Thematic Focus: Durable Solutions

Event:

Integration Working Group in Norway, Oslo, 20-21 May 2015 [info]
- Meeting held in advance of the Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement (ATCR). This year's chair is Norway and the NGO focal point is the Norwegian Red Cross.

Publications:

"Challenges to Rwandan Former Refugees’ Integration in Zambia," Rights in Exile Newsletter, no. 58 (April 2015) [full-text]  

"'Durable Solutions,' Transnationalism, and Homemaking among Croatian and Bosnian Former Refugees," Refuge: Canada's Journal on Refugees, vol. 31, no. 1 (2015) [open access]

"From Surviving to Thriving? An Investigation of Asylee Integration in the United States," New York University Review of Law & Social Change, vol. 40, no. 2 (Forthcoming 2016) [eprint via SSRN]

Is Australia Pulling Its Weight When It Comes to the Resettlement of Syrian Refugees? (FlagPost Blog, April 2015) [text]

Más allá de las fronteras: La población colombiana en su proceso de integración urbana en la ciudad de Quito (ACNUR, Nov. 2014) [text]

Meaningful Avenues for Resettlement Needed (Oppenheimer Chair, March 2015) [text]

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Durable Solutions (26 March 2015)

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

Events & Opportunities: Even More April/New May 2015

April 2015:

Seminar: The Forgotten Children: Australia’s Treatment of Asylum Seeker and Refugee Children on the Mainland and Offshore, Sydney, 23 April 2015 [info]

Job: Research Assistant, University of Exeter [info]
- Three-month opportunity interviewing asylum seekers and refugees about their asylum appeal hearing experiences in the UK.  Application deadline is 23 April 2015.

Courses: CMRS Summer Short Courses, American University of Cairo, 24 May- 11 June 2015 [info]
- Three courses are on offer: 1) Displaced by Armed Conflict: Protection under International Law (24-28 May 2015); 2) International Refugee Law (31 May 31-4 June 2015); 3) Diaspora and Transnationalism (7-11 June 2015). The application deadline for all courses is 24 April 2015.

Job: Canada Research Chair in Migration & Mobility in the Digital Age, York University [info]
- Application deadline is 28 April 2015.

Seminar: Understanding Global Refugee Policy: The Case of Naturalization in Tanzania, Oxford, 29 April 2015 [info]
- First seminar in RSC Trinity Term Seminar Series on Global Refugee Policy.

Presentation: Global Challenges to Refugee Protection: Lessons from the Middle East and Europe, Sydney, 30 April 2015 [info]

May 2015:

Course: International Summer School in Forced Migration, Oxford, 6-24 July 2015 [info]
- Application deadline is 1 May 2015.

Conference: None of Europe's Children Should be Stateless, Budapest, 2-3 June 2015 [info]
- Deadline for registration is 1 May 2015.

Award: 2016 Ockenden Prize [info]
- Call for entries opens 2 May 2015.

Seminar: The Extraterritorial Application of the Non-refoulement Obligation in International Human Rights Law, London, 5 May 2015 [info]

Seminars: RSC Trinity Term Seminar Series on Global Refugee Policy, Oxford [info]
- Four seminars on offer in May: 1) Better late than never? The evolution and implementation of UNHCR's urban refugee policy (6 May 2015); 2) Ethnographic understandings of global refugee policy: looking at policy in practice (13 May 2015); UNHCR’s protection guidelines: what role for external voices? (20 May 2015); 4) Global policy for IDPs: a parallel process? (27 May 2015).

Conference: Humanitarian Technology: Science, Systems and Global Impact, Boston, 12-14 May 2015 [info]
- Registration deadline is 11 May 2015.

CFP: Refuge [info]
 - Articles sought for special issue "to showcase research by York faculty members working on a variety of migration issues in different contexts from a wide range of disciplines."  Submission deadline is 15 May 2015.

CFP: Forced Migration Review [info]
- Articles sought for issue on "Dayton + 20: The Balkans Twenty Years on from the Dayton Agreement." Submission deadline is 18 May 2015.

CFP: Asylum, Migration, Integration Fund, European Commission [info]
- Proposals sought for Asylum Action Grants.  Submission deadline is 20 May 2015.

Related posts:
- Thematic Focus: Durable Solutions (lists funding opportunities)
- Events & Opportunities: Last Minute March/More April 2015

Tagged Events & Opportunities. 

