New Online Resource: Urban Refugees.org

Please find details below of a new online resource dedicated to promoting the rights of urban refugees and internally displaced persons. Urban refugees is a non-governmental organisation and full details of the work they are currently undertaken can be found on their website as follows:

• Urban Refugees.org website - 
  http://urban-refugees.org/
  

Further background information can be found on the Urban Refugees.org website as follows:

Urban Refugees is a Non Governmental Organization dedicated to promoting the rights of urban refugees and Internally Displaced People (IDPs) worldwide. Through documentation, networking and advocacy activities our organization aims at improving the plight of urban refugees and IDPs worldwide.

Urban refugees and IDPs are persons who, for fear of persecution, had to flee from the place where they used to reside and found refuge in an urban area, be it in another country (refugees) or in their own country (IDPs).

Although half of the refugee and IDP population worldwide is now living in urban areas, these particularly vulnerable populations have attracted a level of attention that has clearly not matched their number. The international community’s engagement has focused on the management of camps and settlements in rural areas, giving little attention to the plight of urban refugees and IDPs. Even though in recent years the issue of urban refugees and IDPs has been increasingly considered by both humanitarian actors and academics, the attention given to the subject remains too scarce.

This website was conceived as an online platform on which you will find:

• Relevant and up to date documents (reports, articles, thesis) on urban refugees and IDPs (See Resources),
• Information about the situation of urban refugees and IDPs worldwide and the challenges they face (see Learn About)
• The very latest news on urban displacements worldwide (see News)
• Case studies highlighting specific country situations where urban refugees and IDPs are to be found (See Country Monitoring)
• Contacts of other NGOs working with urban refugees and IDPs (See The Network)
• Contacts of academics specialized on urban displacements worldwide (See The Network)
• Innovating ideas and good practices from all around the world and dedicated to NGOs, academics and UNHCR (See Idea Box)

Urban Refugees.org website - 
http://urban-refugees.org/

 

Resources: UNHCR launches updated version of key protection tool, Refworld

Link on UNHCR Website: UNHCR launches updated version of key protection tool, Refworld.

News Stories, 17 April 2013

© UNHCR/EPU

The new Refworld has been designed for use on multiple devices

GENEVA, April 17 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency on Wednesday launched a new and improved version of Refworld, a widely used online protection and research tool that helps those who have to decide on refugee and statelessness status.

Refworld 2013 (
http://www.refworld.org
) contains a vast collection of reports relating to situations in countries of origin, policy papers, case law and other documents relating to international and national legal frameworks. The documents have been carefully selected from – and with – UNHCR field offices, governments, international, regional and non-governmental organizations, academic institutions and judicial bodies.

The service is free of charge and provides the crucial country of origin and legal information that UNHCR staff, government officials and judges need to decide whether an asylum-seeker is a refugee. To be recognized as a refugee, it has to be accepted that the applicant has a well-founded fear of persecution and cannot or will not return home because of that fear.

UNHCR Director of International Protection Volker Türk said Refworld 2013 was an improved version on the existing model, which was one of the most reliable and comprehensive websites in its field. “Refworld 2013 is more intuitive, looks better, can handle non-Roman script search terms and has improved search options. I have tried it myself and can assure you that finding the information you are looking for has become much easier,” he said.

“Without proper procedures, in which reliable country of origin information is available and well-used, people who need international refugee protection may not be able to access it,” Türk said, referring to the process of refugee status determination or asylum procedures. “Therefore, refugees and the stateless are the people who ultimately benefit from Refworld’s improved capacity to find relevant protection information faster.”

Refworld’s unparalleled collection of protection information has been developed over more than two decades by UNHCR’s Electronic Publishing Unit and the Division of International Protection. It initially appeared in CD-ROM and DVD formats and in 2007 went online.

A powerful and easy-to-use web application, it has been developed to meet the highest standards and best practices in online information management. It includes improved possibilities for browsing the collection of more than 167,000 documents by region and/or country, by publisher, by topic or keyword and by document type. In addition, it has a powerful full text search engine and advanced search facilities, including a thesaurus which allows for the inclusion of variations of search terms.

Refworld is updated daily and includes thematic pages on topics of importance to UNHCR such as refugee status determination, statelessness, mixed migration, sexual orientation and gender identity, and people trafficking.

It enhances UNHCR’s international protection mandate by making protection information available to everyone. UNHCR intends to develop different language versions of Refworld, starting with a Russian version later this year.

 

Update – Newly Published Research and Reports 2

EU Immigration Policies are Inconsistent and Overly Restrictive (IP-Global, June 2011) [text]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

“How Can Civil Society Contribute to the Lawfulness of the Treatment of Illegal Migrants and Asylum Seekers?”, Chapter in Collection of Policy Papers on Police Reform in Serbia, no. 5 (Belgrade Center for Human Rights & Belgrade Center for Security Policy, July 2011) [text]
- Scroll down to p. 21.
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Permanent Crises? Unlocking the Protracted Displacement of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (RSC et al., Oct. 2011) [text]
- See also related case studies.
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Placing Shibboleths at the Institutional Gate: LADO Tests and the Construction of Asylum Seekers’ Identities, Tilburg Papers in Culture Studies, no. 8 (Tilburg University, Oct. 2011) [text]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Reconsidering West African Migration: Changing Focus from European Immigration to Intra-regional Flows, DIIS Working Paper, no. 21 (Danish Institute of International Studies, Oct. 2011) [text]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Humanitarian Emergency Response to the Libyan Crisis: Seven-month Report on IOM’s Response, 28 Feb – 27 Sep 2011 (IOM, Oct. 2011) [text via ReliefWeb]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

