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191. Stephen Allen. The Chagos Islanders and International Law

Author:
Peter H. Sand
Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The tale of the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory, BIOT) raises a wide spectrum of transnational legal questions, all across the fields of human rights, environment and disarmament. Last-born of the Empire’s colonies, the BIOT was established – and systematically depopulated – for the sole purpose of accommodating a strategic US military base during the Cold War years in 1965–1966. The territory has since generated extensive litigation in the national courts of the United Kingdom (UK) and the USA as well as proceedings in the European Court of Human Rights and an arbitration under Annex VII of the Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Stephen Allen, senior lecturer at the University of London’s Queen Mary College, has long followed and commented on legal developments in the Chagos cases as an observer. The focus of his attention remains the plight of the native Chagossians, a small Kreol-speaking people of African and Malgasy origin, whose exile (mainly to Mauritius, the Seychelles and the UK) has lasted for more than 40 years.
Topic:
Environment, Human Rights, Imperialism, International Law, History, Courts, Disarmament, and Displacement
Political Geography:
Britain, United States, Europe, and Chagos Islands

192. Rethinking Nation and Nationalism

Author:
Serhun Al, Senem Aslan, Lisa Blaydes, Laurie Brand, and Kristin Fabbe
Publication Date:
06-2015
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS)
Abstract:
You couldn’t swing a dead imperialist last summer without hitting an essay about the unraveling of the Sykes-Picot system in the Middle East. The bloody disintegration of Iraq and Syria seemed to have finally ripped apart the borders created by the British and French governments in the aftermath of World War I (even if the borders in question were actually forged at San Remo). It wasn’t just the rise of the so-called Islamic State spanning and erasing the Syrian-Iraqi border. The unprecedented, synchronized popular mobilization across borders during the early Arab uprisings of 2011 gave potent form to the ideals of transnational Arab political community supplanting the limits of nation-states. As the uprisings turned darker and most of the democratic transitions failed, new challengers to nation-states in the Middle East rose to the forefront: the Islamic State; the growing de facto independence of Kurds across Iraq and Syria, with ramifications extending into Turkey and Iran; the rise of sub-regional identities carried by heavily armed militias in failing states such as Yemen and Libya; unprecedented forced displacement moving millions of people within and across borders; and raging sectarianism dividing Sunnis and Shiites. These developments have not had a singular effect on national identities, however. While some states have collapsed, creating space for new subnational identities to challenge national cohesion, most have retrenched into a fiercer form of authoritarianism. Egypt’s military coup, for instance, has been sustained by the heavy-handed promotion of extreme nationalism. Many states in the Gulf have drawn upon sectarianism to consolidate support for their regimes in ways that could have an enduring impact on popular conceptions of national identity. Battles over the proper role of Islam in public life have reshaped political discourse from Egypt and Turkey (see Senem Aslan and Kristin Fabbe in this collection) and Tunisia (Elizabeth Young). Kurds imagine new political possibilities in very different contexts, as Nicole Watts demonstrates from Halabja and Serhun Al demonstrates through the historical experience of Turkey and Iraq.
Topic:
Nationalism, Sectarianism, Displacement, Colonialism, and Political Science
Political Geography:
Iraq, Turkey, Middle East, Syria, and Jordan

193. From Principles to Practice: Challenges of Implementing Reparations for Massive Violations in Colombia

Author:
Cristian Correa
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)
Abstract:
This report examines Colombia’s Victims and Land Restitution Law (2011), which provides comprehensive reparations to conflict victims and restitution to victims of forced displacement who rely on land for their livelihoods – and assesses the challenges of implementing the law under current conditions, which include widespread poverty and ongoing violence. The government has allocated an estimated USD $29 billion to pay for the program, but some question whether it is enough. Complexities in the law also make it difficult to translate principles into action. The report suggests that a more modest approach to providing reparations on a massive scale may be preferable to overselling an effort that continues to leave many victims waiting.
Topic:
Poverty, Displacement, Reparations, Human Rights Violations, and Forced Migration
Political Geography:
Colombia and South America