Thematic Focus: Climate Change & Natural Disasters

"'Climate Change Migrants’: Impediments to a Protection Framework and the Need to Incorporate Migration into Climate Change Adaptation Strategies," International Journal of Refugee Law, vol. 27, no. 1 (March 2015) [preprint via Academia.edu]

"Environmental Refugees in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Perspectives on the Trends, Causes, Challenges and Way Forward," GeoJournal, vol. 80, no. 1 (Feb. 2015) [text via ResearchGate]

Nansen Initiative Regional Consultation on Climate Change, Disasters and Human Mobility in South Asia and Indian Ocean, Khulna, Bangladesh, 3-5 April 2015 [info]
- Follow link for agenda, background paper, conclusions, commissioned research, photos, and a video summary of the consultation.

"Protecting the Human Rights of Climate Displaced Persons: The Promise and Limits of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change," Chapter 20 in Research Handbook on Human Rights and the Environment (Edward Elgar, Forthcoming June 2015) [eprint via SSRN]

The Protection of Environmentally Displaced Persons: Quo Vadis? (SSRN, March 2015) [text]

*The Rights of Climate Displaced Persons: A Quick Guide (Displacement Solutions, April 2015) [text via ReliefWeb]

Sendai Framework: An Important Step Forward for People Displaced by Disasters (UpFront Blog, March 2015) [text]

Visualising Migration and Climate Change: What Can Web and Social Media Data Tell Us about Public Interest in Migration and Climate Change? (UKCCMC, March 2015) [text]

What You Need to Know about DRR (IRIN, March 2015) [text]

*UPDATED

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Climate Change (16 March 2015)

Tagged Publications.

Thematic Focus: Children

Access to Education for Syrian Refugee Children and Youth in Jordan Host Communities: Joint Education Needs Assessment Report (Education Sector Working Group, March 2015) [text via ReliefWeb]

Child and Family Migration to the United States: Continuing Flows and Evolving Responses, Webinar, 31 March 2015 [access]
- Follow link for audio and video.

"Children and Forced Migration," Chapter 30 in The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (Oxford University Press, 2014) [text via Academia.edu]

Children’s Asylum Claims: CGRS Practice Advisory (Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, updated March 2015) [text]

*"Experiences of Arriving to Sweden as an Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking Minor from Afghanistan: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis," Psychology of Violence, Online First, 9 Feb. 2015 [postprint via City Univ.]

Mineurs isolés étrangers: guide pratique sur les demandes d’asile et de titre de séjour (La Cimade Nord Picardie, Mars 2015) [text]

Protecting Undocumented Children: Promising Policies and Practices from Governments (PICUM, March 2015) [text]

"Research with Children of Migrant and Refugee Backgrounds: A Review of Child-centered Research Methods," Child Indicators Research, vol. 7, no. 1 (March 2014) [postprint via ResearchGate]

UNRWA Child Protection Mapping Report (UNRWA, Dec. 2014) [text via ReliefWeb]

*UPDATED

Related posts:
- Thematic Focus: Education, esp. Syria (2 April 2015)
- Thematic Focus: Children (16 March 2015)

Tagged Publications.

Thematic Focus: Detention

Events:

Lecture: Policy and Research Implications of the Recommendations from the National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention, Melbourne, 15 April 2015 [info]

Campaign to End Immigration Detention of Children, Strasbourg, 20 April 2015 [info]
- Register by 15 April 2015.

Resources:

Faith and Bar Leaders Call for End to Detention and Deterrence Policies for Families Seeking Asylum (Human Rights First, April 2015) [text]

Israel to Indefinitely Imprison Asylum Seekers who Refuse Deportation (+972, March 2015) [text]

Libya's Migrant Jails (VICE News, March 2015) [access]
- Follow link for three-part series on African and Middle Eastern migrants who travel to Libya to attempt a Mediterranean crossing but who often end up in detention and prison facilities instead.

Reception and Detention Conditions of Applicants for International Protection in Light of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU (ECRE, March 2015) [text]

The Report of the Inquiry into the Use of Immigration Detention in the United Kingdom: A Joint Inquiry by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees & the All Party Parliamentary Group on Migration (March 2015) [text]
- See also related press release, openDemocracy comment, IRIN news story, and UNHCR press release.

Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan E. Méndez, UN Doc. No. A/HRC/28/68 (UN General Assembly, March 2015) [text]
- Note: This report focuses on "children deprived of their liberty."  See also a related video introduction to the report.

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Detention (26 Feb. 2015)

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

Thematic Focus: Education, esp. Syria

[Note: I am re-circulating this post, in light of new resources relating to education for Syrians that I came across.]

