bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Humanitarian and Conflict Oriented Early Warning:
A Historical Background Sketch
Authors: Adelman Howard
Published: June 2020

This article provides a brief and informative
overview of the overall development
of early warning over past
years. It also includes references to the
author's own involvement in the field as
Director of the Centre for Refugee Studies
and, later, Director of the Prevention/
Early Warning Unit.
The Burundi and Great Lakes Project of the Center for Preventive Action, Council on Foreign Relations: An Example of NGO Cooperation
Authors: Rubin Barnett R. , Hara Fabienne
Published: June 2020

This paper discusses the Project on the Great Lakes region of Central Africa of the Centerfor Preventive Action of the Council on Foreign Relations. It focuses more specifically on an evaluation of the Great Lakes Policy Forum, which was established in January 1995 and coordinates conflict prevention activities in the Great Lakes region of US-based organizations.
Sardar Sarovar Dam: A Case Study of Development-induced Environmental Displacement
Authors: Flood Laurie Uytterlinde
Published: June 2020

This article discusses how the Sardar
Sarovar dam in lndia is a case of a development
project which causes environmental
displacement on a massive scale.
This occurs through evictions and indirectly
through the impairment of livelihoods
by environmental changes. The
problems of resettlement and rehabilitation
are emphasized in the article as are
further displacement efects due to this
process. The inequality between development
beneficiaries and those who
must bear the majority of the development
costs is also addressed.
The Ethics of Development-induced Displacement
Authors: Penz Peter
Published: June 2020

This concluding piece on the ethics of
development-induced displacement
notes how all of the preceding articles
find the displacement of people by development
policies and projects morally
objectionable and that it should be prevented.
The question of why it is morally
objectionable, how states attempt to
justify it nevertheless, and how acceptable
such justifications are, is addressed
in some detail. This is a discussion that
falls into the terrain of the new field of
development ethics. Development's
promise to reduce poverty and inequality
have been used to justify large
projects and disruptive policies. In assessing
these justifications, three lines
of ethical argument are explored, one in
terms of the public interest, a second in
terms of self-determination, and third
in terms of distributive justice. The conclusion
is that, while forced migration
cannot be categorically declared unjustifiable,
the conditions that must be met
for its justifiability are considerable.
Trauma, Development, Dispossession: "Telling the Story" of Refugees
and Suffering in Somali Ethiopia
Authors: Zarowsky Christina
Published: June 2020

Ethnographic research about "the refugee
experience" of Somalis in eastern
Ethiopia is discussed, focusing on interactions
of returnees with relief and development
agencies, the story of one
community, and a discussion of some
Somali emotion words. Exclusively
psychological or psychiatric approaches
to working with refugees may not provide a satisfactory
point of access to displacement-
related distress among
Somali refugees. Highly individualizing
models of suffering, focusing on
psychological distress, are of only limited
salience to populations of Somali
refugees and returnees in the Horn of
Africa-politics, poverty, and perceived
collective injustice must be addressed
in conjunction with any
exploration of emotional distress and
personal suffering.
Creating a Space for Peace-making: Burundi and Beyond
Authors: Wichert Tim
Published: June 2020

Mennonites and Quakers have historically
renounced the use of violence for
resolving conflicts. From 1994 to 1997
the Mennonite Central Committee
(MCC) ran a program of civilian peacemaking
in Burundi at the request of local
Quakers. Their goals were modest,
hoping that international volunteers
could assist in reducing the level of violence
and creating space for positive
things to happen. Lessons learned were
discussed at a seminar hosted by the
Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva
in May 1997.
Migration and the Transformation of Work Processes:
Voices of Chinese Immigrant Women in Canada
Authors: Man Guida
Published: June 2020

Using feminist conceptual framework
and methodology, this study examines
the experience of thirty Chinese immigrant
women in Canada. It
demonstrates how their subjective
experiences are articulated to the
larger social, economic, and political
relations in the form of institutional
and organizational processes. In
particular, it investigates how the differences in the social organization of
paid work and household work in
Canada vis-à-vis their home country
have tremendous impact on them,
transforming their everyday lives.
Social Mood and Ethnic Tension: The Case of the Former USSR
Authors: Kharchenko Sergei
Published: June 2020

The author analyzes the phenomenon of
social mood and its impact on the intensification
of ethnic tensions. According to
him, the mobility and the variability of the
social mood can be expressed through the
display of its intensity, which is especially
pronounced in the deepest shifts occurring
in the bosom of ethnic self-consciousness
during the times of social turmoil. The
article makes it evident that many
international and interethnic tragedies
could be avoided, if the authorities reacted
to the fluctuations of social mood of the
people on time. The sociological studies'
of ethnic conflicts and tensions on the
territory of the former USSR after its
disintegration serve as an illustration
material for his theory.
Accounting for Crimes: The Role of International
Criminal Tribunals in Effectively Addressing Impunity
Authors: Almeida Iris
Published: June 2020