DNA Tests: A Barrier to Speedy Family Reunification (Canadian Council for Refugees, Oct. 2011) [text]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Immigration Detention in Switzerland: A Global Detention Project Special Report (Global Detention Project, Oct. 2011) [text]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Precarious Housing & Hidden Homelessness Among Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Immigrants: Bibliography and Review of Canadian Literature from 2005 to 2010, CERIS Working Paper No. 84 (CERIS, Aug. 2011) [text]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Shared Responsibility in a New Egypt: A Strategy for Refugee Protection (Center for Migration and Refugee Studies, Sept. 2011) [text]

Migration Trends and Patterns in Jordan: The Human Rights Context (Center for Migration and Refugee Studies, Oct. 2011) [text]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Response Still Centred on Return Despite Increasing IDP Demands for Local Integration (Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, Oct. 2011) [text]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Statistical Report on UNHCR Registered Iraqis and Non-Iraqis: Iraq, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, and the GCC Countries (UNHCR, Sept. 2011) [text]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Unlocking Protracted Displacement: An Iraqi Case Study, Working Paper, no. 78 (RSC et al., Aug. 2011) [text]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

UNHCR has released the companion to its annual Global Trends publication. The report, Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries: Statistical Overview of Asylum Applications Lodged in Europe and Selected non-European Countries.
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Fiona MacTaggart MP and Matthew Lawrence have released a new report entitled, ‘Service not servitude: protecting the rights of domestic workers’
(Source : Migrants’ Rights Watch –
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/news/2011/publication-service-not-servitude-protecting-rights-domestic-workers

Migrants in an irregular situation: access to healthcare in 10 European Union Member States.  A new report by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) 
[Download Full Report]
(Source Migrants’ Rights Network –
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/news/2011/access-healthcare-vulnerable-migrants-gives-concern-10-eu-countries-and-uk
)

Temporary and Circular Migration: empirical evidence, current policy practice and future options in EU Member States.  A new report by the European Migration Network.
[Download Full Report]
(Source: Migrants’ Rights Network –
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/news/2011/new-study-looks-circular-and-temporary-migration-policies-eu
)

New Publication 2

 Aid Delivery in Yemen Becoming Ever More Complex (IRIN News, Oct. 2011) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)Inquiry into the Agreement between Australia and Malaysia on the Transfer of Asylum Seekers to Malaysia (Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law et al., Sept. 2011) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

“Iraqi Refugees: Still There,” Chapter in A Global Agenda: Issues Before the United Nations 2011-2012 (United Nations Association of the USA, 2011) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Report on the Visit to Lampedusa (Italy) (23-24 May 2011) (PACE Ad Hoc Sub-Committee on the Large-scale Arrival of Irregular Migrants, Asylum Seekers and Refugees on Europe’s Southern Shores, Sept. 2011) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Security Council, Internal Displacement and Protection: Recommendations for Strengthening Action through Resolutions (Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement, Sept. 2011) [text via ReliefWeb]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Trafficking in Workers: The Human Rights Paradigm to Trafficking in Persons and the Challenge of Labor Rights (ExpressO, 2011) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

A Commentary on the April 2011 Zimbabwe Operational Guidance Note (ARC & Still Human, Still Here, Oct. 2011) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)Coping with the Refugee Implications and International Obligations as a Result of the New South Sudan (Human Rights Brief, March 2011) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Europe Fighting Irregular Migration – Consequences for West African Mobility, DIIS Policy Brief (Danish Inst. for International Studies, Oct. 2011) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

The European Union Evades its Obligations to Refugees Fleeing Libya (Human Rights Brief, Oct. 2011) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Internal Displacement in Colombia and Beyond: An International Framework for Protection and Assistance (U.S. Dept. of State, Oct. 2011) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Yemen: New displacement due to unrest, displacement due to Sa’ada conflict continues.  A new IDMC report:

In the wave of civil protests which have swept across the Middle East and North Africa, political instability and increasing violence involving the Yemeni government, protestors, rival tribal militias and militants have led to new waves of displacement in southern, central and northern areas of the country.

[Download the Report]

(Source: IDMC –
http://www.internal-displacement.org/
).

Report on an unannounced short follow-up inspection of Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre (16 – 18 May 2011) by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
[Download the Report]
(Source: HM Inspectorate of Prisons –
http://www.justice.gov.uk/
).

New Publications 1

The Climate Diaspora: Indo-Pacific Emigration from Small Island Developing States, Thesis submitted to the McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies (Univ. of Massachusetts, May 2011) [text via SSRN]
- One section “examines the unique possibility of climate-induced statelessness.”
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
).

International Law and Climate Migrants: A Human Rights Perspective, Sustainable Development Law on Climate Change Legal Working Paper Series (International Development Law Organization, March 2011) [text]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
).

