Courses: 2015 Summer Statelessness Course

2015 Statelessness Summer Course

This year, the 4th edition of the Statelessness Summer Course will take place from 3-7 August in Tilburg, the Netherlands. We are now accepting applications. Click here for details: http://www.institutesi.org/ourwork/summercourse.php. The application deadline is 15 April.

The Statelessness Summer Course is a 1-week intensive learning programme for practitioners on statelessness. The course is coordinated and run by the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, and is hosted by Tilburg University in the Netherlands (the course was previously run by the Tilburg Statelessness Programme, which now continues its activities under the flag of the Institute). As in previous years, the course is also held in partnership with Open Society Justice Initiative.

The course considers statelessness and the right to nationality from various angles. It deals with legal and policy issues associated with statelessness. Thirty selected participants from civil society, academia, governments and international organisations from around the world come together to learn about statelessness, explore fundamental questions of definition and legal frameworks, and to develop plans for action.

What the 2014 Statelessness Summer School participants had to say about the course:

“An eye opener on a serious humanitarian problem that few people know about.”
– Jeddi Armah, Assistant Minister for Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Liberia

“Incredibly relevant, engaging and comprehensive course which not only satisfied me in terms of current queries but also made me adamant to do my best to remain in this exciting field for as long as possible.”
– Sophia Soares, UNHCR Malta

[Moderator’s note: please see relevant links below:

Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion: http://www.institutesi.org/

Tilburg University: http://www.tilburguniversity.edu/

Open Society Justice Initiative: http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/about/programs/open-society-justice-initiative]

New Thematic Publications on Resettlement; Children; and Statelessness

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/

New Thematic Publications on Resettlement

The Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement (ATCR) took place in Geneva from 1-3 July 2013. Held annually since 1995, “[t]he consultations have become an important vehicle for UNHCR’s cooperation with governments and NGOs and a mechanism to enhance partnership. They offer a forum to review progress on resettlement issues during the year, but more importantly, to re-focus and shape a joint strategy on resettlement.”  Here is the agenda.  Various operational guidance notes and assessment tools are also available.  This newsletter shares resettlement stories and notable developments; see also ICMC’s update.  Finally, here are UNHCR’s projected global resettlement needs for 2014.

Other publications:

CCR Responds to Government Announcement on Resettlement of Syrian Refugees (Canadian Council for Refugees, July 2013) [text]

The Integration of Resettled Refugees: Essentials for Establishing a Resettlement Programme and Fundamentals for Sustainable Resettlement Programmes (UNHCR, 2013) [text]

“Know Reset Project Maps Diverging Resettlement Practices and Legal Frameworks across Europe,” ECRE Weekly Bulletin (12 July 2013) [text]

New Thematic Publications on Children

“Alone and Unrepresented: A Call to Congress to Provide Counsel for Unaccompanied Minors,” Harvard Journal on Legislation, vol. 50, no. 2 (2013) [full-text]

Cash and Child Protection: How Cash Transfer Programming Can Protect Children from Abuse, Neglect, Exploitation and Violence (Save the Children, Sept. 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

Humanitarian Action for Children 2013 (UNICEF, July 2013) [access via UN Pulse]

L’enfant dans l’asile: prise en considération de sa vulnérabilité et de son intérêt supérieur (CBAR, June 2013) [text via Refworld]

Workshop Report – The Deportation of Unaccompanied Minors from the EU: Family Tracing and Government Accountability in the European Return Platform for Unaccompanied Minors (ERPUM) Project, Oxford, 3 May 2013 [text]

New Thematic Publications on Statelessness

Compilation of Recommendations relating to Statelessness in Outcome Documents from the 1st Cycle (1st-12th sessions) of the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UNHCR, July 2013) [text]

Compilation of Recommendations relating to Statelessness during the Second Cycle (13th – 16th sessions) of the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UNHCR, July 2013) [text]

Legally Invisible, Fighting for Health Care (ENS Blog, July 2013) [text]

“Stateless in Shangri-La: Minority Rights, Citizenship, and Belonging in Bhutan,” Stanford Journal of International Law, vol. 48, no. 2 (Summer2012) [text via SSRN]

UNHCR’s Verdict on Statelessness Activities over Last Two Years: “Unprecedented” (Statelessness Programme Blog, July 2013) [text]

 

Re-blog: UNHCR’s verdict on statelessness activities over last two years: “unprecedented”

Re-blog taken from the Statelessness program Weblog at Tilburg University.  Read the full blog posting available here.

Every other year, UNHCR produces a report summarising the progress made in addressing statelessness. It discusses important international trends and developments, as well as UNHCR’s own activities and achievements. In other words, it’s a very nice little snapshot of what has been happening and this time around there is more to report than ever before. UNHCR’s overall verdict on the current interest and momentum in addressing statelessness…? “Unprecedented”. Here are some of the most interesting highlights from the report:

Read the full blog posting available here.