Publications:

"Education: A Life-saver in Emergencies," Servir, no. 58 (Nov. 2014) [full-text]
- Scroll to p. 11.

Interview with Alfred Babo (Lewis Global Studies Center, March 2015) [text]
- See also info on Scholars at Risk Network.

Investment for Education in Emergencies (ODI, Feb. 2015) [text]

Should Asylum Seekers Have to Pay More for an Education? (Redbrick, March 2015) [text]
- See also info on STAR's Equal Access Campaign.

"Vodafone 'Instant Classroom' is Digital School in a Box for Refugees," Wired Magazine, 1 March 2015 [text]

Where It’s Needed Most: Quality Professional Development for All Teachers (INEE, 2015) [text]

Syria:

The Cost of War: Calculating the Impact of the Collapse of Syria's Education System on Syria's Future (Save the Children et al., March 2015) [text]
- See also related Guardian news story.

"Education for Syrian Refugees: The Failure of Second-Generation Human Rights During Extraordinary Crises," Albany Law Review, vol. 78, no. 2 (2015) [full-text]

The Resilience of Syrian Refugee Children in Lebanon: What Do They Need to Acquire Quality Education? (World Bank, Dec. 2014) [text via ReliefWeb]

Syrian Refugees and the Right to Education in Turkey (RI Blog, March 2015) [text]


Related posts:
- Regional Focus: Syria, esp. Education (6 Oct. 2014)
- Thematic Focus: Education, incl. MOOCs (4 Aug. 2014)

Tagged Publications. 

New Issues of Disability & Global South, Dis. Prev. & Mgmt., EJML, IASFM News, JEMS, Mod. Asian Stud., NQHR, Rts. in Exile

Disability and the Global South, vol. 2, no. 1 (2015) [open access]
- Special issue on "Disability and Forced Migration."  Includes articles on disabled refugees/asylum-seekers in Australia, Malta, Syria and the UK.

Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, vol. 24, no. 3 (2015) [contents]
- Mix of articles.

European Journal of Migration and Law, vol. 17, no. 1 (2015) [contents]
- Mix of articles, including "Migration and Asylum Cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union: Putting the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights to Test?."

IASFM Newsletter (Feb. 2015) [full-text]
- News from the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration.

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 41, no. 6 (2015) [contents]
- Special issue on "Migrants, Minorities, and the Media: Information, Representations, and Participation in the Public Sphere." The introduction is freely available.

Modern Asian Studies, vol. 49, no. 2 (March 2015) [contents]
- Includes special section on "Chinese Refugees Forum."

Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, no. 1 (2015) [contents]
- Mix of articles, including "Accountability for the Human Rights Implications of Natural Disasters: A Proposal for Systemic International Oversight" and "The Safe Third Country Concept in International Agreements on Refugee Protection: Assessing State Practice."

Rights in Exile Newsletter, no. 58 (April 2015) [full-text]
- News and information for refugee legal aid providers.

Tagged Periodicals.

Thematic Focus: Statelessness

Event & opportunity:

Course: Statelessness Summer Course, Tilburg, Neth., 3-7 August 2015 [info]
- Submit applications by 15 April 2015.

Conference: None of Europe's Children Should be Stateless, Budapest, 2-3 June 2015 [info]
- Deadline for registration is 1 May 2015.

Publications:

Case Watch: UK Supreme Court Backs Government Rejection of Statelessness Claim (Open Society Foundations, March 2015) [text]

Citizenship Deprivation: A Normative Analysis, Liberty & Security in Europe, no. 82 (Centre for European Policy Studies, March 2015) [text]

The Human Rights of Stateless People, Hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, Washington, DC, 23 March 2015 [info]
- Video of the hearing is available here; see also related RI blog post.

Kenya Dialogue on Gender Equality, Nationality and Statelessness (UNHCR & Kenya Human Rights Commission, 2015) [text]

Stateless Persons in Iceland, Rarer than the Northern Lights? (ENS Blog, March 2015) [text]

"Stateless with Nowhere to Go: A Proposal for Revision of the Right of Return according to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights," George Washington International Law Review, vol. 46, no. 3 (2014) [full-text]

Thoughts on Strategic Litigation: Can EU Law Prevent and Reduce Roma Statelessness in Europe? (ENS Blog, April 2015) [text]

UNHCR Recommendations on the Relevant Aspects of the Protection of Statelessness Persons in Italy (UNHCR, Oct. 2014) [text]

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Statelessness (11 March 2015)

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

Regional Focus: Europe

Last minute opportunity:

Blended Learning Course: Researching Country of Origin Information (COI), Online, 13 April-8 May 2015 + Face-to-face Meeting, Dublin, 14 May 2015 [info]
- Register by 3 April 2015.