The Climate Diaspora: Indo-Pacific Emigration from Small Island Developing States, Thesis submitted to the McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies (Univ. of Massachusetts, May 2011) [text via SSRN]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
).The Development of the Common European Asylum System and the Greek Example, Thesis submitted to the International Law Faculty (Tilburg University, August 2011) [text]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
).

Dream of the Hanging Gardens: Male Iraqi Refugees and Exiles in Jordan, their Migration and Adaptation Experiences, Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies (University of British Columbia, August 2011) [text]

Finding a Home: The Housing Experiences of Government Assisted Refugees and Refugee Claimants in Winnipeg and Vancouver, Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies (University of British Columbia, September 2011) [text]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
).

Greek Aid: Inside and Outside the Borders – An Overview of External Humanitarian/Developmental Policy and Internal Policy towards Refugees and Asylum Seekers of Greece, Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts (University of Groningen, September 2011) [text]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
).

Problems of Integration of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in Serbia, Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science (Palacký University, August 2010) [text]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
).

New Publications 2

Resource information compiled from the Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog - 
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/

Border Control: The Unanswered Calls (openDemocracy, Sept. 2011) [text]

How to Protect ‘Invisible’ People (openDemocracy, Sept. 2011) [text]

Populations at Risk of Disaster: A Resettlement Guide (GFDRR & World Bank, 2011) [text]- See also companion report.

Stolen Lives: Human Trafficking from Palaung Area of Burma to China (Palaung Women’s Organization, 2011) [text via Human Security Gateway]

(updated)
“African Refugees and the Challenges to UNHCR,” Chapter in The African State in a Changing Global Context: Breakdowns and Transformations (LIT Verlag, 2011) [Google preview] [info]

African Refugees and Immigrants 60 years after the Refugee Convention: Challenges and Opportunities, Washington, DC, 2-4 May 2011 [conf. summary]

African Refugees in the Amazon (IPS, Sept. 2011) [text]

Mixed Responses to Mixed Migration in Africa (IRIN, Sept. 2011) [text]

Protecting Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Immigrants in South Africa during 2010 (CoRMSA, April 2011) [text]

Somalia: A Humanitarian and Human Rights Catastrophe (Amnesty International, Sept. 2011) [text]

Somalia and the International Status Quo in Refugee Management (MSF CRASH, Sept. 2011) [text]

Stateless in Zimbabwe, the Only Country They’ve Ever Called Home (Statelessness Programme Blog, Sept. 2011) [text]

Yemen: 2011 Humanitarian Response Plan (OCHA, Dec. 2010) [text via Refworld]

The Different National Practices concerning Granting of non-EU Harmonised Protection Statuses: Synthesis Report (European Migration Network, Dec. 2010) [access]- See also annexes and individual country reports.

Implementation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and its Impact on EU Home Affairs Agencies: Frontex, Europol and the European Asylum Support Office (European Parliament, Sept. 2011) [text via Migrants at Sea]

Refugees at the Border: Country Reports on Activities Related to the Access to the Territory and Asylum Procedure for Persons in Need of International Protection (UNHCR Central Europe, Nov. 2010) [text]

Serbia as a Safe Third Country: A Wrong Presumption (Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Sept. 2011) [text]

They Can’t Send Me Back: Uyghur Asylum Seekers in Europe (Uyghur Human Rights Project, Sept. 2011) [text]

Information sourced from the Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog, (
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
).

Updated Resource: Launch of Redesigned Forced Migration Online Website

Forced Migration Online (FMO) is pleased to announce the launch of the
redesigned FMO website at: www.forcedmigration.org

Forced Migration Online is home to a large collection of resources
relating to refugees and forced migration. The website is designed for
use by academics, practitioners, policy makers, the media, or anyone
else interested in the field of forced migration.

What’s New:

* A cleaner, less cluttered interface.
* A more consistent layout and navigation structure.
* Clearer copyright information throughout the site.

We would like to reassure visitors to the site that all the content
available on the old FMO site has been preserved. As far as is possible,
individual page links (URLs) have been maintained, so that bookmarks and
links from external sites should still work.

We hope that the redesign will make it easier for visitors to discover,
download and share resources on forced migration. We would love to hear
any feedback that you might have.

Please email us at: fmo@qeh.ox.ac.uk.

New Publications Update – Part 2

The Welsh Refugee Council has just produced a research report entitled “Young Lives in Limbo: The Protection of Age Disputed Young People in Wales.” The issue of age assessments of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum has been addressed fairly regularly in the literature recently, from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Here are some other references that I have come across:

“Age Determination of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Minors in the European Union: A Health Law Perspective,” European Journal of Health Law, vol. 18, no. 1 (2011) [abstract]

Age Assessment Practices: A Literature Review & Annotated Bibliography (UNICEF, 2011) [text]

Assessing Age or Assessing Needs: A Literature Review of Age Assessment of Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking Children (Univ. of Copenhagen, 2010) [text]

“Assessing Chronological Age of Unaccompanied Minors in Southern Italy,” American Journal of Forensic Medicine & Pathology, Advance Access, 30 June 2011 [abstract]

“How Old Are You? Ethical Dilemmas in Working with Age-Disputed Young Asylum Seekers,” Practice, Forthcoming Article, 5 Aug. 2011 [abstract]

Methods for Assessing the Age of Migrant Children Must Be Improved (Human Rights Comment, Aug. 2011) [text]

“A New Approach to Age Assessment of Unaccompanied and Separated Children: Current Practices and Challenges in the UK,” Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter, no. 11 (Jan. 2011) [text]

Negotiating Childhood: Age Assessment in the UK Asylum System, Working Paper, no. 67 (RSC, Nov. 2010) [text]

Displacement in Libya: Humanitarian Priorities (Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement, Aug. 2011) [text]

The Implications of the US Anti-Human Trafficking Strategy for National Policies: The Case of Malaysia, NTS Alert (Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, Aug. 2011) [text]

Field Handbook for the Implementation of UNHCR BID Guidelines (UNHCR & IRC, Aug. 2011) [text]
- Serves as a “a complementary source of guidance” to the UNHCR Guidelines for Determining the Best Interests of the Child (2008).

