The RRN Research Digest provides a synopsis of recent research on refugee and forced migration issues from entities associated with the RRN and others.
You can download the digest in PDF format here: RRN Research Digest No. 90
Recent Publications and New Research
Winders, J. (ed.) (June, 2020). Migrant Mobility, Aspirations, and Life Chances, International Migration Review, 54(2). This edition is thematically sorted into three sections. The first section has articles about migrant mobility, aspirations and life chances. The second section discusses racism, discrimination and social status. The third section is about migration, public opinion, and political participation. Lastly, this edition includes twelve book reviews which are free to access. (Open access) Read here.
Climate crisis and local communities/ Trafficking and smuggling (June, 2020), Forced Migration Review, Issue 64, Refugee Studies Centre. This issue includes two main feature themes, one on Climate crisis and local communities and one on Trafficking and smuggling, plus a ‘mini-feature’ on early reflections on COVID-19 focusing on the role of refugee-led organisations and the need for data to inform responses. (Open access) Read here.
Caqueo-Urízar, A., Urzúa, A., Aragón-Caqueo, D., Charles, C. H., El-Khatib, Z., Otu, A., & Yaya, S. (2020). Mental health and the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. Against the backdrop of high levels of alcohol/substance abuse, mental health disorders, and inequalities across Chile, it is likely that levels of stress and anxiety will peak during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors discuss initiatives to safeguard mental health and specifically address the situation of asylum seekers and temporary foreign workers. (Open access) Read here.
Labman, S., Crossing Law’s Border: Canada’s Refugee Resettlement Program. UBC
Press. The author explores how rights, responsibilities, and obligations intersect in the absence of a legal scheme for refugee resettlement. She asks: How does law influence the voluntary act of resettlement, and how does resettlement affect asylum policy? She reveals that the core concept of refugee protection, non-refoulement, which prevents countries from turning away asylum-seekers, can be compromised by resettlement, both by the resettlement selection process and the influence of resettlement practices on in-country asylum. More here.
Report, Policy Briefs and Working Papers
Listening to displacement-affected communities over time: Understanding intentions and aspirations in support of durable solutions 2019 (July 3, 2020) ReDSS, in partnership with IMPACT Initiatives. The report examines the multiple dimensions of vulnerabilities and sense of belonging among Internally displaced persons in Somalia focusing on displacement trends, access to jobs, safety and security, social integration, housing land property and forced evictions. The analysis compares different groups of internally displaced persons as well as host and non-host communities in urban areas. The objective is to get a more comprehensive picture of displacement-related issues and dynamics to inform area-based durable solutions programing, complementing existing data and analyses. Read here.
Making a Difference for Women and Girls? East and Horn of Africa countries and women’s and girls’ rights at the UN Human Rights Council (June 25, 2020) Defend Defenders. This report examines to what extent, and how, the 11 States of the East and Horn of Africa contribute to the advancement of the rights of women and girls at the United Nations. The aim is to make knowledge about States’ behaviour at the UN Human Rights Council available to civil society partners, observers and the general public, in order to contribute to citizen engagement with governments of the sub-region, enhance scrutiny, and further efforts towards the realisation of women’s and girls’ rights. Read here.
News reports and blog posts
COVID-19 brings students back to Himalayan villages with public health messages by Adrian Ashraf Khan (June 25, 2020), The Conversation. This article provides a snapshot of journeys of young migrants originally displaced from their villages during Nepal’s Civil War (1996-2006), and their return visits to engage with several important social issues that affect people’s survival and quality of life. This author briefly explores conditions of rural education, students as teachers, the preserving of Indigenous Himalayan culture, and young migrants insights into what they feel is needed for increased social development in the Himalayas. Read here.
Refugee-led Responses to Covid-19: A case study from Uganda by Patrick Chandiga Justine (July 6, 2020) Rethinking Refuge. Despite the huge needs created by the outbreak of COVID-19, there is a lack of assistance to refugees to address the pandemic. Refugee-led organizations are at the front line of COVID-19 responses. Ugandan refugee-led organization CECI presents its lessons for health awareness campaigns and makes recommendations to governments, international organizations and donors to improve their support to refugees. Read here.
Challenges to Refugee Protection in the Time of COVID-19 by Liliana Lyra Jubilut (June 25, 2020) Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law. Amid the pandemic there are new challenges deriving from the “geographies of migration”, based on the places to and from which people move, as well as challenges relating to the “subjects of migration”, namely, refugees and the people involved in refugee protection. The author argues that all of these challenges need to be diagnosed in order to be addressed and ensure integral protection for refugees. Read here.
COVID-19 at the Brazil-Venezuela borders: the good, the bad and the ugly by Lilliana Lyra Jubilut and João Carlos Jarochinski Silva (June 18, 2020) Open Democracy. An already difficult situation for refugees in terms of integration and health can become an explosive humanitarian tragedy. The authors review pre-existing issues such as a saturated health system and lack of employment and the additional burdens created by COVID-19. They conclude that integration (including health) in Roraima needs to be thought beyond borders. International Refugee Law and human rights must be considered so that the needs of refugees and other forced migrants are adequately addressed in regular times or during a pandemic. Read here.
Digital and social media
Webinar on July 9, 2020 03:00PM (Eastern Time): Refugees Giving Back to Their Communities during COVID and Beyond hosted by Refugees International, Refugee Congress, Veterans for American Ideals, and Human Rights First. This webinar will review the ways that refugees, asylees, and other vulnerable migrants contribute to our communities and ways to communicate about these critical contributions to build support for refugee protection. Register here.