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22. Australia’s Election to the UN Human Rights Council
- Author:
- Alan Tidwell
- Publication Date:
- 12-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- In mid-October, Australia was elected for the first time to the UN Human Rights Council. Australia, of course, is no stranger to working in the UN, having previously served on the Security Council five times. As a middle power, Australia has long worked to uphold international law and the international rules-based order. Australia’s stated goals for its term on the Council reflect its longstanding policies and values of equity and fairness. According to Freedom House, these policies and values make Australia one of the freest countries in the world. Pragmatically, this reputation also serves to wash away Australia’s dual sins of offshore processing of asylum seekers and continuing rise in aboriginal disadvantage.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Refugee Issues, Elections, International Community, Indigenous, and UN Human Rights Council (HRC)
- Political Geography:
- United Nations, Australia, and Australia/Pacific
23. The plight of Palestinian refugees in Syria in the camps south of Damascus
- Author:
- Metwaly Abo Naser
- Publication Date:
- 01-2017
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
- Abstract:
- After they took refuge in Syria after the 1948 war, Palestinians refugees were treated in the same way as other Syrian citizens. Permitted to fully participate in the economic and social life of Syrian society, they had the same civic and economic rights and duties as Syrians, except that they could neither be nominated for political office nor participate in elections. This helped them to feel that they were part of Syrian society, despite their refugee status and active role in the global Palestinian liberation struggle against the Israeli occupation of their homeland. At the start of the anti-government movement in Syria, when the peaceful uprising against the Assad regime turned into an armed conflict, the inhabitants of most Palestinian refugee camps tried to remain neutral. But as the conflict grew more violent and regional alliances changed, the disparities and significant differences between the Palestinian factions, especially between Hamas and Fatah, led to divisions in their positions vis-à-vis the Assad regime. These divisions were enhanced by the reduction of the role of the Palestinian diaspora in the struggle against the Israeli occupation and the new relevance of the geographic location of Palestinian refugee camps in the growing Syrian conflict. This was particularly true for the camps south of Damascus, because they separated the area west of Damascus from East Ghouta, both of which were opposition strongholds. These divisions resulted in the camps becoming targets in the armed conflict, leading to their bombardment and blockade, and the displacement of many of their residents to Lebanon, Turkey, Europe, and other locations both inside and outside Syria.
- Topic:
- Refugee Issues, Refugees, Refugee Crisis, Displacement, Humanitarian Crisis, and Armed Conflict
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Turkey, Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria
24. Refugees Flee into Yunnan After Renewed Violence Along Myanmar Border
- Author:
- Peter Wood
- Publication Date:
- 03-2017
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- China Brief
- Institution:
- The Jamestown Foundation
- Abstract:
- Violence along China’s border with Myanmar is threatening yet again to spill across into Yunnan Province. According to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, more than 20,000 refugees have fled into Yunnan after renewed fighting between the Kachin Independence Army and Myanmar’s Armed Forces (Tatmadaw). These refugees are the second wave after more than 3,000 fled into China in late November 2016. In response, the prefectural government has begun setting up temporary shelters (Guanchazhe, November 22, 2016). It is unclear how it will cope with the much larger, second wave.
- Topic:
- Refugee Issues, Military Affairs, Border Control, and Conflict
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, and Myanmar
25. Beyond the Basics: Holistic Humanitarian Assistance for Syrians
- Author:
- Margo Berends
- Publication Date:
- 01-2017
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- American Diplomacy
- Institution:
- American Diplomacy
- Abstract:
- Although Aleppo is now under the control of forces supporting the Syrian government and the city has been evacuated, it is but one city and the Syrian crisis is far from over. Millions have been displaced by the violence, either within Syria or across its borders, and the refugee crisis reverberates across the Middle East, Europe and beyond. While there has been much discussion of the refugee crisis, there has been limited coverage in mainstream American media of the needs of refugees and displaced people beyond the basics.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Humanitarian Aid, Non-Governmental Organization, Refugee Issues, Women, Displacement, and Public Policy
- Political Geography:
- Turkey, Middle East, Syria, Jordan, and United States of America
26. Responding to a Refugee Influx: Lessons from Lebanon
- Author:
- Ninette Kelley
- Publication Date:
- 01-2017
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal on Migration and Human Security
- Institution:
- Center for Migration Studies of New York
- Abstract:
- Between 2011 and 2015, Lebanon received over one million Syrian refugees. There is no country in the world that has taken in as many refugees in proportion to its size: by 2015, one in four of its residents was a refugee from Syria. Already beset, prior to the Syrian crisis, by political divisions, insecure borders, severely strained infrastructure, and over-stretched public services, the mass influx of refugees further taxed the country. That Lebanon withstood what is often characterized as an existential threat is primarily due to the remarkable resilience of the Lebanese people. It is also due to the unprecedented levels of humanitarian funding that the international community provided to support refugees and the communities that hosted them. UN, international, and national partners scaled up more than a hundred-fold to meet ever-burgeoning needs and creatively endeavored to meet challenges on the ground. And while the refugee response was not perfect, and funding fell well below needs, thousands of lives were saved, protection was extended, essential services were provided, and efforts were made to improve through education the future prospects of the close to half-a-million refugee children residing in Lebanon. This paper examines what worked well and where the refugee response stumbled, focusing on areas where improved efforts in planning, delivery, coordination, innovation, funding, and partnerships can enhance future emergency responses.
