New Report: Measuring well-governed migration – The 2016 Migration Governance Index

New Report:

Measuring well-governed migration – The 2016 Migration Governance Index

Poorly managed migration can lead to harm, danger and insecurity, says a report from the Economist Intelligence Unit. It can encourage migrant smuggling and human trafficking, as well as social unrest, xenophobia and discrimination—as observed amid Europe’s ongoing “migration crisis”. It can also create missed opportunities when receiving and sending countries are blocked from harnessing the development gains available through mobility.

Well-governed migration brings profound benefits to both “receiving” and “sending” countries. Receiving countries get productive workers who fill key gaps in the labour market and help their demographic profiles. Sending countries receive billions of dollars in remittances from their overseas workers, attract investment from affluent members of their diaspora, and leverage the benefits of “circular migration” when returning emigrants bring back their skills, expertise, contacts and personal wealth.

Text courtesy of Migrants’ Rights Network – Poorly managed migration harmful says report.

 

INVITATION: Europe’s refugee crisis – whose crisis is it?

INVITATION

Europe’s refugee crisis – whose crisis is it?

We are delighted to invite you to the discussion on our recently published report ‘Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Press Coverage’.

Date: Thursday 9 June 2016, 12–1pm

Venue: The Finnish Institute in London, Unit 1, 3 York Way, London N1C 4AE

Coffee and sandwiches will be served.

The study carried out by the Finnish Institute in London and the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux focuses on how six European newspapers from three different countries covered the refugee and asylum seeker situation in January 2016. Newspapers examined were The Guardian and The Times from the UK, Helsingin Sanomat and Aamulehti from Finland, and Le Soir and De Morgen from Belgium.

The report will be presented by Johanna Sumuvuori, Head of Society Programme, Finnish Institute in London and Annukka Vähäsöyrinki, Head of Projects, Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux.  The guest speakers at the event include Milica Pesic, Executive Director of the Media Diversity Institute (UK), Gulwali Passarlay, Afghan refugee who is a published author, TEDx speaker, and a Politics major at the University of Manchester and Thomas Coombes, Media Manager on Global Issues, Amnesty International.

There are 59.5 million forcibly displaced people around the world. Last year, over 1 million asylum applications were filed in Europe. The movement of refugees on the continent in such a large scale was widely covered in European newspapers. The report on Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Press Coverage is launched in order to raise discussion on the role of media in dealing with the humanitarian crisis that concerns all of Europe.

Please find the report here: http://www.finnish-institute.org.uk/en/articles/1613-launching-a-new-report-refugee-crisis-in-european-newspapers

RSVP by 6 June 2016 to: mirja.syrjala@finnish-institute.org.uk

Please note that seats are limited.

New Report: Shifting Ground: Views on immigration during the long term and during election campaigns

A new study by Ipsos MORI looking at how British attitudes towards immigration have changed over the long term and during election campaigns is published today. The report, “Shifting Ground”, combines existing data with new findings from a longitudinal study which followed voters during, throughout, and after the 2015 General Election campaign in order to track changes in individuals’ attitudes.

The study finds concerns about immigration have indisputably risen over the long term. The importance of immigration as an issue facing Britain on the Economist/Ipsos MORI Issues Index reached record levels in 2015, with 56% of the public mentioning it in September; the highest level ever recorded since the series started in the 1970s.

As well as growing concern overall, there were changes in the profile of people who are concerned about the issue. In particular, in the early 2000s there was relatively little difference between the oldest and youngest generations on concern about immigration, but in the last few years there is a growing generational divide with older generations having become much more concerned than younger generations.

Download PDF

Read Full Article: Shifting Ground: Views on immigration during the long term and during election campaigns.

 

 

New Report: OU research highlights benefits and risks of smartphones for refugees

New Report:

OU research highlights benefits and risks of smartphones for refugees

Today (16 May) marks the launch of a new academic report by the Open University, Mapping Refugee Media Journeys: Smart Phones and Social Media Networks. The research identified a huge gap in the provision of relevant, reliable and timely news and information for and with refugees that is endangering their lives.