 

New Thematic Issues on Statelessness and Urban Issues

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/

New Thematic Publications on Statelessness

Case Watch: UK Supreme Court Confronts Statelessness in al-Jedda Case (Open Society Foundations, June 2013) [text]

Estonia Should Eliminate Child Statelessness (Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, June 2013) [text]

Learning about Statelessness in the Netherlands (ENS Blog, June 2013) [text]

NGO Statement on Statelessness, 57th Meeting of the EXCOM Standing Committee, Geneva, 25-27 June 2013 [text via ENS Blog]

Note on Statelessness, 57th Meeting of the EXCOM Standing Committee, UN Doc. No. EC/64/SC/CRP.11, Geneva, 25-27 June 2013 [text]

One Year after the Violence Began: Civil Society Organizations Deeply Concerned by the Human Rights and Humanitarian Situation of Stateless Rohingya (Minority Rights Group International, June 2013) [text]

Prevention and Reduction of Statelessness and Protection of Stateless Persons in the Americas, 43rd Regular Session of the Organization of American States, La Antigua, Guatemala, 4-6 June 2013 [text via Refworld]

Reduction of Statelessness and Access to Nationality: The Need for EU-regulation. The Showcase of Stateless Roma in Slovenia, Thesis (Lund University, 2013) [text]

Setting the Bar Higher: The UNHCR NGO Consultations and Getting Serious about Eradicating Statelessness (ENS Blog, June 2013) [text]

Stateless Saudi Driven to Self-immolation (Refugees International Blog, June 2013) [text]

Stateless Zimbabwe Residents Gain Citizenship (IRIN, June 2013) [text]

Supra-national Citizenship: An Increasingly Powerful Tool of Protection… and Exclusion (Oecumene Blog, June 2013) [text]

New Thematic Publications on Urban Issues

Knowledge into Action: British Red Cross’ Experiences Going Urban (British Red Cross, June 2013) [access]
– Webinar presentation.

Living in the Shadows: Who is the Guardian of Urban Refugee Rights? (ODI, June 2013) [text]

Sanctuary in the City? Reframing Responses to Protracted Urban Displacement, HPG Policy Brief, no. 52 (ODI, June 2013) [text]

Sanctuary in the City? Urban Displacement and Vulnerability: Final Report, HPG Report, no. 33 (ODI, June 2013) [text]

Urban Violence: What Role for Traditional Humanitarianism?, London, 21 March 2013 [text]
– Conference report.

 

 

New Thematic Publications on Humanitarian Assistance and Statelessness

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/

New Thematic Publications on Humanitarian Assistance

Access Denied: Dilemmas of Cross Line and Cross Border Humanitarian Engagement, Online, 13 June 2013 [access]
– Info. and background materials for this event are available here.

Helpdesk Research Report: The Impact of Integrated Missions on Humanitarian Operations (Governance and Social Development Resource Centre, May 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

Making the Right Choices in Emergencies (IRIN, June 2013) [text]

Older Persons in Emergency Situations: A Case Study of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake (WHO, 2013) [text]

“On the Politics of our Humanitarian Present,” Environment & Planning D: Society and Space (forthcoming) [preprint]

Paradoxes of Presence: Risk Management and Aid Culture in Challenging Environments (ODI, March 2013) [text]

Sharing Space: Adapting Military Approaches to Geospatial Analysis for Humanitarian Response and the Documentation of Human Rights Abuses (Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research, June 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

New Thematic Publications on Statelessness

The Women’s Refugee Commission and the Statelessness Programme at Tilburg University have launched a report entitled “Our Motherland, Our Country: Gender Discrimination and Statelessness in the Middle East and North Africa.”  The study focuses on Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco and Egypt.  Follow this link to access the report, two short films, a photo essay, and a related blog post.

In addition, two recent papers prepared by the Statelessness Programme’s MENA Nationality and Statelessness Research Project are available via SSRN:
– The Stateless Syrians (May 2013) [text]
– The Stateless Tebu of Libya? (May 2013) [text]

Finally, read the stories of stateless women in Lebanon on the Huffington Post.

“Interview with UNHCR’s Statelessness Regional Protection Officer, Inge Sturkenboom,” ENS Newsletter, no. 3 (May 2013) [text]

Poor Judgement, Bad Judgment (ENS Blog, May 2013) [text]
– Comment on UK Court of Appeal decision in B2 v The Secretary of State for the Home Department.

Protection against Statelessness: Trends and Regulations in Europe (EUDO Citizenship Observatory, May 2013) [text]

Proving Statelessness: Evidential Issues for Refused Asylum Seekers (ENS Blog, June 2013) [text]

The Rohingya: Bargaining with Human Lives (Open Democracy, June 2013) [text]

 

 

New Thematic Publications on Statelessness; Health; and Gender Issues

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/

New Publications on Statelessness

The European Network on Statelessness and the Statelessness Programme at Tilburg University are calling for the adoption of an “International Day on Statelessness,” similar to Human Rights Day or World Refugee Day.  Share your support/thoughts over at the ENS blog!

Publications:

“Becoming Stateless: Historical Experience and Its Reflection on the Concept of State among the Lahu in Yunnan and Mainland Southeast Asian Massif,” Southeast Asian Studies, vol. 2, no. 1 (2013) [full-text]

“Born Lost: Stateless Children in International Surrogacy Arrangements,” Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law, vol. 21, no. 2 (2013) [full-text]

“‘A Forgotten Human Rights Crisis’: Statelessness and Issue (Non)Emergence,”Human Rights Review, vol. 14, no. 2 (June 2013) [abstract]
– See also related ENS Blog post, FMR article and thesis.