- Topic:
- Refugee Issues
- Political Geography:
- America and Lebanon
27. Refugee Compacts: Addressing the Crisis of Protracted Displacement
- Author:
- Cindy Huang and Nazanin Ash
- Publication Date:
- 04-2017
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- The world is witnessing higher levels of displacement than ever before. The statistics tell the story. Today, an unprecedented 65 million people—including 21 million refugees—are displaced from their homes. Since the start of the Syrian crisis in 2011, 5 million people have fled to nearby Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, and Jordan. And refugees now spend an average of 10 years away from their countries. Equally striking as the scale of the crisis are the consequences of an inadequate response. Individual lives hang in the balance; refugees are struggling to rebuild their lives, find jobs, and send their children to school. Developing countries that are hosting the overwhelming majority of refugees— and at the same time trying to meet the needs of their own citizens—are shouldering unsustainable costs. We are seeing global stability and hard-won development gains threatened.
- Topic:
- War, Refugee Issues, Territorial Disputes, and Refugee Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
28. The Labor Market Effects of Refugee Waves: Reconciling Conflicting Results
- Author:
- Michael Clemens and Jennifer Hunt
- Publication Date:
- 05-2017
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Global Development
- Abstract:
- An influential strand of research has tested for the effects of immigration on natives’ wages and employment using exogenous refugee supply shocks as natural experiments. Several studies have reached conflicting conclusions about the effects of noted refugee waves such as the Mariel Boatlift in Miami and post-Soviet refugees to Israel. We show that conflicting findings on the effects of the Mariel Boatlift can be explained by a sudden change in the race composition of the Current Population Survey extracts in 1980, specific to Miami but unrelated to the Boatlift. We also show that conflicting findings on the labor market effects of other important refugee waves can be produced by spurious correlation between the instrument and the endogenous variable introduced by applying a common divisor to both. As a whole, the evidence from refugee waves reinforces the existing consensus that the impact of immigration on average native-born workers is small, and fails to substantiate claims of large detrimental impacts on workers with less than high school.
- Topic:
- Refugee Issues, Financial Markets, and Global Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
29. Sharing responsibility for refugees and expanding legal migration
- Author:
- Mikkel Barslund
- Publication Date:
- 06-2017
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- CEPS researchers Mikkel Barslund, Mehtap Akgüç, Nadzeya Laurentsyeva and Lars Ludolph are among the contributors to the 2017 MEDAM Assessment Report on Asylum and Migration Policies in Europe, produced by the Mercator Dialogue on Asylum and Migration (MEDAM). The report explores ways in which responsibility for refugees can be fairly distributed – globally and within the EU – and how we can curb irregular migration while expanding legal immigration to the benefit of all concerned. CEPS is one of three research institutes working on this multi-year project, alongside the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and the Migration Policy Centre at the European University Institute. For more information on the MEDAM project, which is funded by Stiftung Mercator
- Topic:
- Migration and Refugee Issues
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
30. Breaching Fortress Europe: By Any Means Necessary: The Complications of African Migration to Europe
- Author:
- Mojúbàolú Olufúnké Okome
- Publication Date:
- 12-2017
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- Ìrìnkèrindò: a Journal of African Migration
- Abstract:
- Although African migration to Europe dates back to antiquity, Africans’ presence in Europe increased substantially from the 1960s, especially since the imposition of neoliberal reforms in the 1980s, and the political crisis that consumed some African countries in the 1990s and 2000s. There has also been increased migration to Europe by the few skilled and professional Africans allowed to take advantage of opportunities that have opened up for employment in fields where there is a dearth of expertise. Nevertheless, predominant conceptualization of Africans’ movement into Europe entails breaching an impregnable fortress, using any means at their disposal. Those making irregular migration includes as a mix of refugees, asylees, documented and undocumented migrants. However, European economic crises and the vulnerabilities spawned in consequence, have laid bare politicized, securitized, xenophobic and callous responses, particularly in the frontline states that receive what is increasingly perceived as a “deluge.” Given the siege mentality that has developed around migration, the negative xenophobic attitudes, discourses and policies that emerge from them, and the increased securitization of migration, the siege characterization seems even more apt.
- Topic:
- Migration, Refugee Issues, Immigration, and Refugees
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Europe