In this paper, the author examines the
ways in which accountability for international
crimes could become a practical
reality. She takes the position that "impunity"
is inimical both to justice, and to
lasting peace and democracy in post-conflict
societies and proposes a conceptual
framework for the international rule of
law as an alternative. She also argues that
a strong, independent and permanent
International Criminal Court (ICC)
would ensure the kind of universal enforcement
of international law that will
lead to a progressive, long-term reduction
of human rights violations.
Analyse linguistique du droit applicable aux demandeurs d'asile:
l'exemple de Mariama
Authors: Triboulet Anne
Published: June 2020

Through a comparative study of two
court decisions, this article presents a linguistic
analysis of the applicable rules to
asylum applicants in France. First, the
author underlines the importance of the
literary style in the drafting of decisions
on the merits. Second, she analyzes the
"language of the law" to show how the
structure of legal thought sometimes differs from formal logic and
common sense,
thus justifying legal decisions taken with
regard to asylum applicants that could
not be rationally justified.
Issues of Power and Empowerment in Refugee Studies:
Rwandan Women's Adaptive Behaviour at Benaco Refugee Camp
Authors: Benjamin Judy A.
Published: June 2020

This paper addresses human rights violations
in the context of gender power
relationships and calls attention to the
need to examine the standards for human
rights assessments in the context of refugee
situations. This research is based on
fieldwork carried out with Rwandan
Hutu refugees during an 18-month assignment
as Project Director for CARE
International in Ngara, Tanzania. Participant
observations, interviews, surveys,
and focus group discussions
yielded a wealth of data concerning the
coping strategies of men and women.
Women's coping strategies made them
vulnerable: women without partners were
the least protected and took the greatest
risks in their efforts to survive and feed
their children. Their adaptive behaviour
increased their risks of rape, sexual abuse,
and exposure to HIV and other sexually
transmitted diseases. These serious problems
were overshadowed by the chaotic
business of running a refugee camp. In
the rush to accommodate the influx of
hundreds of thousands of refugees, the
non-governmental organizations and
UN agencies established a relief infrastructure
that -- perversely -- gave the
perpetrators of crimes, positions of power
within the camp, which enabled the gender
violations to persist.
International Refugee Law: Misconceiving Reconceptions
Authors: Rice Jim
Published: June 2020

This paper addresses the implications
and adequacy of the "Hathaway model"
for grounding refugee immigration
policy. The Hathaway model envisions
and may be suitable for cases of mass
migration such as the recent tragedy in
the Great Lakes region of Central Africa
or the response to the "ethnic cleansing,"
which took place in the former Yugoslavia,
large-scale crisis situations calling
for immediate solutions. The author argues
that for other more individualized
types of refugee situations, there is a need
to distinguish between the categories of
"asylum seeker" and "refugee" when
implementing policy in order to make a
better effort to screen and adequately protect
those individuals who make asylum
claims.
The Internet and the Debasement of Women in Ghana
Authors: Akurang-Parry Kwabena Opare
Published: June 2020

In the spring of 1998, a radio station in
Ghana announced that sixteen Ghanaian
women had appeared in the nude on the
Internet. Widely discussed in the Ghanaian
media, the public reaction to this
event seemed to be largely one of shock
and moral outrage. The article addresses
both the responses to and possible causes
of this phenomenon, drawing attention
to the role of foreign influence and harsh
economic conditions in Ghana. The patriarchal
nature of the national debate is
questioned, raising an alternative perspectiveo n
the reality currently faced by
Ghanaian women.
Refugees, Humanitarian Emergencies, and the Politicization of Life
Authors: Nyers Peter
Published: June 2020

The concept of "humanitarian emergency"
has come to be largely synonymous
with contemporary refugee
situations. The purpose of this paper is to
critically explore the connections between
the categorization of refugees as an "emergency"
situation and the way in which
"humanitarianism" has come to constitute a
hegemonic discourse in which academics,
policy-makers, international
organizations, and refugee advocates
must formulate their arguments and actions.
Humanitarianism is often portrayed
as posing a challenge to the codes
and practices of state sovereignty because
it is a form of action which is purportedly
motivated by a sense of obligation and
responsibility to "humanity" that goes
beyond the responsibility one feels for
fellow citizens. This paper analyzes a series
of recent UNHCR representations of
refugees to suggest that humanitarianism
must instead be understood as an inherently political
concept. Drawing upon
the writings Giorgio Agamben, this paper
demonstrates how humanitarianism
is always already (bio)political to the
extent that it relies on a conception of
"bare human life" which is consistent
with the practices of state sovereignty.
From this perspective, framing the refugee phenomenon as a "humanitarian
emergency" works to sustain constitutive
practices which stabilize and reproduce
statist resolutions to questions of political
identity, community, and world order.
Epilogue
The Scandal of the Refugee: Some peflections on the "Inter" of
International Relations
Authors: Dillon Michael
Published: June 2020