Publications:

An American Deserter in Europe: Asylum Law, War Crimes, and the Curious Case of Andre Shepherd (JTLP Blog, March 2015) [text]

Article 15(c) Qualification Directive (2011/95/EU): A Judicial Analysis (EASO, Dec. 2014) [text]

Asylum Applicants and First Instance Decisions on Asylum Applications: 2014, Data in Focus, no. 3/2015 (Eurostat, March 2015) [text]
- See also related news release and "Asylum Statistics Explained."

EU Policies on Mixed Migration Flows in the Mediterranean Sea, Background Brief, no. 13 (European Union Centre in Singapore, Feb. 2015) [text via ImmigrationProf Blog]

The Potential and Pitfalls of Extraterritorial Processing of Asylum Claims (Migration Policy Institute, March 2015) [text]

Unleashing a Wave (IntLawGrrls Blog, March 2015) [text]

Related post:
- Regional Focus: Europe (24 March 2015)

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

New Book Titles

Please visit my Pinterest page to learn about new books due out in April 2015. I've also added information about a few new titles to the Feb. 2015, March 2015 and New Legal Texts book boards.

If you are not a member of Pinterest, these new titles are listed below for your reference (organized by title).

April 2015:

Irge Satiroglu & Narae Choi, eds., Development-Induced Displacement and Resettlement: New Perspectives on Persisting Problems, Routledge, April 2015

Alexandria Innes, Migration, Citizenship and the Challenge for Security: An Ethnographic Approach, Palgrave Macmillan, April 2015

Martin Bulmer & John Solomos, eds., Multiculturalism, Social Cohesion and Immigration: Shifting Conceptions in the UK, Routledge, April 2015; see esp. Chapter 10, “Developing an independent anti-racist model for asylum rights organizing in England”

Kathleen Allden & Nancy Murakami, eds., Trauma and Recovery on War's Border: A Guide for Global Health Workers, Dartmouth College Press, April 2015

Koichi Koizumi & Gerhard Hoffstaedter, eds., Urban Refugees: Challenges in Protection, Services and Policy, Routledge, April 2015

Fleur S. Houston, You Shall Love the Stranger as Yourself: The Bible, Refugees and Asylum, Routledge, April 2015

March 2015:

Young-sun Hong, Cold War Germany, the Third World, and the Global Humanitarian Regime, Cambridge University Press, March 2015

Sandrine Revet & Julien Langumier, eds., Governing Disasters: Beyond Risk Culture, Palgrave Macmillan, March 2015

Pat Gibbons & Hans-Joachim Heintze, eds., The Humanitarian Challenge: 20 Years European Network on Humanitarian Action (NOHA), Springer, March 2015

Roger Mac Ginty & Jenny H Peterson, The Routledge Companion to Humanitarian Action, Routledge, March 2015

Feb. 2015:

Matthias Klumpp, Sander de de Leeuw, Alberto Regattieri & Robert de de Souza, eds., Humanitarian Logistics and Sustainability, Springer, Feb. 2015

Martin Geiger & Antoine Pécoud, eds., International Organisations and the Politics of Migration, Routledge, Feb. 2015; see esp. Ch. 3, “The Politics and Discourse of Migrant Return: The Role of UNHCR and IOM in the Governance of Return,” Ch. 4, “Refugee Protection Meets Migration Management: UNHCR as a Global Police of Populations” and Ch. 5, “Migration Management and Humanitarian Protection: The UNHCR's ‘Resettlement Expansionism’ and Its Impact on Policy-making in the EU and Australia”

Jutta Lindert & Itzhak Levav, eds., Violence and Mental Health: Its Manifold Faces, Springer, Feb. 2015; includes chapters on trafficked persons and refugee trauma

New Legal Texts:

Jean-Pierre Gauci, Mariagiulia Giuffré & Evangelia (Lilian) Tsourdi, eds., Exploring the Boundaries of Refugee Law: Current Protection Challenges, Brill/Nijhoff, April 2015

Richard Plender, ed., Issues in International Migration Law, Brill/Nijhoff, Feb. 2015; includes chapters on refugees and asylum-seekers

Tagged Books.

