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Statelessness
A stateless person is someone who is not recognised as a national by any state. They therefore have no nationality or citizenship and are unprotected by national legislation, leaving them vulnerable in ways that most of us never have to consider. This latest issue of FMR includes 22 articles by academic, international and local actors debating the challenges faced by stateless people and the search for appropriate responses and solutions. The issue also includes 17 articles on other aspects of forced migration, among which are a mini-feature (comprising four articles) on refugee status determination and articles on European migration policies, Colombia, Ecuador, disaster IDPs, Europe-Africa cooperation, trafficking in Iran, cash grants for refugees and reproductive health care in emergencies.
Ten years of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (special issue)
This 40-page special issue of FMR reflects discussions at the international conference on the Ten Years of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement – GP10 – held in Oslo on 16-17 October 2008. The conference aimed to assess the accomplishments and shortcomings of the Guiding Principles since their launch in 1998. It also sought to generate increased political will to incorporate the GPs into national, regional and global frameworks and to encourage progress towards their practical implementation. This special issue includes shortened versions of some of the conference presentations, plus a selection of other articles, most of which present case studies on the application of the Guiding Principles in different countries. It has been published in English, Arabic, French and Spanish, and has been produced with the support of NRC/IDMC, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement.
Climate change and displacement
In response to growing pressures on landscapes and livelihoods, people are moving, communities are adapting. This issue of FMR debates the numbers, the definitions and the modalities – and the tension between the need for research and the need to act. Thirty-eight articles by UN, academic, international and local actors explore the extent of the potential displacement crisis, community adaptation and coping strategies, and the search for solutions. The issue also includes a range of articles on other aspects of forced migration. This issue has been published in English, French, Spanish and Arabic.
Burma's displaced people
With the ‘Saffron revolution’ of September 2007, Burma was catapulted into the centre of international attention. It was briefly headline news as people monitored the regime’s response and watched for hints of progress towards democracy and the restoration of rights. With little action on either front (and no visible resurgence of violence or protest), interest has since waned. This issue of FMR aims to help bring the crisis of forced displacement of Burmese people back into the international spotlight. The feature section on Burma includes 29 articles exploring the extent of the displacement crisis, factors affecting displaced people and the search for solutions. The issue also includes 19 articles on other aspects of forced migration.
Forced Migration Review – 25th Anniversary collection
The FMR 25th Anniversary collection of articles will look back over 25 years of debate, learning and advocacy for the rights of displaced and stateless people, and consider where we are now in relation to many of the themes covered by FMR. We are inviting a selection of former guest editors, authors and donors to write on developments, lessons, challenges, gaps – and their thoughts about the future for displaced people and our sector.
Islam, human rights and displacement (supplement)
To mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), in 2008 FMR published a short supplement to enhance debate and understanding in the Islamic world of the concepts and instruments of international human rights. We are now publishing this revised and updated edition, alongside an issue of FMR on North Africa where the uprisings of 2011 can lead to opportunities to enhance the rule of law and improve the implementation of rights. The 12-page supplement includes three articles on the applicability of international laws and conventions in Islam, plus the full texts of the UDHR, the 1990 Cairo Declaration and the May 2012 Ashgabat Declaration.
Refugee livelihoods in Kampala, Nakivale and Kyangwali refugee settlements: patterns of engagement with the private sector
Drawing from preliminary fieldwork undertaken between February and March 2013, this working paper presents provisional findings regarding refugees’ livelihoods and interactions with the private sector and markets in Kampala, Nakivale and Kyangwali refugee settlements in Uganda. The paper sketches out the diversity of livelihoods strategies employed by the refugees, and reveals their different patterns of engagement with local and national markets. In particular, the paper shows that refugees’ economic activities at all three sites are deeply nested in the multiple layers of the host economies. These initial observations, furthermore, illustrate the vital role played by personal and community social networks in linking refugees with private sector actors in Uganda and sub-regions. As a way forward, the paper concludes by identifying several intriguing themes to be investigated in continuing field research.
Writing the ‘Other’ into humanitarian discourse: framing theory and practice in South–South humanitarian responses to forced displacement
Although Southern-led development initiatives have enjoyed increasing attention by academics in recent years, there remains a relative paucity of research on South–South humanitarian responses. It is this gap in theoretical and conceptual engagement with ‘Other’ humanitarianism(s) which is critically addressed in this paper. The paper affirms the value of what we refer to as ‘writing the "Other" into humanitarian discourse,’ thereby redressing the biases inherent to much humanitarian theory. It re-engages with popular debates around politics and humanitarianism to argue that politics pervades not just humanitarian practice, but the ‘humanitarian’ epithet itself, and that by re-appropriating the label we are promoting a lexical counter-politics that serves to confront the institutionalisation of this Northern appropriation of the term in contemporary systems of knowledge and practice.
