Re-blog: The Battle of the Archives: What Egypt’s Intellectuals and Muslim Brotherhood Lost : The New Yorker

From The New Yorker:

The Battle of the Archives: What Egypt’s Intellectuals and Muslim Brotherhood Lost

It was mostly coincidence that drew Khaled Fahmy into the fight over the Ministry of Culture. It was early June, less than a month before a mass protest movement, and then a military coup, would force the Muslim Brotherhood and its President, Mohamed Morsi, out of power in Egypt. Over the previous week, the Brotherhood had undertaken what would be its final project of “Brotherhoodization”—the process of stacking major government posts with friendly or Brotherhood-aligned officials. This time, the target had been the Ministry of Culture and several of its constituent bodies: the opera, the ballet, the national archives and library. Ahmed Megahed, the director of Egypt’s government publishing agency, found out that he’d lost his job when he read a form letter that had been left on his desk on a Sunday. Iman Ezzeldin, who runs the National Library, learned the news when she received a phone call at her home, at 11 P.M., from a secretarial assistant. “I’m sorry to tell you this,” the nervous voice on the other line said, “but you are no longer the director of the library.” The next day, there was a wax seal on the door to her office.

“I started getting all of these phone calls,” Fahmy said the other day from his home in New York, where he is teaching a course at New York University. Fahmy is a professor of history at the American University in Cairo, and in June he was conducting research at the National Archives on the historical use of Islamic law. By chance, the man that the Brotherhood chose to take over the administration of the archives and library was also named Khaled Fahmy. “Some of them were calling to congratulate me, some of them were confused and calling to ask did I really accept this job?” he recalled. “But those who understood what was going on started to phone me in alarm: ‘We have to do something about this. They appointed a Brotherhood person who will try to destroy the cultural heritage of Egypt.’”

Full article at:-   www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/09/the-battle-of-the-archives-in-egypt.html

 

New Publications on National Legislation; International migration; and Egypt

New Publications on National Legislation

Details of these new publications were originally circulated by Elisa Mason on the incredibly useful: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog.  Further details can be found on the website at:  http://fm-cab.blogspot.co.uk/

The Refugee Rights Unit at the University of Cape Town has published the following working papers as part of its “Analysis of Domestic Refugee Legislation in the SADC” research project:

• Working Paper on Namibia’s Refugee Legislation, Paper no. 1 [text]
• The Institution of Asylum in Malawi and International Refugee Law: A Review of the 1989 Refugee Act, Paper, no. 2 [text]
• Working Paper on Zambia’s Refugee Legislation, Paper no. 3 [text]

UNHCR is another useful resource for this type of analysis. You can find many of its comments on national laws and policies in Refworld under the following sections:

• Category: Policy documents–UN High Commissioner for Refugees–Comments on national legislation [access]
• Category: Policy documents–UN High Commissioner for Refugees–Commentaries (these are mainly related to EU developments) [access]
• Category: Legal information–UN High Commissioner for Refugees–Comments on national legislation [access]

Actually, since these documents are not consistently indexed, it may be best to look to see what is available for a specific country.  For example, to see if UNHCR commented on Canada’s recent legislative developments, select the country from under the appropriate regions list, then select “UN High Commissioner for Refugees” from the publisher tab.  The subsequent listing includes “UNHCR Submission on Bill C-31: Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act.”

Other Publications

International migration and over-indebtedness: the case of Filipino workers in Italy.
By Charito Basa, Violeta De Guzman, Sabrina Marchetti for the International Institute for Environment and Displacement, (IIED).

Remittances from international migrants are a crucial component of the economy of the Philippines and a vital resource for many households, increasingly so as the prices of basic commodities skyrocket as a result of the current global financial crisis. The latter also affects Italy, a main destination for Filipino migrants, with declining demand for workers in domestic and care services where migrants concentrate. The upshot is growing levels of indebtedness among Filipino migrants. Building on the long-standing work of the Filipino Women’s Council, a grassroots migrants’ association, this paper explores the various dimensions of such indebtedness and its root causes. It analyses how limited access to formal financial institutions, responsibilities towards relatives and the combined impacts of economic pressures in both the Philippines and Italy affect migrants’ incomes and the need to borrow. While indebtedness has long been overlooked in debates on migration and development, there is growing evidence that it is a rapidly emerging problem that requires further investigation and appropriate, supportive policies.

