Author Archives: Refugee Archives at UEL

New Journal Articles on Refugee Issues (weekly)

  • “Critical gerontology views aging as a social construction that reflects the intersections of micro-processes with the macro-level forces of individual aging experiences. In the contexts of immigration and transnationalism, however, the macro-structural conditions, dynamics and experiences of aging have become further diversified and complicated. The dearth of empirical and explanatory knowledge in this area has inhibited us from comprehending aging in a changing world. Drawing on data from a study of Chinese grandparents’ experiences of transnational caregiving in Canada, this article examines the impacts of such experiences on three interconnected dimensions – spatial, temporal and cognitive – of aging. Although the practice of transnational caregiving allows skilled immigrant families to mobilize care resources outside Canada, it has not only ruptured the traditional trajectories of aging for their elderly parents, but also complicated the inequalities that they have to bear on individual, familial and transnational levels. I argue that the critical examination of aging in the context of transnational caregiving helps us take into consideration those dimensions (such as place, space, time, and knowledge) that are changed by immigration processes, and rethink aging from a broader perspective that links seniors’ experiences with their relationship with their adult immigrant children’s families and macro-structures outside national borders.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “Under recent reforms, the UK government has eroded state funding for civil legal aid. Funding cuts affect asylum and immigration law as produced, practiced, and mediated in the course of interactions between case workers and their clients in legal-aid-funded Law Centers in South London. The article explores the contradictory character of one-on-one relationships between case workers and clients. Despite pressure to quantify their work in “value for money” terms, the empathy that often motivates case workers drives them to provide exceptional levels of aid to their clients in facing an arbitrary bureaucracy. Such personalized commitment may persuade applicants to accept the decisions of that bureaucracy, thus reinforcing a hegemonic understanding of the power of the law. The article, however, challenges the assumption that, in attempting to shape immigrant/refugees as model—albeit second-class—citizens, case worker/client interactions necessarily subscribe to the categories and assumptions that underpin UK immigration and asylum law.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “The authors investigated the effectiveness of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) in comparison with an evidence-based intervention, trauma-focused cognitive–behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) with traumatized refugee children aged 6 to 13. Thirty-one traumatized refugee children were randomly assigned to participate in CCPT or TF-CBT in the elementary school setting in the northwest United States. Results indicated that both CCPT and TF-CBT were effective in reducing trauma symptoms according to child and parent report. Findings support the use of CCPT in treating traumatized refugee children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “By the time Rwanda gained independence from Belgium in 1962, 200,000 Rwandan Tutsi had left to seek exile in neighbouring states. Drawing on British archives, this article traces international responses to this refugee crisis in Uganda, arguing that the political subtleties of this displacement are often overlooked.

    British officials’ anxious responses to the Tutsi exodus in 1959 were dominated above all by concern for Ugandan decolonisation. Yet after independence in 1962, the Rwandans were quickly re-imagined by Ugandan actors who had previously supported their right to remain in the territory as a threat to Ugandan national citizenship. This political exclusion of the Tutsi elite prompted increasing refugee militarisation, yet the resulting inyenzi raids only provided further justification for the international community to pursue a humanitarian rather than a political course in responding to the Rwandan crisis.

    The article concludes that recognising the complexities of this early refugee movement and international responses to the crisis is important. Such study allows a more critical analysis of prevalent narratives around histories of exile and return in Rwanda, and underlines the role that international refugee protection policies may play in creating protracted refugee crises.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “In October 2011 the US announced the deployment of 100 special force troops to assist the Ugandan army against the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). For several years the originally northern Ugandan rebel group has been active in neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic and South Sudan. The announcement generated mixed responses, but has generally triggered a strong upsurge in support for an international military approach to deal with the LRA, almost invariably accompanied by a call for enhanced civilian protection. Among the strongest supporters of the deployment, and the military approach that this embodies, have been humanitarian groups who have advocated such a policy in the name of the humanitarian use of force. The present article points out that the promotion of this approach has occurred without a careful assessment of the military requirements necessary for its success, even against a weakened LRA. The article provides this military assessment and concludes, after examining the many challenges and limitations confronting the anti-LRA forces, that the necessary requirements for success are highly unlikely to be met. Given that unsuccessful military operations against the rebels have typically resulted in LRA retaliation against civilians, the paper urges caution in pursuing such options and awareness of likely civilian consequences. First, do no harm.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “In the last couple of decades, Turkey has become an important country of immigration. In parallel, a new scholarly field has developed to study this largely unrecognized phenomenon. In this paper, I take stock of this new literature. I first show how students of immigration into Turkey had to define the field in relation to the powerful existing fields studying emigration from Turkey and internal migration in Turkey, as well as how they distinguished between “old” and “new” immigration. I then study the emergence of this field under the lead of Ahmet İçduygu and Kemal Kirişci. Later, with the establishment of two central research centres (CARIM and MiReKoç), the field gained important institutional anchors and attracted many new scholars. Today, the field is characterized by a strong dynamism, a plurality of talented scholars and a diversity of concerns and approaches. Even though the field is still at an early stage, it is bound to grow rapidly, as the phenomenon of migration into Turkey remains a highly strategic and lasting phenomenon. It is therefore crucial for the field to become self-aware of its strength and weaknesses. Consequently, in the final section, I identify important future directions for the field, especially the need for scholars to better understand the diverse political ramifications (foreign and domestic politics) associated with immigration into Turkey.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “Using data from a customized household survey in Fiji, we assess the extent to which remittances are motivated by the migrants’ commitment to provide social protection to their families back home. We test this hypothesis by estimating econometrically the responsiveness of migrants’ remittances to the perceived financial need of recipients. We extend a mixed-motives model of private transfers, incorporating household-specific, subjectively assessed welfare in place of the more generally used poverty-line measure of welfare. We find stronger evidence that remittances provide important social protection for the poorest when using our extended model. We also find a positive, but relatively much weaker, relationship for those above the poverty threshold, implying support for switching of motives once the household’s welfare has reached a level that is deemed adequate. We consider the possibility that welfare improvements in migrant-sending countries could increase or decrease remittance flows depending on pre-transfer welfare levels and other intervening factors. In relation to policy, we caution against policy interventions that could undermine the functioning of the informal social protection role of migration and remittances. We also caution against unwarranted concern over the use of remittances for consumption spending and the associated, misplaced policy measures to address this.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “Internal and international migration increasingly continues to be of global importance for development policies and programmes, but the dearth of data on migration for African countries and the limited focus on the structural conditions that motivate migration from specific localities within the region remain glaring. In this study, we examine the patterns and drivers of migration in Cameroon, focusing on the dynamics of rural–urban migration, migrant circulation, regional economic migrants and refugees, international migration, brain drain and returns from emigration. Consequent upon regional conflicts and instability, we highlight the refugee problem in Cameroon and significant challenges in addressing it. Finally, we underscore the policy and research challenges necessary to harness the potentials of internal and international migration for national development.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “In this paper, we contribute to the analysis of fertility differentials between female migrants and the native-born by examining the transition to first child using event history analysis. We use event history as a quantitative translation of the life-course approach. The data examined are the Italian Families and Social Subjects (FSS) survey, conducted in 2003, and the Russian Parents and Children, Men and Women in Family and Society survey, conducted in 2004. We examine the data sets separately and contrast the results. The objective of the study is twofold. First, we seek to determine whether differences exist in the decision and timing of childbearing between native and immigrant women in Italy and in Russia. Second, we aim to compare the experiences of immigrants in the two countries, to determine whether there may be any commonalities inherent to the immigrant populations despite moving into widely different contexts. Our results suggest that the age profiles and marital status similarly affect the immigrant regardless of whether she is migrating to Russia or to Italy. In Italy, educational attainment is positively correlated with first-birth intensities for immigrants – the opposite of what is observed for the native-born. In Russia, education is not a significant determinant for immigrants. This leads us to the following conclusion: the similarity in the risk profiles of our immigrants into vastly different country contexts is more suggestive of immigrants following a distinct life course, with common risk profiles for bearing their first child, than assimilating or conforming to the native fertility patterns. Social capital in particular may play a different role in determining fertility patterns for immigrants, as it does for the native-born.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “The growing flow of migrants’ remittances has generated much interest in understanding the socio-economic consequences of household migration for individuals and families in migrant-sending areas. In this paper, I examine the effect of household migration on health status, as measured by nutritional status, of adults who have remained behind in rural Indonesia, a setting with a high rate of out-migration and poor nutritional profiles. Assuming that remittances may improve household economic resources and thus change dietary intake and health-related investment, household migration may be associated with the risks of both undernutrition and overnutrition. The analyses use longitudinal data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey and fixed-effect regressions. The results show that adults in emigrant households were significantly less susceptible to being underweight than those in non-migrant households, but that they did not have an increased risk of being overweight. The improved nutritional status was restricted to people in households with labour migrants, highlighting the role of remittances in improving nutritional intake. The health gain was also concentrated among women, increased with the number of out-migrants and was revealed over time as remittances arrived. Overall, this study demonstrates the beneficial role of household migration, and especially the resulting remittances, in the health status of household members in resource-constrained settings. Improving transfers of remittances would be helpful in reducing the problem of undernutrition in poor migrant-sending areas.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “This is a rare work of scholarship that achieves a genuine integration between legal and political analysis. Vandeginste’s central preoccupation is to explore the means by which transitional justice policy in Burundi can be informed by international humanitarian and human rights law, and thereby become less amenable to political instrumentalization. His proposal is to empower Burundi’s Constitutional Court, and he evaluates this idea by focusing on the substance of Constitutional Court case law, specifically the legal and normative criteria that have been applied, the extent to which international legal commitments informed judges’ reasoning, and the impact of Constitutional Court judgements on the political calculus of domestic elites. In so doing, the author’s analysis convincingly accommodates political science fundamentals such as institutions, power, elite interest, and state sovereignty. “

