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61. Losing Our Minds? New Research Directions on Skilled Migration and Development

Author:
Michael Clemens
Publication Date:
09-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development (CGD)
Abstract:
This paper critiques the last decade of research on the effects of high-skill emigration from developing countries, and proposes six new directions for fruitful research. Design/methodology/approach: The study singles out a core assumption underlying much of the recent literature, calling it the Lump of Learning model of human capital and development, and describes five ways that research has come to challenge that assumption. It assesses the usefulness of the Lump of Learning model in the face of accumulating evidence. The axioms of the Lump of Learning model have shaped research priorities in this literature, but many of those axioms do not have a clear empirical basis. Future research proceeding from established facts would set different priorities, and would devote more attention to measuring the effects of migration on skilled-migrant households, rigorously estimating human capital externalities, gathering microdata beyond censuses, and carefully considering optimal policy—among others. The recent literature has pursued a series of extensions to the Lump of Learning model: This study urges instead discarding that model, pointing toward a new paradigm for research on skilled migration and development.
Topic:
Migration, Refugee Issues, and Developing World

62. Jordan’s Refugee Crisis

Author:
Alexandra Francis
Publication Date:
09-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
The Syrian refugee crisis has exacerbated endemic political, economic, and resource challenges in Jordan. As the conflict in Syria enters a protracted state and public discontent and other tensions rise, Jordan has limited its humanitarian response. Yet, the roots of the kingdom’s challenges run deeper than the refugee crisis and if left unaddressed will be harbingers of instability. If Jordan is to confront its national challenges and continue to provide a safe haven for Syrian refugees, the country will depend on increased international support.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid, Political Economy, War, and Refugee Issues
Political Geography:
Middle East, Syria, and Jordan

63. Securing Education for Syrian Refugees in Jordan

Author:
Mona Christophersen
Publication Date:
05-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
Approximately 40 percent of school-age Syrian refugees in Jordan are not getting an education. As the Syrian war has entered its fifth year and humanitarian actors seek to bridge short-term humanitarian assistance with longer-term development goals, about 80,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan are still falling through the cracks when it comes to education. This new report assesses the state of education for Syrian refugees in Jordan. It finds that despite generous efforts by the Jordanian government, the UN, and nongovernmental organizations to provide quality education for Syrian refugees, five significant impediments remain: - economic barriers in the education system and in Syrian refugee households - legal and regulatory obstacles to school enrollment, - educational divides between Syrian and Jordanian students, - social tensions in schools, and competing priorities for refugee households.
Topic:
Education, Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, and Refugee Issues
Political Geography:
Syria and Jordan

64. Her Excellency Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, President of the Republic of Croatia

Author:
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović
Publication Date:
10-2015
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Columbia University World Leaders Forum
Abstract:
This World Leaders Forum program features an address by Her Excellency Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, President of the Republic of Croatia, followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid, War, and Refugee Issues
Political Geography:
Europe and Balkans

65. Toward a European Migration and Mobility Union

Author:
Jacob Funk Kirkegaard
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE)
Abstract:
After surviving its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and the near collapse of its common currency, Europe is now engulfed by hundreds of thousands of desperate migrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa. It needs new and permanent migration institutions and resources not only to accommodate the influx of refugees but also to set up a new border control system throughout the region. These demands pose a challenge for European policymaking as serious as the euro crisis of the last five years. Kirkegaard proposes a migration and mobility union, to be implemented gradually, with the goal of comprehensively reforming European migration policy.
Topic:
Economics, Migration, Politics, and Refugee Issues
Political Geography:
Europe

66. Humanitarian Assistance and the Politics of Self-reliance: Uganda's Nakivale Refugee Settlement

Author:
Suzan Ilcan, Marcia Oliver, and Laura Connoy
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
Abstract:
Increasingly, refugees residing in refugee camps are living in protracted situations for which there are no quick remedies. Existing attempts to address protracted situations for refugees engage with the concept and practices of the Self-reliance Strategy (SRS). This paper focuses on the SRS in Uganda’s Nakivale Refugee Settlement. It draws attention to the strategy's disconnection from the social and economic relations within which refugees live in settlements, and its inability to provide refugees with sufficient access to social support and protection.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Humanitarian Aid, and Refugee Issues
Political Geography:
Uganda