A Government Approach to Moving Statelessness Forward on the International Agenda (ENS Blog, May 2013) [text]

Litigation, Legal Aid & Law Clinics (ENS Blog, May 2013) [text]

[Nationality Laws in Liberia, Nepal and Thailand] (Statelessness Programme, May 2013)
– Students in the ‘Nationality, Statelessness and Human Rights’ course at Tilburg University provide their analyses.

The Price of Statelessness: Palestinian Refugees from Syria (Middle East Monitor, May 2013) [text]

U.S. Immigration Reform May Finally Help Stateless People (Refugees International Blog, May 2013) [text]

New Publications on Health

“Improving Early Detection of Refugee-Related Stress Symptoms: Evaluation of an Inter-Professional and Inter-Cultural Skills Training Course in Sweden,” Societies3(2) (May 2013) [open access text]

“Meaningful Change or Business as Usual? Reproductive Health in Humanitarian Settings,” Forced Migration Review 25th Anniversary Collection (April 2013) [open access text]

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Disaster Situations in the Caribbean (PAHO, Dec. 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]

“Piloting Community-based Medical Care for Survivors of Sexual Assault in Conflict-affected Karen State of Eastern Burma,” Conflict and Health 7:12 (May 2013) [open access text]

“Quality of Ultrasound Biometry Obtained by Local Health Workers in a Refugee Camp on the Thai–Burmese Border,” Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology, vol. 40, no. 2 (Aug. 2012) [open access text]

War Surgery: Working with Limited Resources in Armed Conflict and Other Situations of Violence, vol. 2 (ICRC, 2013) [text]

New Publications on Gender Issues

Annual Review of the Human Rights Situation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex People(ILGA Europe, May 2013) [text via Refworld]
– See also other related materials from ILGA Europe including score sheets per country.

Female Refugees Fleeing Conflict (IntLawGrrls, May 2013) [text]

Invisible in the City: Protection Gaps Experienced by Sexual Minority Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Urban Ecuador, Ghana, Israel, and Kenya (HIAS, Feb. 2013) [text]
– See also related U.S. State Dept. speech.

“Nexus with a Convention Ground: The Particular Social Group and Sexual Minority Refugees in Ireland and the United Kingdom,” Irish Law Journal, vol. 1, no. 1 (2012) [full-text]

The Plight of LGBTI Asylum Seekers, Refugees (IRIN, May 2013) [text]

“Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and the Protection of Forced Migrants,”Forced Migration Review, no. 42 (April 2013) [open access text]
-“Around the world, people face abuse, arbitrary arrest, extortion, violence, severe discrimination and lack of official protection because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. This latest issue of FMR includes 26 articles on the abuse of rights of forced migrants who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex. Authors discuss both the challenges faced and examples of good practice in securing protection for LGBTI forced migrants.”

UK Asylum Process Painful for Lesbians Fleeing Death Threats (Thomson Reuters Foundation, May 2013) [text]

“Women as a Particular Social Group: A Comparative Assessment of Gender Asylum Claims in the United States and United Kingdom,” Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, vol. 26, no. 2 (Winter 2012) [full-text via SSRN]

 

New Thematic Publications on Statelessness; Law/Policy Items; and Work Issues

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/

New Publications on Statelessness

Addressing the Human Insecurity of Stateless People: Complementing our Legal Advocacy with a Development Approach (ENS Blog, May 2013) [text]

Addressing Statelessness in the Western Balkans – ENS and WeBLAN Joint Workshop (ENS Blog, April 2013) [text]

“All You Can Do is Pray”: Crimes against Humanity and Ethnic Cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Burma’s Arakan State (Human Rights Watch, April 2013) [text]

Greg Constantine Talks @ Pulitzer [access]
– Discusses the In Search of Home e-book.

Is Nationality Always Relevant? – Reflections on Time Spent with a Lahu Community in Northern Thailand (Statelessness Programme Blog, May 2013) [text]

“Stateless in the United States: Current Reality and a Future Prediction,” Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, vol. 46, no. 2 (2013) [full-text]

Statelessness: The Core of the Palestinian Issue, Washington, DC, 2 May 2013 [info] [access]

“Statelessness in International Law: A Historic Overview,” DAJV Newsletter, no. 3 (2012) [full-text]
– Select 3/2012 from the list of issues.