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “This article analyses forced displacement through a gender lens, focusing on the experiences of women and also of female headed households. It uses a set of qualitative as well as quantitative data, covering internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sampur, Sri Lanka. The study revealed that women have particular protection and assistance needs that exceed the needs of men. In addition, the coping mechanisms used by displaced women were sometimes found to be more effective than those used by men. Moreover, there are economically significant differences between the ways female and male headships pool resources to cope with displacement. The fieldwork was carried out in August 2007 and in April 2008, at welfare centres in Batticaloa which received the IDPs from Sampur in 2006. This group remains displaced at the time of writing. “

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “Sandra Evers and Marry Kooy begin their edited volume by noting that ‘the Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean has received increasing attention from media, politicians and commentators over recent years’ (p. 1). To this list they might have added academics, and it is not difficult to understand why. The archipelago is strategically located and host to one of the most important military bases in the world (the US base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the Chagos Islands); it is a ‘pristine’ natural environment, which the British government on 1 April 2010 declared a marine protected area; it is the subject of an ongoing sovereignty dispute between the UK and Mauritius; and it is also the scene of a gross abuse of human rights in the 1960s and 1970s, when the indigenous Chagos islanders were expelled ahead of the construction of the base on Diego Garcia. There is therefore ample reason why scholars from various disciplines have come to put the Chagos Islands close to the heart of their research. Studying the Chagos archipelago, however, is different from studying the Chagossian people, no matter how sympathetic to the Chagossians’ cause some extant accounts of Diego Garcia and the Chagos Islands might be. “

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • tags: newjournalarticles

  • “Abstract
    Among immigrant children whose parents have historically had lower education, the study explored which immigrant children were most likely to have coverage based on maternal region of origin. The direct and indirect relationship of acculturation on immigrant children’s coverage was also assessed. A subsample of US-born children with foreign-born mothers from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey-Kindergarten Cohort was analyzed using multinomial logistic regressions (n = 1,686). Children whose mothers emigrated from the Caribbean or Indochina had greater odds of being insured compared to children whose mothers emigrated from Mexico. Moreover, Latin American children did not statistically differ from Mexican children in being uninsured. Maternal citizenship was positively associated with children’s coverage; while living in a household with a mother who migrated as a child was negatively associated with private insurance. To increase immigrant children’s coverage, Latin American and Mexican families may benefit from additional financial assistance, rather than cultural assistance. “

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “Abstract
    African immigrants and refugees—almost half of them from Somalia—account for one of the fastest-growing groups in the United States. There is reason to suspect that Somali-Americans may be at risk for low completion of recommended preventive health services. This study’s aim was to quantify disparities in preventive health services among Somali patients compared with non-Somali patients in an academic primary care practice in Rochester, Minn. It also examined the effect of medical interpreters, emergency department visits, and primary care visits on the completion of preventive services. Rates of pap smears, vaccinations (influenza, pneumococcus, and tetanus), lipid screening, colorectal cancer screening, and mammography were assessed in Somali and non-Somali patients during the second quarter of 2008. Data were collected regarding the utilization of medical interpreters, emergency services, and primary care services among Somali patients. Results were reported using standard descriptive statistics. Of the 91,557 patients identified in the database, 810 were Somali. Somali patients had significantly lower completion rates of colorectal cancer screening, mammography, pap smears, and influenza vaccination than non-Somali patients. Use of medical interpreters and primary care services were generally associated with higher completion rates of preventive services. There are significant discrepancies in the provision of preventive health services to Somali patients compared with that of non-Somali patients. These findings suggest the need to identify the root causes of these discrepancies so that interventions may be crafted to close the gap. “

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “Abstract

    Background Despite their essential role in the National Health Service, there is limited research on the experiences of refugee interpreters. Aims To explore Kurdish refugee interpreters’ experiences of working in UK mental health services. Method Six participants were interviewed and data collected were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results The results showed that interpreters often felt overwhelmed by the emotional impact of interpreting in mental health services, particularly at the beginning of their careers. Interpreters struggled to negotiate complex and unclear roles and responsibilities. Interpreting for refugees with shared histories was particularly challenging. Conclusions The study recommends that interpreters working in mental health services receive training on mental health issues and self-care and are assisted by frameworks to help make sense of the impact of the work, such as supervision.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