The Legal Dimension of Migration: The Palestinian Case, CARIM Analytic and Synthetic Notes 2011/28 (Consortium for Applied Research on International Migration, March 2011) [text]

Occupied Palestinian Territory: No End to Internal Displacement (IDMC, July 2011) [text]

Do Natural Disasters Really Lead to Forced Migration? Evidence from Indonesia (SSRN, Aug. 2011) [text]

Homophobia and the Governance of Sexuality in Uganda: The Concomitant Implications for Forced Migration (York University, June 2011) [text via SSRN]

New Zealand’s Refugee Sector: Perspectives and Developments, 1987-2010 (New Zealand Dept. of Labour, 2011) [text]

Recognition and Narrative Identities: The Legal Creation, Alienation and Liberation of the Refugee, ANU College of Law Research Paper No. 11-22 (Australian National University, Aug. 2011) [text via SSRN]

Selected Bibliography: Displacement to Urban Areas (UNHCR, updated Aug. 2011) [text]

Sex and Age Matter: Improving Humanitarian Response in Emergencies (Feinstein International Center, Aug. 2011) [text]

Commentaries on the UK Border Agency’s Operational Guidance Notes (Still Human Still Here, 2010-2011) [access]
- Series produced by the Asylum Research Consultancy for the Still Human Still Here coalition; the aim of the commentaries is to “identify inconsistencies and omissions between the available country of origin information and case law and the conclusions reached in the most recent OGN.”

Law School Clinics: A Crucial Resource for Asylum Seekers (Human Rights First Blog, Aug. 2011) [text]

Legal Framework and Standards relating to the Detention of Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants: A Guide (International Detention Coaliation, July 2011) [text]

The Recast of the EU Asylum Procedure and Reception Directives (ILGA Europe, July 2011) [text]

Resources Guide for Legal Practitioners Working with Refugee Children (ILPA, May 2011) [access]

Community and Household Surveillance in North Western Tanzania: Programme Outcome Monitoring in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp (UNHCR & WFP, June 2011) [text via ReliefWeb]

Operational Guidance for Coordinated Assessments in Humanitarian Crises (IASC, Feb. 2011) [text via ReliefWeb]
- Provisional version.

Protecting Refugees and Other Persons on the Move in the ECOWAS Space (UNHCR, Jan. 2011) [text]

Rebuilding Livelihoods after Dam-induced Relocation in Koga, Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia, Working Paper, no. 83 (Zentrum für Entwicklungsforschung, Aug. 2011) [text]

Refugees and Asylees in the United States (Migration Information Source, Aug. 2011) [text]

Climate Change and Migration: Rethinking Policies for Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction (UNU-EHS & Munich Re, April 2011) [text]
- Includes “Vulnerability and Population Displacements due to Climate-Induced Disasters in Coastal Bangladesh” and “Climate Change and Institutional Change in UNHCR.”

Fear and Loathing in the Asylum System, Part Deux (The Asylumist, Aug. 2011) [text]- Part 1 was included in this post.

Think Protection! A Protection Mainstreaming Tool for Drought, Famine and Displacement in Somalia (Somalia Protection Cluster, Aug. 2011) [text via ReliefWeb]

United States v. Malenge: Prosecutorial Discretion and the Problem of Non-Self-Executing Treaties in the Adjudication of Criminal Charges Against Asylum Seekers (ExpressO, 2011) [text]

Who Are Refugees? (ExpressO, 2011) [text]

EU Initiatives Supporting the Integration of Third-country Nationals (European Commission, July 2011) [text]

Field Guide to Humanitarian Mapping, 2nd ed. (MapAction, July 2011) [text]

Living Hand to Mouth: Protection Funding and Coordination in South Sudan, New Issues in Refugee Research, no. 218 (UNHCR, Aug. 2011) [text]

“Notes from the Field: Mortality Among Refugees Fleeing Somalia – Dadaab Refugee Camps, Kenya, July-August 2011,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 60, no. 33 (Aug. 2011) [text]

Refugee Roulette, European Style (IntLawGrrls, Aug. 2011) [text]

Uprooted and Unrestored: A Comparative Review of Durable Solutions for People Displaced by Conflict in Colombia and Liberia, PDES/2011/09 (UNHCR, Aug. 2011) [text]

Gender-related Claims for Asylum (Council of Europe, Parliamentary Assembly, July 2011) [text via Refworld]

Good News from Down Under (IntLawGrrls Blog, Sept. 2011) [text]
- Discusses recent High Court decision in Australia which struck down the government’s refugee exchange agreement with Malaysia.
“The Rights of Refugees: What Europe’s Problems Can Teach Canada about a Growing International Concern,” Literary Review of Canada (1 July 2011) [text]

Towards Ratification of the Statelessness Treaties (Lawyers for Human Rights, Aug. 2011) [text]

Working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Intersex Persons in Forced Displacement (UNHCR, 2011) [text]

Working with Persons with Disabilities in Forced Displacement (UNHCR, 2011) [text]

Corruption and Human Trafficking (Transparency International, 2011) [access via UN.GIFT]

Evaluation of the International Organization for Migration and its Efforts to Combat Human Trafficking (Norad, Feb. 2011) [access]- See links to report and annexes.