Regional Focus: MENA

"Forced Migration in the Middle East and North Africa," Chapter 45 in The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (Oxford University Press, 2014) [text via Academia.edu]

Fragmented Lives: Humanitarian Overview 2014 (OCHA, March 2015) [text]

Iraqi Returnees from Syria Following the 2011 Syria Crisis (IOM & IDMC, Dec. 2014) [text via ReliefWeb]

Libya: Uprising and Post-Qadhafi Tribal Clashes, Displacement in a Fragmenting Libya (IDMC, March 2015) [text via ReliefWeb]
- See also related map.

Libya's Migrant Jails (VICE News, March 2015) [access]
- Follow link for three-part series on African and Middle Eastern migrants who travel to Libya to attempt a Mediterranean crossing but who often end up in detention and prison facilities instead.

Managing Muslim Mobilities: Between Spiritual Geographies and the Global Security Regime (Palgrave Macmillan, Dec. 2014) [info]
- Follow the link to learn more about this book. See also the introduction; Chapter 6: Between Ghurba and Umma: Mapping Sudanese Muslim Moralities across National and Islamic Space; and Chapter 9: Blurry Polarization: Muslim Mobilities Reconfigured.

*"Palestinian Refugees and the Syrian Uprising: Filling the Protection Gap during Secondary Forced Displacement," International Journal of Refugee Law, vol. 26, no. 4 (Dec. 2014) [free full-text]
- See also related interview with author.

Yemen Camp Bombing: What You Need to Know (IRIN, March 2015) [text]

*UPDATED

Related post:
- Regional Focus: MENA, incl. Syria (23 March 2015)

Tagged Publications.

Regional Focus: Syria

News:

The Third International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria was held in Kuwait City on 31 March 2015. Follow this link for the concept note and agenda, as well as the most recent funding plans.  See also remarks by UNHCR (and related press release), OCHA and the UN Secretary-General.

At the end of the meeting, OCHA announced that donors had pledged $3.8 billion to assist both Syrians who have been internally displaced and Syrian refugees hosted in the region.

Additional items include:
- Donors Asked to Dig Deep for Syria (IRIN, March 2015) [text]
- Moving Beyond Emergency Assistance for Syrian Refugees (RI Blog, March 2015) [text]
- Syria Pledging Conference: Three Key Trends (IRIN, April 2015) [text]

Resources:

2014 Syria Regional Response Plan (RRP6): Annual Report (UNHCR et al., March 2015) [text via ReliefWeb]

The Impact of the Syrian Crisis on Neighboring Countries, Beirut, 2 March 2015 [info]
- Read a summery of the panel discussion (in English or Arabic), listen to the audio, or view the video.

Syria and the Responsibility to Protect Refugees, Beirut, 19 March 2015 [info]
- Read a summary of the lecture, listen to the audio, or view the video.

Syria Crisis Fair Share Analysis 2015 (Oxfam, March 2015) [text via ReliefWeb]
- See also related IRIN donor map.

Technical Guidelines: Increased Awareness about Housing, Land & Property Rights (UNHCR, March 2015) [text via ReliefWeb]

See also this recent post on education, which includes several references relating to the situation for Syrians.

Related post:
- Regional Focus: MENA, incl. Syria (23 March 2015)

Tagged Publications.

Regional Focus: Americas

Publications:

Caracterización de la Población Retornada Centroamericana con Necesidades de Protección (ACNUR, 2014) [access]
- Two studies are currently available, one on the protection needs of El Salvadoran returnees, the other on the protection needs of Guatemalan returnees.

Development of a Resource Guide for the Worcester Refugee Population (Worcester Polytechnic Institute, March 2015) [text]

Diagnóstico sobre el Acceso al Procedimiento para la Condición de Refugiado en México (Programa Conjunto de Migrantes en Tránsito & ACNUR, 2014) [text]
- The results of this study were used to develop a "Manual para la Atención Integral de la Población Refugiada y Solicitante de la Condición de Refugiado en México."

Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 Statistics Yearbook (Executive Office of Immigration Review, March 2015) [text]
- See also these posts on the ImmigrationProf blog which provide snapshots of the data on asylum grants by country of nationality, increasing immigration court caseloads, and asylum grant rates by immigration court.

Human Rights and Resettlement Processes in Colombia, Special Coverage of the 154th Inter-American Commission Hearings (Human Rights Brief, March 2015) [text]

In Defense of the Homeschoolers’ Asylum Bill (The Asylumist Blog, March 2015) [text]

Results of the UC Davis Asylum & Refugee Law National Moot Court Competition (ImmigrationProf Blog, March 2015) [text]

Web site:

Saving Stories [access]
- "A project to collect and ‘save stories’ from refugee community members in the suburban Pittsburgh boroughs of Baldwin and Whitehall. The Saving Stories project has united a broad range of community contributors who share a common commitment to enhance native and English literacy, archive native culture, and increase public awareness of their community’s unique diversity."