New Journal Articles on Refugee Issues (weekly)

  • “Abstract. This research explores relationships between diversity of local populations and economic well-being: specifically, the connections between foreign-born populations, other measures of community diversity, and local economic health. Using data from the population of mid-sized Canadian cities, I conclude that there is a significant relationship between immigration and health. Several other aspects of diversity—language, visible minority status, and religion—are also related to economic health, but only the correlation with foreign born remains significant in multiple regression. The extent that population growth is dependent on immigration and the clear dispersion of immigrants to mid-sized communities in Canada is an argument for greater attention to public policies that facilitate settlement both on humanitarian grounds and to foster local economic development.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “In recent years, there has been an increase in students with refugee experience in the UK, the US, Europe and Australia. These students face many barriers to education, and appropriately educating this diverse student population presents many challenges to schools and education departments. We argue that a whole of school approach that includes school structures, culture and pedagogy is needed to provide equity for students with refugee experience. This approach to reform requires that the ‘structures and programs [that] are designed for a dominant group’ (DETE, South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability Framework, South Australia 2001), and which disadvantage minority groups, are challenged and changed. Implementing such change raises many practical difficulties, and there are few documented examples of good practice. This prompted the authors’ ethnographic study of a South Australian primary school, with a New Arrivals Program, which positions itself as taking a whole of school approach to educational reform for refugees. This paper reports on the structural changes the school has implemented in its class organisation, staff roles and curriculum. We consider the effects of government funding and neoliberal education policy on these reforms. “

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “Some anthropological examinations of documents have emphasized their role as regulatory technologies that enact control and legibility over both citizens and “aliens.” This article shows, however, that documentary practices and forms both reinforce and undermine attempts to make persons governable. My analysis centers on the “pink card,” the identity document issued to asylum seekers in Greece, which in 2010 was the European country with the highest number of asylum cases pending in limbo. Examining how both state functionaries and asylum seekers engage with it, I show how the pink card takes on unpredictable meanings with indeterminate effects, which can disrupt the regulatory functions of the asylum procedure. Through ethnographic data drawn from encounters between asylum seekers and police, interviews with asylum seekers, and case material, I argue for a consideration of how things themselves govern—that is, dispose, position, and shape—the activities and tools of state regulation.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “This study examined British young people’s understanding of the rights of asylum-seeking young people. Two hundred sixty participants (11–24 years) were read vignettes involving asylum-seeking young people’s religious and nonreligious self-determination and nurturance rights. Religious rights were more likely to be endorsed than nonreligious rights. In general, younger participants were more likely than older participants to endorse the rights of asylum-seeking young people. Supporting a social cognitive domain approach, patterns of reasoning varied with the type of right and whether scenarios involved religious or nonreligious issues. Few developmental differences were found regarding participants’ reasoning about asylum-seeking young people’s religious or nonreligious rights. The findings are discussed with reference to available theory and research on young people’s conceptions of rights.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • ” This paper explores the role immigrants play in the export performance of companies particularly in their home countries. Analysing country-level data, we find that export effects vary with the size of the immigrant population, duration of stay and type of products traded. We also introduce the role of cultural proximity and communication to the picture. Analyses show that the effect of immigration on export performance is significant only if the home and host countries are culturally distinct, and that better cross-culture communication and integration of immigrants are necessary to realise the export performance impact of immigrants.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • ” External construction of the European unity idea is an under-researched topic in EU scholarship. This paper explores the potential of return migration from the EU to third countries to the study and practice of EU public diplomacy and external relations. Attempting to conceptualise the phenomenon of return migration within theories of public diplomacy, this analysis focuses on a case-study of New Zealand (NZ) sojourners from the EU-27 and investigates their awareness and perceptions of the EU, compared with those of the NZ general public’s views of the Union. The results of one case-study are presented – a purposive survey of EU perceptions among a particular focus-group. Ultimately, this research assesses the importance of returnees’ experiences to the effective practice of EU public diplomacy and considers the importance of ‘perceptions’ studies in shaping Europe’s interactions with the world.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “Academic debate on Rwanda has significant thematic gaps, and does not usually make use of a theoretically informed comparative framework. This article addresses one thematic gap – the distinctive approach of the RPF-led regime to political involvement in the private sector of the economy. It does so using the framework of a cross-national study which aims to distinguish between more and less developmental forms of neo-patrimonial politics. The article analyses the RPF’s private business operations centred on the holding company known successively as Tri-Star Investments and Crystal Ventures Ltd. These operations are shown to involve the kind of centralized generation and management of economic rents that has distinguished the more developmental regimes of Asia and Africa. The operations of the military investment company Horizon and of the public–private consortium Rwanda Investment Group may be seen in a similar light. With some qualifications, we conclude that Rwanda should be seen as a developmental patrimonial state. “

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “This study investigates the impact of ethnic identity on Albanian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Georgian, and Russian wages in Greece. Treating ethnic identity as a composite of language, cultural habits, ethnic-self identification, societal interaction, and future citizenship plans, the estimations suggest that assimilation and integration are positively associated with immigrant wages, while separation and marginalisation are negatively associated with immigrant wages, after considering various demographic and pre- and post-immigration characteristics. In addition, dramatic wage growth for fully assimilated and integrated immigrants, and vast wage losses for totally separated and marginalised immigrants are estimated. A healthy Greek – as well as a European – immigration system should recognise labour immigration flows and the potential of repeat immigration and evaluate the cornerstone features of ethnic identity. “

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “Background: Non-compliance with antidepressant treatment continues to be a complex problem in mental health care. In immigrant populations non-compliance is one of several barriers to adequate management of mental illness; some data suggest greater difficulties in adhering to pharmacological treatment in these groups and an increased risk of therapeutic failure. The aim of this study is to assess differences in the duration and compliance with antidepressant treatment among immigrants and natives in a Spanish health region.

    Methods: Population-based (n = 206,603), retrospective cohort study including all subjects prescribed ADT between 2007 and 2009 and recorded in the national pharmacy claims database. Compliance was considered adequate when the duration was longer than 4 months and when patients withdrew more than 80% of the packs required.

    Results: 5334 subjects (8.5% of them being immigrants) initiated ADT. Half of the immigrants abandoned treatment during the second month (median for natives = 3 months). Of the immigrants who continued, only 29.5% presented good compliance (compared with 38.8% in natives). The estimated risk of abandoning/ending treatment in the immigrant group compared with the native group, adjusted for age and sex, was 1.28 (95% CI, 1.16 to 1.42).

    Conclusions: In the region under study, immigrants of all origins present higher percentages of early discontinuation of ADT and lower median treatment durations than the native population. Although this is a complex, multifactor situation, the finding of differences between natives and immigrants in the same region suggests the need to investigate the causes in greater depth and to introduce new strategies and interventions in this population group.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • tags: newjournalarticles

  • “Arizona, along with other states, has begun enacting laws attempting to control the movement of undocumented non-citizens within and across its borders. This extraordinary new wave of legislation creates a serious vertical separation of powers problem, risking frustration of federal immigration policy. Although there are a number of reasons that the state action may be unconstitutional, this article focuses on the heretofore unexplored role of the Double Jeopardy Clause.