“Our research suggests that the information and news needs of refugees are not sufficiently taken into account by governments and news organisation as they make perilous journeys from war-torn parts of the world to Europe and when they arrive. EU member states have failed to develop a coherent policy strategy to deal with refugees entering Europe,” said Marie Gillespie, OU Professor of Sociology and a member of the OU’s Citizenship and Governance priority research area.

“News and government agencies are effectively reneging on their responsibility under the UN Refugee Charter to provide information and news that can assist their search for protection and safety because they fear that they might be accused of facilitating and encouraging refugees to come to Europe. It’s now such a politicised issue.”

“Quick tech fixes don’t work.”

The research uses an innovative mix of methods: serial interviews with Syrian and Iraqi refugees as they make their journeys, an analysis of news media coverage of refugees and a ‘big data’ analysis of refugee social networks on Facebook and Twitter by computer scientists. It involves interviews with staff at the European Commission, among international broadcasters and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). It provides a best practice guide for those providing digital resources for refugees.

The report reveals that refugees access the news and information they need through their mobile phones mainly via links sent by trusted friends and family, as well as by smugglers. The smartphone is both a resource and a threat on their journeys. It is an essential navigation, translation and networking tool but it is also a threat as the digital traces refugees leave behind make them vulnerable to surveillance by extremists and smugglers. The smartphones also contain an ever-expanding photo album of violence and abuse that they may have witnessed.

The need for security forces refugees to go underground digitally where they use avatars and encrypted services to get vital information from smugglers and handlers whom they have to rely on and sometimes trust more than government sources and mainstream media.

Read full press release – OU research highlights benefits and risks of smartphones for refugees.

Mapping Refugee Media Journeys: Smart Phones and Social Media Networks was produced by The Open University and France Mèdias Monde.

Read more about OU research in Citizenship and Governance.

 

New Publication: Entitlement and belonging: social restructuring and multicultural Britain

New Publication:

Entitlement and belonging: social restructuring and multicultural Britain

An IRR discussion paper on the Housing and Planning and Immigration Bills 2015-16.

The Housing and Planning and Immigration Bills, currently going through parliament, contain measures which are central to the Conservatives’ stated belief in cohesive ‘One Nation’ government. In a discussion paper published by the IRR today, criminologist Dr Jon Burnett argues that the rapid social transformation that will inevitably take place through these mutually-reinforcing housing and immigration measures will be destructive for social cohesion. In fact, the break-up and displacement of multicultural neighbourhoods, coupled with the extended reach of immigration policing, will accentuate extremes of inequality in the inner city and lead to a marked deterioration in the quality of life for BAME communities.

Focusing largely on London, Entitlement and belonging suggests that a ‘SUS culture’ is developing in the UK as the ‘hostile environment principle’, long- established in immigration policy, is extended into housing. The government argues that nationally-implemented ‘right to rent’ checks, imposing a duty on landlords to carry out immigration profiling and allowing summary eviction of  tenants, are ‘justifiable’ measures aimed at forcing out those who have no legal right to stay in the country. Yet even its own evaluation provided compelling evidence of discrimination against BAME citizens.

According to Dr Burnett, author of the research: ‘In rolling out the measures, the government risks rolling out discrimination. Equally concerning though is the ideological assumptions underpinning the legislation about “who” belongs in particular localities. The poor in multicultural neighbourhoods are being dispossessed of their rights and uprooted from where they live. They have been deemed eminently disposable.’

The IRR hopes that this publication can encourage as wide a discussion as possible about the legislation as well as the wider goals of ‘One Nation’ government. IRR Director, Liz Fekete, asks: ‘Given that the cosmopolitan and multicultural nature of London was our brand in the  Olympic bid,  shouldn’t we be concerned when multicultural London is abandoned in favour of  a more elitist and monocultural urban future?’

Entitlement and belonging: social restructuring and multicultural Britain can be downloaded here (pdf file, 401kb)

Article reblogged from the Institute of Race Relations – www.irr.org.uk/news/entitlement-and-belonging-social-restructuring-and-multicultural-britain/

 

CMRB: Anti-Jewish and Anti-Muslim Racisms and the Question of Palestine/Israel online paper series

CMRB, the Runnymede Trust and the Centre for Palestine Studies, London Middle East Institute, SOAS are delighted to announce the publication of:

“Anti-Jewish and Anti-Muslim Racisms and the Question of Palestine/Israel” online paper series, edited by Nira Yuval-Davis and Jamie Hakim.