[Download Full Report]

Rampant Impunity: Still no justice for protestors killed in the `25 January Revolution.’
By Amnesty International.
[Download Full Report]
See Also: Press Release – Egypt: Security forces continue to get away with murder two years on from start of uprising

 

 

Event: CMRB AGM + “‘Never Going Back – Egypt’s Ongoing Revolution’

*** Apologies for Cross Posting ***

Hi everyone,

CMRB has great pleasure in inviting you to its Annual General Meeting on Monday 26th November, 4-5pm, EB.1.07, Docklands Campus, University of East London (all details in the attached flyer).

The meeting is open to everyone who is interested in CMRB and/or wants to become involved in its activities as well as initiate new ones. We will discuss CMRB in the previous year and our plans for the coming year.

CMRB’s Annual Review 2011/12 which can be found on the CMRB website: [direct link] .

The AGM will be followed by a CMRB seminar: “‘Never Going Back’ – Egypt’s Ongoing Revolution” presented by Phil Marfleet.

All welcome!

Best Regards,

Jamie Hakim, Research Administrator, CMRB Nira Yuval-Davis, CMRB Director

 

New Publications on Witchcraft; Refugee Protection; Turkey; Al-Qaidi; Egypt; Migration Statistics; Human Rights

Seeking meaning: an anthropological and community-based
approach to witchcraft accusations and their prevention in refugee situations.
By Julia Powles.
UNHCR New Issues in Refugee Research, Research Paper No. 235.
[Download Working Paper]
(Source: UNHCR).

Urban refugee protection in Cairo: the role of communication,
information and technology.
By Nora Danielson.
UNHCR New Issues in Refugee Research, Research Paper No. 236.
[Download Working Paper]
(Source: UNHCR).

Humanitarians without borders: work, mobility and wellbeing in UNHCR.
By Ranji Devadason.
UNHCR New Issues in Refugee Research, Research Paper No. 237.
[Download Working Paper]
(Source: UNHCR).

Israel: The injustice and secrecy surrounding administrative detention.
By Amnesty International.
[Download Full Report]
(Source: Amnesty International).

Turkey: New Report On Women Human Rights Defenders In Kurdish Regions.
By Roj Women’s Association.
[Access].
(Source: AWID).

The Current Status of Al-Qaida.
By the Oxford Research Group.
[Download Full Report]
(Source: DocuBase).

The Anatomy of Egyptian Revolution: From 25th of January to The New Constitution.
By SETA.
[Download Full Publication]
(Source: DocuBase)

UK: Migration Statistics Quarterly Report May 2012.
By the Office for National Statistics (UK).
[Download Full Report]
(Source: DocuBase)

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011.
By the U.S. Department of State.
[Access]
(Source: DocuBase).

 

New Publications on Egypt; the Arab Spring; Irregular Migrants in Cyprus; UNHCR Asylum Levels and Trends; Sudanese Refugee Womenv

Marginality and Exclusion in Egypt.
A new book by Ray Bush and Habib Ayeb and published by Zed Books.
[Further Details]
(Source: Zed Books).

The Arab Spring: The End of Postcolonialism
A new book by Hamid Dabashi and published by Zed Books.
[Further Information]
(Source: Zed Books).

Cyprus: Punishment without a crime: Detention of migrants and asylum seekers in Cyprus.
By Amnesty International.

‘’Detention should not be a tool for regulating migration. Cypriot authorities are wilfully violating International and European Union law when they detain irregular migrants without examining alternative measures and demonstrating that their detention is indeed necessary,” said Jezerca Tigani, Europe and Central Asia Deputy Programme Director at Amnesty International.