The refugee is a scandal for philosophy in
that the refugee recalls the radical instability of meaning and
the incalculability of the human. The refugee is a scandal for
politics also, however, in that the advent
of the refugee is always a reproach to the
formation of the political order subjectivity
which necessarily gives rise to the
refugee. The scandal is intensified for any politics of identity which presupposes
that the goal of politics is the realization
of sovereign identity. The principal argument,
then, is that what I will call the scandal of the refugee illuminates both the fundamental ontological determinations
of international politics and
the character of political action, because
the refugee is both a function of the intentional
political destruction of the ontological
horizons of people's always
already heterogeneous worlds, and
effects an equally fundamental deconstruction
of the ontological horizons
which constitute the equally heterogeneous
worlds into which, as refugees, these
people are precipitated. It is precisely on
this concrete and corporeal site that both
the ontological horizons and the allied
political decision-making of modern
politics are thrown into stark relief and
profoundly called into question. For it is
precisely here that the very actions of
modern politics both create and address
the incidence of its own massive and self-generated, political abjection. If that is
one of the principal ends of international
relations, one is forced to ask, what does
it take as its beginning? If, in other words,
the vernacular political architecture of
modern international power commonly
produces 1:115 forcibly displaced people
globally, one is inclined to ask about
the foundations upon which that architecture
is itself based.
New Directions-a Ministerial Review in Review
Authors: Lanphier Michael
Published: June 2020

The Ministerial review, "Building on a
Strong Foundation for the 21st Century:
New Directions" attempts to solidify
certain recommendations from the
December 1997 "Not Just Numbers" report
of the Legislative Review Advisory
Group. The present review does not
qualify as a "white paper" as its guidelines
are suggestive and incomplete,
rather than being convertible into an integrated
set of legislative proposals in a
parliamentary bill. Its guidelines stress
the need for greater and more transparent
accountability of immigration regulations
and administration. This emphasis
is evident both for immigration and refu-
gee policy, the latter to be distinguished
by creation of a special Protection
Agency. Protection, a term undefined in
the document, is twinned with control of
abuse as administrative preoccupations.
Overall, the guidelines stress administrative vigilance over humanitarian objectives
to which Canada is committed as signatory to many international instruments.
Globalization, Immigration, and the Gender Implications of l Not Just Numbers in Canada
Authors: Hyndman Jennifer
Published: June 2020

The immigration of refugees in Canada
has always been gendered. Today, the
majority of refugees to this country continue
to be male, while family class immigrants
are more often female. Social
integration and labour market articipation
upon arrival also vary tremendously
by gender, among other factors. The recent
Legislative Review, entitled Not
Just Numbers, has important gender
implications for future immigration to
Canada. The author argues that the proposals
outlined promote economic self sufficiency
and global competitiveness
as the basis for future immigration, refugees
being the sole exception. The Review
is analyzed in relation to Saskia Sassen's
work on globalization, immigration, and
the "new geography of power." The
gendered implications of the Review's
proposals are discussed with specific reference
to refugees, domestic caregivers,
and family class immigrants.
Early Warning and "Ethnie" Confliet Management:
Rwanda and Kosovo
Authors: Adelman Howard
Published: June 2020

The author examines the way in which
past conflicts shape the responses to current
crises. In examining the facts of the
Rwandan case compared with what is
known of the Kosovo crisis, he identifies
a number of similarities shared in both
contexts. However, these first order similarities
prove to be outweighed by the
differences in the capacity for control
possessed by Milosevic, the ethnic and
demographic composition of the communities
in the conflict, and military capabilities.
Importantly, levels of public
support for action were higher in the case
of Kosovo, as were the steps taken by the
international community in the leadup
to the bombing.
A Short Note about "Humanitarian War"
Authors: O'Hagan Liam
Published: June 2020

The justification of NATO actions in
Kosovo in "humanitarian" terms leads
us to examine what exactly is meant by
this concept, whose definition is not exactly
clear. Indeed, the term suggests
something different when used by "humanitarian
organizations" such as the
ICRC, than when used by state actors.
This is not to say that the actions of
NATO in Kosovo, which may be better
understood in conventional human
rights terms, are necessarily invalid.
Rather, it is to draw attention to the differing interpretations
of the concept, the
consequences of which are significant for
aIl involved.
Positive and Negative Identity Satisfiers in the Kosovo Cont1ict
Authors: Perry Valery
Published: June 2020

In this article, the author examines the
importance of identity as a sustaining
factor in the continuing Kosovo confIict.
Basic aspects of identity-based conflicts
are reviewed, followed by a discussion
about positive and negative identity
satisfiers. A matrix comparing the identity needs of the Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo is presented, together with the current negative identity satisfiers that are sustaining the conflict, and a set of potential positive identity satisfiers that could help to resolve the conflict in the long-term. This review of the manifestations of unfulfilled identity needs
reveals that the disputants share many similar
concerns. This commonality is rarely
mentioned in the literature on Kosovo,
yet could serve as an important starting
point for strategies of reconciliation. A
regional peacebuilding plan that appreciates the importance of identity issues as conflict sources, possibly modelled after The Pact on Stability in Europe and other multinational stability-building efforts, is proposed, as are a set of potential regional efforts that are necessary if conflict
resolution in Kosovo is to succeed.
Kosovar Refugees and National Security
Authors: Stivachtis Yannis A.
Published: June 2020