    The dual sovereignty exception to the Double Jeopardy Clause of the United States Constitution allows for successive prosecutions for the same offense, so long as each prosecuting jurisdiction bases the prosecution on its own authority. Two jurisdictions may not prosecute the same offense if each is drawing from the same source of power. States do not have their own authority to enact laws that regulate immigration. Defenders of state regulation do not deny federal primacy in the immigration area, but propose that states have been implicitly invited to assist in carrying out federal policy by enacting state laws.

    This article suggests that courts should be slow to conclude that the federal government has invited the states to enact legislation. If states have the authority to prosecute immigration cases, that means that the federal government is divested of its power to act in any case where the state prosecutes first. A court, therefore, should uphold state immigration prosecutions only if it is convinced not only that the law is not preempted or unconstitutional for some other reason, but also that the United States intentionally decided to give the states authority to override federal decision making in the immigration arena. “

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • tags: newjournalarticles

  • tags: newjournalarticles

  • “In this paper, I explore the links between migration and development in Tanzania and the formation of migration–development policies. I argue that current remittance and diaspora policies are not based on knowledge of the transnational practices of the existing diaspora but, rather, on general notions of remittances and diasporas that are circulated by international development institutions. I also argue that although migration–development policies arouse great optimism among some Tanzanian government officials and leading politicians, the use of remittances and the diaspora as vehicles for development and economic growth in fact collides with other policy considerations. Analytically, in this paper I examine the cultural values and ideas embedded in remittance and diaspora policy formation. I draw on the study of the religious movements known as “cargo cults”, to examine the emergence of Tanzanian migration–development policies and argue that there are striking similarities between remittance and diaspora policy formation and cargo cults. Most importantly, they both express belief in the existence of an external transformative power, with development and change seen as coming from the outside rather than from within. Cargo cults and remittance policies also share a sense of local ownership over a flow of resources emanating from the outside, and they both emphasize technical solutions and communication when trying to attract wealth back to local communities. I also use the analysis of cargo cults to understand why such optimism surrounds remittance and diaspora policies in Tanzania. Overall, in this paper I add to our understanding of the links between migration and development in Tanzania, and to our understanding of the difficulties faced by poor developing countries in effectively formulating and implementing migration–development policies.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “In this paper, I explore the nexus between migration, development and security in South–North migration through an analysis of certain discursive constructions in current migration policy debates; in particular, the migration–development nexus that attempts to make migration work for development in the global South, and the migration–security nexus that legitimizes stricter border controls and migration management in the global North. Shifting geopolitical concerns have changed the balance between the two nexuses over time, but by and large policy debates have been driven by the interests of Northern governments, whereby “development” has been reduced to an instrument of migration policy and “security” to an issue of keeping unwanted and potentially dangerous migratory flows out. The security situation of journeying migrants may make it to the policy debating tables of international organizations and forums, but has thus far not radically changed migration policy. I suggest analysing the nexus constructions through an analytical lens capable of encompassing both migrants and their border-spanning social networks, on the one hand, and migration policies and state responses aimed at controlling human mobility, on the other. The starting point for this analytical endeavour is the intersection between the migration industry, understood as the broad array of both legal and clandestine actors linked to the facilitation of international migration, and the growing markets for migration management both at the inter-state level and in the increased use of private and commercial agents for control purposes.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “Circular migration has come into vogue in policy circles, particularly in Europe. However, if circular migration is to be the object of policy intervention, it will have to be clearly identifiable as a particular type of population mobility. In this paper, I consider both internal and international migrations. I examine the antecedents of the idea of circulation, together with the difficulties of separating and identifying it as a migration type. I argue that the form and composition of circular migration change over time, making it difficult to design policies specific to that type of mobility. I examine the consequences of circular migration for human welfare. While circular migration extends the resource base of households and helps minimize risk and support subsistence, long-term rather than shorter-term circulatory movements may provide the more reliable pathway to improving welfare, although the available data are hardly robust. I consider the issues of free versus unfree labour and the likelihood of becoming trapped in marginal positions in destination areas in relation to defining circular migration. Circular migration may be a more useful conceptual approach in migration theory than a tool for policy prescription. Hence, I advocate a cautious approach to the role of policy intervention in circular migration in this paper, although I recognize that attempts to limit its scope will be counterproductive. Equally, attempts to regulate it within some form of institutional framework are likely to turn circular migration into a form of temporary labour migration. Nevertheless, I argue that creating an environment in which circular migration is a rational response may have a greater potential to foster development in places of origin than designing policies to manage circulatory movements directly.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “During the past decade, much attention has been paid to the migration–development nexus, both in academia and in the global development community. This has created what we argue in this paper can be characterized as an “international buzz” around the issue. In this paper, we explore how two donor countries, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, have approached the nexus in their policies and practices in recent years. We examine in what ways it has been feasible to work with migration–development links, taking into account various interests and the national political climates regarding development aid and immigration policies. Important themes of the nexus, which are discussed in detail going through the policies, are remittances, engagement with migrant associations, and temporary migration schemes and programmes addressing the so-called “brain drain” problem. We argue that the two countries represent two different trends among donors: the one does not directly link migration management with migration and development policies, as these are conceived within the national donor agencies; while the other appears to be more focused on providing better migration management through development cooperation.

    In the conclusion, we argue that the consensus-orientated simplicity of the buzz surrounding migration and development can be said to have had a somewhat restricting effect on the policies, in the sense that it seems to have discouraged conflicting parts of the migration–development nexus from being taken up in the national contexts. Based on our analysis of the two countries’ policies, we discuss possible implications for the future, reflecting on the tendency of buzzwords to dip in and out of fashion.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “At the dawn of the new millennium, international development agencies and governments have “discovered” the potential of migration and remittances to stimulate development in poor countries. However, migration and development is anything but a new topic. The debate about migration and development has swung back and forth like a pendulum, from optimism in the postwar period to deep “brain drain” pessimism since the 1970s towards neo-optimistic “brain gain” since 2000. Influenced by growing policy disappointment, we might now be at the beginning of a backswing towards more pessimistic views. While these shifts are rooted in deeper ideological and paradigmatic shifts, a review of empirical evidence yields a much more nuanced picture. Despite the often considerable benefits of migration and remittances for individuals and communities involved, migrants alone can generally not remove more structural development constraints and migration may actually contribute to development stagnation and reinforce the political status quo. Despite their development potential, migrants and remittances can therefore neither be blamed for a lack of development nor be expected to trigger take-off development in generally unattractive investment environments. Recent views celebrating migration as self-help development “from below” are partly driven by neoliberal ideologies that shift the attention away from structural development constraints and, hence, the responsibility of migrant-sending states to pursue political and economic reform. Immigrant-receiving countries can increase the development potential of migration by creating legal channels for high- and lower-skilled migration and integration policies that favour socio-economic mobility of migrants and avoid their marginalization.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • tags: newjournalarticles

  • “This article charts the difficulties refugee law – and more widely the legal regime governing international protection – has encountered from the outset in dealing with asylum-related claims by persons fleeing armed conflict. It analyses the origins of the prevailing “exceptionality approach”, which regards such claims as unable to succeed unless they can make out a special case. It explains why its opposite, the “normalcy approach”, equally does not resolve underlying problems.