New Publications on Law/Policy Items

Coping with Contemporary Conflicts: “Conflict Refugees” and the 1951 Convention Protection Regime, Open Lecture at 70th Course on International Refugee Law, Sanremo, Italy, 23-27 April 2013 [text]

Culture of Disbelief Works against Asylum Seekers (IRIN, April 2013) [text]

“Helping the Helpless: The Foreign Policy Strategies Underlying Humanitarian Rhetoric in American Refugee Law and Policy,” Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary, vol. 32, no. 1 (2012) [full-text]

International Criminal Justice, the Gotovina Judgment and the Making of Refugees (Lund University, 2013) [text via bepress]

“Judicial Review of Refugee Determinations: The Luck of the Draw?,” Queen’s Law Journal, vol. 38, no. 1 (Fall 2012) [full-text]

“My Name is Khan” and I Am Not a Terrorist: Intersections of Counter Terrorism Measures and the International Framework for Refugee Protection (SSRN, April 2013) [text]

New Publications on Work Issues

Agreement Reached in National Class Action Lawsuit on Work Authorization for Asylum Seekers (ImmigrationProf Blog, April 2013) [text]

The Benefits of Granting Third Country Nationals Equal Rights to Work (ENARgy, April 2013) [text]
– From the European Network against Racism.

The Economic and Political Impact of Immigrants, Latinos and Asians State by State (Immigration Policy Center, Jan. 2012) [access]
– Note: Some state factsheets were updated May 2013.

How a Stateless Refugee Overcame Low Self-Esteem to Become a Successful Entrepreneur (Huffington Post, April 2013) [text]

“Immigration Reform Overlooks Asylum-seekers – Harsh Rules Enacted in 1996 Prevent Them from Working for Months or Years, Making Many Destitute,” Los Angeles Times,25 April 2013 [text]

The Plight of an Ethiopian Refugee Searching for Work in Nairobi (Refugee Work Rights, May 2013) [text]

 

New e-Book: `In Search of Home’ by Greg Constantine and Stephanie Hanes

In Search of Home

The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting has recently published a new e-book entitled `In Search of Home’ with photography by Greg Constantine and reporting by Stephanie Hanes.

To get the technical bit out of the way first.  This is an e-book which is currently available to download from iTunes for use on an iPad using iBooks 2.0 or later on an iPad. iOS 5.0 or later is required.  The official description describes the work as:

This award-winning* e-book focuses on an under-reported global crisis: statelessness. People who are stateless are not refugees, not exactly. Often they are living in their homes in a country they consider to be their own. Yet they are stateless—without the basic right to get an education, to work in the legal economy, receive health benefits, get married, vote or own property. The cause is often rooted in religion or ethnicity, but even when the stateless are not actively persecuted, they remain the most vulnerable. With reporting by Stephanie Hanes, and photography by Greg Constantine, this interactive book takes you on a journey to visit the stateless people of Kenya, Burma and the Dominican Republic. *Honorable Mention, NPPA’s Best Photojournalism 2013, Tablet Category*
(Source:  iTunes – bit.ly/13x6wzs).

Photographer Greg Constantine and reporter Stephanie Hanes have taken this opportunity to provide a very worthwhile and intriguing study on the impact of statelessness, focusing upon those stateless–people without nationality or citizenship within Kenya, Burma, and the Dominican Republic. Presented in this relatively new iBook format, this provides a new interactive way to explore the complexity of the global issue of statelessness.

Constantine argues:

“Stateless people are some of the most neglected, vulnerable and invisible people in the world today and statelessness is one of the most complex, politically sensitive and devastating human rights issues most people don’t know about,” Constantine said. “It is a story and an issue that demands attention. Exposing how this condition impacts individuals, families and entire communities has been my primary motivation these past seven years.”
(Source: “In Search of Home” Receives Honorable Mention in 2013 NPPA Awards).

This e-book stems from the Pulitzer Center project “Statelessness: A Human Rights Crisis,” a reporting project by Hanes and Constantine that explores the world-wide phenomenon of statelessness by looking at how the international community is defining, and responding, to this human-rights crisis.  Focusing on the plight of the approximately 12 million stateless people across the world, this work utilises a multi-media platform to incorporate both photographs and narratives to illicit and contextualize the notions of statelessness as they impact upon the individual, whilst at the same time, highlighting the need for an international response to the growing problem that statelessness provides.

The importance of this work cannot be over-stressed and it is refreshing to see the use of new multi-media methods being employed  in just a worthy cause.  Indeed, the use of the-e-book format as allowed for an interaction between the narrative and photographic material to provide greater clarity and depth to the work and as Hanes argues,  “The e-book format allows for far more nuance and background information than a traditional print piece. There is an ability to truly incorporate photos, maps, and historical information. Overall, it allows for an excitingly textured new way of story-telling.” (Source: GUEST POST: Stories of Statelessness – Burma, the Dominican Republic and Kenya).

The The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting has also produced an Educator’s Guide to “In Search of Home” E-book, which can be downloaded from the link below.  This educator’s guide provides:

The Educator’s Guide to In Search of Home (available for download below) has questions and assignment ideas to help guide classroom discussions before, during and after the visit.

Click here to download the full Educator’s Guide.

Further Information:

In Search of Home on iTunes – http://bit.ly/13x6wzs

The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting – http://pulitzercenter.org/

Greg Constantine Official Website – http://www.exiledtonowhere.com/

Further News Stories – “In Search of Home” Receives Honorable Mention in 2013 NPPA Awards; and “In Search Of Home” E-Book Live in iTunes.

Image Gallery:
(Images Copyright to Greg Constantine/iTunes.).