The series aims to to explore the multiple, complex and inter-related ways that anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim racisms are constructed in relation to the question of Palestine/Israel from within an anti-racist normative framework

The first tranche of articles can be found at http://www.uel.ac.uk/cmrb/publications.htm, and includes:

Nira Yuval-Davis and Jamie Hakim, ‘Anti-Jewish and Anti-Muslim Racisms and the Question of Palestine/Israel Series Introduction’

Antony Lerman, ‘The “New Anti-Semitism”’

Hilary Aked, ‘The Undeniable Overlap: Right-wing Zionism and Islamophobia’

Helga Embacher and Jan Ryback, ‘Anti-Semitism in Muslim Communities and Islamophobia in the Context of the Gaza War 2014: The Example of Austria and Germany’

Anabelle Sreberny, ‘The Idea of Jewish Anti-Semitism and Recuperating the “Semites”’

Keith Kahn-Harris, ‘The Interplay between Internal and External Factors in the Stimulation of Intra-Jewish conflict over Israel and Antisemitism’

Stefano Bellin, ‘How Should We Speak About the Jews and the Palestinians? Constructing a Non-Racist Space for Criticism’

The series has been constructed as an open-ended forum for dialogue between academics, activists and interested parties differently situated across the globe. We will consider all submissions that explore any aspect of how anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim racisms and the question of Palestine/Israel intersect, from within an anti-racist normative framework. Please e-mail your submission to j.hakim@uel.ac.uk.

This series has been given the front page of openDemocracy the week commencing Wednesday 28th September. Each day of that week one of five of the articles will be published at www.opendemocracy.net.

Best,
Nira Yuval-Davis and Jamie Hakim
CMRB

Anti-Jewish and Anti-Muslim Racisms and the Question of Palestine of Israel on openDemocracy

This week, Nira Yuval-Davis and Jamie Hakim are guest editing a section of openDemocracy called ‘Anti-Jewish and Anti-Muslim Racisms and the Question of Palestine of Israel’, based on the ongoing CMRB project of the same name.

The introduction to the section can be found here: https://opendemocracy.net/mirrorracisms/nira-yuval-davis-jamie-hakim/anti-jewish-anti-muslim-racisms-question-of-palestineisrael.

Every day this week we will be publishing one or two papers on openDemocracy from our CMRB online paper series which is co-sponsored by the Runnymede Trust and the Centre for Palestine Studies, London Middle East Institute, SOAS: http://www.uel.ac.uk/cmrb/publications.htm.

The first openDemocracy article, co-authored by Nira and Jamie can be found here: https://opendemocracy.net/mirrorracisms/nira-yuval-davis-jamie-hakim/introducing-feature-anti-jewish-anti-muslim-racisms-palestine-israel

Over the course of the week openDemocracy will be publishing articles by Antony Lerman, Sami Zubaida, Hilary Aked, Annabelle Sreberny, Keith Kahn-Harris, Stefano Bellin, Helga Embacher and Jan Rybak.

New Research Paper: The true human rights situation in Eritrea: the new UK Home Office Guidance as a political instrument for the prevention of migration

Please, find in following link this paper:

‘The true human rights situation in Eritrea: the new UK Home Office Guidance as a political instrument for the prevention of migration’
by Sara Palacios Arapiles.

Link to Paper:  http://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/6097/

This research paper aims at documenting the true situation in Eritrea,
in order to refute the credibility of the content and of some of the
sources of the new Guidance on Eritrea issued by the UK Home Office
(HO); and of the related policies that are being implemented in some
other countries, such as Israel. The HO country of origin Guidance
surprisingly claims that there are alleged signs of improvement inside
Eritrea for potential returnees. It is argued in this paper that the
reasons for this are entirely politically influenced, with the purpose
of preventing migration. The paper then brings to light the current
circumstances in the country – supported inter alia by the testimonies
gathered by the author, and the new findings of the UN Commission of
Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea- that would make the forcible return
of the Eritrean asylum-seekers and refugees unlawful.