Almost one million people have been
forced to leave Kosovo in search of a safe
place for settlement. Although it has not
been explicitly stated, the main reason that
the Balkan states, as well as those of the
Western world, are reluctant to receive
them as refugees is that they believe that
this would jeopardize their security. Some
justify this reluctance as another assertion
of the "Fortress Europe" ideal.
Approaching the subject from a comprehensive
security perspective, this article
aims to explain how and why the Kosovar
refugees may threaten, or may be perceived
to threaten, the national security of
the receiving states as well as regional and
international stability. In so doing, it
discusses some methodological problems
concerning the definition of security; it
relates refugee migration to the various
levels of security analysis; and it examines
the impact of refugee activities with
reference to the various security sectors.
So Many Refusals: Northern/Southern Perspectives
on Current Issues of Refugee Protection
Authors: Bossin Michael
Published: June 2020

This paper provides a general overview
of the global situation regarding
refugees. Specifically, the paper focuses
on current trends affecting refugees,
and the responses of the
developed and developing worlds to
those issues. Restrictive measures in
the north, designed to limit the numbers
of asylum seekers in developed
countries, correspond with a decrease
in security for refugees in the
south. It is suggested that there are
clear linkages between the two situations.
Continuous Quality Improvement Applied to
Outpatient Health Care Delivery in Displaced Persons Camps
Authors: Spiegel, Paul B. , Lynch Ellen , Patel Narendra M.
Published: June 2020

Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)
has been shown to be a highly effective
approach for the evaluation and management of hospitals
in developed countries,
but it has barely begun to be utilised in
less developed countries. This article
defines the principles and the main tools
of CQI and then applies them to the postemergency
phase of a displaed persons
camp situation, specifically towards improving
the utilisation and the quality of
care in an out patient department.
Kosovar Refugee Assessments in Montenegro and A1bania
Authors: Brown Vincent , Perea William , Godain, Graziella , Dachy, Eric , Valenciano Marta
Published: June 2020

Following NATO bombings on the 24th of
March 1999, Serbian armed forces provoked a massive
population exodus of ethnic
Albanians living in Kosovo, an
autonomous province of Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia. In June 1999, UNHCR
reparted that 600,000 Kosovars had found
refuge in neighbouring countries. ln order
to assess the situation of Kosovar refugees,
two surveys were carried out in Rozaje,
Republic of Montenegro, and in Kukes,
Albania, in April 1999. The main goal was
to assess human rights violations. This
paper describes the results of these surveys.
Creating a Partnership Conducive Environment:
A Collaborative Approach To Service Delivery
Authors: Spigelblatt Lucila
Published: June 2020

This article explores from a practitioner's
point of view, some of the challenges
and learning opportunities that occur
when organizations partner-up to meet
the needs of refugees. This article also
highlights the factors that have contributed to the success of a seven-year "service
partnership." The author proposes
that the process to establish the partnership
is as important as the actual service
delivery. The commitment and investment
of time and resources are essential
requirements for the sustainability of a
collaborational approach to providing
services for refugees.
Canadian Refugee Services:
The Challenges of Network Operations
Authors: Cooper Phillip J.
Published: June 2020

The context within which refugee service
providers work shapes and constrains
their efforts. Those legal, political, fiscal,
and managerial influences in the Canadian
context have tended to force the creation
of refugee service networks. This
article considers some of the factors that
have brought about this network approach
to refugee service delivery, but,
most importantly, it seeks to understand
what the implications of that development
are for service providers and the
communities they serve. This article argues
that service networks can be effective
and eficient in meeting refugee needs,
but it is essential to be aware of the special
challenges posed by network management.
Those challenges not only concern
how service providers work together and
deal with refugees and other immigrants,
but also alert them to the impact they can
have inside refugee service NGOs.
The Community Youth Outreach Programme
In Delta, British Columbia, Canada:
"The Personal Touch That Works"
Authors: Chan Sherman , Thind Hardeep , Lim Lesley
Published: June 2020

With Canada's strong multicultural
policy, immigrants are encouraged to
maintain their cultural values and expectations
while adjusting to a new country.
This in mind, the Surrey Delta Immigrant
Services Society partnered with the
British Columbia Ministry Responsible
for Multiculturalism and Immigration,
British Columbia Ministry for Children
and Families, and the Delta School District
to develop a programme which assists
new immigrant youth, their families
and their community. It provides an innovative
approach to assist with language and
cultural interpretation as well
as school based initiatives for all parties
involved. Thus, this paper is a description
of the Community Youth Outreach
Programme in Delta, British Columbia
and a discussion of the key features that address the needs of immigrant and refugee
students and their families while affirming
their culture and linguistic
background in a demographically dynamic
area.
Religious Persecution and Mass Displacements
Authors: Moreno Pedro C.
Published: June 2020