Repatriation: the politics of (re)-constructing and contesting Rwandan citizenship
UNHCR recently announced that the refugee status of all Rwandans who fled the country between 1959 and December 1998 will cease in June 2013. The declaration follows almost ten years of active lobbying by Rwanda and other host countries to end the Rwandan refugee situation. Considerable concern, however, has been raised by international human rights organisations and refugees alike that the cessation clause is being invoked prematurely, leading to rejected asylum applications, coercive pressure to return and potentially refoulement. The questions that guide this paper are: How is the Rwandan government performing the ‘work’ of (re)constituting refugees as not only citizens, but also as members of the nation, through processes of organised voluntary repatriation and cessation? How does this reflect the synergies and tensions that exist between national and civic modes of belonging? How does this dynamic of nation-building spill across the territorial borders of Rwanda to include, and exclude, refugees still in exile?
Integration in a divided society? Refugees and asylum seekers in Northern Ireland
In refugee and asylum debates in the UK, Northern Ireland is at best referenced in passing and, more often, omitted entirely. While this has been historically rooted in the empirical reality that almost no refugees seek asylum in the region, changing realities mean that this omission is no longer justified. The sectarian divide in Northern Ireland poses a particularly dramatic challenge to the assumption within integration policy and theory that host communities are socially cohesive entities for which generalisations about values and practices can be broadly applied as standards for refugee and asylum seeker integration. This paper explores how an empirical understanding of the situation helps in rethinking assumptions of homogeneity widespread in integration theory.
Local faith communities and the promotion of resilience in humanitarian situations: a scoping study
Local Faith Communities (LFCs) are groupings of religious actors bonded through shared allegiance to institutions, beliefs, history or identity. They engage in a range of activities across the humanitarian spectrum. Resilience – defined as the ability to anticipate, withstand and bounce back from external pressures and shocks – is increasingly a central construct in the shaping of humanitarian strategy by the international community. This scoping document investigates the evidence for LFC contribution to resilience under the guidance of the JLI Resilience Learning Hub, membership of which is made up of 20 practitioners, academics and policymakers expert in humanitarian services and faith communities.
Africa's illiberal state-builders
Since the early 1990s, three paradigms on the trajectory of the African state have competed for academic and policy pre-eminence: the liberal convergance paradigm which portrays African states marching inexorably towards a bright future; the ‘failed state’ paradigm which understands African states not in terms of what they are, but what they fail to be; and a third ‘neo-patrimonial’ paradigm which highlights the neo-patrimonial management strategies of elites and the attempted stabilisation of the polity through temporary alliances, ethnic coalition-building and the cynical manipulation of electoral systems and federalism. This paper argues that between the liberal convergence paradigm, the failed state narrative and neopatrimonial seamanship, important experiences that fit none of these remain unexamined. Yet the existence of alternative agendas appearing out of the ashes of war in places like Sudan, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Angola is part of a major emerging mode of illiberal state-building.
States of fragility
Many states fail in their responsibilities to their citizens but those states which are fragile, failed or weak are particularly liable to render their citizens vulnerable. This latest issue of FMR includes 24 articles on fragile states and displacement, going behind the definitions, typologies and indicators to explore some of the concepts and realities, looking at a variety of cases and discussing some of the humanitarian and development responses. In addition this issue contains eight further articles on other aspects of displacement – Syrians in Lebanon, older displaced people, use of human rights treaties for asylum seekers, arts in refugee camps, and more.
Humanitarian innovation and refugee protection
The global governance of humanitarianism has historically been state-centric but although a state-led and state-coordinated response is crucial and saves lives, by itself, it has limitations. In response to the challenges faced by the sector, this paper puts forward an alternative vision based on the role of ‘humanitarian innovation’. The paper explores the potential of humanitarian innovation to transform core elements of the global governance of humanitarianism in general and refugee protection in particular. It is structured in three broad sections. The first section provides a background to the work of UNHCR and the way in which the organisation is gradually incorporating a role for the private sector and innovation into its work. The second section explains what innovation is and how and why it is relevant to refugee protection. In the third section, the paper sets out a vision for humanitarian innovation within the refugee context based on integrating a ‘looking inwards’ approach that builds upon refugees own ideas and agency and a ‘looking outwards’ approach that seeks to identify outside partners and solution-holders whose products, processes and mentorship might nurture and incubate innovation emerging at the local and national levels.
