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141. Burundi Refugee Flows Continue to Increase

Author:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Abstract:
As instability from the political crisis continues to worsen, Burundi refugee flows and displacement show no signs of abating. The number of registered refugees has risen 60 percent in the last year—to 423,056—escalating the political and economic costs for all of Burundi's neighbors.
Topic:
Regional Cooperation, United Nations, Refugees, Political stability, and Displacement
Political Geography:
Africa, Tanzania, Burundi, and East Africa

142. Africa’s Population Displacement Reaches Record Levels in 2017

Author:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Publication Date:
08-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Abstract:
Africa’s humanitarian crises have continued to worsen in 2017. Displacement of Africans has reached twenty million, and 44 million are acutely food insecure.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid, United Nations, Food Security, Refugees, and Displacement
Political Geography:
Africa, East Africa, and Central Africa

143. South Sudan Conflict Drives Massive Population Movement

Author:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Publication Date:
10-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Abstract:
Mass atrocities, including unlawful killings, rape, torture, and destruction of property, have caused one in three people in South Sudan to flee their homes.
Topic:
Genocide, Human Rights, United Nations, Refugees, and Displacement
Political Geography:
Africa, Sudan, East Africa, South Sudan, and Central Africa

144. Dynamics of African Economic Migration

Author:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Center for Strategic Studies
Abstract:
Migration continues to be a major issue affecting African societies. Here are three observations on how Africa’s economic migrants* affect security on the continent:
Topic:
Migration, United Nations, Diaspora, Refugees, and Displacement
Political Geography:
Africa, Libya, Egypt, Mediterranean, and Gulf of Aden

145. 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

146. 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

147. Syrian Crisis

Author:
Rougi Toure
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on Human Rights Education, University of Denver
Abstract:
Recently with the sinking of the migrant boat off the coast of Greece, or the deceased of the Syrian child refugee on the beach of Turkey has us questioning how to tackle the refugee crisis. Deriving from the Refugee Convention of 1951, it states that a refugee is an individual “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.”
Topic:
Human Rights, Migration, Diaspora, Immigration, and Refugees
Political Geography:
Middle East and Syria

148. Peacebuilding Engagement Activities by Resettled African Refugees: Policy Options

Author:
Amanda Coffie
Publication Date:
08-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Social Science Research Council
Abstract:
Resettlement of refugees in third countries of asylum is considered both a protection practice and a durable solution to refugee crises, particularly in protracted refugee situations. Unlike most migrants and particularly irregular migrants, refugees receive protection from their host country, and the road towards citizenship is chartered prior to their arrival. Additionally, policies are in place to facilitate their integration into host societies. For host states located in the global North, resettlement is not just a humanitarian policy, but also includes strategic access to direct and indirect benefits other than those accruing to the resettled refugees. Such benefits may apply to other refugees, the host state, other states, or the international protection regime. Many analysts tend to overlook the strategic use of resettlement as a peacebuilding tool. Recent research findings from Africa and Central America demonstrate refugees’ capacity to contribute to peacebuilding in diverse ways including enhancement of safety and security; participation in political processes; and revitalization of economic, justice, and reconciliation systems.1 The findings also show that the ability of refugees to engage in peacebuilding is often determined by asylum policies of host states and the willingness of peacebuilding actors to engage non-state actors outside of the country where the peace is being built. This policy brief draws attention to some of the peacebuilding engagement activities of African resettled refugees in the global North. It notes that the resettlement of refugees provides host states with the opportunity to fulfill their mandates of the shared responsibility of protection and peacebuilding, without falling into the traps of imposition and interference.
Topic:
Migration, Refugees, Citizenship, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Africa and Global North

149. "Their Priority Is Not The People": Civilian Views On Peace Operations In Africa

