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Violent conflict, population mobility and displacement: a micro analysis
Book description: This volume presents an innovative new analytical framework for understanding the dynamics of violent conflict and its impact on people and communities living in contexts of violence. Bringing together the findings of MICROCON, an influential five year research programme funded by the European Commission, this book provides readers with the most current and comprehensive evidence available on violent conflict from a micro-level perspective. MICROCON was the largest programme on conflict analysis in Europe from 2007-2011, and its policy outreach has helped to influence EU development policy, and supported policy capacity in many conflict-affected countries. Whilst traditional studies into conflict have been through an international /regional lens with the state as the primary unit of analysis, the micro-level perspective offered by this volume places the individuals, households, groups and communities affected by conflict at the centre of analysis. Studying how people behave in groups and communities; and how they interact with the formal and informal institutions that manage local tensions, is crucial to understanding the conflict cycle. These micro-foundations therefore provide a more in-depth analysis of the causes and consequences of violent conflict. By challenging the ways we think about conflict, this book bridges the gap in evidence, allowing for more specific and accurate policy interventions for conflict resolution and development processes to help reduce poverty in the lives of those affected by conflict. This volume is divided into four parts. Part I introduces the conceptual framework of MICROCON. Part II focuses on individual and group motivations in conflict processes. Part III highlights the micro-level consequences of violent conflict. The final section of this volume focuses on policy implications and future research agenda.
Environmental stress, displacement and the challenge of rights protection
Examination of migration histories and current politics in Kenya, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Ethiopia and Ghana sheds light on how rights are articulated for groups and individuals displaced in a context of environmental stress and climate change. Both migration and rights are sensitive issues in these case-study countries, and the conjunction of the two is especially sensitive.
The environment-mobility nexus: reconceptualising the links between environmental stress, mobility and power
Book description: Refugee and Forced Migration Studies has grown from being a concern of a relatively small number of scholars and policy researchers in the 1980s to a global field of interest with thousands of students worldwide studying displacement either from traditional disciplinary perspectives or as a core component of newer programmes across the Humanities and Social and Political Sciences. Today the field encompasses both rigorous academic research which may or may not ultimately inform policy and practice, as well as action-research focused on advocating in favour of refugees' needs and rights. This authoritative Handbook critically evaluates the birth and development of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies, and analyses the key contemporary and future challenges faced by academics and practitioners working with and for forcibly displaced populations around the world. The 52 state-of-the-art chapters, written by leading academics, practitioners, and policymakers working in universities, research centres, think tanks, NGOs and international organizations, provide a comprehensive and cutting-edge overview of the key intellectual, political, social and institutional challenges arising from mass displacement in the world today. The chapters vividly illustrate the vibrant and engaging debates that characterize this rapidly expanding field of research and practice.
Sans Papiers: The Social and Economic Lives of Young Undocumented Migrants
Undocumented migration is a huge global phenomenon, yet little is known about the reality of life for those involved. Sans Papiers combines a contemporary account of the theoretical and policy debates with an in-depth exploration of the lived experiences of undocumented migrants in the UK from Zimbabwe, China, Brazil, Ukraine and Turkish Kurdistan. Built around their voices, the book provides a unique understanding of migratory processes, gendered experiences and migrant aspirations. Moving between the uniqueness of individual experience and the search for commonalities, the book explores the ambiguities and contradictions of being an undocumented migrant. With its insights into personal experiences alongside analysis of wider policy issues, Sans Papiers will have wide appeal for students, academics, policy-makers and practitioners.
