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Begin New Search Topic Refugee Issues Publication Year within 25 Years

1. Civil War Violence and Refugee Outflows

Author:
Andrew Shaver
Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Empirical Studies of Conflict Project (ESOC)
Abstract:
Conflict forces millions of individuals from their homes each year. Using a simple structural model and new refugee data, we produce the first set of estimates relating outflows to annual conflict magnitudes. The theory underlying the structural model implies that standard panel data approaches will underestimate the impact of conflict violence, by differencing out the effect of prior and expected levels of violence on the decisions to flee. We estimate that whereas a shock that doubles conflict deaths in one year increases outflows in that year by 40% on average, doubling conflict deaths in all years increases annual outflows by 100%. We further estimate an average of 30 refugees per conflict death (median 18), with higher rates for conflicts closer to an OECD country and possibly for ethnic wars and in lower income countries. The analysis illustrates a broader methodological point: It can be hazardous to try to identify a causal effect using shocks to a presumed causal factor if the outcome variable is the result of decisions based not only on shocks but also on levels.
Topic:
Political Violence, Civil War, Refugee Issues, Refugees, Refugee Crisis, Data, Armed Conflict, and Models
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. Protecting Stateless Refugees In The United States

Author:
David Baluarte
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:
Miliyon is a stateless, failed asylum seeker residing in the United States. He initially sought refugee protection after he fled Ethiopia, where he had faced serious abuse because of his Eritrean ethnicity. Immigration authorities denied him asylum after concluding that the Ethiopian government’s deportation of his Eritrean father, the seizure of his family’s land and business, and the detention and torture of Miliyon himself constituted a property dispute not protected under U.S. refugee law. Miliyon fought this denial of protection over the next decade through various appeals processes but ultimately failed. At that point, he applied for a passport at the Ethiopian embassy in Washington, D.C. and resigned himself to return home and face whatever fate awaited him. Consular officials, however, refused to issue him a passport. Despite never having set foot in Eritrea or having any other connection to the country, Miliyon was told that he was Eritrean, not Ethiopian. He was informed that he had no right to return to Ethiopia, his country of birth and the only place he had ever lived. This led the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to declare Miliyon stateless. As a victim of discriminatory denationalization, Miliyon tried to renew his application for refugee protection. Notwithstanding the fact that Miliyon had endured this persecutory treatment, U.S. authorities once again denied his claim.
Topic:
Refugee Issues, Immigrants, Deportation, Protected People, and Stateless Population
Political Geography:
Africa, United States, and Ethiopia

3. The Law’s Broken Promises to Stateless Persons

Author:
Jamie Liew
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:
Canada is the canary in the coal mine in terms of efforts to combat statelessness among Western democracies. One might assume that Canada would have a sophisticated system for addressing stateless persons—those without any citizen- ship whatsoever in any nation—since its reputation for welcoming refugees is unparalleled. In 1986, Canada won the Nansen Medal, the highest distinction bestowed by the United Nations for aiding refugees.1 Its inland refugee determination system is considered the gold standard all over the world. Furthermore, Canadians have a generous refugee sponsorship program, which allows groups of persons, not just the government, to sponsor overseas refugees. This system is not without its problems. One notable example is that some border crossers at the Canada-United States border are denied the right to a refugee hearing and are consequently in danger of being sent back—before their refugee claim is assessed—to places where they may face persecution and/or torture. Not- withstanding such shortcomings, Canada is a democracy; there are continual efforts to improve the refugee system through dialogue between the courts and the legislature, advocacy and education by lawyers, NGOs, and migrants themselves, and the hard work of civil servants working to improve the system.
Topic:
Migration, Refugee Issues, Democracy, Citizenship, Stateless Population, and Noncitizens
Political Geography:
Canada