 

New UNHCR report: 2014 Global Trends: World at War

New Publication from UNHCR:

UNHCR are pleased to announce that the following report has been published and is available for download via the UNHCR statistics website at:  www.unhcr.org/statisics

2014 Global Trends – World at War

The report provides an overview of the statistical trends and changes in global populations of concern to UNHC, i.e. refugees, returnees, stateless persons, and certain groups of internally displaced persons (IDPs), place din the context of major humanitarian developments and displacement during the year.

Some of the key findings of the report:

• Global forced displacement has seen accelerated growth in 2014, once again reaching unprecedented levels. The year saw the highest displacement on record. By end-2014, 59.5 million individuals were forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, generalized violence, or human rights violations. This is 8.3 million persons more than the year before (51.2 million) and the highest annual increase in a single year.
• Some 19.5 million persons were refugees, 14.4 million under UNHCR’s mandate and 5.1 million Palestinian refugees registered by UNRWA. The global figure included 38.2 million internally displaced persons and nearly 1.8 million asylum-seekers. If these 59.5 million persons were a nation, they would make up the 24th largest in the world.
• An estimated 13.9 million individuals were newly displaced due to conflict or persecution in 2014. This includes 11.0 million persons newly displaced within the borders of their own country, the highest figure on record. The other 2.9 million individuals were new refugees.
• For the first time, Turkey became the largest refugee-hosting country worldwide, with 1.59 million refugees. Turkey was followed by Pakistan (1.51 million), Lebanon (1.15 million), the Islamic Republic of Iran (982,000), Ethiopia (659,500), and Jordan (654,100).
• More than half (53%) of all refugees worldwide came from just three countries: the Syrian Arab Republic (3.88 million), Afghanistan (2.59 million), and Somalia (1.11 million).
• Over the course of 2014,some 126,800 refugees returned to their countries of origin. This figure was the lowest level of refugee returns since 1983.

• A record high of nearly 1.7 million individuals submitted applications for asylum or refugee status in 2014. UNHCR offices registered 245,700 or 15 per cent of these claims. With 274,700 asylum claims, the Russian Federation was the world’s largest recipient of new individual applications, followed by Germany (173,100), the United States of America (121,200), and Turkey (87,800).
• Children below 18 years of age constituted 51 per cent of the refugee population in 2014, up from 41 per cent in 2009 and the highest figure in more than a decade.

 

Publication: Migrant Voice Newspaper

Further details on the latest issue of the Migrant Voice Newspaper.  The following text is taken from the Migrant Voice website:

The Migrant Voice newspaper will be distributed on Monday April 20th in Birmingham from 3-6pm at Moor Street station; in London on Tuesday the 21st from 4-7pm at Waterloo, Victoria and London Bridge stations and on April 28th from 4-7pm at Kings Cross, Euston, Oxford Circus and Paddington stations.

_____

Immigration is high on the news agenda and is being presented by some politicians as a burden on the country, feeding fears and fuelling prejudice. There are 7.8 million foreignborn nationals in the UK but they are largely underrepresented in mainstream British media.

Our research reveals that migrants’ voices are heard in only one in eight media stories on migration. Many of these articles reflect critical, sometimes explicitly negative, attitudes – not only towards migration policies but also migrants themselves.

Far from the idea that debating migration is off-limits, it turns out that the only people ‘banned’ from discussing it are migrants themselves.

Here, we place migrants at the centre of the debate and let them tell their stories.

We found that over 90 per cent of migrants feel at least partially integrated into British society yet feel totally excluded from the political conversation about migration. When politicians make ill-informed comments it creates distrust on both sides. Yet – thankfully – the vast majority of Britons feel positive about the migrants they encounter in their daily lives, and the feeling is mutual.

Migrant Voice aims to address the lack of balanced and accurate representation in the media and celebrate the contribution migrants make to the UK. Our paper includes vibrant, engaging and moving stories, created and distributed by migrants.