Mass displacements due to religious persecution
continue in several countries around the world. This
article, while detailing instances of mass
displacements due to religious persecution,
emphasizes that religion is often one factor and not
necessarily "the" factor in these conflicts. Listed are
cases which include Iran, where the "Iranian
Diaspora" is estimated at 4 million people in 1999. Of
these, 408,000
emigrated or were displaced because of
religious persecution. In Egypt, though there are still
about 6 million Coptic Christians their numbers are
constantly decreasing. Other instances include
southern Mexico, where in the last 30 years over
25,000 Chamula Indians, who had become
Evangelicals, were expelled from their homes and
lands by local "caciques" or informal rulers. What will
it take to stop mass displacements due to religious
persecution? When will we learn to respect each
other and live together, in spite of our differences?
These questions still remain unanswered.
Refugees with Disabilities: A Human Rights Perspective
Authors: Anani Lina
Published: June 2020

This paper will provide a preliminary
survey of the evolution and positioning
of disability rights as human rights and
the discrepancy between Canadian resettlement
policies with regard to refugees
and Canada's rhetoric with regard
to persons with disabilities. Some of the
activities of the disability rights movements
are outlined and significant
achievements at the international level
through the United Nations are examined.
Similar to the women's human
rights movement, disability rights are
also emerging from the margins towards
the mainstream of human rights
discourse. Canada's legislation and
policies towards persons with disabilities
have mirrored these developments
in providing protection. However, for
refugees with disabilities the benefits
seem minimal. In fact, while proclaiming the rhetoric
of disability rights to its
own citizens, Canada has implemented
policies which are discriminatory towards
refugees with disabilities. Canada's
overseas resettlement selection
criteria is at odds with its domestic and
international positions regarding the
human rights of persons with disabilities.
“It Is Better to Be a Refugee Than a Turkana in Kakuma”: Revisiting the Relationship between Hosts and Refugees in Kenya
Authors: Aukot Ekuru
Published: June 2020

The article echoes stories and perceptions of the hosts to the refugees in their day-to-day relations in Kakuma refugee camp with little emphasis on academic abstraction of refugee protection contained in international instruments but rather on the realities on the ground. It is argued that good refugee-host relations enhance refugees’ enjoyment of their rights under the international conventions and promote local integration. The article discusses areas of conflict between refugees and their hosts and how these factors endanger refugees’ physical protection, and it echoes the hosts’ solutions to the conflicts. The failure of local integration is attributed to poor refugee-host relations. Consequently, it is argued that even the enactment of refugee specific legislation “that would give force” to the international conventions will not necessarily improve refugees’ enjoyment of their rights as long as, through a practice of selective compassion by humanitarian agencies and international refugee law, refugees are targeted for assistance without regard to the negative impact on the local economy and its residents.
Canada's Refugee Status Determination System and the International Norm of Independence
Authors: Heckman Gerald P.
Published: June 2020

Refugee protection decisions engage migrants’ fundamental life, liberty, and security of the person interests. As a result, refugee protection claimants enjoy institutional and procedural rights under conventional international law. These include the right to a fair adjudication of their protection claims by an independent tribunal. To be independent, a tribunal must meet the formal guarantees of security of tenure, financial security, and administrative independence and must actually be independent, in appearance and practice, from the executive and legislature, particularly in the appointments process. Refugee protection decisions must be made by first instance adjudicative bodies that either fully comply with the requirements of tribunal independence or whose decisions are subject to subsequent review by a tribunal that meets these requirements and has sufficient jurisdiction over the merits of the dispute. The Canadian refugee protection system fails, in certain respects, to meet international standards of independence. The Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board’s Refugee Protection Division enjoys statutory, objective badges of independence and appears to operate independently of the executive. However, the independence of Canadian officials engaged in eligibility determinations and in pre-removal risk assessments is very much in question because they have a closer relationship to executive law enforcement functions.
Thamotharem and Guideline 7 of the IRB: Rethinking the Scope of the Fettering of Discretion Doctrine
Authors: Houle France
Published: June 2020

The author examines Guideline 7 – Concerning Preparation and Conduct of a Hearing in the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board. She critiques the use of the fettering of discretion doctrine when it is applied to procedural guidelines. She argues that it is based on a false ontology about the nature of rules and guidelines. She also critiques the use of the fettering of independence doctrine when applied to procedural guidelines aimed at enhancing the expediency, rather than consistency, of decision making. Her main argument is that Guideline 7 does not impede, per se, the ability of RPD members to decide according to their own conscience and opinion.
The Many Faces of "Prima Facie"
Authors: Durieux Jean-François
Published: June 2020