The Fight against Trafficking in Selected SEM and EU States (Consortium for Applied Research on International Migration, 2011) [text]
- “This report tries to give an insight into what case law on trafficking and exploitation has told us about implementation of trafficking legislation, focusing especially on the Mediterranean Region.”

Responding to Protection Gaps in Malaysia’s Anti-Human Trafficking Policies, NTS Alert (Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, Aug. 2011) [text]

“Complementary Protection for Victims of Human Trafficking under the European Convention on Human Rights,” Göttingen Journal of International Law, Forthcoming (2011) [abstract]

“Protecting Victims of Human Trafficking within a ‘Non-Refoulement‘ Framework: Is Complementary Protection an Effective Alternative in Canada and Australia?,” International Journal of Refugee Law, vol. 23, no. 3 (Oct. 2011) [abstract]

A Study of the Protection Afforded to Persons at Risk of Trafficking by Article 1A(2) of the Geneva Convention Regarding the Status of Refugees (1951) as Amended by the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (1967) (Univ. of Gothenburg, Aug. 2010) [text]
- “considers protection for trafficking victims under the Refugee Convention and concludes that it ‘may sometimes prove more fruitful to claim complementary protection under the European Union Refugee Qualification Directive or Art. 3 European Convention of Human Rights’.”

Can/Will Italy Be Held Accountable for Its ‘Push Back’ Policy in Relation to International Refugee, Human Rights and European Union Law?, Migration Studies Unit Working Paper, no. 12 (LSE, 2011) [access]- Select from list.

ECRE Comments and Recommendations on the Amended Commission Proposal to Recast the Asylum Procedures Directive (COM(2011) 319 final) (ECRE, Sept. 2011) [text]

The EU Legislation Game: The Case of Asylum Law, BETA Working Paper, no. 116 (Bureau d’Economie Théorique et Appliquée, Aug. 2011) [text via IDEAS]

Prospects for the Governance of Refugee Protection: Exploring the Effect of an Unbalanced Level of Asylum Recognition Rates amongst European Countries, Migration Studies Unit Working Paper, no. 10 (LSE, 2011) [access]
- Select from list.

Report by Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Following His Visit to Italy from 26 to 27 May 2011 (Council of Europe, Sept. 2011) [text]

Lisitng produced with thanks to the Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog by Elisa Mason :
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/

New Publications Update – Part 1

Beyond Squatters’ Rights: Durable Solutions and Development-induced Displacement in Monrovia, Liberia (Norwegian Refugee Council, May 2011) [text]
- This report also appeared in article form in the Journal of Internal Displacement.

From a Rock to a Hard Place: The Neglected Victims of the Conflict in Libya (MSF, June 2011) [text via ReliefWeb]

How the 9/11 Decade Changed the Aid, Security and Development Landscape, ODI Opinions, no. 155 (ODI, Sept. 2011) [text]

Outsourcing Asia’s Refugees (IRIN, Sept. 2011) [text]

Protection of and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons, UN Doc. No. A/66/285 (UN General Assembly, Aug. 2011) [text]

Uprooted and Unrestored: A Comparative Review of Durable Solutions for People Displaced by Conflict in Colombia and Liberia, PDES/2011/09 (UNHCR, Aug. 2011) [text]

Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, New York, 30 August 1961: Introduction (UN Audiovisual Library of International Law, Sept. 2011) [text]
- See also procedural history and list of preparatory documents.

Fleeing Homophobia: Asylum Claims Related to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Europe (COC Netherlands & Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Sept. 2011) [text]

- HT LGBT Asylum News.

“Reform for Refugees,” 10 Ideas for Equal Justice (Roosevelt Institute Campus Network, 2011) [text]
- Scroll to p. 26 of the publication.

Shadows of Return: The Dilemmas of Congolese Refugees in Rwanda, Citizenship and Displacement in the Great Lakes Region, Working Paper, no. 6 (International Refugee Rights Initiative, July 2011) [text]

- See also related blog post.