In Search of Home

 

New Thematic Publications on Health; Humanitarian Assistance; and Statelessness

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/

New Publications on Health

Access to Healthcare in Europe in Times of Crisis and Rising Xenophobia: An Overview of the Situation of People Excluded from Healthcare Systems (Médecins du Monde, April 2013) [access]

“Discourse on Malaria Elimination: Where Do Forcibly Displaced Persons Fit in These Discussions?,” Malaria Journal 12:121 (April 2013) [open access text]

“Family Therapy Sessions with Refugee Families: A Qualitative Study,” Conflict and Health 7:7 (March 2013) [open access text]

“A Framework and Methodology for Navigating Disaster and Global Health in Crisis Literature,” PLOS Currents Disasters (April 2013) [open access text]

Refugee Health Care: Impacts of Recent Cuts (Canadian Council for Refugees, Feb. 2013) [text via Oppenheimer Chair]

“Vitamin D Status of Refugees Arriving in Canada: Findings from the Calgary Refugee Health Program,” Canadian Family Physician, vol. 59, no. 4 (April 2013) [free full-text]

New Publications on Humanitarian Assistance

Engineering’s Place In Humanitarian Work (KERA, April 2013) [access]

The High Commissioner’s Structured Dialogue on NGO-IFRC-UNHCR Partnership: An Initiative to Improve Partnership between UNHCR and NGOs in 2012 and Beyond (UNHCR, Jan. 2013) [text]

Innovation to the Rescue: New Ideas, Partnerships, and Technologies for Helping Refugees (Policy Innovations, March 2013) [text]

Let’s Hear it for the Monolith (ALNAP Blog, April 2013) [text]

Scoping Study: What Works in Protection and How Do We Know? (Global Public Policy Institute, March 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

New Publications on Statelessness

A new statelessness determination procedure came into effect in the United Kingdom in early April 2013.  UNHCR noted that this development provides “a positive example to other countries that are parties to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons but which have not taken steps to implement the Convention….”   For more information about the procedure, read the briefing note prepared by Asylum Aid, as well as various related blog posts here, here, and here.

Publications:

Half Stateless (Refugees International Blog, April 2013) [text]
– Brief report on the Conference for the Stateless in Kuwait, 15-16 April 2013.

Protecting Stateless Palestinian Refugees: The EU Court of Justice Opens a New Chapter (ENS Blog, April 2013) [text]
– Discusses recent El Kott judgment.

Stateless People and Microfinance Intuitions (Statelessness Programme Blog, April 2013) [text]

Surprise! A Simulation on Statelessness (Active Learning in Political Science, April 2013) [text]

Without a Legal Home: Statelessness in the Bahamas (HR Brief Blog, Feb. 2013) [text]

New Thematic Publications on Gender Issues; Asylum/Protection; and Statelessness

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/

New Publications on Gender Issues

Action Research with Refugee Women: Good Practice and Solutions to Community Participation (IARS &IDRICS, 2013) [text]

“Becoming Queer Here: Integration and Adaptation Experiences of Sexual Minority Refugees in Toronto,” Refuge, vol. 28, no. 2 (2011) [open access text]

Blind Alleys: The Unseen Struggles of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Urban Refugees in Mexico, Uganda and South Africa (ORAM, Feb. 2013) [access]
– Part I is “Guidance for NGOs, Governments, UNHCR & Program Funders”; Part II is country findings (presented in three separate reports).

Guidelines on the Transposition of the Asylum Qualification Directive: Protecting LGBTI Asylum Seekers (ILGA Europe, 2012) [access]

UN Report Highlights Displaced Women and Girls’ Risk for Sexual Violence, Demands Greater Action to Help Survivors (AlertNet, March 2013) [text]

Women’s Asylum News, no. 116 (March/April 2013) [full-text via Refworld]
– Lead article is “Missed Out Campaign – Success.”

New Publications on Asylum/Protection

Lettres Actualités Droits-Libertés (Centre de Recherches et d’Etudes sur les Droits Fondamentaux) [access]
– Browse back issues of these legal analyses to locate a number that focus on asylum and refugee issues; examples of “Letters” published so far in 2013 include: “Consécration du visa de transit aéroportuaire (VTA) comme instrument de police de mise à distance des demandes d’asile“; “Droit d’asile: Le Conseil d’Etat aux prises avec les mutilations génitales féminines”; and “État des lieux alarmant des conditions d’accueil des demandeurs d’asile en France.”

New Network Monitors Abuses of Deportees (IRIN, March 2013) [text]
– Discusses the Fahamu Refugee Programme’s Post-Deportation Monitoring Network.

A Numbers Game: Counting Refugees and International Burden-Sharing, Tasmania, 19 Dec. 2012 [text]
– Public lecture.

Oral Update on the High Commissioner’s 2012 Dialogue on Protection Challenges: Faith and Protection, 56th Meeting of the Standing Committee, 5-7 March 2013 [text]
– See also related presentation.

Refuge, vol. 28, no. 2 (2013) [open access text]
– Special issue on “Is the 1951 Refugee Convention Outdated?”; includes three feature articles on refugee camps, urban refugee livelihoods, and protection in Ireland, respectively. These are followed by three focused sections on asylum policy in Canada, protection in South Africa, and CARFMS 2012 conference presentations.

Podcasts:

Refuge from Inhumanity: Enriching Refugee Protection Standards through Recourse to International Humanitarian Law, Oxford, 11-12 Feb. 2013 [info]
– A podcast is available for “Panel VII: Perspectives on Protection against Refoulement under IHL.”

Refugee Protection Seminar Series, Oxford, 16 Jan.-6 March 2013 [info]
– Podcasts of the various presentations are available on FMO.

New Publications on Statelessness

Adopting the Stateless (SSRN, Feb. 2013) [text]
– “This article proposes a nexus of statelessness and intercountry adoption where legislation is put forward to adopt stateless individuals, particularly children. This article will analyze pending legislation for the adoption of North Korean stateless persons and recommend legislation to address broader issues of statelessness.”

Background Note on Gender Equality, Nationality Laws and Statelessness (UNHCR, updated March 2013) [text]
– Reviews laws in 29 countries which do not allow women to confer nationality to their children.

Debating the ‘Right to Citizenship’ (ENS Blog, March 2013) [text]
– Comment re. recent seminar on “The Right to Citizenship: Towards fuller implementation of Article 15 UDHR,” Maastricht, 7 March 2013.

Lost in the Forest: Stateless Children in Borneo’s Palm Oil Industry (Pulitzer Center, Jan. 2013) [access]
– Video report.

No Residence, No Rights (ENS Blog, March 2013) [text]
– Focuses on Serbia.

Statelessness and Citizenship: Camps and the Creation of ‘Political Space’, Oxford, 20 Feb. 2013 [access]
– Podcast of this seminar now available.

 

 

New Thematic Publications on Health; Work Issues; and Statelessness

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/

New Publications on Health

“Building a Welcoming Community: The Role of Pharmacists in Improving Health Outcomes for Immigrants and Refugees,” Canadian Pharmacists Journal, vol. 146, no. 1 (Jan./Feb. 2013) [free full-text]

Casualties of War and Disasters: The Science of Displaced People (Open Access in the Developing World Blog, Feb. 2013) [text]

Common Threads: The Sexual and Reproductive Health Experiences of Immigrant and Refugee Women in Australia (Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health, 2012) [text]

Improving Reproductive Health Services for Forcibly Displaced Women (Population Reference Bureau, Jan. 2013) [text]

Meeting Mental Health Needs for Immigrants and Refugees in the Central West LHIN: Identifying Multiple Bridges and Barriers (CERIS, March 2013) [text]

Pregnant Women: How Will Changes to Refugee Health Coverage Affect Them? (CERIS Blog, Feb. 2013) [text]

“‘Thinking Too Much’: Psychological Distress, Sources of Stress and Coping Strategies of Resettled Afghan and Kurdish Refugees,” Journal of Muslim Mental Health, vol. 6, no. 2 (2012) [open access text]

“Treatment of a Multitraumatized Tortured Refugee Needing an Interpreter with Exposure Therapy,” Case Reports in Psychiatry, vol. 2013:197323 (Feb. 2013) [open access text]

New Publications on Work Issues

Ad-hoc Query on Asylum Seekers’ Access to the Labour Market (European Migration Network, Feb. 2013) [text]

Azerbaijan Internally Displaced Persons Youth Support Project: Youth Skills and Business Development (World Bank, Jan. 2013) [text]

Forced Labour: Current Issues and Debates, London, 9 January 2013 [access]
– Follow link for workshop presentations, including one entitled “Precarious Lives: Forced Labour, Exploitation and the UK Asylum System.”

“The Migration and Labor Question Today: Imperialism, Unequal Development, and Forced Migration,” Monthly Review, vol. 64, no. 9 (Feb. 2013) [text]

Working through Asylum: An Overview of Refugee and Asylum-Seekers’ Ability to Attain and Maintain Employment in Countries of Refuge (Birdsong’s Law Blog, March 2013) [text]

New Publications on Statelessness

Innovations in Russian Legislation on Citizenship (European Network on Statelessness Blog, March 2013) [text]

Kuwait: Small Step Forward for Bidun Rights as 4,000 ‘Foreigners’ Granted Citizenship (Amnesty International, March 2013) [text]

Reflections on Thailand (3): Is the Time Ripe for a Citizenship Campaign? (Statelessness Programme Blog, March 2013) [text]

Report on Statelessness in South Eastern Europe (UNHCR, Sept. 2011) [text]

Small Changes – Big Gains: An Action Plan to Prevent and Reduce Statelessness in the Kyrgyz Republic (UNHCR, 2010) [text]

Statelessness and Nationality in South Africa (Lawyers for Human Rights, March 2013) [text]

The Untold Dangers and Unfeasibility of a Global Registration of Stateless Persons: A Reply to Jay Milbrandt’s ‘Stateless’ (SSRN, March 2013) [text]

 

New Thematic Publications on Humanitarian Assistance; Statelessness and Violence Against Women

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/

New Publications on Humanitarian Assistance

“Building Effective and Sustainable Partnerships,” Keynote Address to the Dubai International Humanitarian Aid and Development Conference (DIHAD), Dubai, 25 March 2013 [text]

Evolution of Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict (Govt. of Australia & Oxfam, April 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

Global Aid Drops as Rich Nations Struggle (IRIN, April 2013) [text]

Nutrition of Older People in Emergencies (HelpAge, Feb. 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]
– Module 23 in the Harmonised Training Package (HTP): Resource Material for Training on Nutrition in Emergencies (Global Nutrition Cluster, 2011)

Operating in Insecurity: Shifting Patterns of Violence against Humanitarian Aid Providers and their Staff (1996-2010) (Insecurity Insight, April 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

Professional Standards for Protection Work Carried out by Humanitarian and Human Rights Actors in Armed Conflict and Other Situations of Violence (ICRC, April 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

New Publications on Statelessness

Childhood in the Migrant City (Statelessness Programme Blog, April 2013) [text]

Citizens of Nowhere (Mail & Guardian, April 2013) [access]
– Follow link for slideshow (see photo at left).

Europe’s Birth Registration Stumbling Blocks (ENS Blog, March 2013) [text]

Roma Statelessness in Italy – Field Research Reveals Long-awaited Data (ENS Blog, April 2013) [text]

Statelessness and Human Rights in the Americas, 147th Session of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Washington, DC, 7-22 March 2013 [access]
– Follow link for video.

News:

Ukraine acceded to both statelessness conventions on 25 March 2013.  The 1954 Convention now has a total of 77 states parties, while the 1961 Convention has a total of 51.  For more information, visit this UNHCR web page documenting state action on statelessness.

New Publications on Violence Against Women

“Domestic Violence Asylum Claims and Recent Developments in International Human Rights Law: A Progress Narrative?,” International and Comparative Law Quarterly, vol. 60, no. 2 (April 2011) [free full-text thru. 2013]

Gender-based Violence among Displaced Women and Girls with Disabilities: Findings from Field Visits 2011–2012 (Women’s Refugee Commission, Feb. 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]

Responding to Gender-based Violence in Emergencies (Australian Red Cross, March 2013) [text]

Unprotected and Unrecognized: The Ontological Insecurity of Migrants Who Are Denied Protection from Domestic Violence in their Home Countries and as Refugee Claimants in Canada, Working Paper, no. 96 (CERIS, Feb. 2013) [text]

 

 

New Publications on Statelessness; Internal Displacement; and Protection-related Items

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/

New Publications on Statelessness

Access to Citizenship and its Impact on Integration: Growing Attention on the Role of the European Union in Tackling Statelessness? (ENS Blog, Feb. 2013) [text]

The Humanitarian Side of Statelessness; Statelessness within the Framework of the Millennium Development Goals (SSRN, Feb. 2013)
– See also related comment on the Statelessness Programme blog.

Naturalization of Stateless Persons: The Standards of Facilitated Access to Citizenship (Statelessness Programme Blog, Feb. 2013) [text]

Paper Presented by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Collaboration with the Eugene Dupuch Law School to the Constitutional Commission of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas (UNHCR, Feb. 2013) [text]
– Includes recommendations for changes to Bahama’s Constitution that would help prevent and reduce statelessness.

Reflections on Thailand (1): A Protracted and Neglected Situation of Statelessness (Statelessness Programme Blog, Feb. 2013) [text]
– First in a series of posts about statelessness among ethnic minorities in Thailand.

“Statelessness in the Context of State Succession: An Appraisal under International Law,” Chapter 3 in The Changing Role of Nationality in International Law (Routledge, March 2013) [info]

*Statelessness Programme Annual Report 2012 (Tilburg University, Jan. 2013) [text]

UNHCR Applauds Jamaica for Signing the International Convention to Protect Individuals without a Nationality (UNHCR, Feb. 2013) [text]

New Publications on Internal Displacement

Analysis: Afghan Government Promises Rethink on IDPs (IRIN, Feb. 2013) [text]

Flocks without Shepherds? Governmentality, Sovereignty and the Paradoxical Politics of IDP Protection Policy, Oxford, 30 Jan. 2013 [podcast]

Internally Displaced Persons in the Georgian Labour Market (Tbilisi State University, May 2012) [text]

Kampala Convention Breaks New Ground for Protecting Internally Displaced Persons (Human Rights Brief Blog, Feb. 2013) [text]

Letter from Chaloka Beyani (Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement, Feb. 2013) [text]
– Produced monthly (see back issues), the latest letter report’s on the project’s 5-year strategic plan and notes Kenya’s new IDP Act.

Philippines Passes Historic Bill to Protect Internally Displaced (UNHCR, Feb. 2013) [text]

Taking Stock of Internal Displacement: Twenty Years On, Geneva, 28-29 November 2012 [text]
– Conference report.