Related post:
- Regional Focus: Americas (4 March 2015)


Tagged Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

Thematic Focus: ICTs & Innovation

ICTs:

App Helps Syrian Refugees Adapt to Life Away from Home (NPR, March 2015) [access]
- Follow link for audio and transcript.

"Charity Providing Refugees with Library-in-a-Box to Launch in UK," Newsweek, 19 March 2015 [text]

IST Researchers Explore Technology Use in Syrian Refugee Camp (Penn State, March 2015) [text]

Mobile Network Operators Commit to Supporting Local Communities in Humanitarian Crises (CDAC Network, March 2015) [text]

*Mobiles for Human Development: 2014 Trends and Gaps (UNDP, Feb. 2015) [text via ReliefWeb]

"On Digital Crossings in Europe," Crossings: Journal of Migration & Culture, vol. 5, no. 1 (Mach 2014) [open access]

Tackling the Digital Divide: What Does This Mean for Humanitarian Responders? (CDAC Network, March 2015) [text]

Third Humanitarian Congress, Vienna, 6 March 2015 [info]
- These panels focused on ICTs:  1) Social Media: Heaven or Hell? [video] (see also related conference news items) and 2) What’s App: Innovation and New Technologies Improving the Effectiveness of Humanitarian Action – Myth or Fact? [video] (see also related conference news items)

Innovation:

CFP: Humanitarian Innovation Conference 2015: Facilitating Innovation, Oxford, 17-18 July 2015 [info]
- Reminder! Abstract submission deadline is 31 March 2015.

Innovation Spaces: Transforming Humanitarian Practice in the United Nations, Working Paper, no. 107 (RSC, March 2015 [text]

UNHCR Innovation Section [web site] [blog] [facebook] [twitter]
- This section "works collaboratively with refugees, academia, and the private sector to creatively address challenges faced by uprooted or stateless people worldwide." It also coordinates the UNHCR Ideas crowdsourcing platform to "generate ideas from refugee communities, UNHCR staff, and partners. These ideas are voted on and vetted by the online community, end-users (refugees), and experts, and then piloted and tested in the field."

*UPDATED

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: ICTs & Information-related Items (6 March 2015)

Tagged Events & Opportunities, Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

Thematic Focus: Humanitarian Assistance

Publications:

An Act of Faith: Humanitarian Financing and Zakat (Global Humanitarian Assistance, March 2015) [text]

Cautious Welcome for New OCHA Chief (IRIN, March 2015) [text]

Helpdesk Research Report: Relationship between Humanitarian and Development Aid (GSDRC, Feb. 2015) [text via ReliefWeb]

Humanitarianism and Return: Compromising Protection?, Policy Brief, no. 03/2015 (PRIO, March 2015) [text]

Making Development Work for Humanitarian Response – and Vice Versa (WhyDev, March 2015) [text]

NGO Perspective on Humanitarian Response in Level 3 Crises (ICVA, Jan. 2015) [text]
- See also this IRC blog post that discusses what a Level 3 crisis designation means.

Partnership: From Principles to Practice - Considering Partnerships in Preparation for the World Humanitarian Summit, 2015 ICVA Annual Conference, Geneva, 9 March 2015 [access]
- Follow link for program, concept, note, background paper, a presentation, and photos.

Turkey as a Humanitarian Actor: The Critical Cases of Somalia and Syria (Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre, March 2015) [text via ReliefWeb]

Web site:

Acting, Fast and Slow Blog (International Rescue Committee) [access]
- This blog offers "critical insights into humanitarian action and development. Inspired by Daniel Kahneman's notion of Thinking, Fast & Slow, IRC and invited experts will analyze the effectiveness of aid delivery and explore the tension between acting immediately to address pressing problems and acting slowly to build an evidence base."

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Humanitarian Assistance (6 March 2015)

Tagged Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

Regional Focus: Australia

Event:

Panel on Australia and Asylum Seekers, Montreal, 1 April 2015 [info]
- Chaired by Professor François Crépeau, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants.

