Refugee Studies Centre

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Title	Description	People	Date
FMR 45 Translating global education standards to local contexts	Global standards such as the Education in Emergencies Minimum Standards need to be applied locally and this requires a thoughtful and committed contextualisation process.	Carine Allaf, Tzvetomira Laub, Arianna Sloat	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 The potential role of a racial discrimination law in Myanmar	Ethnic discrimination has long fuelled violence and displacement within Myanmar, especially in relation to people of Rohingya ethnicity who have been fleeing in their ‘tens of thousands’ in 2013 alone.	Nathan Willis	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 New OAS Conventions protecting IDPs against racism and discrimination	Two new Conventions approved in 2013 have the potential to offer greater protection to vulnerable groups, including IDPs, in the Americas.	Maria Beatriz Nogueira	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 The global governance of crisis migration	There is no coherent or unified global governance framework for the different areas that have been subsumed under the umbrella of ‘crisis migration’.	Alexander Betts	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 Disaster risk reduction and mobility	An essential step for advancing risk reduction measures at the local level is to define mobility-based indicators of vulnerability and resilience that can contribute to measuring and reducing human and economic losses resulting from disasters.	Patrice Quesada	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 On policies of hospitality and hostility in Argentina	Following the Haiti earthquake of 2010, Argentina and other South American countries undertook to receive Haitians.	Irene Duffard Evangelista	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 Disaster Law	The impetus for new disaster response laws lies in the gaps that exist in the scope and geographic coverage of existing international law.	Stefanie Haumer	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 Environmental stress, displacement and the challenge of rights protection	Examination of migration histories and current politics in Kenya, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Ethiopia and Ghana sheds light on how rights are articulated for groups and individuals displaced in a context of environmental stress and climate change.	Roger Zetter, James Morrissey	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 Regionalism: a strategy for dealing with crisis migration	Regional solutions are becoming a strategic tool in dealing with the lack of globally agreed protection for crisis migrants.	Liliana Lyra Jubilut, Erika Pires Ramos	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 Nuclear disasters and displacement	The lessons of the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011 seem to be the same as those from Chernobyl 25 years earlier, despite the different political settings.	Silva Meybatyan	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 New Orleans: a lesson in post-disaster resilience	Factors that foster social cohesion in communities – such as shared long-term networks and community identity, central organisation to which the community adheres, and established trust – have been identified as critical for post-disaster resilience.	Paul Kadetz	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 International cooperation on the North Korean refugee crisis	The biggest challenge concerning North Korean refugees is that, as yet, there is no international framework for how to respond once these individuals have crossed the border.	Markus Bell, Geoffrey Fattig	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 Misconceptions about human trafficking in a time of crisis	Both natural and man-made crises are considered by many to be prime environments for trafficking in persons. However, the evidence for this is thin.	Elżbieta M Goździak, Alissa Walter	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 The rise of trapped populations	As border security increases and borders become less permeable, cross-border migration is becoming increasingly difficult, selective and dangerous.	April T Humble	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 Populations ‘trapped’ at times of crisis	A focus on those who are trapped challenges both theoretical and practical approaches to mobility and crisis, which prioritise movement.	Richard Black, Michael Collyer	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 The challenge of mixed migration by sea	While ‘boat people’ are often fleeing a situation of crisis, they share their mode of travel with many types of migrants.	Judith Kumin	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 Forcing migration of globalised citizens	Today’s constant flows of persons and information across frontiers mean that, when an emergency occurs, the international community feels it has to get involved not only out of solidarity but because its citizens could be in danger.	Oscar A Gómez	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 Aspects of crisis migration in Algeria	Movements of migrants are only partially covered by international instruments and while the Algerian authorities certainly have opportunities to protect this stream of people, no agreements (bilateral or multilateral) are in force to do so.	Mohamed Saïb Musette	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 Humanitarian border management	Humanitarian border management is one of the tools that can supplement the humanitarian response for migrants caught in a crisis situation.	Maximilian Pottler	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 Non-citizens caught up in situations of conflict, violence and disaster	When non-citizens are caught up in humanitarian crises, they can be as vulnerable to displacement, and suffer its consequences as acutely, as citizens.	Khalid Koser	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 Questioning ‘drought displacement’: environment, politics and migration in Somalia	The role of the recent drought in producing migration cannot be understood in isolation from human practices and past and concurrent political processes.	Anna Lindley	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 Health crises and migration	Individual and collective responses to health crises contribute to an orderly public health response that most times precludes the need for large-scale displacements.	Michael Edelstein, David Heymann, Khalid Koser	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 Rising waters, displaced lives	Although Pakistan and Colombia have relatively advanced disaster management frameworks, they were unprepared and ill-equipped to assist and protect people displaced by recent floods.	Lindsey Brickle, Alice Thomas	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 Mexico: from the Guiding Principles to national responsibilities on the rights of IDPs	The Mexican government needs facts and figures on internal displacement and then to mobilise national institutions to design appropriate responses.	Fernando Batista Jiménez	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 Mexicans seeking political asylum	Banding together in response to a situation of this seriousness gives people strength and confidence, and provides emotional, social and – above all – legal and political support.	Leticia Calderón Chelius	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 Criminal violence and displacement in Mexico	Rampant criminal violence, from direct coercion and physical threats to the erosion of the quality of life and livelihood opportunities, pushes people to move in a variety of ways.	Sebastián Albuja	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 Adolescence, food crisis and migration	Adolescents who migrate because of food crises face distinct risks. Specific strategies are needed to prevent and respond to this phenomenon.	Janis Ridsdel	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 Resettlement in the twenty-first century	Deficiencies in planning, preparation and implementation of involuntary resettlement and relocation projects have produced far more failures than successes.	Anthony Oliver-Smith, Alex de Sherbinin	7 April, 2014
FMR 45 Illegal migration in the Indian Sunderbans	It is expected that due to sea-level rises in the future many millions of Bangladeshis will flee to India, exacerbating further the ongoing disputes between India and Bangladesh.	Sahana Bose	28 March, 2014
FMR 45 Migrants on offshore islands of Bangladesh	Riverbank erosion and the consequent formation of new islands in the Bay of Bengal cause frequent changes in the shape and size of the delta, forcing the inhabitants to migrate frequently.	Rezwan Siddiqui	28 March, 2014
FMR 45 Choice and necessity: relocations in the Arctic and South Pacific	Relocation – whereby livelihoods, housing and public infrastructure are reconstructed in another location – may be the best adaptation response for communities whose current location becomes uninhabitable or is vulnerable to future climate-induced threats	Robin Bronen	28 March, 2014
FMR 45 Flight to the cities	The conditions from which most crisis migrants have fled — threats to life, health, physical safety and/or subsistence — are likely to be reproduced in some form in their urban destinations, at least in part due to their presence there.	Patricia Weiss Fagen	28 March, 2014
FMR 45 Lessons from the development of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement	The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement filled a major gap in the international protection system for uprooted people.	Roberta Cohen	28 March, 2014
FMR 45 The concept of crisis migration	Crisis migration needs to be understood in terms of 'tipping points', which are triggered not just by events but also by underlying structural processes.	Jane McAdam	28 March, 2014
FMR 45 What is crisis migration?	Movements precipitated by humanitarian crises have implications that touch upon immigration control and national interests, human rights, humanitarian and development principles, and frameworks for international protection, cooperation and burden sharing.	Susan Martin, Sanjula Weerasinghe, Abbie Taylor	28 March, 2014
FMR 45 Foreword on migrants in crisis	When it comes to protecting migrants' well-being and rights, smart practices abound. There are many practices that can and should become global standards.	Peter D Sutherland	28 March, 2014
FMR 45 From the Editors	From the editors.	Marion Couldrey, Maurice Herson	28 March, 2014
FMR 44 Freedom of movement of Afghan refugees in Iran	Although legally justifiable, increasing restrictions on movement and work for refugees in Iran have detrimental effects for the refugees.	Farshid Farzin, Safinaz Jadali	4 October, 2013
FMR 44 Insights from the refugee response in Cameroon	The integration of Central African refugees into existing Cameroonian communities has had far-reaching development impacts on the region and the state as a whole.	Angela Butel	4 October, 2013
FMR 44 UNHCR in Uganda: better than its reputation suggests	Mistrust and fear abound among Rwandan refugees in Uganda. The dearth of information available about cessation urgently needs to be addressed by UNHCR.	Will Jones	4 October, 2013
FMR 44 Post-deportation monitoring: why, how and by whom?	The monitoring of refused asylum seekers post-deportation is critical to effective protection.	Leana Podeszfa, Friederike Vetter	4 October, 2013
FMR 44 Deportation of South Sudanese from Israel	Israel's aggressive campaign of arrest and deportation of South Sudanese asylum seekers contravenes the principle of non-refoulement and international standards for voluntary, dignified return.	Laurie Lijnders	4 October, 2013
FMR 44 Assisted voluntary return schemes	While AVR is clearly preferable to deportation, NGOs and academics alike have criticised these schemes for being misleadingly labelled and lacking genuine voluntariness.	Anne Koch	4 October, 2013
FMR 44 Shortcomings in assistance for deported Afghan youth	Programmes to assist deported Afghan youth to reintegrate on their return are failing miserably. There needs to be much greater awareness of what it is like for them when they return, and of good practice in implementing such programmes.	Nassim Majidi	4 October, 2013
FMR 44 No longer a child: from the UK to Afghanistan	Young Afghans forced to return to Kabul having spent formative years in the UK encounter particular risks and lack any tailored support on their return.	Catherine Gladwell	4 October, 2013
FMR 44 State reluctance to use alternatives to detention	States continue to show a marked reluctance to implement alternatives to immigration detention. The reason for this may well be because such alternatives ignore the disciplinary function of detention by which states coerce people into cooperation.	Clément de Senarclens	4 October, 2013
FMR 44 Questions over alternatives to detention programmes	Alternative to detention programmes may be less restrictive and less expensive than formal detention but they may still have drawbacks. The provision of competent legal advice appears to be key to low rates of absconding.	Stephanie J Silverman	4 October, 2013
FMR 44 Flawed assessment process leads to under-use of alternatives in Sweden	Sweden is often held up as following 'best practice' in legislation with regard to detention and alternatives to detention but research by the Swedish Red Cross highlights a number of flaws.	Maite Zamacona	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 Community detention in Australia: a more humane way forward	A group of Australian advocates lobbied successfully for the implementation of community detention as a viable, humane alternative, giving asylum seekers an opportunity to engage in a more meaningful existence.	Catherine Marshall, Suma Pillai, Louise Stack	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 Alternatives to detention: open family units in Belgium	Preliminary outcomes of an alternative to detention programme in Belgium, based on case management and individual 'coaches' for families, are positive and merit consideration by other countries.	Liesbeth Schockaert	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 New models for alternatives to detention in the US	While there is growing recognition of the value of community-based alternatives to detention in the US, shortfalls in funding and political will are hindering implementation of improved services and best practice.	Megan Bremer, Kimberly Haynes, Nicholas Kang, Michael D Lynch, Kerri Socha	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 Alternatives to detention in the UK: from enforcement to engagement?	The UK detains migrants on a large scale, and has had limited success in developing alternatives. The British experience highlights the need for a cultural shift towards engagement with migrants in place of reliance on enforcement.	Jerome Phelps	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 Predisposed to cooperate	Recent research in Toronto and Geneva indicates that asylum seekers and refugees are predisposed to be cooperative with the refugee status determination (RSD) system and other immigration procedures.	Cathryn Costello, Esra Kaytaz	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 Thinking outside the fence	The way in which we think about detention can shape our ability to consider the alternatives. What is needed is a shift in thinking away from place-based control and towards risk assessment, management and targeted enforcement.	Robyn Sampson	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 Immigration detention: looking at the alternatives	Endangering the health and well-being of people by detaining them is unnecessary; governments can instead use community-based alternatives that are more dignified for migrants and more cost-effective for states.	Philip Amaral	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 Do higher standards of detention promote well-being?	Sweden is generally considered to have high standards of immigrant detention. Irrespective of the high standards life in detention still poses a huge threat to the health and wellbeing of detained irregular migrants.	Soorej Jose Puthoopparambil, Beth Maina-Ahlberg, Magdalena Bjerneld	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 Women: the invisible detainees	Research by the Women's Refugee Commission into immigration detention of women in the US explores why and how differences in treatment between men and women in detention matter.	Michelle Brané, Lee Wang	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 A last resort in cases of wrongful detention and deportation in Africa	Where this is no viable forum to address human rights violations by African states, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights will consider such violations.	Matthew C Kane, Susan F Kane	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 Detention in Kenya: risks for refugees and asylum seekers	Refugees and asylum seekers detained in Kenya risk multiple convictions and protracted detention due to poor coordination between immigration officials, police and prison officers.	Lucy Kiama, Dennis Likule	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 Detention of women: principles of equality and non-discrimination	International principles of equality and non-discrimination must be applied to the UK's immigration detention system, which at present fails to meet even the minimum standards which apply in prisons.	Ali McGinley	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 Security rhetoric and detention in South Africa	The South Africa example is instructive in demonstrating both the limits and the dangers of the increasing reliance on detention as a migration management tool.	Roni Amit	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 New European standards	On 29 June 2013 the amended 'Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down standards for the reception of applicants for international protection (recast)' became law.	Dersim Yabasun	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 Threats to liberty in Germany	Those seeking asylum in Germany face fast-track assessments, risk of immediate detention and deportation, and lengthy stays in 'communal shelters' scattered throughout Germany.	Jolie Chai	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 Closed detention in the Czech Republic: on what grounds?	Despite relatively good conditions in the Czech Republic's closed detention facilities, serious questions should be asked about the justification for detention.	Beata Szakacsova	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 My story: indefinite detention in the UK	When I fled civil war to come to the UK, I thought that I would be free but instead of helping me, the UK detained me for three years.	William	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 A return to the Pacific Solution	Over the last 50 years, Australian governments have introduced a range of measures that seek to deter asylum seekers. Current practice sees asylum seekers once again detained in offshore detention in neighbouring countries.	Fiona McKay	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 Be careful what you wish for	Can the promotion of liberal norms have an unintended and damaging impact on how states confront the challenges of irregular immigration?	Michael Flynn	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 Detention monitoring newly established in Japan	Recently established monitoring committees in Japan are opening new channels of communication and opportunities for improvements in detention facilities.	Naoko Hashimoto	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 No change: foreigner internment centres in Spain	Draft regulations for the running of Spain's Foreigner Internment Centres fall far short of the hopes and demands of those campaigning for better guarantees of the rights of detainees.	Cristina Manzanedo	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 Captured childhood	States should develop alternatives to immigration detention to ensure that children are free to live in a community-based setting throughout the resolution of their immigration status.	David Corlett	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 The impact of immigration detention on children	States often detain children without adequate attention to international law and in conditions that can be inhumane and damaging. Asylum-seeking and refugee children must have their rights protected.	Alice Farmer	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 Health at risk in immigration detention facilities	Since 2004 Médecins Sans Frontières has provided medical and psychosocial support for asylum seekers and migrants held in different immigration detention facilities across Europe.	Ioanna Kotsioni, Aurelie Ponthieu, Stella Egidi	3 October, 2013
FMR 44 Voices from inside Australia's detention centres	At the heart of the asylum debate in Australia there is little sense of the individual in question. People who had previously been asylum seekers in immigration detention express in their own words the impact that detention had on them.	Melissa Phillips	25 September, 2013
FMR 44 Establishing arbitrariness	There is no understanding of what the term "arbitrary" entails; understanding it requires awareness of the different factors affecting how individual deprivations of liberty are examined and understood.	Stephen Phillips	25 September, 2013
FMR 44 Psychological harm and the case for alternatives	Studies in countries around the world have consistently found high levels of psychiatric symptoms among imprisoned asylum seekers, both adults and children.	Janet Cleveland	25 September, 2013
FMR 44 Detention under scrutiny	UNHCR's new detention guidelines challenge governments to rethink their detention policies and to consider alternatives to detention in every case.	Alice Edwards	25 September, 2013
FMR 44 From the editors	From the editors.	The editors	25 September, 2013
FMR 43 Understanding refugees' concepts of sexual and gender-based violence	Sexual and gender-based violence prevention campaigns that incorporate culturally sensitive understanding will stand a better chance of breaking down barriers to accessing services.	Carrie Hough	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 Emergency need for telecommunications support	The Haiti experience challenged the international humanitarian community to take advantage of the possibilities of increasingly available and common communications technologies and networks, and to ensure access to the infrastructure enabling it to do so.	Marianne Donven, Mariko Hall	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 Poetry as women's resistance to the consequences of Bedouin displacement in Jordan	Bedouin women are able to mitigate some of the consequences of that displacement through the opportunities and influence they have gained as Nabati poets.	Maira Seeley	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 Older people and displacement	At all phases of the displacement cycle, flight, displacement and return, older people are exposed to specific challenges and risks which are not sufficiently taken into account.	Piero Calvi-Parisetti	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 Harming asylum seekers' chances through poor use of human rights treaties	Over the past decade, UK courts and administrative tribunals have become increasingly comfortable relying on international human rights treaties in cases where non-citizens claim asylum or other means of protection from persecution.	Stephen Meili	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 Trails of Tears: raising awareness of displacement	Trails of Tears have arisen to draw attention and give legitimacy to multiple movements for fairness and justice, hoping to create a community of support strong enough to rectify a past injustice or prevent a future one.	Ken Whalen	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 The arts in refugee camps: ten good reasons	Refugees' involvement in artistic activity: music, theatre, poetry, painting, often plays a powerful positive role in their ability to survive physically and even emotionally and spiritually.	Awet Andemicael	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 Crisis in Lebanon: camps for Syrian refugees?	Lebanon has absorbed the enormous Syrian influx but at a high cost to both refugees and Lebanese populations. Current humanitarian programmes can no longer cope and new approaches are needed.	Jeremy Loveless	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 State fragility, displacement and development interventions	The development approach to displacement brings advantages not only in addressing the needs of refugees, IDPs and host communities but also in helping societies tackle the underlying aspects of fragility that may have caused the displacement.	Yonatan Araya	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 Psychiatric treatment with people displaced in or from fragile states	Psychiatrists working to assess psychological distress and mental health in fragile states, or with refugees from fragile states, need to adopt flexible approaches.	Verity Buckley	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 Displacement in a fragile Iraq	The post-Saddam Iraqi state enjoys only limited support from the population, excludes significant sections of its people from power, suppresses the opposition and does not protect citizens from arbitrary arrests, and corruption is rampant.	Ali A K Ali	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 Was establishing new institutions in Iraq to deal with displacement a good idea?	The humanitarian, developmental and political consequences of decades of mass forced migration are part of the legacy that the current political leaders of Iraq need to address.	Peter Van der Auweraert	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 The curious case of North Korea	Displacement and distress migration within and outside North Korea may be an indicator of state fragility but a reduction in numbers should not necessarily be read as a sign of improving conditions there.	Courtland Robinson	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 Data quality and information management in DRC	Forced migration creates special challenges to collecting data and monitoring responses in fragile states where infrastructure and systems are weak or non-existent.	Janet Ousley, Lara Ho	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 Refugees from Central American gangs	El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras are largely ignored by refugee agencies who underestimate transnational criminal organisation' abuses and powers of control, while overestimating national governments' ability and willingness to protect their citizens.	Elizabeth G Kennedy	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 Networked governance in Ecuador's border regions	In order to improve security for both Colombian forced migrants and Ecuadorians, an approach that takes advantage of governance networks can allow residents to negotiate access to resources and rights that they otherwise would not be able to enjoy.	Lana Balyk, Jeff Pugh	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 Surviving the odds: education, commerce and development among displaced Somalis	Private entrepreneurship and the disapora play important roles in supporting displaced people in fragile ungoverned situations. They are also valuable in helping those situations emerge from fragility.	Abdirashid Duale	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 Flight, fragility and furthering stability in Yemen	Yemen is one of the world's most fragile states. Less well understood is how this context affects the vulnerability of refugees, IDPs and migrants themselves and what can be done to strengthen protection for them.	Erin Mooney	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 Humanitarian responses in the protection gap	Often a combination of factors pushes people to leave their country, and the voluntary character of their departure remains debatable, challenging humanitarians both to meet needs and to adapt to changing categories of forced displacement.	Aurelie Ponthieu, Katharine Derderian	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 Post-disaster Haitian migration	Those who left Haiti in the chaotic aftermath of the 2010 earthquake did not generally find the same posture of solidarity and humanitarianism overseas that was apparent in the significant international assistance that followed the disaster.	Diana Thomaz	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 The 'phantom state' of Haiti	The fragile nature of the state had turned emigration into a major feature of Haitian life even before the earthquake displaced hundreds of thousands of people.	Andreas E Feldmann	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 The displaced claiming their rights in fragile states	To date, displaced persons in fragile and conflict-affected states have had little success in claiming their rights for housing, land and property violations. Creative legal thinking and strategic litigation has the potential to change this.	Antonia Mulvey	9 August, 2013
FMR 43 Can Refugee Cessation be seen as a proxy for the end of state fragility?	The cessation of refugee status results from a judgment that a sufficient change has occurred in the refugees' country of origin that they no longer require international protection.	Georgia Cole	9 August, 2013

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