    The “war-flaw” is seen to consist in the failure of international protection to analyse claims by persons fleeing armed conflict by reference to the correct international law framework. Whilst the development within refugee law of a human rights approach has been a major achievement, its inability to deal effectively with armed conflict-related claims is located in its conspicuous failure, or unwillingness, to recognize that international law regards international humanitarian law as the lex specialis in situations of armed conflict. Curiously, despite the increasing acknowledgment of the complementarity of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by human rights bodies, the human rights paradigm remains stuck trying to analyse such situations exclusively in international human rights law terms. It is argued that this “war flaw” afflicts not only contemporary refugee law but also current human rights jurisprudence dealing with problems of refoulement, and regional protection schemes such as subsidiary protection within the European Union. Tentative suggestions are made as to how the prevailing international human rights law paradigm can be revised to take account of international humanitarian law and as to how the two branches of international law can be applied in tandem. “

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • tags: newjournalarticles

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Off Air Recording Requests: WB 19 May 2012

The following off air recording requests have been made for the Refugee Council Archive for the week beginning Saturday 19 May:

Saturday 19 May

2000-2100: BBC4: (2/4) Lost Kingdoms of Africa.  Series 2. (Part 2: The Zulu Kingdom).  (Series Recording).

Sunday 20 May

 2000-2100: BBC2: (4/6) Indian Ocean with Simon Reeve.  (Part 4: Oman to the Maldives).  (Series recording).

2100-2200: Channel 5: Norway Massacre: The Survivors. 

Friday 25 May

 1930-1955: Channel 4: (6/8) Unreported World.  (Part 6 Cameroon).

2100-2200: BBC2: (1/8) The Great British Story: A Peoples History.  (Part 1: Britannia).  Whole Series Please.

International Migration Journal and Publications on Statelessness; Climate/Environmental Change; Resettlement; Displacement

International Migration

International Migration

Latest issue of the journal International Migration, Volume 50, Issue 3 (June 2012), Pages 1–97.  Special edition on: Migration and Development Buzz? Rethinking the Migration Development Nexus and Policies.
[Access - Table of Contents]

No Way Out, No Way In

No Way Out, No Way In

No Way Out, No Way In: Irregular migrant children and families in the UK.
A new report published by the ESRC Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) at the University of Oxford.
[Download Full Report]
(Source: Irregular Voices blog).

Kuwait: Security Forces Forcibly Disperse Stateless Residents (Human Rights Watch, May 2012) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

Statelessness in the Canadian Context

Statelessness in the Canadian Context

Statelessness in the Canadian Context: An Updated Discussion Paper (UNHCR, March 2012) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

World Map: Parties to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (UNHCR, as of 1 May 2012) [access]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

Climate Change and Fragile States: Rethinking Adaptation, SOURCE, no. 16 (UNU-EHS & Munich Re, 2012) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

Climate Change and Fragile States: Rethinking Adaptation, SOURCE, no. 16 (UNU-EHS & Munich Re, 2012) [text]

Learning Lessons: Intense Climate-related Natural Disasters in Asia and the Pacific (Asian Development Bank, April 2012) [text via PreventionWeb]

Resettlement of Ecological Migrants in Georgia: Recent Developments and Trends in Policy, Implementation, and Perceptions, Working Paper, no. 53 (ECMI, Jan. 2012) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

Rethinking Durable Solutions to Displacement in the Context of Climate Change (Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement, May 2012) [text via ReliefWeb].
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

Migrant Boat Tragedy – Interactive (The Guardian, March 2012) [access]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

The Plight of Internally Displaced Persons (Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement, April 2012) [access].
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

Rights Displaced: The Effects of Long-term Encampment on the Human Rights of Refugees, Working Paper, no. 4 (Refugee Law Initiative, May 2012) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

Rwandan Refugees Face no Choice but Repatriation (Open Democracy, May 2012) [text]

EVENT INVITATION: Commonwealth Migration: learning from the past, anticipating the future – 14 June

*** Apologies for Cross Posting ***

You are invited to attend…

Commonwealth Migration: learning from the past, anticipating the future

14 June, 6:30pm – 9pm
Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, London WC1H 0XG
(Find it on a map)

Immigration from the countries of the Commonwealth has played an important part in creating modern day Britain. Yet from the 1960s through to the political debates of the present day it has also proven to be intensely controversial, polarising large parts of the population into pro- and anti-migration campaigns.

To mark the significance of the 50th anniversary of the first Commonwealth Immigrants Act, the scholar and prominent commentator on immigration policy, Professor Nigel Harris, will set out his views on the world created by immigration control legislation and ask whether this approach will be sustainable if future years see a shift in the global economic and political order.

 With responses from:

Dr Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah (Chair), Director of the Royal Commonwealth Society
Professor Satvinder Juss, Kings College
Patsy Robertson, Chair of the Ramphal Institute
Dr Ike Anya, Consultant in public health medicine

Register

Migrants' Rights Network

New Publications on the Ivorian Crisis in Liberia; International Students and Net Migration; UNHCR

Save the Children Emergency Response to the Ivorian Crisis in Liberia
By Save the Children.
[Download Full Report]
(Source: ALNAP)

International students and net migration in the UK.
A new report published by the Institute of Public Policy Research, (IPPR).

This report recommends that international students should be excluded from overall net migration figures, as moves to limit incoming student numbers for the sake of long-term migration figures put a valuable export market – higher education – at risk. A survey of the top 10 countries for international students suggests there is no international rule or standard preventing the UK from counting students in this way.

[Access  Full Report]
(Source: Migrants’ Rights Network).

Inspection of Border Control Operations at Terminal 3 Heathrow Airport.
New report published by John Vine, Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration.
[Download Full Report]
(Source: Migrants’ Rights Network).

But When Will Our Turn Come? A Review of the Implementation of UNHCR’s Urban Refugee Policy in Malaysia, PDES/2012/02 (UNHCR, May 2012) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

In the Shelter of Each Other: Notions of Home and Belonging amongst Somali Refugees in Nairobi, New Issues in Refugee Research, no. 233 (UNHCR, May 2012) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

Light Years Ahead: Innovative Technology for Better Refugee Protection (UNHCR, March 2012) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

Statelessness in the Canadian Context: An Updated Discussion Paper (UNHCR, March 2012) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

UNHCR Submission on Bill C-31: Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act (UNHCR Canada, May 2012) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

 

New Journal Articles on Refugee Issues (weekly)

  • “This article examines the methods by which Israel institutionalizes statelessness among Palestinians from East Jerusalem through national citizenship and entry laws. Through the lens of the international legal framework, notably the right to a nationality, the prohibition on the arbitrary deprivation of nationality, and the antidiscrimination principle, the article focuses on three policies under which Palestinian East Jerusalemites are rendered stateless: the ‘center of life’ policy, the application and waiting period requirement for children applying for temporary and permanent residency, and the implementation of the ‘loyalty oath’ for non-Jews seeking citizenship through naturalization. Then, after describing the impact of the policies on the individuals and families affected, as well as on other states, the article lays out the primary ways in which the policies violate international legal obligations and principles, namely, the arbitrary deprivation of rights and the antidiscrimination principle. Finally, while mindful of the sovereign right of states to implement citizenship laws, the article concludes by prescribing ways in which the international statelessness protection framework might be strengthened and reformulated into a preventative model to ensure that Palestinian East Jerusalemites maintain their legal connection to their city of birth and are not rendered stateless – the status of the rightless. “

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “Although previous research has demonstrated that immigration and gender may be related to victimization within U.S. schools, this study explores how immigration and gender are related to the victimization of Asian American youth within U.S. schools. Multilevel analyses that draw from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 suggest some important results. For instance, Asian American immigrant youth generally have an increased likelihood of being victimized at school. The results also suggest that Asian American immigrant girls are relatively more likely to endure school victimization. The implications of Asian American immigrant youths’ increased vulnerabilities to violence at school are discussed.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “This work focuses on a temporary guest-worker-type migration of individuals from the middle class of the wealth distribution. The article demonstrates that the possibility of a low-skilled guest-worker employment in a higher wage foreign country lowers the relative attractiveness of the skilled employment in the home country. Thus, it prevents a fraction of individuals from acquiring human capital. Therefore, even if all individuals who acquired education remain in the home country, the actual number of educated workers in the source economy decreases, and the aggregate level of human capital in this economy would thus be negatively affected.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “Aspects related to the links between international migration, foreign aid and the welfare state are highlighted in this paper. Migration is modeled as a costly movement from an aid-recipient developing country with low income and no welfare state, towards a rich donor, developed country with a well-developed welfare state. Within this model, it is found, among other things, that the best response of the developed donor country is to increase aid as the co-financing rate by the recipient country increases. When the immigration cost decreases, e.g. as a result of greater economic integration between the two countries, it is beneficial for the donor country to increase aid and the recipient country to increase the co-financing rate.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “Many authors have commented on the increasing resistance of Western States to accepting large numbers of asylum seekers. However, the literature lacks a coherent theory about the specific mechanisms behind the rise of deterrence policies in individual States. Based on 52 interviews and a media database of 444 articles, I examine the arc of American asylum policy over many decades. I argue that when the Cold War ended, the anti-communist hold on the American asylum programme was loosened, and the early 1990s ushered in a flurry of reforms designed to expand the programme and make the decision-making process more rich and transparent. However, these changes coincided with an asylum boom that placed heavy administrative costs on receiving States just as the power of granting asylum to people in exile lost its strategic geo-political appeal. The regime that eventually developed became closely aligned with the domestic politics of border control, as opposed to either foreign policy concerns or the guidelines of international law. Thus, both institutional and ideological strains led to the sudden demise of the dominant policy-making regime, and made room temporarily for another, only to be quickly trumped by a third – the regime of deterrence. “

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “The article presents unaccompanied refugee children’s current situation in Sweden from a child-centred perspective. Interviews were conducted with 26 children. A key finding was that the way individuals perceived their situation was highly dependent on the status of their asylum application. In cases where all instances of the Swedish asylum process had been involved, the children described their situation as significantly difficult. At first, the children seemed satisfied with the fact that they had their human rights to housing, food, and support fulfilled. But on closer analysis of the interview answers it was revealed that many of the children’s existences were completely overshadowed by concern for the future and an underlying need of support. They described the asylum process as extremely worrying. Some children were not able to go to school, some felt offended when officials doubted their stories, and several children became sick after having their asylum application rejected. They emphasised that information from the authorities must be clear. Possible improvements in current practices are: continued information from authorities about the asylum case, more therapeutic care, and every day contact with supportive adults and friends. “

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “The paper presents an analysis of a labour camp re-enactment in Lithuania explicitly created in order to teach young European citizens a lesson of democracy by inviting them into a non-democratic historical period momentarily re-created by the help of actors, props, historical sites, a narrative, a scenario etc. The paper investigates the interactive elements, the hybrid staged-real character and aesthetic experiences that the re-enactment make us of and evoke. The paper presents a discussion of whether Deportation Day challenges dominant narratives in Europe today and what role memory plays here in order to seek out the possible future of the strategic use of the past.”

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “Ethical complexities associated with research involving vulnerable and marginalized population groups are well recognized, while practical solutions to these challenges are somewhat less well described. In this article we focus on strategies for addressing interrelated practical, methodological and ethical issues which may arise during research with refugee-background participants considered vulnerable. The article draws on a study exploring the impact of social networks and support on the resettlement experiences of newly-arrived migrant youth of refugee background in Australia. Three key sets of issues are discussed: developing research processes that maximize the benefits of involvement for participants while reducing potential harms; enhancing capacities for participants to give informed consent; and adapting research methods to heighten their relevance to the circumstances of participants’ lives and enhance their engagement in the research. We argue that promoting ethical practice and methodological validity are mutually reinforcing objectives and illustrate how processes of ethical reflexivity were applied to resolve methodological challenges, promote autonomy and capacity of research participants and enhance the potential for outcomes to be rigorous and useful. “

    tags: newjournalarticles

  • “Discourses often uncover underlying social boundaries related to concepts such as ethnicity, gender and religion. By applying an intersectional approach, this article shows how the gendering of ethno-religious boundaries is central in the narratives of parents of Belgian, Italian and Moroccan origin, living in Flanders, Belgium. These processes are extremely salient when discourses on partner choice are discussed, as is the focal point in the current study. The construction of boundaries and identities are deeply influenced by dominant social representations. The results show how the construction and justification of boundaries can also have restrictive consequences for individuals. Parents want to restrict daughters for their own good, and exogamy seems to be the prerogative of sons. “

    tags: newjournalarticles

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

New Publications on State of the World’s Mothers; Humanitarian Assistance; Human Trafficking; and Australia

In the Eyes of Others

In the Eyes of Others

State of the World’s Mothers 2012.
Published by Save the Children.
(Link to full report (PDF; 6.86 MB))
(Link to executive summary (PDF; 733 KB))
(Link to 2012 Mothers’ Index Ranking (PDF; 127 KB))
(Link to publication web page for interactive report and additional content)

From the press release:

Save the Children’s thirteenth State of the World’s Mothers report shows Niger as the worst place to be a mother in the world — replacing Afghanistan for the first time in two years. Norway comes in at first place. The Best and Worst Places to Be a Mom ranking, which compares 165 countries around the globe, looks at factors such as a mother’s health, education and economic status, as well as critical child indicators such as health and nutrition. This year, the United States ranks 25th.

(Source: Docubase - State of the World’s Mothers 2012 by Peggy Garvin).

Humanitarian Access in Situations of Armed Conflict (Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, 2012).
[access]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

In the Eyes of Others: How People in Crises Perceive Humanitarian Action (MSF, 2012).
[text]
- See also webcast of online discussion about the book that took place 30 April 2012.
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

Minimum Standards for Protection Mainstreaming (World Vision, 2012).
[text via ReliefWeb]

Asylum Seeking Victims of Human Trafficking in Ireland: Legal and Practical Challenges (Immigrant Council of Ireland, Nov. 2011).
[text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

Organised Crime and Trafficking in Persons, Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, no. 436 (Australian Institute of Criminology, March 2012) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

Humanitarian Family Reunion: The Building Block of Good Settlement (Refugee Council of Australia, April 2012).
[text] – See also related bibliography.
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

The “Safe Third Country” Approach vs. the Notion of Non-refoulement in International Law: A Critical Examination of Australian Law and Policy, Dissertation presented to the School of Law (University of Western Sydney, Jan. 2011).
[text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

Children, Adolescents and Human Trafficking: Making Sense of a Complex Problem, Issue Paper, no. 5 (Rights Work, May 2012).
[text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

Hidden Exploitation: Women in Forced Labour, Marriage and Migration. Understanding the Gaps in Prevention and Protection Needs in Trafficking and Exploitation of Women and Girls in Australia: An Evidence Review (Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand, Feb. 2012).
[access]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

Off Air Recording Requests for the Week Beginning 12 May 2012

The following off air recording requests have been made for the Refugee Council Archive for the week beginning the 12 May 2012:

Saturday 12 May

2000-2100: BBC4: (1/4): Lost Kingdoms of Africa.  (Series 2 Part 1 The Kingdom of Asante.)  Whole Series Please.

Sunday 13 May

2000-2100: BBC2: (3/6) Indian Ocean with Simon Reeve.  (Part 3: Kenya to Somaliland).  (Series Recording).

Thursday 17 May

2100-2200: BBc1: New Tricks: Lost in Translation (Just this Episode).

Friday 18 May

1930-1955: Channel 4: (5/8) Unreported World Ukraine: the Teenagers Who Live Under Ground.  (Series Recording).

Events: Refugee Law Seminars, 10 May 2012

*** Apologies for Cross-Posting ***

1.  Oxford Migration Law Discussion Group:

Today’s group meeting will start at 5 pm (instead of 6h30) and will take place not in the Senior Common Room, but in Seminar Room F at the Law Faculty (University of Oxford, St Cross Building, St Cross Road, Oxford OX1 3UL).

Kate Ogg (Oxford RSC) will present her paper: “Separating the persecutors from the persecuted: a feminist and comparative examination of exclusion from the refugee regime”.

For further details on the Migration Law Discussion Group see: http://www.law.ox.ac.uk/discussion_group/MLDG

Looking forward to meeting you!

Violeta Moreno Lax

violeta.morenolax@qeh.ox.ac.uk

2. Refugee Law Initiative Seminar Series:

A reminder that the Refugee Law Initiative seminar series on International Refugee Law will continue on this Thursday 10 May.

We are very pleased to welcome Professor Patricia Tuitt (Birkbeck) who will be speaking on:

“Refugees, Law and Postcolonial Theory”

Please note the updated title of the event. The event will take place at 17.30 in the Chancellors Hall, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU.

Please do not hesitate to forward this email to others in the field who may have an interest in attending. For further details please see www.sas.ac.uk/rli.

All welcome!

Call for Papers: Deadline Reminder! International Conference: on Migration and Well-Being

*** Apologies for Cross-Posting ***

Call for Papers

International Conference: Migration and Well-Being: Research Frontiers

Tel Aviv University, Israel

January 8-10, 2013

We invite paper submissions for the International Conference on Migration andWell-Being organized by Tel Aviv University and RC31.

International Advisory Committee

David Bartram, University of Leicester, UK

Peter Kivisto, Augustana College, USA

Peggy Levitt, Wellesley College, USA

Marco Martiniello, University de Liege, Belgium; FRS-FNRS

Ewa Morawska, University of Essex, UK

Israeli Organizing Committee

Adriana Kemp, Tel Aviv University

Noah Lewin-Epstein, Tel Aviv University

Moshe Semyonov, Tel Aviv University

Sergio DellaPergola, Hebrew University

Rebeca Raijman, University of Haifa

Keynote Speaker: Professor Doug Massey, Princeton University

The conference will address such issues as:

- Economic and psychological well-being of immigrants

- Social exclusion and xenophobia

- The contribution of immigrants to the well-being of the local population, particularly the aging

- The role of remittances in improving the welfare of immigrant families

- Well-being of asylum seekers and refugees

- Education and children of immigrants

- Migration policies and the well-being of immigrants

Papers relevant to the main theme of the conference, Migration and Well-Being, will be particularly welcome. Other papers will be considered as well, space permitting.

Submission of Papers

All paper presenters should submit an application consisting of the following two items:

a) Name of Author(s) and affiliation(s)

b) A short abstract (maximum of 500 words)

Please upload your abstract here, or send it as an attachment to migration.conference@gmail.com.

 

Deadline for submission: **May 15, 2012**

Decisions will be sent out: June 30, 2012

For more information on the conference, please visit our website.

Event: Racism and anti-racism in the United States: contesting ‘the new Jim Crow’

Racism and anti-racism in the United States: contesting 'the new Jim Crow'

Speaker: Prof Tithi Bhattacharya, Purdue University, US

Tuesday 15 May 2012, 5.30pm, at Runnymede Trust, 7 Plough Yard, Shoreditch, London EC2A 3LP. Nearest tube: Liverpool Street

The murder of black teenager Trayvon Martin in a gated community in Sanford, Florida made international headlines. Academics and policy-makers who argued that America had arrived at a ‘post-racial’ society, in which race played little role in determining social practice, had to scramble to explain how this killing fell within the law.

In this seminar Tithi Bhattacharya explores two simultaneous trends in political developments in America - increasing racialisation of law and civil society from above and the beginnings of a new era of anti-racist struggle. Following Michelle Alexander and her analysis of The New Jim Crow*, she argues that the killing of Trayvon Martin has become the 'rule' in the context of the US state and its relationship to people of colour.

What made this murder an 'exception’ - prompting large anti-racist marches across the US - is the recent rise in mass resistance, including the emergence across the US of the Occupy Movement. Tithi Bhattacharya examines the intersection of these two forces - the American state from above and the new mass movement from below – and the potential outcomes for anti-racist struggles in America.

* The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (New Press 2010)

Organised by Runnymede Trust and the Centre for Research on Migration, Refugees & Belonging (CMRB) at UEL.

Further information available in the attached Flyer:  Seminar – the ‘new Jim Crow’.

New Reports from Human Rights Watch

 

"I had to run away"

“I had to run away”

“I Had To Run Away”: The Imprisonment of Women and Girls for “Moral Crimes” in Afghanistan.
By Human Rights Watch.

Further Information on the Report:

This 120-page report is based on 58 interviews conducted in three prisons and three juvenile detention facilities with women and girls accused of “moral crimes.” Almost all girls in juvenile detention in Afghanistan had been arrested for “moral crimes,” while about half of women in Afghan prisons were arrested on these charges. These “crimes” usually involve flight from unlawful forced marriage or domestic violence. Some women and girls have been convicted of zina, sex outside of marriage, after being raped or forced into prostitution.

