Forced Migration Online: Blog

Since the mid-1980s, over two million Burmese migrant workers have entered Thailand, searching for a better future.

The jobs they have found are dirty, dangerous and difficult. Often undocumented, migrant workers risk arrest, extortion, deportation and other human rights abuses.

Something of these difficulties and tragedies faced by these workers are documented in these images by Thailand-based documentary photographer John Hulme.

The exhibit ‘In Search of a Job – Any Job: The Life of Burmese Migrant Workers‘, was held by the Refugee Studies Centre and International Migration Institute in Oxford. It ran from 17 – 25 February 2011.

• In Search of a Job – Any Job: The Life of Burmese Migrant Workers
• John Hulme’s website

The 2005 film ‘Ecuador: Migration and Remittances‘  is now available to view on Forced Migration Online.

This short video offers a general overview of current Ecuadorian migration to Europe and the United States. The work touches on relationships between migrant and employer and the impact on the Ecuadorian family unit, both abroad and at home. A commentary is provided by Andres Vallejo, a PhD candidate at Cambridge University.

• Watch the Video: Ecuador – Migration and Remittances

Italy has been transformed in recent decades from a nation of emigrants to a destination country for mass immigration, receiving tens of thousands of immigrant from south-east Europe and north Africa each year.

Its long coast lines and developed economy make it both an attractive destination and an easy route into Europe. As immigration rates have risen sharply, relations between the Italian and immigrant population have often been tense.

FMO’s latest resource summary  highlights a selection of web-based resources that focus on Italy. Links are provided to full-text documents, journal articles, external resources, and organizations.

• Resource summary: Italy

A new documentary, by film maker Simon James is now available to view on Forced Migration Online. ‘Across the Border: Uyghurs in Kazakhstan‘ focuses on the situation of the  Uyghur minority in Kazakhstan.

While Uyghurs account for just 1.5% of the Kazakh population, relations with the Kazakh government are often strained and Uyghurs live today in a sort of limbo. They can do business, study their native language and organize cultural events, provided they do not interfere with politics and accept limited freedom of thought and tight State control.

This situation gives minorities the opportunity to survive as a community and enjoy stability, but it does not grant them the status of full citizens.

• Watch the Video: Across the Border
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The research guide to Forced Migration Periodicals has been updated and now includes sections on periodicals that address not only forced migration generally but also health, law, humanitarian assistance, emergency relief and the larger issue of international migration.

This guide lists journals, substantive newsletters and other regularly produced publications that are relevant in the field of forced migration studies. The emphasis has been placed on periodicals that are currently being published and whose online contents are up-to-date.

The collection of links is housed in the Delicious social bookmarking service and will automatically be updated when new titles are added or when existing links are edited.

• Research Guide

Human Security and Non-Citizens: Law, Policy and International Affairs is a new co-edited collection by Carla Ferstman, Director of REDRESS and Dr. Alice Edwards of the Refugee Studies Centre. The official launch will be on 24th February 2010 as part of RSC’s Wednesday Seminar series.

The past decades have seen enormous changes in our perceptions of ‘security’, the causes of insecurity and the measures adopted to address them. Threats of terrorism and the impacts of globalisation and mass migration have shaped our identities, politics and world views. This volume of essays analyses these shifts in thinking and, in particular, critically engages with the concept of ‘human security’ from legal, international relations and human rights perspectives. Contributors consider the special circumstances of non-citizens, such as refugees, migrants, and displaced and stateless persons, and assess whether, conceptually and practically, ‘human security’ helps to address the multiple challenges they face.

• Human Security and Non-Citizens

FMO has launched a series of podcasts recorded at the Romani Mobilities in Europe conference, held by the Refugee Studies Centre between 14th and 15th January 2010 at Harris Manchester College, Oxford. The event was made possible by a grant from the John Fell Oxford University Press Fund and the generous support of ERSTE Foundation. Further details about the event can be accessed on the Conference Blog.

• Podcasts
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This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre’s Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture which was on Wednesday 18th November 2009 at the Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford. 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. Jan Egeland, former UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator and currently director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs gave the 2009 lecture on the subject of political deals and durable solutions for the displaced.

• Podcast
• Subscribe via iTunes

The film ‘Silk Road to Guantanamo: The Story of Adel Hakimjan‘ is now available to view online. Silk Road to Guantanamo shows the plight of ex-Guantanamo Bay inmate Adel Hakimjan, a Chinese Uighur, who was abused, persecuted, traded, and falsely imprisoned. There will be a screening of the film at the Blue Boar Lecture Theatre, Christ Church College, University of Oxford, on Tuesday, 17th November 7.30pm-9.30pm. After the screening there will be a Q & A with the film’s director S L James and Enver Tohti, chairman of the UK Uyghur Association.

• Silk Road to Guantanamo: The Story of Adel Hakimjan
• Screening in Oxford
• Subscribe via iTunes

FMO has launched the first of a series of podcasts recorded at the bi-annual conference of the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM), held in Nicosia, Cyprus between 28 June and 2 July 2009. The 12th IASFM conference was hosted by the University of Nicosia, Cyprus. The FMO team made audio recordings of the conference’s plenary sessions. The further details about the conference can be accessed on the FMO event page.

• Podcast
• Subscribe via iTunes