Author:
Thijs Van Laer
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Peace Operations Review
Abstract:
“Their priority is not the people of Somalia,” a Somali woman who had recently fled to the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya said about peacekeepers in her home country. “It is the government and themselves.” Unfortunately, this view is not unique. Civilians in countries with peace operations often experience a wide gap between them and those missions. Yet, at a time when peacekeeping is at a crossroads—again—and under increasing financial pressure, it is more important than ever to solicit and acknowledge the views of the citizens who are affected by peace operations. Their suggestions on how to bolster results should be taken into account in the ongoing debates about successes, failures, and costs of peace operations. However, despite an acceptance in the ever-quoted HIPPO report that “engaging with host countries and local communities must increasingly be regarded as core to mission success” and despite the acceptance of protection of civilians as a core norm for UN peacekeeping, realities on the ground demonstrate that too little has been done to access or include these voices. Between October 2015 and April 2017, International Refugees Rights Initiative (IRRI) conducted close to 200 interviews with civilians in South Sudan, Sudan (Darfur) and Somalia about how they perceive the peace operations in their countries. The three missions in those countries, all of which are mandated by the UN Security Council, embody the range of different options available to implement the strategic partnership between the African Union and the UN, from a fully-fledged UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), to a joint AU-UN mission in Darfur (UNAMID) and an AU-operated mission in Somalia (AMISOM). While all three operate in significantly different contexts, they all have “little peace to keep” and have been often criticized for their limitations in implementing their mandate, especially when it comes to the protection of civilians. All three missions have also been reviewed this year. UNAMID has been restructured and its troop numbers have been seriously reduced; the UN and AU have just concluded a joint review of AMISOM and strengthened the focus in its mandate on withdrawal and handover to Somali security forces. UNMISS faces some minor budget cuts and a review, even as reinforcement by a Regional Protection Force is slowly being implemented. While much of what was talked about by the Somalis, South Sudanese, and Darfuris interviewed during the course of the research was specific to their context, a number of similarities and trends emerge from their responses, despite the strategic, operational, and contextual differences between the three missions. These trends are important, not only for any new rounds of high-level policy debates, but also for addressing the strategic challenges for protection of civilians and the rock-bottom popularity of peacekeepers among the civilians they are supposed to protect.
Topic:
Human Rights, United Nations, Refugees, Peace, and Civilians
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, Sudan, Darfur, Somalia, and South Sudan

150. Rethinking the Concept of a “Durable Solution”: Sahrawi Refugee Camps Four Decades On

Author:
Carmen Gomez Martin
Publication Date:
03-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
The Sahrawi people, who have long lived in the western part of the Sahara, have been housed in refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, since 1975—the year that Morocco took de facto control of Western Sahara. Their situation poses many questions, including those regarding the status of their state-in-exile, the role of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, and the length of their displacement. The conditions in the Tindouf camps present a paradigmatic case study of the liminal space inhabited by long-term refugees. Over the decades, residents have transformed these camps into a state-like structure with their own political and administrative institutions, which has enabled the international community to gain time to search for an acceptable political solution to the long-term conflict between the Polisario Front (the Sahrawi rebel national liberation movement) and the Moroccan government. The existence of a state-like structure, however, should not itself be understood as the ultimate solution for the thousands of people in these camps, who are currently living in extreme poverty, surviving on increasingly meager international aid, and enduring an exceptionally long wait for the favorable conditions whereby they may return to their place of origin. This essay is divided into three sections. First, it addresses the question of the Western Sahara from a historical point of view. The three major phases of the Sahrawi-Moroccan conflict provide the context for the formation and the current situation of the Sahrawi refugee camps. Second, it touches on the implementation of durable solutions for refugees living in camps and the supposedly transitional role of these spaces in such solutions. Finally, the essay applies an analytical framework to the paradigmatic case of the Sahrawi, demonstrating the contradictions between the theoretical model used to understand protracted refugee situations and the permanent problem regarding the rights of refugees.
Topic:
Poverty, Refugees, Displacement, Conflict, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Africa, Algeria, Morocco, and Western Sahara