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Iraq: Refugees, Be Prepared
The pitiful sight of many thousands of Iraqi refugees moving into the mountains on the Turkish border after the 1991 Gulf war touched prime ministers and presidents worldwide. The policy of safe havens was born. But planning for any new refugee crisis is woefully inadequate.
The missing link: the need for comprehensive engagement in regions of refugee origin
Asylum policies in Britain and in the countries of its EU partners are failing to cope with the demands made upon them. With migration pressures mounting and opportunities for legal immigration to many EU states restricted, larger numbers of potential migrants are turning to alternative means of entry and access, namely irregular migration and asylum channels. The responses of states to these challenges have been to adopt more restrictive policies and practices that have considerably changed the balance between immigration control and refugee protection. While states have the right to control entry and enforce their borders, the restrictive measures that have come to dominate policy-making and recent immigration enforcement initiatives in Britain and its European partners do not sufficiently discriminate between asylum seekers and other kinds of migrants, thereby failing to safeguard the right of refugees to seek protection. Current British proposals to move asylum seekers to 'safe areas' in regions of origin fail to understand the burdens, pressures and priorities of countries in the regions, fail to ensure effective protection for those in need, and are unlikely to deliver the UK policy objective of substantially reducing the numbers of illegal entries to Britain. What is needed is an approach that reduces the number of individuals seeking protection in Europe while maintaining the European tradition of providing asylum to those in genuine need. The 'missing link' in asylum policy that would respond both to the concerns of states and to the protection needs of refugees is more comprehensive engagement in regions of refugee origin. It is in this way that western asylum countries, including the UK, may best address the challenge of providing international protection to victims of persecution and respond to their own concerns about asylum.
The Need to Address Conditions in Regions of Refugee Origin
This publication formed part of a report on the conference 'Listening to the evidence: the future of UK resettlement', held in London on 6 February 2003. As the United Kingdom embarks on a new refugee resettlement programme, it is important to consider the conditions of reception, the protection environment and quality of asylum, the processing of refugee claims, and resettlement opportunities in regions of refugee origin. To ignore what is happening in these regions is to risk future failure of resettlement policy and to place refugees and asylum seekers in greater danger. In 2001 and 2002, as part of a team of researchers for the European Council on Refugees and Exiles and the US Committee for Refugees, Professor Loescher conducted field research in Kenya, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon in order to examine what is possible in these regions of refugee origin in terms of conditions of reception, protection environment, and quality of asylum, processing of refugee claims and resettlement opportunities. While refugee status determination (RSD) is carried out in all these states, primarily by UNHCR, and resettlement to the West does take place, including by a selective number of European states, the conditions to carry out refugee processing and resettlement in these regions are barely permissible by international standards and are extremely undependable.
Refugees as grounds for international action
The orthodox definition of international security puts human displacement and refugees at the periphery. In contrast, Refugees and Forced Displacement demonstrates that human displacement can be both a cause and a consequence of conflict within and among societies. As such, the management of refugee movements and the protection of displaced people should be an integral part of security policy and conflict management. Refugees and forcibly displaced people can also represent the starkest example of a tension between human security where the primary focus is the individual and communities and more conventional models of national security tied to the sovereign state and military defence of territory. This book explores this tension with respect to a number of pressing problems related to refugees and forced displacement. It also demonstrates how many of these challenges have been exacerbated by the war on terror since September 11, 2001. The analysis of conflict and human displacement has changed, particularly concerning the links between security and migration. In seeking to address the nexus between security concerns and migratory flows, Refugees and Forced Displacement argues for a reappraisal of the legal, political, normative, institutional and conceptual frameworks through which the international community addresses refugees and displacement.
Protracted refugee situations and regional and host state security
This article examines the long‐stating importance of refugee issues in international politics and underlines the changing emphasis given to these issues by policy makers and academic researchers, both in the immediate post‐Cold War and post‐9/11 periods. The authors then address the manner in which the relationship between forced migration and state security has been addressed in the past decade. The article highlights how this area of research continues to over‐emphasize the migration‐related security of Western states and the presence of armed elements in refugee movements in the Third World. In contrast, the literature largely neglects the security concerns of states hosting protracted refugee populations. Ironically, chronic refugee situations in regions of refugee origin constitute the overwhelming majority of the world's refugee population.
Understanding the challenge
The likelihood that those in protracted exile may spend significant amounts of time either in camp-like situations or unprotected in urban settings often has negative implications for their human rights and livelihoods as well as for states’ security.