Refugee livelihoods and the private sector: Ugandan case study
Whilst the existing research highlights a number of important insights on refugees’ livelihood strategies, relatively few studies investigate the role of the private sector as a key instrument for enhancing refugees’ economic activities. Drawing from a case study of urban refugees in Uganda, this paper aims to understand their livelihood strategies as well as their engagement with the business sector. In addition, it attempts to identify relevant refugee livelihood opportunities in the private sector in Kampala. This paper is structured in eight sections. After the introduction, the second chapter provides contextual information about urban refugees in Uganda. The third chapter surveys the existing body of literature on refugee livelihoods, and the fourth chapter details the main findings on the livelihoods of self-settled refugees and their engagement with the business sector in Kampala. The fifth chapter outlines the livelihood challenges facing these refugees and the following chapter highlights potential business opportunities for refugees in the local private sector. The paper then draws some implications from this research and concludes by highlighting the potential of the private sector as a vehicle for improving refugee livelihoods.
Survival Migration: Failed Governance and the Crisis of Displacement
International treaties, conventions, and organizations to protect refugees were established in the aftermath of World War II to protect people escaping targeted persecution by their own governments. However, the nature of cross-border displacement has transformed dramatically since then. Such threats as environmental change, food insecurity, and generalized violence force massive numbers of people to flee states that are unable or unwilling to ensure their basic rights, as do conditions in failed and fragile states that make possible human rights deprivations. Because these reasons do not meet the legal understanding of persecution, the victims of these circumstances are not usually recognized as "refugees," preventing current institutions from ensuring their protection. In this book, Alexander Betts develops the concept of "survival migration" to highlight the crisis in which these people find themselves. Examining flight from three of the most fragile states in Africa—Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Somalia—Betts explains variation in institutional responses across the neighboring host states. There is massive inconsistency. Some survival migrants are offered asylum as refugees; others are rounded up, detained, and deported, often in brutal conditions. The inadequacies of the current refugee regime are a disaster for human rights and gravely threaten international security. In Survival Migration, Betts outlines these failings, illustrates the enormous human suffering that results, and argues strongly for an expansion of protected categories.
The international refugee regime and issue linkage
Book description: Global mobility refers to movements of people across international borders for any length of time or purpose. In addition to the world's 214 million migrants, there are more than two billion annual border crossings of tourists, students, business people and commuters who travel internationally for stays of less than a year. This volume considers "global mobility" as an alternative concept to "international migration" in order to gain insights into international cooperation on movements of people across international borders; examines a set of interacting global mobility regimes: the established international refugee regime, a latent but strengthening international travel regime and a non-existent but potential international labor migration regime; and explores the possibilities of increasing international cooperation, especially through linkages among these three issue areas.
Is deportation a form of forced migration?
In this article I explore why, despite the fact that it seems to represent the epitome of forced migration, deportation (the quotidian practice of lawful expulsion) is generally ignored by forced migration scholars. My key claim is that deportation is implicitly deemed a legitimate form of forced migration. Forced migration is not simply a descriptive term; it is also typically an evaluative one. Deportation is treated differently because it does not violate the key principles of a liberal-statist world order. I begin this piece by explaining why deportation is a phenomenon of such significance as to warrant attention. I then examine the normative framework (liberal-statism) underlying (most) studies of forced migration. I conclude by arguing that, even if one accepts the moral validity of this framework, the boundaries between deportation and other types of forced migration are often blurred, challenging the assumption that deportation can safely be ignored by scholars.
Should citizenship be conditional? The ethics of denationalization
While many political theorists have focused on the question of whether states have a duty to grant citizenship to noncitizens, this article examines the issues associated with the state’s withdrawal of citizenship. Denationalization powers have recently emerged as a controversial political issue in a number of liberal states, making their ethical scrutiny important. I begin by considering the historical practice of banishment and how denationalization power emerged and became consolidated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the first half of the twentieth century. I then discuss the nature of liberal objections to the power. My focus next shifts to the United Kingdom’s Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act of 2002, which attempted to create a “liberal” denationalization power. In the final section of the article, I discuss whether the Act successfully addresses liberal concerns and in so doing shed light on the possibility of reconciling liberal principles with conditional citizenship.
Refugees, exiles, and other forced migrants in the late Ottoman Empire
Refugee studies rarely address historical matters; yet understanding ideas about sanctuary, refuge, and asylum have long roots in both Western and Eastern history and philosophy. Occasionally the Nansen era of the 1920s is examined or the opening years of, say, the Palestinian refugee crisis is addressed. But by and large the circumstances, experiences, and influences of refugees and exiles in modern history are ignored. This article attempts to contribute to an exploration of the past and to examine the responses of one State – the late Ottoman Empire – to the forced migration of millions of largely Muslim refugees and exiles from its contested borderland shared with Tzarist Russia into its southern provinces. The article focuses on one particular meta-ethnic group, the Circassians, and explores the humanitarian response to their movement both nationally and locally as well as their concerted drive for assisted self-settlement. The Circassians are one of many groups that were on the move at the end of the 19th century and their reception and eventual integration without assimilation in the region provide important lessons for contemporary humanitarianism.