Journal of Refugee Studies - current issue

Just War Theory and the 2003 Iraq War Forced Displacement

Banta, B. R. — 2008-08-22

The forced displacement in the wake of the 2003 US coalition invasion of Iraq is the largest in the Middle East since the 1948 Palestinian displacement at the inception of the State of Israel. It has had and is having dire effects upon Iraq and the region, with millions of IDPs resulting from and contributing to sectarian violence within Iraq, and Iraq's neighbours Syria and Jordan hosting the vast majority of refugees. Using the burgeoning third pillar of just war theory (JWT), jus post bellum, or just peace, this paper will examine what duties the US has toward the Iraqi displacement. In doing so, the paper will present overviews of US conduct in the war through the lens of JWT, as well as a discussion on the consequences of the forced displacement. From there, it will be possible to critique US action toward the displacement pursuant to jus post bellum criteria.

Back to Basics: The Conditions of Just Refugee Returns

Bradley, M. — 2008-08-22

This article argues that the questions of justice surrounding repatriation processes merit greater scholarly and political attention, and sketches a minimum account of the conditions of ‘just return’. This account is developed on the basis of an analysis of international legal principles, as well as moral arguments on rights, dignity and state responsibility. While there is no standard mould for just return, broadly speaking the goal of a just return process must be to put returnees back on equal footing with their non-displaced co-nationals by restoring a normal relationship of rights and duties between the state and its returning citizens. The conditions of just return match the core duties a legitimate state must provide for its citizens: equal, effective protection for their security and basic human rights, including accountability for any violations of these rights. This discussion underlines the importance of upholding the principle of refugee choice, and points to the central role of reparations in the just return process.

Making a Place in the Global City: The Relevance of Indicators of Integration

Phillimore, J., Goodson, L. — 2008-08-22

This paper builds upon major ongoing work into the experiences of new migrants seeking to construct new lives in the UK (Aldridge and Waddington 2002; Goodson and Phillimore 2005; Goodson et al. 2005; Phillimore et al. 2003; 2004; Phillimore and Goodson 2002; Robinson et al. 2003; Zetter et al. 2003) and focuses upon the experiences of refugees who have arrived in Birmingham since the early 1990s. The paper outlines the indicators of integration proposed by Ager and Strang (2004) for the United Kingdom's Home Office. It then uses data from household surveys, in-depth interviews and focus groups conducted in the West Midlands to explore how useful indicators might be in evaluating progress towards integration within new migrant communities. The paper specifically examines the efficacy of functional indicators, which in Ager and Strang's (2004) framework are represented as ‘means and markers’ and include employment, housing, education and health. It aims to consider the usefulness of these functional indicators as a measure of integration and the ways in which the indicators might be shaped to help policy makers work towards promoting integration in a multi-cultural global city such as Birmingham.

Let's Meet! Let's Exchange! LETS as an Instrument for Linking Asylum Seekers and the Host Community in the Netherlands

Smets, P., ten Kate, S. — 2008-08-22

Dutch asylum seeker centres tend to greatly restrict the opportunities for asylum seekers to develop their talents. One project, which seeks to overcome the isolation suffered by such refugees, is the Local Exchange System Circle Woudrichem (LCW). This exchange circle has brought asylum seekers in Woudrichem into contact with the local community. This article illustrates how the LCW has developed over the course of time and how local people and asylum seekers have come to meet each other through the exchange of goods and services. Furthermore, it examines the nature of the interethnic reciprocal trust relations and the motivations of the various kinds of participants. The gap between asylum seekers and local people was bridged by stimulating contact between them in a structured fashion. The exchange circle under discussion appears to be a ‘modern’ form of organization, which can generate bridging social capital in present-day western society.

Computational Tools in Predicting and Assessing Forced Migration

Edwards, S. — 2008-08-22

This paper highlights the potential use of computational models in predicting key spatial patterns of conflict-induced forced displacement. The complexity inherent in displacement is well demonstrated by counter-intuitive or ‘aberrant’ patterns of flight that are not easily explained by extant forced-displacement theory. In order to develop contingency models of flight to assist aid providers or policy makers, a need exists to capture this complexity using the leverage of computational models. There has been little systematic effort to apply advances in computational modelling to forced displacement, and this paper seeks to highlight the benefits, potential model designs, and likely limitations of this needed tool.

Treating Peace as Knowledge: UNHCR's Peace Education as a Controlling Process

Sagy, T. — 2008-08-22

This article reads the manual used by facilitators of the United Nation's High Commissioner for Refugees’ Community Peace Education Programme (PEP) to explore the controlling process of which this programme is a part. It argues that the manual encapsulates the many tensions and difficulties related to the protection of refugees’ safety in camps. It finds that PEP is not merely a peace education programme, but a reflection of both the problem of refugee protection and UNHCR's effort to contend with it by deflecting responsibility for security in camps to the refugees and making refugees accept their conditions by attributing conflicts both in the home country and in camps to their personal attitudes.

Refugee Business: Strategies of Work on the Thai-Burma Border

Brees, I. — 2008-08-22

Burmese refugees have been living in Thailand for over 20 years. Warehousing has not prevented them from seeking better livelihood opportunities, but the options are limited and illegal. Thai policy forbids refugee labour, and the last regularization of migrant workers dates from 2004. This formal legal framework is circumvented by inventive strategies of the refugees themselves, but also by Thai stakeholders such as the employers and local governments. There is an urgent need for advocacy on the benefits of refugee self-reliance and legal access to work. The Thai Government needs to review its stance regarding refugee labour to the benefit of both the refugees and the Thai host population. The political will to achieve this, combined with the current international aid flows and resettlement programmes, can make the refugees’ presence even less of a ‘burden’ for Thailand than is the case today.

The Jacquinot Safe Zone: Wartime Refugees in Shanghai. By Marcia R. Ristaino.

Durieux, J.-F. — 2008-08-22

Rejecting Refugees: Political Asylum in the 21st Century. By Carol Bohmer and Amy Shuman.

Weston, S. — 2008-08-22

International Refugee Law and Socio-Economic Rights: Refuge from Deprivation. By Michelle Foster.

Lomo, Z. A. — 2008-08-22

Uprooted and Unwanted: Bosnian Refugees in Austria and the United States. By Barbara Franz. * Bosnian Refugees in America: New Communities, New Cultures. By Reed Coughlan and Judith Owens-Manley.

Kent, G. — 2008-08-22

Culture in Chaos: An Anthropology of the Social Condition in War. By Stephen C. Lubkemann.

Kaiser, T. — 2008-08-22

Complex Emergencies. By David Keen.

Whitaker, B. E. — 2008-08-22

The Humanitarian Response Index 2007: Measuring Commitment to Best Practice. By Silvia Hidalgo and Augusto Lopez-Claros.

Donini, A. — 2008-08-22

Repatriation, Integration or Resettlement: The Dilemmas of Migration among Eritrean Refugees in Eastern Sudan. By Sadia Hassanen.

Bascom, J. — 2008-08-22

Borderscapes: Hidden Geographies and Politics at Territory's Edge. Edited by Prem Kumar Rajaram and Carl Grundy-Warr.

Addison, S. — 2008-08-22