The majority of the world’s refugees have secured a legal status without resort to an individual examination of their claims. The practice of “group” determination, particularly in Africa, is interesting in several aspects, not least in that it allows a real-time assessment of a need for international protection. While these positive aspects should not be lost as many jurisdictions in the developing world are equipping themselves with individual asylum procedures, it is equally important to clarify, and hopefully to harmonize, the procedural and evidentiary standards applicable to group determination. How presumptions operate—including their rebuttal or removal—is a question worth examining, and not only with regard to refugee status determination (RSD) in mass influx situations. Legal presumptions and other evidentiary shortcuts have also been introduced into individual RSD procedures in industrialized states. These include mechanisms that are highly problematic from a protection point of view, such as the “safe country of origin” presumption of a “manifestly unfounded” claim. However, administrative bodies and courts have also, from time to time, used some form of prima facie admission of evidence in order to lighten the burden of asylum applicants, while speeding up the RSD process. Furthermore, this article argues that extralegal presumptions, based on implicit value judgments about national or subnational groups, almost invariably colour the interviewing and decision-making processes in individual cases. Th is finding makes it all the more necessary : to (i) to re-assess the signifi cance of “risk-group affi liation” as an element of the refugee defi nition; and (ii) formally recognize the role of evidentiary shortcuts in RSD, and recommend appropriate standards for their operation.
Explaining Inequality in the Implemtation of Asylum Law
Authors: Mascini Peter
Published: June 2020

The goal of this research was to identify factors that account for procedural and substantive inequality in implementing asylum law. The decisions of ninety-eight caseworkers of the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service on an asylum application were related to their answers on a questionnaire. Caseworkers differ in the extent of available information on an asylum application they take for granted and in their final decisions on it. These differences result from work pressure, the caseworkers’ reputation, their role definition, political opinion, and professional background, and policy. Intensifying feedback and decreasing work pressure can achieve more consistent and careful decisions.
Legacies and Origins of the 1980s US-Central American Sanctuary Movement
Authors: Perla Hector , Coutin Susan Bibler
Published: June 2020

This article re-examines the US–Central American sanctu­ary movement of the 1980s.Our re-examination is motiv­ated by two factors.First, with the passage of time it is pos­sible to discern the movement’s origins in ways that could not be fully articulated while it was ongoing.We are able to show how certain relationships between the movement’s North and Central American activists were celebrated, while others were obscured due to fear for Salvadoran immigrant activists’ safety and concern about inadver­tently undermining the movement’s legitimacy.Specifically, we draw attention to the movement’s transnational nature, noting that what made it so powerful was its origin as part of a broader effort by Salvadoran revolutionaries to mobil­ize North American society to oppose US support for the Salvadoran government.Ironically, to achieve this objective Salvadoran immigrant activists had to stay quiet, become invisible, and abstain from taking certain leadership roles, while embracing identities that may have implied weak­ness or passivity, such as “refugee” or “victim.” Second, the US–Central American sanctuary movement provides powerful insight into future understandings of sanctuary as a concept and practice.The movement’s legacies extend beyond participants’ stated goals, while the movement’s transnational political and organizational focus differenti­ates it from current sanctuary practices.Thus, re-examin­ing its origins and legacies suggests that apparent similar­ities in the form of sanctuary incidents may hide underlying differences and that current sanctuary practices may also eventually have unanticipated consequences.
Refuge in Europe? Church Asylum as Human Rights Work in Fortress Europe
Authors: Mittermaier Verena
Published: June 2020

Refuge in Europe
Forced Migrants in Serbia: Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons - Facts and Figures, Coping Strategies, Future
Authors: Bobic Mirjana
Published: June 2020

The paper deals with refugees and internally displaced per­sons (IDPs). Considering their numbers, Serbia is the first in Europe and fourteenth on the globe.Their destiny is not only a tragic epilogue to the political dissolution of the for­mer Yugoslavia, but also to the breakdown of the common dream of “Yugoslav” nationality (which was meant to be a “melting pot” of various nations, ethnic groups, and reli­gions). Unfortunately, due to the specific strategy of nation-state building based on ethnic cleansing, refugees were one of the direct objectives of civil wars taking place in the 1990s. At the same time, massive floods of IDPs were insti­gated by the bombing campaign of Kosovo and Metohija conducted by the NATO alliance in 1999.

Having come to Serbia, the majority of both refugees and IDPs who are ethnic Serbs have attained all the fea­tures of minority groups. The reasons for their social exclu­sion must be discussed in terms of their exceptionally low social position, high levels of unemployment and poverty, and lack of social inclusion. Moreover, it must be taken into account that contemporary Serbia faced many unresolved political challenges, delayed accession to the EU, secession of Kosovo and Metohija in 2008, hardships in establishing a market economy and liberal democracy since 2000, and economic deprivation, all of which were accompanied by poor social services.