[Access]
(Source: Human Rights Watch)

 

Second Class Citizens

Second Class Citizens

Second Class Citizens: Discrimination against Roma, Jews, and Other National Minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
By Human Rights Watch.

Further Information on the Report:

This 62-page report highlights discrimination against Roma, Jews, and other national minorities in politics and government. Much of this discrimination stems from Bosnia’s 1995 Constitution, which mandates a system of government based on ethnicity and excludes these groups from high political office. The report also shows the wider impact of discrimination on the daily lives of Roma in accessing housing, education, healthcare, and employment.

[Access]
(Source: Human Rights Watch)

 

In Cold Blood

In Cold Blood

In Cold Blood: Summary Executions by Syrian Security Forces and Pro-Government Militias.
By Human Rights Watch.

Further Information on the Report:

This 23-page report documents more than a dozen incidents involving at least 101 victims since late 2011, many of them in March 2012. Human Rights Watch documented the involvement of Syrian forces and pro-government shabeeha militias in summary and extrajudicial executions in the governorates of Idlib and Homs. Government and pro-government forces not only executed opposition fighters they had captured, or who had otherwise stopped fighting and posed no threat, but also civilians who likewise posed no threat to the security forces.

[Access]
(Source: Human Rights Watch)

 

“You Will Not Have Peace While You Are Living”

“You Will Not Have Peace While You Are Living”

“You Will Not Have Peace While You Are Living”: The Escalation of Political Violence in Burundi.
By Human Rights Watch.

Further Information on the Report:

This 81-page report documents political killings stemming from the 2010 elections in Burundi. These killings, which peaked toward the middle of 2011, often took the form of tit-for-tat attacks by members of the ruling National Council for the Defense of Democracy-Forces for the Defense of Democracy (Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie-Forces pour la défense de la démocratie, CNDD-FDD) and the opposition National Liberation Forces (Forces nationales de libération, FNL). In the vast majority of cases, justice has been denied to families of the victims.

[Access]
(Source: Human Rights Watch)

 

“They Burned My Heart”

“They Burned My Heart”

“They Burned My Heart”: War Crimes in Northern Idlib during Peace Plan Negotiations.
By Human Rights Watch.

Further Information on the Report:

This report documents dozens of extrajudicial executions, killings of civilians, and destruction of civilian property that qualify as war crimes, as well as arbitrary detention and torture. The report is based on a field investigation conducted by Human Rights Watch in the towns of Taftanaz, Saraqeb, Sarmeen, Kelly, and Hazano in Idlib governorate in late April.

[Access]
(Source: Human Rights Watch)

 

Criminal Reprisals

Criminal Reprisals

Criminal Reprisals: Kenyan Police and Military Abuses against Ethnic Somalis.
By Human Rights Watch.

Further Information on the Report:

This report provides detailed documentation of human rights abuses by the Kenya Defence Forces and the Kenyan police in apparent response to a series of grenade and improvised explosive device (IED) attacks that targeted both the security forces and civilians in North Eastern province. Rather than conducting investigations to identify and apprehend the perpetrators, both the police and army responded with violent reprisals against Kenyan citizens and Somali refugees.

[Access]
(Source: Human Rights Watch)

 

New Publications from the TSO on the UK Border Office; Immigration and The US-UK Extradition Treaty

The following reports have recently been published by the UK Stationary Office:

Work of the UK Border Agency

Work of the UK Border Agency

Work of the UK Border Agency (August–December 2011):  HC 1722, Twenty-first Report of Session 2010-12 – Report, Together with Formal Minutes, Oral and Written Evidence.
Author: House of Commons – Home Affairs Committe

‘Immigration: The Points Based System – Student Route: Home Office: UK Border Agency (HC 1827)’ examines how students from countries outside the European Economic Area can study in the UK, provided they are sponsored by educational institutions licensed by the UK Border Agency. This points-based route is known as “Tier 4″.
(Source: The Stationary Office)

[Access]
(Source: The Stationary Office)

The US-UK Extradition Treaty

The US-UK Extradition Treaty

The US-UK Extradition Treaty: HC 644, Twentieth Report of Session 2010-12 – Report, Together with Formal Minutes, Oral and Written Evidence.
Author: House of Commons – Home Affairs Committee.

The report ‘The US-UK Extradition Treaty (HC 644)’ urges the Government to act immediately to deal with growing public unease about the fairness of the US-UK Extradition Treaty as highlighted by the cases of Gary McKinnon, Richard O’Dwyer and Christopher Tappin.
(Source: The Stationary Office).

[Access]
(Source: The Stationary Office)

Immigration: The Points Based System - Student Route

Immigration: The Points Based System – Student Route

Immigration: The Points Based System – Student Route: Home Office: UK Border Agency: HC 1827, Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Session 2010-12.
Author: National Audit Office (NAO).

‘Immigration: The Points Based System – Student Route: Home Office: UK Border Agency (HC 1827)’ examines how students from countries outside the European Economic Area can study in the UK, provided they are sponsored by educational institutions licensed by the UK Border Agency. This points-based route is known as “Tier 4″.
(Source: The Stationary Office).

[Access]
(Source: The Stationary Office)

Event: Displaced Childhoods: Oral History and Traumatic Experiences

*** Apologies for Cross-Posting ***

From the Oral History Society Website:

Displaced Childhoods: Oral History and Traumatic Experiences

Oral History Society Annual Conference: Friday and Saturday 13-14 July 2012

Southampton Solent University in association with Modern Languages, University of Southampton

Conference venue: Southampton Solent University Conference Centre, Sir James Matthews Building, 157-187 Above Bar Street, Southampton, Hampshire, SO14 7NN

Download provisional programme | Download conference registration form

Displaced Childhoods: Oral History and Traumatic Experiences

Displaced Childhoods: Oral History and Traumatic Experiences

Please click the poster above to download and print an A4 copy for your institution

This multidisciplinary conference will showcase how oral history is increasingly being used to explore the impact of traumatic events such as war, evacuation, conflict and growing up in care has on children and their adult selves. We have an exciting line up of speakers from both the UK and overseas, presenting papers on a range of topics around displaced childhoods, as well as on methodological and ethical issues. The conference will be of interest to all those working in the field of oral history.

Key themes of the conference include:

  • Internal migration and the global movement of children from Spain, India, the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda
  • The ‘Forgotten Children’ forcibly migrated to Australia
  • Childhood experience of civil disasters
  • The effects of growing up in care and long-term hospitalisation
  • The development of therapeutic environments for children and young people with emotional, social and behavioural disorders.

Keynote Speakers

Dr Joanna Sassoon , project manager of the Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants oral history project at the National Library of Australia; and

Professor Lynn Abrams, author of The Orphan Country: Children of Scotland’s Broken Homes and Oral History Theory

We are pleased to be holding the conference at Southampton Solent University as this year the city commemorates the 75th anniversary of the little known story of Los Niños, the children evacuated to the UK during the Spanish Civil War. An oral history project on Los Niños will be discussed at the conference.

Southampton is well connected by air, coach, rail, road, and sea. And the university is only 10 minutes walk from Southampton rail station.

A conference registration form can be accessed by clicking this link.