This year’s issue is particularly important as it coincides with Migrant Voice celebrating five years of movement building, mobilisation and engagement with the public debate.

In this issue we unveil a new ‘I am an Immigrant’ poster campaign which celebrates the immense contribution that immigrants make.

The posters, which go on display at hundreds of London tube stations and national railway stations this month, show immigrants are part of the fabric of British society.

We are also the first to report on the launch of the ‘Bloody Foreigners’ campaign mobilising migrant communities to give more blood, turning an old phrase on its head. It’s just one of the many ways today’s migrants are contributing to the health and wealth of our nation.

We give you a glimpse into the strong North Korean community in the UK, the largest defector community from that country in Europe.

We also take you on two long, horrifying journeys from Syria and Eritrea in search of safety in the UK.

And we share the inspirational story of Agnes, an orphan of the Rwandan genocide and a former child soldier, who is now settled in the UK and is campaigning to improve the lives of other children orphaned by war.

There are also stories about the everyday lives of migrants in Britain – in restaurants, on the sports field, in the arts, in business.

Many more stories are featured on our website www.migrantvoice.org.

We also want to hear your thoughts – write to us at [email protected]

We hope you enjoy reading our paper.

Nazek Ramadan Founder, Migrant Voice

To read the full paper: http://bit.ly/1GYTI9M

To request printed copies of the paper, please email [email protected]

New Publication: UNHCR report: 2014 Mid-Year Trends

UNHCR are pleased to announce the release of the 2014 Mid-Year Trends report, which is now available and may be downloaded from the UNHCR statistics website at: www.unhcr.org/statistics.

The report provides a statistical overview of refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, stateless persons and other persons of concern to UNHCR for the period of 1 January to 30 June 2014. It is the second time only UNHCR is able to provide a global update at mid-year thanks to increased efforts put in place by both Headquarters and field colleagues.

The purpose of the report is to provide a snapshot of main trends in the number of persons of concern to UNHCR over this period, rather than providing a comprehensive overview of global trends in forced displacement. The report’s key findings show a dramatic deterioration in forced displacement during the first half of the year:

–       The total population of concern to UNHCR stood at 46.3 million at mid-2014, the highest level on record;

–       The global number of refugees at mid-2014 was estimated at 13.0 million, 1.3 million more than at the end of 2013;

–       The number of IDPs protected/assisted by UNHCR stood at 26 million, the highest on record;

–       The total number of persons of concern to UNHCR seeking protection within or outside the borders of their countries during the first half of 2014 exceeded 5.5 million individuals; and

–       Syrians have become the largest refugee population under UNHCR’s mandate, overtaking Afghans, who had held that position for more than three decades. At more than 3 million as of June 2014, Syrian refugees account for 23 per cent of all refugees under the organization’s mandate.

I hope that you will find the 2014 Mid-Year Trends report useful and interesting.

 

New publications: ‘EU Asylum Procedures and the Right to an Effective Remedy’; ‘The Reception of Asylum Seekers under International Law’ (discounts available)

New publications: ‘EU Asylum Procedures and the Right to an Effective Remedy’; ‘The Reception of Asylum Seekers under International Law’ (discounts available).

Adequate and fair asylum procedures are a precondition for the effective exercise of rights granted to asylum applicants, in particular the prohibition of refoulement. In 1999 the EU Member States decided to work towards a Common European Asylum System. In this context the Procedures Directive was adopted in 2005 and recast in 2013. This directive provides for important procedural guarantees for asylum applicants, but also leaves much discretion to the EU Member States to design their own asylum procedures.

This book examines the meaning of the EU right to an effective remedy in terms of the legality and interpretation of the Procedures Directive in regard to several key aspects of asylum procedure: the right to remain on the territory of the Member State, the right to be heard, the standard and burden of proof and evidentiary assessment, judicial review and the use of secret evidence.

Table of contents: http://www.hartpub.co.uk/pdf/9781849465458.pdf

Marcelle Reneman is Assistant Professor in the Migration Law Section of the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law at the VU University Amsterdam.