Child citizens and de facto deportation: tender years, fragile ties and security of residence
Book description: The essays which appear in this volume are published to honour the Hon Mr Justice Nial Fennelly, judge of the Supreme Court of Ireland, and former Advocate General at the European Court of Justice, on the occasion of his retirement. The overall theme of the book is the relationship between European Union law and national law, and the role of courts in defining that relationship. The book consists of four main parts - the structure and functioning of the European Court of Justice, material issues of European Union law, aspects of Irish law and transversal issues of national and European law. The contributors are all either experts in European Union law, past and present members of the European bench, or members or former members of the Irish judiciary or Bar, many of whom have worked with or for Mr Justice Fennelly during his long and distinguished career at the Bar and on the bench.
Managing to Survive - Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Access to Social Housing
This study is the first nationally based assessment of how major policy changes between 1993 and 1996 have affected housing provision for asylum seekers and refugees. The specific aims are to examine the experience of Registered Social Landlords [RSLs] in providing housing for refugees and asylum seekers and their responses to the 1996 Asylum and Immigration Act; to document good practice; and to examine the housing needs of asylum seekers and refugees. Through carrying out detailed case studies in London, Manchester and Birmingham, the study seeks compare the London experience to those of other large cities.
From Refuge to Exclusion: Housing as an Instrument of Social Exclusion for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the UK
This is the first book to focus on how racism affects the housing choices available to black and other ethnic minority groups and how this contributes to social exclusion. Using a practical approach, the contributors analyse the implications of social exclusion, offering suggestions for good practice in the allocation of housing for black and other ethnic minority groups. 'Race', Housing and Social Exclusion shows how racism and the shortage of housing workers from black and other ethnic minorities constrain the choices available to these groups, thereby preventing them from having an active role in society. Each chapter investigates a different aspect of the situation that black and other ethnic minority groups face, including their housing needs; the procedure of the allocation of housing; patterns of housing settlement of black and other ethnic minority groups; and the employment of black and other ethnic minority staff in housing associations. This book also gives examples of the experiences and aspirations of black and other ethnic minority groups and relates them to subjects such as cultural differences within and among black and other ethnic minority groups, and the further social exclusion which arises from housing associations which help a specific ethnic minority group. `Race', Housing and Social Exclusion challenges existing views, which are based on broad generalisations of black and other ethnic minority groups, and also points to future policy making and strategic planning.
Planning in Cities: Sustainability and Growth in the Developing World
Planning in Cities is an innovative collection which bridges theory and practice to explore the conflicting challenges of the increasingly rapid scale and speed of city growth with providing effective urban planning policies and management strategies. Part One explores the changing paradigms of development and environmentalism and how these have impacted on the process of urbanization and the emerging debates on the sustainability of cities. These chapters review and elaborate the discourse on sustainability, setting it firmly within the context of urbanization and development. The increasing disjuncture between these concepts and the challenge this presents to the planning of cities in the developing world is highlighted. Part Two shifts from discourse to practice. Case studies drawn from different countries and different urban policy sectors investigate the design and implementation of planning policies and ways of improving urban governance to support sustainable urban growth. They assess the challenges and limitations to capacity-building in the urban sector. Lessons learned from different practical approaches are demonstrated and critiqued. Published in the Urban Management Series.
Shelter Provision and Settlement Policies for Refugees: A state of the art review
This study focuses on research and guidance regarding the provision of shelter to refugees. It also considers the concomitant policies and strategies employed to determine the location of settlements. The purpose of the review is to assess the state of shelter research and current practices, as well as help disseminate the knowledge gained from agencies' past operational experiences. Approximately 200 references to both academic papers and operational materials are listed. In 2003, the author added an introduction to the study in which he describes the context for the original review and why it was prepared. He also notes the progress that has been made in shelter provision in the intervening years, thanks in part to the enhanced knowledge that has been gained through greater research and practice. The study was originally published as a monograph in 1995 and reissued electronically in 2003.
Refugee Communities
Community itself is a concept, an experience, and a central part of being human. Whether the reader is a student, researcher, or professional in the field of psychology, sociology, or even economics, this three-volume work will provide the necessary definitions of community beyond traditional views. Arranged in an A-to-Z fashion, the Encyclopedia can also be viewed topically via a Reader's Guide. This allows for interdisciplinary "compare and contrast" among topics such as types of communities, social capital, technology, urban life, politics and law, community design, and global studies.
An Assessment of the Impact of Asylum Policies in Europe 1990-2000
Based on a survey of research and electronic literature, fieldwork in selected European countries and statistical data, this study commissioned by the Home Office reviews the impact of asylum policies on the numbers and pattern of applications to European Union states for the period 1990-2000. More detailed analysis is provided for five country case studies – Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Italy – which represent a range of experiences, geographical locations, flows of asylum seekers and policy responses .