Publications:

"Australia Makes a U-Turn with the Revival of the Pacific Solution: Should Asylum Seekers Find a New Destination?," Washington University Global Studies Law Review, vol. 13, no. 3 (2014) [open access]

"'Giving Back to Society What Society Gave Us': Altruism, Coping, and Meaning Making by Two Refugee Communities in South Australia," Australian Psychologist, vol. 49, no. 5 (Oct. 2014) [full-text via ResearchGate]

Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Juan E. Méndez - Addendum: Observations on Communications Transmitted to Governments and Replies Received, UN Doc. No. A/HRC/28/68/Add.1 (UN General Assembly, March 2015) [text via Refworld]
- Scroll to p. 7 for section relating to Australia and p. 72 for Papua New Guinea.

Review into Recent Allegations relating to Conditions and Circumstances at the Regional Processing Centre in Nauru (Govt. of Australia, March 2015) [access]
- Click on "Philip Moss Review."  See also related Guardian news story.

"Turning Back the Boats is a Moral and Legal Failure, say Academics," The Guardian, 12 March 2015 [text]
- Findings of the study referenced in this news story were presented at a recent seminar and will be reported in a forthcoming IJRL article.

Related post:
- Regional Focus: Oceania (4 March 2015)

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

News: Asylum Trends in 2014

UNHCR's latest statistical report, Asylum Trends 2014: Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries, looks at asylum claims lodged in 38 European and six non-European countries. A total of 866,000 people applied for asylum, with Syrians remaining the top asylum-seeking group. The other main countries of origin for applicants were Iraq, Afghanistan, Serbia/Kosovo and Eritrea. The top five countries of asylum were Germany, the United States, Turkey, Sweden, and Italy.

While the number of asylum applications have indeed increased in industrialized countries, it is important to keep in mind, as this IRIN news story points out, that "these figures only represent those asylum applications made in 44 developed countries that regularly supply UNHCR with statistics. Developing countries, such as Pakistan, Iran, Lebanon and Jordan hosted 86 percent of the world’s refugee population in 2013."

This press release summarizes the main trends, and provides access to the report and Excel tables.

Reports from previous years are available here.

Tagged Publications. 

Thematic Focus: Durable Solutions

Funding opportunities:

FY 2016 Notice of Funding Opportunity for Proposals for the Resettlement Support Center (RSC) Austria in Vienna, Austria [info]
- Proposal submission deadline is 28 April 2015.

FY 2016 Notice of Funding Opportunity for Proposals for the Resettlement Support Center (RSC) Latin America [info]
- Proposal submission deadline is 28 April 2015.

FY 2016 Notice of Funding Opportunity for Proposals for the Resettlement Support Center (RSC) East Asia in Bangkok, Thailand [info]
- Proposal submission deadline is 5 May 2015.

Publications:

*Community Support for Newcomer Families: A Literature Review, RCIS Working Paper, no. 2015/1 (Ryerson Univ., Jan. 2015) [text]

"Critical Aspects of Social Networks in a Resettlement Setting," Development in Practice, vol. 25, no. 2 (2015) [full-text via Academia.edu]  

Home Sweet Home: Housing Practices and Tools that Support Durable Solutions for Urban IDPs (Displacement Research Action Network & IDMC, March 2015) [access]
- Follow link for full report and case studies.

*Humanitarianism and Return: Compromising Protection?, Policy Brief, no. 03/2015 (PRIO, March 2015) [text]

"Integration and Reintegration: Comparing Pathways to Citizenship through Asylum and Criminal Justice," Criminology and Criminal Justice, OnlineFirst, 16 March 2015 [postprint via Univ. of Edinburgh]

Integration Challenges and Opportunities in the Economic Development and Refugee Resettlement Arenas, Webinar, 12 March 2015 [access]
- Follow link for video.

Protection Cluster Digest, no. 1 (2014) [full-text]
- This issue focuses on "Securing Durable Solutions for IDPs: Initiatives and Achievements."

"The Provision and Sharing of Information between Service Providers and Settling Refugees," Information Research, vol. 19, no. 2 (June 2014) [open access]

Q&A with Michael Casasola, Resettlement Officer at UNHCR-Canada (Global Views, March 2015) [text]

*UPDATED

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Integration, esp. in Europe (5 March 2015)

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

Events & Opportunities: Last Minute March/More April 2015

March:

Seminar: Does Expanding Non-refoulement Secure Greater Access to Asylum?, Melbourne, 26 March 2015 [info]

Job: Operations Manager, IRIN News, Geneva [info]
- Apply by 29 March 2015.

April:

Job: Joyce Pearce Junior Research Fellowship in Development Studies (Refugees and Forced Migration), Oxford University [info]
- Apply by 2 April 2015.

Online Discussion: Measuring Success in Protection Programming, 2 April 2015 [info]
- Read the briefing and participate in the exchange.