[Download Full Report]
(Source: Amnesty International)

UNHCR Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries: Statistical overview of asylum applications lodged in Europe and selected non-European countries.
Produced by the UNHCR.
[Download Full Report]
(Source: UNHCR).

Frozen words: memory and sexual violence amongst Sudanese refugee women in Cairo.
New Issues  in Refugee Research – Research Paper No. 240.
By  Ginger A. Johnson.
[Download Working Paper]
(Source: UNHCR)

Improvements in Estimating Migration: Intelligence Update 12-2012.
Produced by the Greater London Authority Intelligence Unit.
[Download Report]
(Source: The Daily Telegraph –Migrant population in some parts of England double previous estimate).

 

Human Rights Rights – New Publications

Human Rights Watch World Report

The following publications have recently been published by Human Rights Watch:

Human Rights Watch World Report 2012: Events of 2011.
This is the flagship annual report produced by Human Rights Watch.  “This 22nd annual World Report summarizes human rights conditions in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide in 2011. ”

Human Rights Watch state that:

The introductory essay examines the Arab Spring, which has created an extraordinary opportunity for change. The global community has a responsibility to help the long suppressed people of the region seize control of their destiny from often-brutal authoritarian rulers. Standing firmly with people as they demand their legitimate rights is the best way to stop the bloodshed, while principled insistence on respect for rights is the best way to help these popular movements avoid intolerance, lawlessness, and summary revenge once in power.

[Download Full Report]
Human Rights Watch Press Release.
(Source: Human Rights Watch).

The Road Ahead

The Road Ahead: A Human Rights Agenda for Egypt’s New Parliament

This 45-page report sets out nine areas of Egyptian law that the newly elected parliament must urgently reform if the law is to become an instrument that protects Egyptians’ rights rather than represses them. Egypt’s existing laws – the penal code, associations law, assembly law, and emergency law – limit public freedoms necessary for a democratic transition, challenge respect for the rule of law, and impede accountability for abuses by the police and the military.

[Download Full Report]
(Source: Human Rights Watch).

Justice for Serious Crimes before National Courts

Justice for Serious Crimes before National Courts: Uganda’s International Crimes Division

This 29-page briefing paper provides a snapshot of progress from Uganda’s complementarity-related initiative: the International Crimes Division (ICD). The ICD is a division of the High Court with a mandate to prosecute genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, in addition to crimes such as terrorism. Based on research by Human Rights Watch in Uganda in September 2011, this briefing paper analyzes the ICD’s work to date, the obstacles it has encountered, and challenges both for the future work of the ICD and for national accountability efforts more broadly.

[Download Full Report]
(Source: Human Rights Watch).

“They Hunt Us Down for Fun”

“They Hunt Us Down for Fun”: Discrimination and Police Violence Against Transgender Women in Kuwait

This 63-page report documents the physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and persecution that transgender women – individuals who are born male, but identify as female – have faced at the hands of police. The report also documents the discrimination that transgender women have faced on a daily basis – including by members of the public – as a result of the law, an amendment to penal code article 198. Based on interviews with 40 transgender women, as well as with ministry of interior officials, lawyers, doctors, and members of Kuwaiti civil society, the report found that the arbitrary, ill-defined provisions of the law has allowed for numerous abuses to take place.

[Download Full Report]
(Source: Human Rights Watch).

News Pubs. On Housing, Accomodation, Disasters, Trafficking, Burma, Displacement, Egypt

After the Deluge: Gender and Early Recovery Housing in Sindh, Pakistan, New Issues in Refugee Research, no. 228 (UNHCR, Jan. 2012) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog)

“Between Control and Assistance: The Problem of European Accommodation Centres for Asylum Seekers,” International Migration, forthcoming (posted Jan. 2012) [text via SSRN]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog)

Literature Review for Shelter after Disaster (Shelter Centre et al., 2011) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog)

Guidelines on Exemption Procedures in respect of Cessation Declarations (UNHCR, Dec. 2011) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog)