4. The Right To A Nationality: No Time To Be Complacent

Author:
Erika Feller
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:
The right to a nationality is often taken for granted. Over the course of decades, UN member states have enshrined this right through fundamental instruments, notably the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Yet conservative estimates hold that approximately 10 million people spread across every continent are denied a nationality.1 Some, but not all, are refugees. Collectively, these individuals are stateless—they lack any claim to a nationality recognized or assumed by any state. For many years, statelessness was a forgotten issue, relegated to the realm of state sovereignty prerogatives. Recently, states and the UN have begun to focus on the pressing nature of the problem. They have made progress in addressing statelessness as a global, collectively shared challenge. However, the UN target of eradicating statelessness by 2024, while a fine aspiration, continues to face significant hurdles. These obstacles include a serious dearth of informa- tion about the problem’s scope, discriminatory national legislation and policies that obstruct UN efforts, an ambiguous international legal framework, and the absence of solutions that are accessible to stateless individuals.
Topic:
Nationalism, Sovereignty, United Nations, Refugee Issues, Law, Citizenship, Nation-State, Legal Sector, and Stateless Population
Political Geography:
Global Focus

5. The Horn of Africa and the refugee field in Dadaab in Kenya

Author:
Juliana Tomiko Ribeiro Aizaw
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Institution:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Abstract:
The political and economic emancipation in the African continent occurred, mostly, through wars of national liberation, from 1953 to 1960, causing the uprooting of civilians who were in the midst of these conflicts, as in the case of analysis on the Horn of Africa - Somalia. Civil wars, coups d’état, political instability, physical and climatic conditions from Somalia forced the exodus of Somalis to neighboring countries in search of protection and minimum conditions for survival (Silva 2016). Kenya had an open policy for refugees, however after the fall of the military regime in Barré in 1991 it began to receive thousands of Somalis in its territory. Therefore, as a result of this large flow of people, the Kenyan government had to enlist the assistance of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in search of humanitarian aid. Thus, the Kenyan government began to adopt the refugee camps as an host policy
Topic:
Civil War, Migration, Post Colonialism, Refugee Issues, Refugee Crisis, Displacement, and Coup
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, Somalia, and Horn of Africa

6. PROTECTION REGIME FOR ASYLUM APPLICANTS AND REFUGEES IN LAW 10/15 OF JUNE 17, LAW ON THE RIGHT OF ASYLUM AND THE REFUGEE STATUS IN ANGOLA

Author:
Avelino Chico
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Institution:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Abstract:
Law 10/15 of June 17, the Law on the Right to Asylum and the Status of Refugees in Angola, was approved in a context of peace and political, economic, and social stability. The law came into force at a time when the number of refugees and asylum seekers in the country was growing. Political instability, war, and ethnic violence in neighboring countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) led to the flight of nationals of that country to Angola. In 2016, more than 40,000 Congolese refugees fled ethnic atrocities in Kasai and Central Kasai provinces to seek protection in Angola, joining others who were already welcomed in the country. The majority came from the Republic of theCongo, Rwanda, Burundi, the Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, the Central African Republic, and Liberia. The reception of these individuals was, and still is, supported by the Angolan Constitution (CRA), which guarantees every foreign citizen or stateless person the right to asylum (CRA, art. 71).
Topic:
Migration, Refugee Issues, Displacement, Asylum, and Stateless Population
Political Geography:
Africa, Angola, and Democratic Republic of Congo

7. Diversity without adversity? Refugees’ efforts to integrate can partially offset identity-based biases

Author:
Anna Getmansky, Konstantinos Matakos, and Tolga Sinmazdemir
Publication Date:
02-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Empirical Studies of Conflict Project (ESOC)
Abstract:
How can refugees overcome barriers to integration in the host country? Refugees often face economic, social, and political discrimination by the local population. Ethnicity, religion, and refugees' past involvement in political violence can further exacerbate these biases. We examine whether host country's citizens reduce anti-refugee attitudes if they know that refugees have made proactive effort to integrate by forging social ties with the locals and learning the local language. Unlike most of the previous studies, we examine a non-Western country-Turkey-that hosts the highest number of Syrian refugees (3.6 million). We field a conjoint survey experiment-a method previously applied to study migration attitudes in the West-to 2,362 respondents in Turkey, presenting them with profiles of Syrian refugees that vary by demographics, ethnicity, religion, and involvement in the Syrian civil war. Respondents rank each profile in order of support for social, economic and political integration. We find that although Turkey is a Muslim country hosting predominantly co-religious refugees, not all refugees are perceived equally. There is a significant bias against Arabs and Kurds compared to Turkomans, and against former pro-regime fighters. Although information on refugees' effort strengthens support for their integration, not all disadvantaged groups benefit equally from it. Such information has a more robust effect on boosting support for Kurdish refugees, and has a limited effect on support for integration of Arabs and former pro-regime fighters. Importantly, information on proactive effort also strengthens support for groups that experience less discrimination (Turkomans and non-fighters), thereby potentially exacerbating inequalities among the refugees.
Topic:
Religion, Refugee Issues, Refugees, Refugee Crisis, Discrimination, and Identities
Political Geography:
Turkey and Syria