67. Lübnan 2014 | Lebanon 2014

Author:
Ayşe Selcan Özdemirci
Publication Date:
12-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Sakarya University (SAU)
Abstract:
2014 yılında Lübnan’ın genelde Ortadoğu bölgesine hâkim olan kargaşanın özelde ise Suriye’nin yarattığı kaosun etkisinde kalmayı sürdürdüğü gözlemlenmiştir. Bu bağlamda ülkede 2014 boyunca kaydedilen gelişmeler büyük ölçüde Suriye’de yaşanan iç savaştan etkilenmiştir. Bu yazıda Lübnan’ın 2014 yılı gelişmeleri; iç siyasette bir krize dönüşen cumhurbaşkanlığı seçimleri, ekonomik problemler, uluslararası ilişkiler ve dış aktörlerin ülkeye etkisi alt başlıkları ile ele alınmıştır. Lübnan 2014 yılını, sayıları ülke nüfusunun yarısına yaklaşan Suriyeli sığınmacılardan kaynaklanan ekonomik problemler, iç siyasetteki istikrarsızlık ve Lübnan ordusu askerlerinin rehin alınmasına kadar varan silahlı eylemler ile artan toplumsal huzursuzluk atmosferinde geçirmiştir. Son tahlilde uluslararası aktörlerin müdahaleleri ile siyaset arenasında yaşanan güç savaşı toplumun tüm katmanlarına yayılan huzursuzluğun ve kutuplaşmanın artmasına sebep olmuştur. | Throughout the 2014, Lebanon faced with various crises in relation to the civil war in Syria. This study is a brief analysis of these problems that the country confronted. It will particularly focus on the presidential election which created a serious domestic crisis among the political actors in the country. In addition to this, the paper will analyze economic problems and the effects of external actors in Lebanon. The study argues that political developments in Lebanon are deeply effected from the Syrian conflict and its actors. The Syrian crisis continued to have a direct impact on Lebanon in 2014, particularly with regards to the issue of Syrian refugees. In addition to these problems, intervention and the power struggle of the international actors in Lebanon’s politics resulted with increasing social unrest and political instability. This situation increased the political polarization in the country.
Topic:
Refugee Issues, Syrian War, and Hezbollah
Political Geography:
Middle East, Lebanon, and Syria

68. The Rising Costs of Turkey's Syrian Quagmire

Publication Date:
04-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The Syrian crisis crashed onto neighbouring Turkey's doorstep three years ago and the humanitarian, policy and security costs continue to rise. After at least 720,000 Syrian refugees, over 75 Turkish fatalities and nearly $3 billion in spending, frustration and fatigue are kicking in. Turkey's humanitarian outreach, while morally right and in line with international principles, remains an emergency response. Ankara needs to find a sustainable, long-term arrangement with the international community to care for the Syrians who arrive daily. While spared the worst of the sectarian and military spillover, Turks are reminded of the security risks by deadly car bombs and armed incidents on their territory, especially as northern Syria remains an unpredictable no-man's-land. The conflict was not of its making, but Ankara has in effect become a party. Unable to make a real difference by itself, it should focus on protecting its border and citizens, invigorate recent efforts to move back from the ruling party's Sunni Muslim-oriented foreign policy to one of sectarian neutrality and publicly promote a compromise political solution in Syria.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid and Refugee Issues
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, and Middle East

69. Bringing Back the Palestinian Refugee Question

Publication Date:
10-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The Palestinian refugee question, like the refugees themselves, has been politically marginalised and demoted on the diplomatic agenda. Yet, whenever the diplomatic process comes out of its current hiatus, the Palestinian leadership will be able to negotiate and sell a deal only if it wins the support or at least acquiescence of refugees – because if it does not, it will not bring along the rest of the Palestinian population. Refugees currently feel alienated from the Palestinian Authority (PA), which they regard with suspicion; doubt the intentions of Palestinian negotiators, whom they do not believe represent their interests; and, as one of the more impoverished Palestinian groups, resent the class structure that the PA and its economic policies have produced. As a result of their isolation, refugees in the West Bank and Gaza are making demands for services and representation that are reinforcing emerging divisions within Palestinian society and politics. There arguably are ways to address refugee needs, both diplomatic and practical, that are not mutually exclusive with core Israeli interests. This report examines what could be done on the Palestinian side to mitigate the risk that the Palestinian refugee question derails a future negotiation.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Refugee Issues, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, and Arabia

70. Why Europe must stop outsourcing its security

Author:
Richard Gowan and Nick Witney
Publication Date:
12-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on International Cooperation (CIC)
Abstract:
The EU claims to be in the business of “crisis management” – ready if need be to make “robust” military interventions to control conflict, especially in its neighbourhood. In practice, it now prefers to “outsource” such interventions to others, notably the United Nations and African Union (AU), limiting itself to supporting roles. This is not just shabby; it also saps Europe's influence in a world in which European interests and values are increasingly contested. And it places too great a burden on organisations such as the UN and AU. Unless the EU rediscovers a willingness to bear the costs and risks of military operations to control conflict, Europe can expect everintensifying refugee pressure on its southern borders. Although military force will not help in Ukraine or the turmoil of the Middle East, the EU could make a big difference if it were prepared to do more in crisis management in Africa. The EU could contribute to or complement UN or AU efforts in a variety of ways. Responding to the crisis in UN peacekeeping, Ban Kimoon has ordered a review. New EU High Representative Federica Mogherini should do the same, involving outside experts in a stock-take of international efforts to control conflict to Europe's south and commissioning specific proposals to get the EU back to playing a properly responsible security role.
Topic:
Human Welfare, Humanitarian Aid, United Nations, and Refugee Issues
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Ukraine, and Middle East