Statelessness and the European Court of Human Rights: The Kuric Case (Statelessness Programme Blog, Sept. 2011) [text]

9/11 and Humanitarian Assistance: A Disturbing Legacy (Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement, Sept. 2011) [text]

From Persecution to Persecution: LGBTI Refugees in Uganda and Kenya (Human Rights First Blog, Aug. 2011) [text]

Get Up and Go: Refugee Resettlement and Secondary Migration in the USA, New Issues in Refugee Research, no. 219 (UNHCR, Sept. 2011) [text]

No Place to Call Home: Repatriation from Germany to Kosovo as Seen and Experienced by Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian Children (UNICEF, Aug. 2011) [text via Refworld]

No Regrets? (Inside Story, Sept. 2011) [text]

Sanctuary in the City? Urban Displacement and Vulnerability in Nairobi (ODI et al., Sept. 2011) [text]

Conflict and its Impact on Educational Accumulation and Enrollment in Colombia: What We Can Learn from Recent IDPs, IZA Discussion Paper, no. 5939 (Institute for the Study of Labor, Aug. 2011) [text]

“EMDR versus Stabilisation in Traumatised Asylum Seekers and Refugees: Results of a Pilot Study,” European Journal of Psychotraumatology, vol. 2 (2011) [open access article]

“‘No God and No Norway’: Collective Resource Loss among Members of Tamil NGO’s in Norway during and after the Last Phase of the Civil War in Sri Lanka,” International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 5: 18 (Aug. 2011) [open access article]

Pakistan: Flood Survivors Still Struggling to Recover (Refugees International, Aug. 2011) [text]

“Trauma and Second Language Learning Among Laotian Refugees,” Journal of Southeast Asian American Education & Advancement, vol. 6 (2011) [open access article]

Activity Choices of Internally Displaced Persons and Returnees: Quantitative Survey Evidence from Post-War Northern Uganda, HiCN Working Paper 98 (Households in Conflict Network, August 2011) [text]

Displaced Populations, Humanitarian Assistance and Hosts: A Framework for Analyzing Impacts on Semi-urban Households (Dept. of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin, May 2011) [text]
The Economic Integration of Forced Migrants: Evidence for Post-War Germany, IZA Discussion Paper, no. 5855 (Institute for the Study of Labor, July 2011) [text]

The Evils of Forced Migration: Do Integration Policies Alleviate Migrants’ Economic Situations?, IZA Discussion Paper, no. 5829 (Institute for the Study of Labor, June 2011) [text]

From Persecution to Poverty: The Costs of the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program’s Narrow Emphasis on Early Employment (PolicyMatters, July 2011) [text]

Winners and Losers among a Refugee-Hosting Population, Paper presented at 8th Midwest International Economic Development Conference, Madison, Wisconsin, April 2011 [text]
- Revised version of earlier working paper.

Lisitng produced with thanks to the Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog by Elisa Mason :
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/

Newly Released Publications Online

Colombia: Property restitution in sight but integration still distant
Read the Overview (html / pdf)
(Source : IDMC –
http://www.internal-displacement.org/
)

Burundi: Secure tenure and land access still challenges for long-term IDPs
Read the Overview (html / pdf)
(Source : IDMC –
http://www.internal-displacement.org/
)

IRR Briefing Paper no.5, Breivik, the conspiracy theory and the Oslo massacre. here (pdf file, 444kb)
(Source : Institute for Race Relations –
http://www.irr.org.uk
)

IOM Counter-Trafficking Directory for the UK
Download the Directory (PDF)
(Source : Migrants’ Rights Network –
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/news/2011/iom-publishes-counter-trafficking-directory-uk
)

The Prisons inspectorate this week published two reports on the forced removal of immigration detainees to, respectively, Jamaica and Nigeria.
The reports can be accessed from HERE
(Source : Migrants’ Rights Network –
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/news/2011/hm-prisons-inspector-criticises-immigration-removal-practices-jamaica-and-nigeria
)

MRN Briefing Paper – The Proposed Changes to Legal Aid and what they Could Mean for Migrant’s Access to Justice.
(Source : Migrants’ Rights Network –
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/blog/2011/09/mrn-concerned-over-legal-aid-reform-campaign
).

UK migration: the leadership role of housing providers.  New report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Download copy of the report HERE.
(Source : Migrants’ Rights Network –
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/migration-pulse/2011/migration-who-will-take-lead-local-level
).

ONS Quarterly Migration Statistics : August 2011.
Download the report
(Source : Migrants’ Rights Network –
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/news/2011/quarterly-migration-statistics-august-2011
).

UK Home Office Occasional Paper Number 96 : Mirage-related Migration to the UK
Download the Report
(Source : Migrants’ Rights Network –
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/news/2011/home-office-marriage-related-migration-uk
).

Joint submission by UK NGOs Against Racism to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) with regard to the UK Government’s 18th and 19th Periodic Reports
Download the Report
(Source : Migrants’ Rights Network –
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/news/2011/joint-submission-uk-ngos-against-racism-un-committee-elimination-racial-discrimination
).

Compas Briefing : Migrants and Housing in the UK: Experiences and Impacts
Download the Report
(Source : Migrants’ Rights Network –
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/news/2011/migrants-and-housing-uk-experiences-and-impacts
).

Center for Immigration Studies Backgrounder : Border Watchlisting a Decade after 9/11.
Download the Report
(Source : Center for Immigration Studies –
http://cis.org/border-watchlisting-9-11
).

New International Crisis Group Report entitled :  Liberia: How Sustainable Is the Recovery?
Download the Report
(Source : International Crisis Group –
http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/africa/west-africa/liberia/177-liberia-how-sustainable-is-the-recovery.aspx
).

