme Blog, June 2012) [text]

Statelessness in the Tower of Babel: How Do You Say Stateless in your Language? (European Network on Statelessness Blog, June 2012) [text]

Victory for Slovenia's "Erased Citizens" at the European Court of Human Rights (European Network on Statelessness Blog, June 2012) [text]

Tagged Publications.   

CFP/New Issues of Anti-Traff. Rev., CGRS News, EASO News, FRLAN, Intervention, JIRS, Monde Diplo., Nutri. Exch., Rev. Asylons

Call for papers:

Oxford Monitor of Forced Migration [info]
- Closing date for submissions for vol. 2, no. 2 is 30 July 2012.

New issues:

Anti-Trafficking Review, no. 1 (June 2012) [full-text]
- Theme for this new periodical published by GAATW is "Where's the Accountability?".  Includes the article "A Lie More Disastrous than the Truth: Asylum and the identification of trafficked women in the UK."

Center for Gender & Refugee Studies Newsletter (June 2012) [full-text]
- Focus is on refugee protection for women.

European Asylum Support Office Newsletter (June 2012) [full-text via EASO Monitor blog]
- News and information on EASO.

Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter, no. 28 (July 2012) [full-text]
- Includes special focus on Israel.

Intervention, vol. 10, no. 2 (July 2012) [contents]
- Mix of articles on mental health and psychosocial work.

Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, vol. 10, no. 2 (2012) [contents]
- Mix of articles, including "Beyond “Temporary Shelter”: A Case Study of Karen Refugee Resettlement in St. Paul, Minnesota."

Le Monde Diplomatique (June 2012) [full-text]
- Includes "Supplement: A World of Refugees," with five articles (see navigation menu on right).

Nutrition Exchange, no. 2 (2012) [full-text]
- Formerly Field Exchange Digest; annual digest of selected Field Exchange articles.

Revue Asylons, no. 9 (Juin 2012) [full-text]
- Theme is "Reconstructions identitaires et résistances"; includes "Genre, politique et sacré dans les camps des réfugiés palestiniens," "Femmes réfugiées, un enjeu des camps : L’exemple sahraoui," and "Le réfugié: un sujet en péril psychique et politique (note de recherche)."

Tagged Periodicals and Events & Opportunities.