194. The Economic Condition of Displaced Iraqis Living in Jordan: A Study of Vocational Training

Author:
Farah Thalji
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic Studies (CSS)
Abstract:
The Iraqi War has garnered international attention as a traumatic conflict in many respects. Rising death tolls, expensive military operations, internal fragmentation and civilian suffering have all become hallmarks of the ongoing conflict. This often overshadows the distress of Iraqis scattered to neighboring countries by the war. This report focuses the lens on displaced Iraqis who have fled to the neighboring Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to seek refuge. Refugees are used as the instrument for measuring the impact of the conflict and its residuals on others in the region. The subsequent goal is to demonstrate the rippling effect of conflict in such a manner that goes beyond the surface to the longer-term effects that are often overlooked by the media in favor of shocking short-term events. One problem Iraqis face in Jordan is economic survival. There is a pervasive attitude that Jordan only harbors wealthy Iraqis. While this stereotype may apply to some Iraqis, it is certainly not a reality for many –particularly considering that seven years have passed since the start of the war and personal funds have been depleting. One of the troubles that Iraqis in Jordan now face is the inability to participate in the labor force due to legal restrictions. With an estimated population of somewhere between 450,000 to 700,000 Iraqis amongst Jordan’s population of 6 million, this poses a serious problem. An assessment of the situation attempts to understand the Iraqi effort for survival by focusing on vocational training and support for displaced Iraqis. The goal of such an effort is to capture the Iraqi attempt to transition into the labor market in Jordan. It also reflects that economic involvement in the Jordanian economy is becoming increasingly necessary as security continues to remain an issue in Iraq and the fear of return persists. Discussing the political and legal as well as the social status of Iraqis in Jordan forms a necessary foundation for the study of their economic situation and the subsequent merit of vocational training programs.2
Topic:
Economics, Refugees, Displacement, and Vocational Training
Political Geography:
Iraq, Middle East, and Jordan

195. Guidelines for Persons and Organizations Providing Support for Victims of Forced Migration

Author:
A. Tamer Aker, Dilek Kurban, Etyen Mahçupyan, and Pınar Önen Süren
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
The outcomes of forced migration as a reality of Turkey have been increasing and varying over time. The situation affects not only the victims of forced migration but also the general population of the cities that accept the migrants, and from which people migrate, the socio-economic and cultural fabric of these cities, and thus, indirectly, the entire country. Although in recent years the government has taken some positive -nevertheless limited- steps, these have not been sufficient. The victims of forced migration, the vast majority of whom continue to live in deep poverty and deprivation, have legal, social, political and healthcare problems that need to be addressed urgently. That steps are taken by the state with the purpose of solving these problems is ideal and correct. However, it is also a fact that the size and scope of problems resulting from forced migration have pushed the limits of the state resources and its capacity. In addition, there does not seem to be sufficient political will in regard to generating comprehensive and permanent solutions for the problem, at least in the short term. Nevertheless, there exist some concrete steps that can be taken towards a solution by people and organisations offering support for internally displaced persons (IDPs) without waiting for the state to play the necessary role. The purpose of these guidelines is: to make easier the support and aid efforts offered to displaced persons by human rights advocates carrying out work concerning the daily lives of victims of forced migration, lawyers, health workers, and public and local government workers; to help shape the road map these persons shall prepare in order to address the problems of victims of forced migration, paying attention to the subjective conditions of each individual; and to offer a summary of the main principles, which need to be observed throughout this process. Since the present document is the first of its kind, we thought that it would be better to keep the guidelines as comprehensive as possible and, in line with this, to add certain points to the appendices; these are the points that may be deemed topical or may cause reservations, and are yet to be field tested. In this respect, matters and methods highlighted in these guidelines, whilst putting forth the ideal situation, imply that the expert who shall use the document may make a selection based on specific conditions and their good sense. Also, it should be noted that while getting into contact with victims of forced migration, it may be necessary to identify some groups that are sensitive and shy away from help, such as men and teenagers, and to generate alternative ways to reach them. We are hoping that these guidelines and their appendices, which have been designed with the goal of being developed as deemed necessary by their users, will constitute the initial steps for the users and displaced persons to work together.
Topic:
Refugees, Displacement, Forced Migration, and Guidelines
Political Geography:
Turkey and Middle East