Commentary on the Afghanistan Operational Guidance Note (OGN), issued by UKBA in March 2011.  This is the first in a series that will be published in the coming months as new OGNs are issued.  These documents will be published on the Still Human, Still Here website:
http://stillhumanstillhere.wordpress.com/resources/

(Source : ICAR –
http://www.icar.org.uk/
)

“Young Lives in Limbo: The Protection of Age Disputed Young People in Wales.” Is a new report from The Welsh Refugee Council has just produced a research report
(Source : ICAR –
http://www.icar.org.uk/
)

New Publications Online (Part 3)

GHA Report 2011

Global Humanitarian Assistance have published the 2011 edition of their GHA Annual Report.  The report focuses on international expenditures in relation to humanitarian aid and the it argues that :

“The latter part of the last decade has been underscored by deepening vulnerability in many developing countries associated with the global financial and food crises. Meanwhile, conflict and climate change-related hazards have remained a major threat to the lives and livelihoods of many.”
GHA Report 2011

The report synopis can be found [here] and the report itself can be downloaded in PDF format – [here].
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Ensuring Access to Health Care: Operational Guidance on Refugee Protection and Solutions in Urban Areas (UNHCR, 2011) [text]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

UNHCR’s Response to the Somali Displacement Crisis into Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya (UNHCR, July 2011) [text]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Humanitarian Action under Scrutiny: Criminalizing Humanitarian Engagement (HPCR, Feb. 2011) [text via ReliefWeb]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Migrants in an Irregular Situation Employed in Domestic Work: Fundamental Rights Challenges for the European Union and its Member States (European Agency for Fundamental Rights, July 2011) [text via Refworld]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Diaspora Peacebuilding Capacity: Women in Exile on the Thai/Burmese Border (Peacebuild/Paix Durable, March 2011) [text via Human Security Gateway]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Internal Displacement in Afghanistan (Refugee Cooperation, June 2011) [text]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Iraqi Refugees and IDPs: From Humanitarian Intervention to Durable Solutions (Refugee Cooperation, June 2011) [text]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

A Lost Cause: Australia-Malaysia’s Asylum Deal (Malaysian Insider, June 2011) [text]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Refugee Swap Deal: Will it Reduce Irregular Migration?, RSIS Commentaries, no. 99/2011 (RSIS, July 2011) [text]
(Source : Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog –
http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/
)

Recent Publications Online

Getting Away with Torture Report

A new report has been published by Human Rights Watch, entitled `Getting Away with Torture : The Bush Administration and Mistreatment of Detainees.’  the report was publ;ished on July 12, 2011, and Human Rights Watch write:

“This 107-page report presents substantial information warranting criminal investigations of Bush and senior administration officials, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and CIA Director George Tenet, for ordering practices such as “waterboarding,” the use of secret CIA prisons, and the transfer of detainees to countries where they were tortured.”

Further details can be found on the Human Rights Watch web-site here 
http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2011/07/12/getting-away-torture-0
; along with a Press Release and the PDF Download of the entire report.

New Resource: No Other Option: Testimonies from Asylum Seekers in Ukraine, JRS Europe

JRS Europe has published a new report, No Other Option: Testimonies from Asylum Seekers in Ukraine. Its based on interviews done with asylum seekers living in the JRS Ukraine refugee house in Lviv (western border), as well as with Ukrainian border officials, UNHCR, Caritas, lawyers and doctors.  The report is avaialbel to download from:

http://www.jrseurope.org/publications/JRS%20Europe_Asylum%20Seekers%20in%20Ukraine_June2011.pdf

The press release is also available at :
(
http://www.jrseurope.org/news_releases/UkrainePostLaunchPR29062011.htm
); and a testimony (
http://www.jrseurope.org/news_releases/Ukraine%20refugee%20testimony.htm
) from a refugee living in Ukraine.

New Amnesty International Publication entitled `Crackdown in Syria : Terror in Tell Kelakh.’  This report by Amnesty International :

“documents deaths in custody, torture and arbitrary detention that took place in May when Syrian army and security forces mounted a broad security sweep, lasting less than a week, against residents of the town near the Lebanese border.

“The accounts we have heard from witnesses to events in Tell Kalakh paint a deeply disturbing picture of systematic, targeted abuses to crush dissent,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director.”

A press release by Amnesty International entitled `Report reveals crimes against humanity in Syrian town‘ fives an initial insight into the research (AI Index: PRE01/338/2011) and the full report can be accessed in PDF format – [here].

Amnesty International UK have also published a media briefing tackling the issues surrounding the use of private contractors in the forced removals of deportees from the UK.

In a press release on the 7 July 2011, entitled `UK: Ill-trained, dangerous and unaccountable – Amnesty calls for complete overhaul of enforced removals by private security companies‘ Amnesty stated that:

Private security companies, contracted by the UK Government, have reportedly used dangerous and improper control and restraint techniques. In the 2010 case of Jimmy Mubenga at least, these appear to have resulted in someone’s death. One such technique was nick-named by contractors “Carpet Karaoke”, as it involved forcing an individual’s face down towards the carpet with such force that they were only able to scream inarticulately ‘like a bad karaoke singer’. It involves the seated detainee being handcuffed, with a tight seatbelt through the cuffs and their head pushed down between their legs. There is a serious risk of death by positional asphyxia when this technique is used

This was also reported in The Guardian newspaper and the news story can be found – [here]. Download the full media briefing – ‘Out of Control: The case for a complete overhaul of enforced removals by private contractors’ (pdf)

The Feinstein International Centre have also recently published a report entitled, `Winning Hearts and Minds? Examining the Relationship between Aid and Security in Balkh Province.’  This report was written by Paul Fishtein in November 2010 and argues that :

Afghanistan has been a testing ground for a key aspect of counterinsurgency doctrine, namely that humanitarian and development projects can help to bring or maintain security in strategically important environments, and by “winning hearts and minds” undermine support for radical, insurgent, or terrorist groups. The assumption that aid projects improve security has lead to a sharp increase in overall development funding, an increased percentage of activities programmed based on strategic security considerations, and a shift of development activities to the military. Given what is at stake, it is essential that policy makers understand whether and how aid projects can actually contribute to security.