Jobs: Entry-Level Humanitarian Professional Programme, UNHCR [info]
- Deadline for application is 6 April 2015.

Webinar: Labour and Livelihoods in Urban Humanitarian Response, 8 April 2015 [info]

Job: Departmental Lecturership in the Politics of Forced Migration, Oxford University [info]
- Apply by 9 April 2015.

Lecture: Policy and Research Implications of the Recommendations from the National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention, Melbourne, 15 April 2015 [info]

Course: Statelessness Summer Course, Tilburg, Neth., 3-7 August 2015 [info]
- Submit applications by 15 April 2015.

Seminar: Understanding Global Refugee Policy: The Case of Naturalization in Tanzania, Oxford, 29 April 2015 [info]

U.S. State Dept. Funding Opportunities:

FY 2015 Notice of Funding Opportunity for NGO Programs Benefiting Refugees in Chad and Cameroon [info]
- Proposal submission deadline is 2 April 2015.

FY 2015 Notice of Funding Opportunity for NGO Programs Benefiting Refugees in Uganda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo [info]
- Proposal submission deadline is 6 April 2015.

FY 2015 Notice of Funding Opportunity for NGO Programs Benefiting Malian Refugees in Burkina Faso, Mauritania, and Niger [info]
- Proposal submission deadline is 10 April 2015.

FY 2015 Notice of Funding Opportunity for NGO Programs Benefiting Burmese and Other Urban Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Malaysia and Thailand [info]
- Proposal submission deadline is 13 April 2015.

FY 2015 Notice of Funding Opportunity for NGO Programs Benefiting Refugees in Ethiopia and Kenya [info]
- Proposal submission deadline is 20 April 2015.

FY 2015 Notice of Funding Opportunity for NGO Programs Benefiting Sri Lankan Refugees and Returnees in South Asia [info]
- Proposal submission deadline is 20 April 2015.

Related posts:
- Events & opportunities: April 2015
- Events & Opportunities: Even More March 2015

Tagged Events & Opportunities. 

Thematic Focus: General

"Book Review Symposium: Survival Migration," European Political Science, vol. 14, no. 1 (2015) [free full-text via RSC]
- Three reviews of Survival Migration: Failed Governance and the Crisis of Displacement (Cornell University Press, 2013) are provided, along with a response by the author.

Building Communities of Practice for Urban Refugees Project (UNHCR, 2015)
- This project is holding workshops in each of the five geographic regions "to broadcast and replicate good practices for urban refugee programmes." Reports of the workshops that have already taken place in Bangkok, Thailand and Pretoria, South Africa are now available.  More information about the project is provided in the first workshop report for Asia.

"Framing International Migration," London Review of International Law, vol. 3, no. 1 (March 2015) [free full-text]
- Review of three books: Foundations of International Migration Law (Cambridge UP, 2012), Border Vigils: Keeping Migrants Out of the Rich World (Verso, 2012), and Border as Method, or, the Multiplication of Labor (Duke UP, 2013). Note: This article is freely available for a limited time only.

The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (Oxford University Press, 2014) [info]
- Have you gotten your copy of this volume yet?  If not, you can view abstracts of each chapter via the info link above.  And here are a few full-text chapters to whet your appetite! Chapter 1: "Introduction: Refugee and Forced Migration Studies in Transition"; Chapter 3: "The International Law of Refugee Protection"; Chapter 15: "Forced Migrants as 'Illegal' Migrants"; Chapter 19: "State Controls: Borders, Refugees, and Citizenship"; Chapter 21: "Protection Gaps"; Chapter 29: "The Politics of Refugee Voices: Representations, Narratives, and Memories"; Chapter 30: "Children and Forced Migration"; Chapter 31: "Gender and Forced Migration"; Chapter 45: "Forced Migration in the Middle East and North Africa"; and Chapter 48: "Forced Migration in South-East Asia and East Asia."

Protection in Crisis: Forced Migration and Protection in a Global Era (Migration Policy Institute, March 2015) [text]
- First report launched in a planned "seven-report series that draws from a recent [MPI Transatlantic Council  on Migration] meeting, 'Refitting the Global Protection System to Meet the Challenges of Modern Crises'." More information about the series is available in this press release.

"Relocation and Resettlement from Colonisation to Climate Change: The Perennial Solution to 'Danger Zones'," London Review of International Law, vol. 3, no. 1 (March 2015) [full-text via Kaldor Centre]

Worldwide Protracted Refugee and IDP Populations (Migration Policy Centre, 2015?) [access via home page]

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: General (13 March 2015)

Tagged Publications.