Serbian authorities adopted four major action plans targeted at forced migrants. However, the main challenges to their applicability stem from lack of institutional capacities, ineffective implemen­tation of development strategies, and limited resources.
L'immigration irreguliere et le trafic des migrants comme ultime recours pour atteindre le Canada: L'experience migratoire des demandeurs d'asile
Authors: Jimenez Estibaliz
Published: June 2020

L’objectif général de cette étude est de comprendre l’expérience migratoire des demandeurs d’asile qui arrivent de façon irrégulière au Canada, notamment à l’aide de passeurs.Le phénomène de l’immigration irrégulière au Canada est analysé au moyen des expériences concrètes de migrants et d’informateurs-clés.Cette méthodologie permet de donner la parole aux migrants au sujet de leur vécu.Les résultats indiquent que l’immigration irrégulière et le recours aux services de trafiquants sont l’effet pervers du resserrement des frontières et du renforcement du contrôle migratoire, car elles deviennent les seules solutions pour les demandeurs d’asile.Cette recherche remet en question l’idée généralisée que les passeurs victimisent et exploitent systématiquement les migrants, en avançant qu’au contraire, les passeurs sont souvent ceux qui permettent aux migrants d’atteindre le Canada et de demander le statut de réfugié.
Wither International Law? Security Certificates, the Supreme Court, and the Rights of Non-Citizens in Canada
Authors: Hudson Graham
Published: June 2020

In this paper, the author examines the role of international law on the development of Canada’s security certificate regime. On the one hand, international law has had a perceptible impact on judicial reasoning, contributing to judges’ increased willingness to recognize the rights of non-citizens named in certificates and to envision better ways of balancing national security and human rights. On the other hand, the judiciary’s attitudes towards international law as non-binding sources of insight akin to foreign law has reinforced disparities in levels of rights afforded by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and those afforded by international human rights. Viewed skeptically, one might argue that the judiciary’s selective result-oriented use of international law and foreign law helped it spread a veneer of legality over an otherwise unaltered and discriminatory certificate regime. Reviewing Charkaoui I and II in international context, the author suggests an alternative account. He suggests that the judiciary’s use of international law and foreign law, although highly ambiguous and ambivalent, both was principled and has progressively brought named persons’ Charter rights more closely in step with their international human rights. Although the current balance between national security and human rights is imperfect, the way in which aspects of Canada’s certificate regime have been improved suggests that international law is a valuable resource for protecting the rights of non-citizens in Canada.
Editorial: Why No Borders?
Authors: Anderson Bridget , Sharma Nandita , Wright Cynthia
Published: June 2020

This editorial article argues for No Borders as a practical political project. We first critically examine borders as ideological, generating and reinforcing inequality. We consider some responses to injustices produced by borders: the call for “human rights”; attempts to make immigration controls more “humanitarian”; and trade unions’ organizing and campaigning with undocumented workers. Recognizing the important contributions of some of these responses, we argue that nevertheless they have often been limited because they do not question sovereignty, the territorializing of people’s subjectivities, and nationalism. No Borders politics rejects notions of citizenship and statehood, and clarifies the centrality of borders to capitalism. We argue that No Borders is a necessary part of a global system of common rights and contemporary struggle for the commons. The article concludes by highlighting the main themes of the papers that make up the Special Issue, a number of which explore practical instances of the instantiation of No Borders politics.
Borders, Labour Impacts, and Union Responses: Case of Spain
Authors: Stobart Luke
Published: June 2020

Spain is an acute example of severe yet permissive border control where institutional frameworks ensure that migrant labour inexpensively fills existing labour shortages and highly exploitative “niches,” while aiding a broader flexibilization strategy. Through a review of mainly Spanish research by trade union, industrial relations, and immigration specialists on three major migrant employment sectors, the article shows that impacts on employment and wage levels have been limited, despite claims to the contrary, although they have been deeper in those employment sectors with reduced legal protection and union organization. It concludes that while the Spanish case gives support to the No Borders position, it also exposes the need for greater engagement with migrant workers by the trade unions and rejects the major Spanish union federations’ recent advocacy of “controlled immigration.”
Whose “No Borders”? Achieving Border Liberalization for the Right Reasons
Authors: Gill Nick
Published: June 2020

Free population movement promises greater human liberties and improved economic performance. Inevitably, however, there are critics. Most vocally, the conservative Right points towards the erosion of Western welfare systems, the large migratory movements that a No Borders policy may precipitate, and the lowering of living standards in rich countries to approximate those in poor countries. This paper argues that, although the claims of the Right are often exaggerated, these objections have served to paste over important differences between advocates of No Borders, producing some unlikely bedfellows in opposition to conservative arguments. In particular, an uncomfortable conflation between liberal and Left-wing ideology has emerged as a result of the specific discursive strategy of Right-wing commentators to obfuscate distinctions between these ideological stances. After outlining the arguments of the Right for context, this paper responds to this conflation by distancing a Left-wing No Borders position from a free-market liberal No Borders position. It does this by using Left-wing arguments to criticize liberal No Borders ideology, and concludes by suggesting some key features of a Left-wing No Borders position.
“I Have a Voice—Hear Me!” Findings of an Australian Study Examining the Resettlement and Integration Experience of Refugees and Migrants from the Horn of Africa in Australia
Authors: Pittaway Eileen , Muli Chrisanta , Shteir Sarah
Published: June 2020