The report can be accessed from the feinstein website at :
https://wikis.uit.tufts.edu/confluence/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=42671653

Journal Cover Page

New Article : Transitional Justice and Displacement by Roger Duthie.  International Journal of Transitional Justice (2011) doi: 10.1093/ijtj/ijr009   First published online: June 9, 2011
Link :
http://ijtj.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/06/09/ijtj.ijr009.short?rss=1&ssource=mfr

 

State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2011

State of the World's Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2011

Minority Rights Group International have just published the 2011 edition of their flagship publication entitled, `State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2011: Events of 2010.’

This year, the focus of the report is on the rights of women, and includes:

• Discussions of gender-based violence and armed conflict, including the violence that indigenous and minority women experience within their own communities, and the difficulties that they face in accessing justice and support from outside.
• Consideration of the lack of progress made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals for minority and indigenous women, with special focus on reproductive rights and maternal mortality.
• Interviews and special reports on trafficking, intersectional discrimination, land seizures and women’s political representation.
• Overviews of the human rights situation of minorities and indigenous peoples in every major world region.
• ‘Peoples Under Threat 2011′ – MRG’s unique statistical analysis and ranking of countries.

The main web page for the report is here :
http://www.minorityrights.org/10848/state-of-the-worlds-minorities/state-of-the-worlds-minorities-and-indigenous-peoples-2011.html

A PDF version of the report can also be downloaded here :
http://www.minorityrights.org/download.php?id=1011

Off-Air Recording Requests : WB 04/07/2011

The following off-air recording requests were made for the Refugee Council Archive for the week beginning Monday 4^th July, 2011 :

Monday 04 July

2000-2100: Channel 4 : Dispatches – Landlords from Hell.  VIDEO Plus+: 2297

Tuesday 05 July

2200-0005 : More 4 : True Stories: Voices from the Killing Fields.  VIDEO Plus+: 25944679

Wednesday 06 July

2100-2200 : BBC2 : Afghanistan – The Unknown Country.  VIDEO Plus+: 9525

2230-2330: BBC4: (1/5) Syrian School – (part 1) Changing Schools.  VIDEO Plus+: 5045231.   Whole Series Please.

New Publications Part 2

Longitudinal study of migrant workers in the East of England 2008-2010: final report

http://www.eelga.gov.uk/documents/Policy%20and%20Priorities/Strategic%20Migration%20Partnership/Migrant%20workers/EEDA%20Report%202011%20Final%20(DCS).pdf

(Source: EoE AS&R/MW Newsflash 13-17 June 2011).  This “study explored the perspectives of migrant workers (and stakeholders) in relation to: factors that influence decisions on coming to the UK and length of stay; barriers to full participation in the regional economy; and, barriers to social inclusion in local communities.”
(Source: The Network –
http://www.seapn.org.uk/
)

Improving immigrants’ employment prospects through work-focused language instruction

http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/workfocusedlanguageinstruction.pdf

(Source: EoE AS&R/MW Newsflash 13-17 June 2011).  This new report from the Migration Policy Institute looks at how to deliver host-country language skills which are necessary for success in the workplace. Useful background for those of us involved in ESOL provision.
(Source: The Network –
http://www.seapn.org.uk/
)

Giorgia Dona

Migration, Representation and Citizenship in the Wake of the Arab Spring
By Giorgia Dona.

http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/migration-pulse/2011/migration-representation-and-citizenship-wake-arab-spring

“Though only a small proportion of refugees arrive in Western countries, they have a profound impact on national dialogues. This article is a republished version of the original that appeared on the www.thinkafricapress.com website and is published with their and the author’s kind permission.”
(Source: Migrants’ Rights Network –
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/
)

“Off Target …”

http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/commentary/target-government-policies-are-not-track-reducing-net-migration-tens-thousands-2015

(Source: Migrants Rights News 27 June).  “The latest report by the Migration Observatory at Oxford University has dealt a painful blow to the credibility of the Coalition government’s immigration policy. It concludes that the government is ‘unlikely’ to meet the prime minister’s target of reducing net migration to the ‘tens of thousands’ by 2015.”
(Source: The Network –
http://www.seapn.org.uk/
)

Chad: Improvements in security allow for the return of some IDPs
Read the Overview (html / pdf)

As of June 2011, there were 131,000 IDPs living in 38 IDP camps in eastern Chad. The majority of them had limited access to livelihoods and continued to rely on protection and assistance from international humanitarian organisations. No new internal displacements were reported in 2010 or in the first five months of 2011. (…)
(Source: IDMC –
http://www.internal-displacement.org/
)