May 2014, 428pp, Hbk, 9781849465458
RSP:  £60 / €78
Discount Price: £48 / €62.40
To receive the 20% discount online write ref: AM9 in the voucher code field and click ‘apply’: http://www.hartpub.co.uk/BookDetails.aspx?ISBN=9781849465458

 

New Book By UEL’s Maritsa Poros (et al): Key Concepts in Migration

From the Sage Website:

This book provides lucid and intuitive explanations of the most important migration concepts as used in classrooms, among policymakers, and in popular and academic discourse. Arguing that there is a clear need for a better public understanding of migration, it sets out to clarify the field by exploring relevant concepts in a direct and engaging way. Each concept:

• Includes an easy to understand definition
• Provides real-world examples
• Gives suggestions for further reading
• Is carefully cross-referenced to other related concepts

It is an ideal resource for undergraduate and post-graduate students studying migration in sociology, politics, development and throughout the social sciences, as well as scholars in the field and practitioners in governmental and non-governmental organizations.

Further details:  Key Concepts in Migration.

 

Publication: The evolving picture of displacement in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan: An evidence-based overview

From the IDMC website:

Some 4 million people were displaced when Typhoon Haiyan hit the central Philippines on November 8th 2013. In spite of the wealth of information generated, it has been difficult to form a coherent understanding of the evolving and complex displacement situation, which is critical to guide policy and prioritize responses on the ground.

Six months on, while most displaced people have remained in their original homes areas or returned to them, more than 2 million people are still without adequate housing. This includes over 26,000 displaced people in temporary shelter sites. Many thousands more are unclear on whether they will be permitted to return to live in unsafe locations.

This report shows how gaps in the information – and in the way that information is created and shared – leaves some of the most vulnerable people invisible and potentially excluded from sustainable return or relocation and resettlement options. With the next typhoon season just around the corner, the importance of recognizing their particular needs becomes all the more urgent.

Download the pdf

 

New publications: “Every Day the War Continues in My Body: Examining the ‘Marked’ Body in Postconflict Northern Uganda” – International Journal of Transitional Justice

Source: Forced Migration Jiscmail List

The International Journal of Transitional Justice recently published an article titled: “Every Day the War Continues in My Body: Examining the ‘Marked’ Body in Postconflict Northern Uganda”. This article, authored by the research coordinator of the Refugee Law Project’s National Memory and Peace Documentation Centre, Theo Hollander, and RLP Research Associate, Bani Gill, is a follow-up project to RLP’s documentary, “Untreated Wounds” (http://refugeelawproject.org/resources/video-documentaries/video/latest/untreated-wounds.html), and also draws from RLP’s work with people living with untreated wounds in northern Uganda.

In a nutshell, the article argues that, while human bodies have assumed centre stage in modern warfare, a focus on the body is largely missing in peace processes and transitional justice. The article examines the embodied, gendered and socio-economic features of bodies marked by injuries, wounds, disfigurements and disabilities in the aftermath of the war in northern Uganda. Considering these various features, it becomes clear that for most people whose bodies were marked, the war continues in their bodies, long after the guns fell silent.

The article argues that, in the aftermath of armed conflict, where so many bodies have been marked, disability mainstreaming should become a quintessential element in transitional justice, but cautions that this goes beyond medical interventions.

While medical interventions, such as those offered by RLP by referral, can make an important impact in the lives of people living with marked bodies, medical interventions on their own are not enough. The challenges, experiences, needs and aspirations of people whose bodies are marked should enter mainstream thinking in transitional justice, meaning that in all transitional justice activities and mechanisms, it should be considered how marked bodies can be included, participate and benefit.

For everyone who has a subscription to Oxford journals, the article can be accessed via the following link: http://ijtj.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/iju007?ijkey=sQIdCvmGvGD2cZC&keytype=ref

For further information, please contact us at ctj@refugeelawproject.org or info@refugeelawproject.org

The Refugee Law Project, a community out-reach project of the School of Law, Makerere University, was created in 1999 to promote the enjoyment of human rights for all refugees within Uganda. Over the years, the Refugee Law Project has established its reputation as the leading centre for justice and forced migrants in Uganda.

 

 

For more information about the work of Refugee Law Project visit www.refugeelawproject.org