Using the lens of “integration criteria” developed by Ager and Strang, this article presents the findings of a project documenting the resettlement and integration experiences of refugees and migrants from the Horn of Africa (HoA) in Australia. While refugees have enormous potential to integrate successfully, and many do, there are obstacles which persist. These include: trauma; separation of family members; lack of adequate on-arrival information and support; difficulties with language acquisition; lack of access to appropriate and affordable housing; lack of education support; discrimination in the work force; conflict within families; racism; and violence against women.
Domestic Violence and Gender-Based Persecution: How Refugee Adjudicators Judge Women Seeking Refuge from Spousal Violence—and Why Reform Is Needed
Authors: MacIntosh Constance
Published: June 2020

This report is an effort to address information gaps regarding how gendered claims are addressed by adjudicators at Canada’s Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (the RPD). It looks at one specific type of gendered claim: persecution through domestic or intimate violence. The study considers all the RPD decisions from 2004 to 2009 and judicial reviews from 2005 to 2009 that were reported in the Quicklaw LexisNexis service. These decisions are analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. This report finds adjudicators consistently identify domestic violence as a form of gendered persecution that can form a nexus to a convention ground. However, despite contrary directions from the Gender Guidelines, adjudicators often fail to recognize the social, cultural, economic, and psychological dynamics of domestic abuse as legally relevant for their assessment of state protection. There is a striking failure on this account when it comes to determining if it was reasonable to expect the claimant to seek state protection. This report presents data on factors such as the rates at which adjudicators consider the adequacy of women’s shelters and the responsiveness of local police to complaints. As well as identifying the frequency and grounds for which judicial reviews are granted, this report also presents a series of recommendations for reform. These recommendations identify where studies are needed, how the Gender Guidelines need reform to make them a helpful instrument, and how training and support for PRD adjudicators needs to be enhanced.
Refugees Who Arrive by Boat and Canada’s Commitment to the Refugee Convention: A Discursive Analysis
Authors: Mann Alexandra
Published: June 2020

This paper offers a comparative analysis of official discourse surrounding three incidents of asylum seekers arriving in Canada by boat: the Komagata Maru in 1914; the Sri Lankans who arrived in Newfoundland on lifeboats in 1986; and the Ocean Lady in 2009. The objective is to assess Canada’s commitment to protecting refugees at these three points in history and evaluate academic contentions that the concept of the refugee is being eroded. The selected incidents trace the emergence and decline of the notion of the refugee in Canadian official discourse. Even during the peak of Canada’s commitment to refugees in the 1980s, the discourse reveals blurriness between the ideas of the “refugee” and the “illegal migrant.” However, the characterization of asylum seekers as “illegals” is more intense now than in the earlier periods. This shift in the discourse warrants attention as we face the prospect of what Audrey Macklin describes as the “discursive disappearance of the refugee.”
Investigating Integration: The Geographies of the WUSC Student Refugee Program at the University of British Columbia
Authors: Plasterer Robyn
Published: June 2020

This paper examines the geographies of resettlement and integration with respect to the Student Refugee Program(SRP) of the World University Service of Canada (WUSC).As Canada’s only program to link resettlement with post-secondary education, the SRP makes manifest intriguing geographies that intersect international, national, and local scales. Th is study carried out the first qualitative research of the WUSC SRP at the University of British Columbia (UBC). It draws from good settlement practices,refugees’ existing skill sets, and refugees’ perspectives to examine how refugee students’ human capital can best contribute to Canadian integration.
A “Great” Large Family: Understandings of Multiculturalism among Newcomers to Canada
Authors: Fries Christopher J. , Gingrich Paul
Published: June 2020

Analysts have taken positions either supporting or attacking multicultural policy, yet there is insufficient research concerning the public policy of multiculturalism as it is understood and practiced in the lives of Canadians. This analysis approaches multiculturalism as a text which is constituent of social relations within Canadian society. Data from the Regina Refugee Research Project are analyzed within Nancy Fraser’s social justice framework to explore the manner in which multiculturalism and associated policies are understood and enacted in the lived experience of newcomers. Newcomers’ accounts of multiculturalism are compared with five themes identified via textual analysis of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act—diversity, harmony, equality, overcoming barriers, and resource. Embedded within the accounts newcomers offered of Canadian multiculturalism are relations of ruling that can be understood within the context of struggles for recognition and social justice. Further research is needed to investigate the relational processes in which differing perceptions of and experiences with multiculturalism are embedded and to compare the present accounts with those of other groups of immigrants and Canadian-born.