Creating identities, diminishing protection and the securitisation of asylum in Europe
Book description: Sixty years on from the signing of the Refugee Convention, forced migration and refugee movements continue to raise global concerns for hosting states and regions, for countries of origin, for humanitarian organisations on the ground, and, of course, for the refugee. This edited volume is framed around two themes which go to the core of contemporary ‘refugeehood’: protection and identity. It analyses how the issue of refugee identity is shaped by and responds to the legal regime of refugee protection in contemporary times. The book investigates the premise that there is a narrowing of protection space in many countries and many highly visible incidentsof refoulement. It argues that ‘Protection’, which is a core focus of the Refugee Convention, appears to be under threat, as there are many gaps and inconsistencies in practice. Contributors to the volume, who include Erika Feller, Elspeth Guild, Hélène Lambert and Roger Zetter, look at the relevant issues from the perspective of a number of different disciplines including law, politics, sociology, and anthropology. The chapters examine the link between identity and protection as a basis for understanding how the Refugee Convention has been and is being applied in policy and practice. The situation in a number of jurisdictions and regions in Europe, North America, South East Asia, Africa and the Middle East is explored in order to ask the question does jurisprudence under the Refugee Convention need better coordination and how successful is oversight of the Convention?
Survival migration: conflicting refugee identities in Africa
Book description: Sixty years on from the signing of the Refugee Convention, forced migration and refugee movements continue to raise global concerns for hosting states and regions, for countries of origin, for humanitarian organisations on the ground, and, of course, for the refugee. This edited volume is framed around two themes which go to the core of contemporary ‘refugeehood’: protection and identity. It analyses how the issue of refugee identity is shaped by and responds to the legal regime of refugee protection in contemporary times. The book investigates the premise that there is a narrowing of protection space in many countries and many highly visible incidentsof refoulement. It argues that ‘Protection’, which is a core focus of the Refugee Convention, appears to be under threat, as there are many gaps and inconsistencies in practice. Contributors to the volume, who include Erika Feller, Elspeth Guild, Hélène Lambert and Roger Zetter, look at the relevant issues from the perspective of a number of different disciplines including law, politics, sociology, and anthropology. The chapters examine the link between identity and protection as a basis for understanding how the Refugee Convention has been and is being applied in policy and practice. The situation in a number of jurisdictions and regions in Europe, North America, South East Asia, Africa and the Middle East is explored in order to ask the question does jurisprudence under the Refugee Convention need better coordination and how successful is oversight of the Convention?
Environmental stress, displacement and the challenge of rights protection
Book description: Migration is often seen as part of a crisis: a consequence of crisis or a cause of crisis. This book provides fresh perspectives on this routine association. It examines commonly reported examples of ‘crisis-induced migration’ and ‘migration-induced crises’, critically exploring how contemporary migration analysis and policy-making deploy the concept of crisis. In doing so, the book also explores the roles that various forms and levels of governance play in producing, responding to, and sometimes re-producing these crises of migration. Three over-arching questions are explored: What is the nature of the association between migration and crisis? Who responds and how? What do commonly reported ‘crises of migration’ reveal about wider politics and more general migration processes? These questions are posed in relation to a diverse range of crises, themes and contexts at the heart of global policy debates: the global economic crisis, the political transformations of the Arab Spring, famine and conflict in the Horn of Africa, criminal violence in Latin America, xenophobic riots in South Africa, and mass exoduses and border closures. It also explores how crisis frames our understanding of the impact of migration on family life, and immigration policy development in ‘fortress’ Europe. Throughout, the book pays close attention to the role of policy-makers in anticipating and responding to crises, asking what can they learn from these situations and analyses.
South-South Educational Migration, Humanitarianism and Development: Views from Cuba, North Africa and the Middle East
This is the first book to analyze the important phenomenon of South-South development initiatives. Drawing on critical theories and insights from intersectional analysis, the book examines the experiences and impacts of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) youth’s participation in South-South higher education programmes designed to maximise “self-sufficiency”. As one of a range of South-South scholarship programmes, the book focuses in particular on Cuba’s scholarship system which has offered a free secondary and tertiary education to over 50,000 students from 120 countries since the 1960s. This case-study is explored through multi-sited and multi-lingual research conducted with MENA citizens and refugees during their studies in Cuba and following their return to their places of origin (including both desert-based and urban refugee camps). The book also features primary research about refugees’ participation in the Libyan and Syrian Pan-Arabist education programme, providing the foundation for a comparative examination of the significance of individual and collective identities in access to South-South scholarship programmes, and the diverse challenges and opportunities arising from participation. In addition to analysing MENA students’ experiences of studying in Cuba, Libya and Syria and of returning to their refugee camp homes and countries of origin, the book critically assesses the impact of diverse policies designed to maximise “self-sufficiency,” and to reduce both “brain drain” and ongoing dependency upon Northern aid providers. It therefore explores the extent to which South-South scholarship systems such as the Cuban programme have challenged the power imbalances which typically characterise North to South development models. This book is a significant resource for students, researchers and practitioners in the areas of migration studies, refugee studies, comparative education, development and humanitarian studies, international relations, and regional studies (Latin America, Middle East, and North Africa).