196. Resettlement of Ecologically Displaced Persons Solution of a Problem or Creation of a New?

Author:
Tom Trier and Medea Turashvili
Publication Date:
01-2007
Content Type:
Case Study
Institution:
European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI)
Abstract:
A much overlooked issue of social, political and humanitarian concern in Georgia has been the resettlement of so-called ecological migrants, or eco-migrants, i.e., persons who have been displaced due to natural disasters in their native villages. Resettlement and internal migration is not a new phenomenon in Georgia. Already in the 19th century, Georgians were relocated to populate sparsely inhabited border regions. Later with the Soviet collectivization of the 1930s-1950s, thousands of mountainous people were resettled, forcibly or voluntarily, to lowland parts of the country. In addition, regions that had been emptied of their indigenous populations during Stalin’s mass deportations of the 1940s were then repopulated with Georgians from other regions. In the 1950s and 1960s in particular, much of the population of the mountain regions of Ajara was resettled into other regions, in order to regulate the demographic balance and avoid over-population in the mountains. Since the early 1980s, the process of migration from mountainous regions has been further exacerbated by climate changes, which have had quite a significant impact on the livelihoods of the mountainous populations. Hence, over the past quarter of a century, tens of thousands of people have become homeless as a result of flooding, landslides, and/or avalanches. Various governments have responded to natural disasters in these mountainous regions of Georgia, beginning with the Soviet authorities of the 1980s, to the nationalist regime of Gamsakhurdia, over the leadership of Shevardnadze, and finally to the current Saakashvili government. Each has pursued a different approach. While in the early and mid 1980s, the process of resettlement was quite wellorganised, the late 1980s saw a serious increase in the number of natural disasters in Georgia’s mountain regions, coinciding with the breakdown of Soviet structures and the ensuing corruption. With the coming to power of a nationalist government under the leadership of Zviad Gamsakhurdia, resettlement policies were largely guided by a nationalist agenda designed to repopulate the minorityinhabited and border regions of Georgia with ethnic Georgians. Ecologically displaced persons soon found themselves as tools to advance such policies. During Shevardnadze however, this issue was literally ignored. After the “Rose Revolution” in 2003, the Saakashvili government took steps to address the problems of eco-migrants, although by all appearances consistent policy for addressing such issues is still out of sight.
Topic:
Migration, Minorities, Ethnicity, Displacement, Resettlement, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Europe and Georgia

197. Coming to Terms with Forced Migration: Post-Displacement Restitution of Citizenship Rights in Turkey

Author:
A. Tamer Aker, Ayşe Betül Çelik, Deniz Yükseker, Dilek Kurban, and Turgay Inalan
Publication Date:
08-2007
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
The large number of civil wars in the world in which ethnic groups are involved has given rise to a growing body of literature about how to rebuild nations so that they do not lapse back into violence. Among these is the well-researched new book by the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (“TESEV”), Coming to Terms with Forced Migration: Post-Displacement Restitution of Citizenship Rights in Turkey. Its five co-authors, Dilek Kurban (TESEV), Deniz Yükseker (Koç University), Ayşe Betül Çelik (Sabancı University), Turgay Ünalan (Hacettepe University) and A. Tamer Aker (Kocaeli University) dig deeply into the causes of conflict and displacement in Turkey, seeking to go beyond official versions and to unearth what really occurred in their country and how best to move forward to resolve the political, economic and social divisions. Each of the authors brings a different discipline to the book, together examining displacement from a broad perspective, encompassing the sociological, political, psychological, demographic and legal. Reinforcing their two years of academic research is rigorous field work in the provinces of Diyarbakır, Batman, Istanbul and Hakkâri where they interview municipal leaders, civil society and the people who were forcibly displaced. Among their major findings is one especially important for the government and the international community to register: that internal displacement in Turkey is not just a security problem confined to a limited number of hamlets in the southeast but a widespread and large-scale phenomenon with impact on “the whole nation.” After all, some one million men, women and children were forcibly uprooted from rural areas in the east and southeast of the country as a result of the armed struggle from 1984 to 1999 between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan - “PKK”) and the Turkish military. Large numbers fled to urban areas all over the country where they have long experienced poverty, poor housing, joblessness, loss of land and property, limited access to physical and mental health care services, and limited educational opportunities for their children. Acknowledging the plight of the displaced in both rural and urban areas and developing effective policies and programs to help them reintegrate is therefore critical not only for the lives of the displaced but also for the coherence and stability of the country as a whole.
Topic:
Human Rights, Migration, Minorities, Democracy, Citizenship, and Displacement
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, and Mediterranean

198. Afghans in Pakistan: Broadening the Focus

Author:
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit
Publication Date:
01-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
Abstract:
This briefing paper looked at the situation of the roughly 3 million Afghans who were residing in Pakistan at the time, and argued that the refugee framework no longer adequately addressed the reality of this transnational population.
Topic:
Migration, Refugees, Displacement, transnationalism, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Middle East