New Publications on Protection-related Items

Assessment of Credibility in Refugee and Subsidiary Protection Claims under the EU Qualification Directive: Judicial Criteria and Standards (IARLJ, 2013) [text]

CGRS Helps Young Salvadoran Girl in Asylum Bid to Escape Gang Violence (UC Hastings College of the Law, Feb. 2013) [text]

Continuing Forms of Persecution: An Examination of United States Policy Concerning Female Genital Mutilation and the Chinese “One Child” Policy (Birdsong’s Law Blog, Feb. 2013) [text]

The Case for Mexican Asylum Seekers Fleeing Cartel Violence (Birdsong’s Law Blog, Feb. 2013) [text]

“Organization of African Unity and African Union Engagement with Refugee Protection: 1963–2011,” African Journal of International and Comparative Law, vol. 21, no. 1 (Feb. 2013) [extract]

“Temporary Protection, Derogation and the 1951 Refugee Convention,” Melbourne Journal of International Law, vol. 13, no. 2 (Nov. 2012) [full-text]

Too Much Pain: Female Genital Mutilation and Asylum in the European Union – A Statistical Overview (UNHCR, Feb. 2013) [text]

 

 

 

 

 

Re-blog: The Humanitarian Side of Statelessness – Statelessness within the Framework of the Millennium Development Goals

Re-blog from the Statelessness Programme  at the Tilburg Law School, the Netherlands.

The Humanitarian Side of Statelessness – Statelessness within the Framework of the Millennium Development Goals

Link:  The Humanitarian Side of Statelessness – Statelessness within the Framework of the Millennium Development Goals

The issue of statelessness has begun to receive attention from a legal perspective. While this work should be commended and continue this article argues that we should also remember that at its core statelessness is a human issue that deeply affects the lives of those who suffer from it. It causes and perpetuates, amongst other things, extreme poverty and human insecurity. Statelessness is still greatly under-examined and under-appreciated as a potentially significant barrier to progress in the humanitarian and development fields.

A working paper on this issue, now available for download on SSRN, aims to begin to situate statelessness as an important issue within these fields. This is done by taking the framework of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and looking at how statelessness affects the realization of each and every goal. This approach shows that by overlooking statelessness development actors and agencies could be failing to meet the needs of the world’s poorest. While far from being a comprehensive analysis of all available literature on statelessness and its relationship to each goal, this article is as an exploratory piece with the aim of encouraging development actors and agencies to recognise the importance of statelessness in their current and future projects and work to gain a greater understanding of the relationship between statelessness, poverty and human insecurity.

Please CLICK HERE to view the paper that outlines these issues. Looking forward to a greater discussion of this side of statelessness in the months to come.

Jason Tucker, Visiting Scholar at the Statelessness Programme

New Publications on Policy & Programming Items; Europe; and Statelessness

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/

New Publications on Policy and Programming Items

Informal Consultative Meeting on Global Strategic Priorities for 2014-2015 (UNHCR, Feb. 2013) [text]

Local Faith Communities and the Promotion of Resilience in Humanitarian Situations: A Scoping Survey, Working Paper, no. 90 (RSC & Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities, Feb. 2013) [text]

Management Response to the Recommendations of the Synthesis Summary Report of the Joint UNHCR/WFP Impact Evaluations on the Contribution of Food Assistance to Durable Solutions in Protracted Refugee Situations (WFP & UNHCR, Jan. 2013) [text via ReliefWeb]
– The evaluations that this response refers to were referenced in this earlier post.

Refugee Livelihoods in Urban Areas: Identifying Program Opportunities (Feinstein International Center, Feb. 2013) [text]
– See also case studies on Ecuador, Egypt, and Israel.

Refugee Resettlement: 2012 and Beyond, New Issues in Refugee Research, no. 253 (UNHCR, Feb. 2013) [text]

UNHCR’s Dialogues with Refugee Women: Progress Report on Implementation of Recommendations (UNHCR, 2013) [text]

New Publications on Europe

Droit d’asile en France: conditions d’accueil – État des lieux 2012 (Coordination française pour le droit d’asile, Feb. 2013) [text]

“Mutual Trust and the Dublin Regulation: Protection of Fundamental Rights in the EU and the Burden of Proof,”Utrecht Law Review, vol. 9, no. 1 (Jan. 2013) [open access text]

“Refugees in Italy: A Pilot Study of Their Reception and Integration Process,” Academicus International Scientific Journal, no. 6 (2012) [full-text]

Rethinking Asylum Legal Representation: Promoting Quality and Innovation at a Time of Austerity (Asylum Aid, Jan. 2013) [text]

Right First Time: How UK Border Agency Officials and Legal Representatives Can Work Together to Improve the Asylum System (Asylum Aid, 2013) [text]

New Publications on Statelessness

In the Sun: Research and Advocacy on Roma Stateless People in Italy (Italian Council for Refugees, Feb. 2013) [text]
– See also press release (in Italian) which notes that the final report will be made available soon.

Mapping Statelessness in Belgium (UNHCR, Oct. 2012) [text]

Observing and Documenting the Violations of Stateless (Bidoun) Children’s Rights (Group29, Sept. 2012) [text]

Statelessness Having Been Mapped, It’s Time to Act Now for Belgian Authorities, Before Momentum Passes (ENS Blog, Feb. 2013) [text]

Study for the Feasibility of a Legal Instrument in the Field of Nationality Law and Families (including the Promotion of Acquisition of Citizenship) (Council of Europe, Feb. 2012) [text]

An Unexpected Frontrunner: Tackling Statelessness in Iraq (ENS Blog, Feb. 2013) [text]