Gender and forced migration
Book description: Refugee and Forced Migration Studies has grown from being a concern of a relatively small number of scholars and policy researchers in the 1980s to a global field of interest with thousands of students worldwide studying displacement either from traditional disciplinary perspectives or as a core component of newer programmes across the Humanities and Social and Political Sciences. Today the field encompasses both rigorous academic research which may or may not ultimately inform policy and practice, as well as action-research focused on advocating in favour of refugees' needs and rights. This authoritative Handbook critically evaluates the birth and development of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies, and analyses the key contemporary and future challenges faced by academics and practitioners working with and for forcibly displaced populations around the world. The 52 state-of-the-art chapters, written by leading academics, practitioners, and policymakers working in universities, research centres, think tanks, NGOs and international organizations, provide a comprehensive and cutting-edge overview of the key intellectual, political, social and institutional challenges arising from mass displacement in the world today. The chapters vividly illustrate the vibrant and engaging debates that characterize this rapidly expanding field of research and practice.
The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies
Refugee and Forced Migration Studies has grown from being a concern of a relatively small number of scholars and policy researchers in the 1980s to a global field of interest with thousands of students worldwide studying displacement either from traditional disciplinary perspectives or as a core component of newer programmes across the Humanities and Social and Political Sciences. Today the field encompasses both rigorous academic research which may or may not ultimately inform policy and practice, as well as action-research focused on advocating in favour of refugees' needs and rights. This authoritative Handbook critically evaluates the birth and development of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies, and analyses the key contemporary and future challenges faced by academics and practitioners working with and for forcibly displaced populations around the world. The 52 state-of-the-art chapters, written by leading academics, practitioners, and policymakers working in universities, research centres, think tanks, NGOs and international organizations, provide a comprehensive and cutting-edge overview of the key intellectual, political, social and institutional challenges arising from mass displacement in the world today. The chapters vividly illustrate the vibrant and engaging debates that characterize this rapidly expanding field of research and practice.
The 27 February Camp: Sahrawi Refugees in Algeria
In 1975, at the apex of the conflict over what is now known as the territory of the Western Sahara, the Sahrawi "liberation movement", the Polisario Front, established a number of refugee camps in South-Western Algeria, near the Algerian military town of Tindouf. On the 27 February 1976, the Polisario Front declared the birth of its "state-in-exile", the camp-based "Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic" (SADR). Since then, the Polisario/SADR has developed its own constitution, camp-based police force (and prisons), army and parallel state and religious legal systems (the latter of which implements a Maliki interpretation of Islam). A number of "national" Sahrawi institutions, such as the National Parliament and National Council, National Hospital and Pharmaceutical Laboratory, the National War Hospital and the Landmine Victims’ Centre, are all located close to the camps’ administrative capital (Rabouni), which, in turn, is some 25km from Tindouf and its military airport. Approximately 155,000 Sahrawi refugees are currently distributed amongst four major camps named after the main cities in the Western Sahara (Aaiun, Ausserd, Smara and Dakhla), and a fifth, smaller camp which has developed around the National Women’s School (called the 27 February Camp). The 27 February Camp was the location of the majority of my fieldwork in the camps between 2001 and 2009, and it is this refugee camp which is the focus of this report.
Migration and statelessness in the Dominican Republic - Interview with Bridget Wooding by Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh
Bridget Wooding of the Observatorio Migrantes del Caribe, San Domingo speaks on Caribbean diasporas and statelessness.