Human Trafficking in Mexico and Neighbouring Countries: A Review of Protection Approaches, New Issues in Refugee Research, no. 229 (UNHCR, Jan. 2012) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog)

More ‘Trafficking,’ Less ‘Trafficked’: Trafficking for Exploitation Outside the Sex Sector in Europe (GAATW, 2011) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog)

Refugees International (RI) has just released a new report called “Burma: An Opportunity to Expand Humanitarian Space.”
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog)

Ending the Displacement Cycle: Finding Durable Solutions through Return and Resettlement (Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, June 2011) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog)

The Cost of Living: An Analysis of the Time and Money Spent by Refugees Accessing Services in Nairobi, New Issues in Refugee Research, no. 230 (UNHCR, Jan. 2012) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog)

Publications on Poverty in London, Eritreans in Egypt, Education, and more.

Focus on London report

The latest report in the Focus on London series – Poverty: The Hidden City, authored by Rachel Leeser in the GLA Intelligence Unit, has been released.
[Download Report]
(Source:  Focus on London page on the GLA main website.).

Asylum and Humanitarian Protection for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) People (Stonewall, Aug. 2011) [text]
(Source:  Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog – http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/)

Educating Refugees (IntLawGrrls, Nov. 2011) [text]
(Source:  Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog – http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/)

Egypt: Don’t Deport Eritreans – Those Forcibly Returned Face Likely Persecution (Human Rights Watch, Nov. 2011) [text]
(Source:  Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog – http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/)

The Forgotten Path to Asylum: “Other Serious Harm” (The Asylumist, Nov. 2011) [text]
(Source:  Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog – http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/)

Libya: Protect Vulnerable Minorities & Assist Civilians Harmed (Refugees International & CIVIC, Nov. 2011) [text]
(Source:  Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog – http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/)

On the Edge: Why Older People’s Needs Are Not Being Met in Humanitarian Emergencies (Age UK & HelpAge, 2011) [text via Refworld]
(Source:  Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog – http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/)

The Right to Leave One’s Country Should be Applied without Discrimination (Human Rights Comment, Nov. 2011) [text]
(Source:  Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog – http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/)

Publications on the Arab Spring, Egypt, Balkans, Internal Dispalcement in Serbia

Turkey and the Arab Spring: Implications for Turkish Foreign Policy from a Transatlantic Perspective. A new report by Istituto Affari Internazionali.
[Download Report]
(Source: DocuTicker – Turkey and the Arab Spring: Implications for Turkish Foreign Policy from a Transatlantic Perspective).

Broken Promises: Egypt’s Military Rulers Erode Human Rights.  A new report published by Amnesty International.
[Access Report]
(Source: Amnesty International – New Amnesty International report on abuses under Military Council in Egypt).

Access to Free Legal Aid for Displaced Persons in the Western Balkans Countries: Overview of the Situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro (Group 484, Nov. 2011) [text via ReliefWeb]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog – http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/)

Access to Rights and Integration of Returnees on the Basis of the Readmission Agreements: Analysis of the Main Problems and Obstacles (Praxis, Aug. 2011) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog – http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/)

Assessment of the Needs of Internally Displaced Persons in Serbia (UNHCR et al., Feb. 2011) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog – http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/)

Legally Invisible Persons in Serbia: Still without a Solution (Praxis, June 2011) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog – http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/)

Only Genuine Justice Can Ensure Durable Peace in the Balkans (Human Rights Comment, Nov. 2011) [text]

Serbia as a Safe Third County: A Wrong Presumption (Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Sept. 2011) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog – http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/)

Anita Fabos Book Launch

Anita Fabos, who is part of the Refugee Studies academic team here at UEL, will be launching her new book by giving a lecture at the School of Oriental and African Studies, (London Middle East Institute). This will take place on Tuesday 21st October 2008 and will start at 5.30pm in the Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS. This lecture and book launch will be free to attend and there is no need to book. A reception will follow.

Further information can be found here and additional information can be provided on request by emailing us at: library-archives@uel.ac.uk.

Posted in: Refugee Studies and News.