Forced Migration Online: Blog

The film ‘Iraqis in Egypt: Time is Running Out’ is now available to view online. The documentary looks at the lives of six Iraqi families who have been forced to flee their homes and are now living as refugees in the massive urban sprawl of Cairo. As the years pass by, their situations are becoming increasingly desperate, with little or no rights in their country of first asylum.

• Iraqis in Egypt: Time is Running Out

UPDATE: Visit iraqisinegypt.org for the latest media releases, films, podcasts and more.

The latest podcast in a series recorded at the bi-annual conference of the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) is now available online.

The third plenary event included a panel discussion ‘Regions at the Crossroads: Transregional Forced Migration’ chaired by Susan Martin, with presentations by Mark Schlakman, Aicha Belarbi, Jeffrey Crisp and Ahmet Icduygu and Susan Kneebone.

• Podcast
• Subscribe via iTunes

The research guide on Iraq has been updated to reflect rising levels of displacement and other recent developments. Since 2003, UNHCR estimates that at least 2 million Iraqis have left Iraq and a further 1 million have been displaced inside the country. One in eight Iraqis has been forcibly uprooted, and according to UNHCR estimates, some 40,000 to 60,000 are leaving their homes on a monthly basis. There are an estimated 1.4 million Iraqis seeking refuge in Syria and a further 750,000 in Jordan. See also the resource summary which highlights a selection of web-based resources that focus on Iraq.

UPDATE: Also worth noting, the NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq have published a series of 6 briefing papers summarizing current issues, trends and lessons learned facing operational humanitarian organisations in Iraq. The papers address the following areas:

1. Adapting to Insecurity in Iraq
2. Operational Modalities
3. Personnel Management
4. Interactions Between Aid and Conflict
5. Humanitarian – Military Interactions
6. Perceptions of Humanitarianism

• Iraq Research Guide

Whilst FMO is continuing to expand it’s video section, YouTube is undoubtedly the most popular repository of videos on the Internet (accounting for more than 60% of all videos watched online in the US). Although it might be written off by some as only having entertainment value, there are in fact many individuals and organisations who are using YouTube (and other video sharing services) to broadcast their message to the world. Searching the YouTube website can often uncover films about forced migration, not only from FMO, but key organisations such as UNHCR (FMO is not responsible for the content of external web sites).

• UNHCR Videos (YouTube)

Learning as a refuge (UNHCR)

Lost Nation: Stories from the Uyghur diaspora (FMO)

A special issue of Forced Migration Review: Iraq’s displacement crisis: the search for solutions is now in the digital library (FMR is one of five journals available).

The countries of the Middle East are now host to the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world. Violence has displaced two million inside Iraq and over two million have crossed its borders. Most refugees are in Syria and Jordan – which host the largest number of refugees per capita of any country on earth. The vast majority are surviving with little or no assistance from the international community. Few, if any, enjoy their rights as refugees.

This special issue of FMR presents 26 articles from governments, UN agencies and civil society examining the extent of the displacement crisis and the search for solutions. The Editors have worked in close consultation with UNHCR’s Iraq Unit and are grateful for funding support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation, the International Organization for Migration, Islamic Relief Worldwide and the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement.

• Iraq’s displacement crisis: the search for solutions