Book Review: Ethics of Migration Research Methodology: Dealing with Vulnerable Immigrants
The impetus for this collection arose from two workshops entitled ‘Human smuggling/trafficking seen from inside’ and ‘Interviewing vulnerable migrants for different reasons and with different purposes’ held at the 2004 and 2005 International Metropolis Conferences respectively. Following an introduction by the editors, the contributions are divided in three sections. The first consists of two chapters which address ethical and methodological questions arising during and after the design and implementation of research with migrants/foreigners held in prison settings (Barsky on the United States, and Achermann on Switzerland). The second section is composed of three contributions outlining the authors’ views of the advantages and limitations of different research methods, including the analysis of official documents, coded questionnaires, expert interviews, narrative and open-ended interviews, and participant observation when completing research with irregular migrants and smuggled persons. These include chapters by Staring on Turkish irregular migrants in the Netherlands; Dahinden and Efionayi-Mäder on both sub-Saharan African asylum-seekers, refugees and irregular migrants, and non-EU migrant sex workers in Switzerland; and Bilger and van Liempt on smuggled migrants in Austria and the Netherlands. The third and final section includes two chapters which discuss the impact and implications of researchers’ national identities and professions when identifying, contacting and interviewing vulnerable migrants (Markova on being an ‘insider’ conducting research with Bulgarian migrants in Greece, Spain and the UK; and Empez on simultaneously being a social work practitioner and a researcher investigating the experiences of Moroccan minors in Spain).
Book Review: Diaspora and Transnationalism: Concepts, Theories and Methods
The papers in this edited collection arise from a multidisciplinary conference organized by the International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion in Europe Research Network (IMISCOE) in 2008. While the contributions primarily focus on migration within and to Europe, they draw upon case-studies from all continents, illustrating the transnational flows of people, resources, ideas and political forces that characterize the modern world. In line with the increasing visibility and intensity of international and transnational connections, academics and policy-makers alike have developed and contested diverse concepts, theories and methods to better understand and respond to cross-border migration and its multi-faceted impacts. Among these, the two most widely invoked concepts and theoretical frameworks are related to 'diasporas' and 'transnationalism', whose meaning, compatibility, usefulness and over-usage are explored throughout the volume.
Invisible refugees: protecting Sahrawis and Palestinians displaced by the 2011 Libyan uprising
This article examines the experiences of two Middle Eastern refugee populations (Sahrawis and Palestinians) affected by the 2011 conflict in Libya. Both refugee communities and their political representatives (Polisario Front and Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) respectively) have received support from the Libyan government since the 1970s, including through the provision of scholarships to enable refugee children and youth to complete their studies in Libya.
Victims and transitional justice: voice, agency and blame
This article explores the construction of victimhood in transitional societies. Drawn from fieldwork in a dozen jurisdictions as well as elements of criminological, feminist, sociological, philosophical and postcolonial literature, the article focuses in particular on how victimhood is interpreted and acted upon in transitional contexts. It explores the ways in which victims’ voice and agency are realised, impeded or in some cases co-opted in transitional justice. It also examines the role of blame in the construction of victimhood. In particular, it focuses upon the ways in which the importance of blame may render victimhood contingent upon ‘blamelessness’, encourage hierarchies between deserving and undeserving victims and require the reification of blameworthy perpetrators. The article concludes by suggesting that the increased voice and agency associated with the deployment of rights discourses by victims comes at a price – a willingness to acknowledge the rights and humanity of the ‘other’ and to be subject to the same respectful critical inquiry as other social and political actors in a post-conflict society.
Struggling to find solutions: Liberian refugees in Ghana
This paper investigates the challenges of resolving the protracted Liberian refugee situation in Ghana. Despite the restored stability in Liberia and the unfavourable living conditions in exile, as of 2011, there were still about 11,000 Liberian refugees in the Buduburam refugee settlement in Ghana. For the last several years, the volume of humanitarian aid for this refugee population has been sharply dwindling whereas refugees’ livelihoods have been constrained due to various impediments. Given the few benefits of remaining in Ghana as refugees, it is a conundrum for the UN refugee agency to understand why a considerable number of Liberian refugees have not returned to their country of origin.