8. Toward Empowerment and Sustainability: Reforming America’s Syrian Refugee Policies

Author:
Sahar Aziz, Joanna Gardner, Tamara Anaie, and Omar Rana
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:
The number of refugees and displaced people worldwide has reached unprecedented levels. Of the world’s 68.5 million refugees and displaced people, by far the largest number are Syrian. The nearly 13 million Syrian refugees and internally-displaced persons account for sixty percent of Syria’s pre-war population. While media coverage has focused on Syrian refugees seeking asylum in third countries, such as Europe and the United States, eighty percent of the seven million externally displaced Syrians have sought refuge in the countries neighboring Syria: Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt and Lebanon resulting in an enormous strain on government services and the local economies. As an influential player in Middle East politics, the United States has a national interest in sustaining the capacity of international systems to respond to protracted refugee crises. Toward Empowerment and Sustainability: Reforming America’s Syrian Refugee Policies examines Jordan as a case study for informing U.S. Syrian refugee policy. Jordan’s experience exemplifies the myriad challenges facing neighboring countries that warrant a rethinking of America’s approach to the Syrian refugee crisis.
Topic:
Civil War, War, Refugee Issues, Refugees, Refugee Crisis, Displacement, Syrian War, and Proxy War
Political Geography:
Middle East and Syria

9. Migration and Post-Conflict Reconstruction: The Effect of Returning Refugees on Export Performance in the Former Yugoslavia

Author:
Dany Bahar, Hillel Rapoport, Cem Özgüzel, and Andreas Hauptmann
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Informations Internationales (CEPII)
Abstract:
During the early 1990s Germany offered temporary protection to over 600,000 Yugoslavian refugees fleeing war. By 2000, many had been repatriated. We exploit this natural experiment to investigate the role of migrants in post-conflict reconstruction in the former Yugoslavia, using exports as outcome. Using confidential social security data to capture intensity of refugee workers to German industries –and exogenous allocation rules for asylum seekers within Germany as instrument– we find an elasticity of exports to return migration between 0.08 to 0.24. Our results are stronger in knowledge-intensive industries and for workers in occupations intensive in analytical and managerial skills.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Economics, International Political Economy, Migration, Refugee Issues, Refugees, and Exports
Political Geography:
Europe, Yugoslavia, and Germany

10. Refuges: Benediction or Curse To Cameroon's Economy, 1982-2017

Author:
D. N. Keming
Publication Date:
02-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
African Heritage Institution (AfriHeritage)
Abstract:
The present study focuses on the contribution of refugees to the growth of Cameroon’s economy. Its focus spanned from 1982 when the UNHCR country office was officially established to 2017 with the collapse of Boko Haram’s pressure on Cameroon. It assesses the benefits and liabilities of refugees to Cameroon’s economy within the time frame. This is experimented through the size of the refugee population, capital transfer, employment opportunities, commerce, and the agriculture industry. These themes were arrived at with the help of primary, secondary, and tertiary data; and construed with mixed methodologies. The work reveals that on a comparative score, refugees are largely a blessing than a curse to the economy of Cameroon. In spite of their constructive role, they also constitute, to a negligible extent, liabilities to the development of Cameroon. The paper therefore argue that refugees should seize to be seen as burdens, but rather as powerful economic actors if properly exploited by recipient countries. Although they may constitute major security and social problems like theft, robbery, population explosion and health challenges, they are manageable. Besides, even without refugees, no country is devoid of security and social challenges.
Topic:
Security, Migration, Refugee Issues, Refugees, and Social Order
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon