Forced Migration Online: Blog

This term, the Refugee Studies Centre is holding a weekly seminar series on the topic of “Conceptual Problems of Forced Migration“.

Podcasts of these lectures will be posted on Forced Migration Online as they become available. The first two lectures.

Seminars are held at 5.00pm on Wednesdays, at either the University of East London or the Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford. More details about upcoming seminars in the series are available on the RSC website.

• Seminar 1: Refugees, Exiles and other Forced Migrants in the late Ottoman Empire
• Seminar 2: Citizenship, Autochthony and the Question of Forced Migration

A new RSC policy briefing, “Responding to Protracted Refugee Situations: Lessons from a Decade of Discussion” has been published.

In December 2009, the UNHCR adopted an ExCom Conclusion on protracted refugee situations. The purpose of this policy brief is to examine in detail the history and process of identifying protracted refugee situations as a significant international policy problem, the steps leading to the 2009 ExCom Conclusion and a consideration of the text of the Conclusion.

In presenting recommendations on addressing these constraints, this briefing first addresses the nature and scope of protracted displacement, some of its causes and consequences, and a short history of international responses to protracted refugee situations before examining in detail the process leading to the 2009 ExCom Conclusion and the steps required by states, UNHCR and NGOs to adequately respond to protracted refugee situations in the future.

• Responding to Protracted Refugee Situations: Lessons from a Decade of Discussion
• Other Policy Briefings from the RSC
  

A new collection of photographs: “No Peace of Mind – Stories of Displacement in the DRC” is now available on Forced Migration Online.

Around two million people are internally displaced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in central Africa, and nearly 500,000 Congolese people are refugees in neighbouring countries. The DRC continues to be plagued by widespread violence and insecurity, which prevent many people from receiving vital assistance.

The photographs in this collection were part of an exhibition, “No Peace of Mind – Stories of Displacement in the DRC”, which was held by the Refugee Studies Centre in December 2010.

• View the photographs

Sahrawi boys playing football outside the precinct of the 27 February Women's School (2007). © 2007 Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh

A new collection of photographs: “The 27 February Camp: Sahrawi refugees in Algeria” is now available on Forced Migration Online.

Approximately 155,000 Sahrawi refugees are currently distributed amongst four major refugee camps in South-Western Algeria, named after the main cities in the Western Sahara (Aaiun, Ausserd, Smara and Dakhla).

A fifth camp, the ’27 February Camp’, is relatively small, having grown up around the National Women’s School. This collection of photographs focuses on life in the 27 February Camp.

The photographs in this collection were kindly provided by Dr Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Departmental Lecturer in Forced Migration at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford. Elena carried out fieldwork in the 27 February Camp between 2001 and 2009.

• View the photographs

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees gave the 2010 Harrell-Bond Lecture at the Refugee Studies Centre on 18 October 2010.

In a lecture focusing on forced displacement, protection and humanitarian action, Guterres called for international action on global refugee crisis.

The Harrell-Bond Lecture is held annually in honour of Dr Barbara Harrell-Bond, founding former director of the Centre and of the academic field of refugee studies or forced migration studies.

• Listen to the podcast

A new collection of photographs, focusing on Karen and Karenni refugees in Thailand, is now available to view in the FMO photo gallery.

The Karen people reside primarily in southern and southeastern Myanmar (Burma), where they make up approximately 7 percent of the population. The Karenni people are a subgroup of the Karen people.

An estimated 400,000 Karen and Karenni refugees have fled to Thailand, in order to escape persecuting by Myanmar’s military government, many of them living in camps on the border. These photographs provide a rare glimpse into daily life in two camps along the Thai-Burma border: Mae La and Ban Mai Nai Soi.

The photographs were taken by Amity Malack, a graduate from the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

A full archive of FMO photo collections can be accessed through the FMO photo gallery.

• Photographs: Karen refugees in Thailand

Forced Migration Online has recently published a new resource summary, focusing on Angola.

The Republic of Angola is on the west coast of south-central Africa, and has an estimated population of around 13 million people. Wealthy in natural resources, it is now one of the fastest growing economies in Africa, fuelled mainly by its oil production.

Despite this apparent wealth however, the country faces enormous socio-economic problems. These are the product of a 27-year long civil war, which raged from 1975 to 2002 between the governing MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) and UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola). At the height of the civil war, it is estimated that over 4 million people were displaced.

All our summaries provide links to key resources, websites and documents exploring contemporary debate on on key issues, in forced migration as well as links to wider issues concerned with human rights and displacement.

Our full collection of resource summaries, focusing on specific regions and themes, can be accessed from the links below.

• Angola resource summary
• Regional Resource Summaries
• Thematic Resource Summaries

Cover of FMR 35: Disability

Issue 35 of Forced Migration Review (FMR) is now available in the FMO digital library. This issue focuses on the topic of “Disability and Displacement”.

The World Health Organisation estimates that persons with disabilities account for 7-10% of the world’s population. This would imply that there are three to four million persons living with disability among the world’s 42 million displaced. It is not (yet) common practice, however, to include people with disabilities among those who are considered as particularly vulnerable in disasters and displacement and who therefore require targeted response.

Forced Migration Online’s latest resource summary, which complements FMR 35, is also available to view online. It provides links to key resources, websites and documents exploring contemporary debate on this issue as well as links to wider issues concerned with human rights and displacement.

Issue 35 of Forced Migration Review also contains a mini-feature on Brazil, as well as articles on: accountability, mobility, reproductive health in Darfur, repatriation decision-making and protection in natural disasters.

• FMR 2010, 2010, No. 35: Disability and Displacement
• FMO Resource summary: Disability

Forced Migration Online is pleased to announce the publication of its first newsletter. This issue presents highlights from the new resources added to the FMO website in 2010.

If you would like to receive future FMO newsletters, please subscribe to our mailing list. You can also receive notifications as an RSS feed.

The newsletter has been designed so that it can be easily posted up on notice boards, and would encourage you to print out copies if you think that others in your organization would find Forced Migration Online useful.

In addition to highlighting recent updates, the newsletter gives details of how users can contribute resources to the site. For those of you who are not familiar with Forced Migration Online, there is also a brief outline of the various resources we provide, including:

• Over 5,000 full-text documents, available to download for free
• Thematic and country specific guides to research
• Collections of videos, podcasts and photos
• An updated organizations database
• An email-based discussion list

Links: June 2010 newsletter

• FMO Newsletter
• Subscribe
• RSS feed

Forced Migration Online has recently published a new resource summary, focusing on Algeria.

The summary provides an outline of present and historical causes of forced migration within Algeria. It also gives an overview of Algeria’s relationship to various international refugee conventions and its role as host to several thousand refugees including the Sahrawi, as well as refugees from Palestine and Sub-Saharan Africa.

All our summaries provide links to key resources, websites and documents exploring contemporary debate on on key issues, in forced migration as well as links to wider issues concerned with human rights and displacement. Our full collection of resource summaries, focusing on specific regions and themes, can be accessed from the links below.

• Algeria resource summary
• Regional Resource Summaries
• Thematic Resource Summaries