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Assessing Realistically the UNHCR’s “Supervisory Responsibility” in International Refugee Law

Posted on by Michele Millard

by James C. Simeon Associate Professor, School of Public Policy and Administration, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, York University The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees assigns the UNHCR at Article 35, Co-operation of the National Authorities with the United Nations, that states “… shall in particular facilitate its duty of supervising the application of the provisions of this Convention.” And it further specifies that States undertake to provide “… (c)…

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Ending Forced Migration as a “Weapon of War”

Posted on by Bruno Dupeyron

By James C. Simeon By the time the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee’s (UNHCR) Global Trends, Forced Displacement in 2021 was released on June 16, 2022, its figures for the previous calendar year were already outdated in a number of key respects.[1] The most obvious being Russia’s blatantly illegal full scale invasion of the Ukraine on February 24, 2022, that has resulted in some 14 million people being forcibly displaced to…

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Migration as Climate Adaptation

Posted on by Bruno Dupeyron

by Benjamin Keenan, PhD Candidate, McGill University   Anthropogenic climate change is now viewed as an existential threat that requires society to question how we live and how we can use our resources more sustainably. The increase in atmospheric CO2, from about 280 ppm prior to the Industrial Revolution (ca. 1850) to approximately 411 ppm today has led to an increase in the number and severity of extreme weather events – including extensive and frequent…

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Mutual aid amongst refugees: Evidence from Turkey and Peru, by Nicolas Parent

Posted on by Bruno Dupeyron

Nicolas Parent, PhD Candidate, Department of Geography, McGill University, winner of CARFMS 2021 student essay contest (graduate/law category), nicolas.parent@mail.mcgill.ca Over the course of four years (2015-2019) and while conducting research with refugees in Basmane (Izmir, Turkey) and Chorrillos (Lima, Peru), I came across what I believed were authentic examples of mutual aid. [1] Mutual aid, from the anti-capitalist and anarcho-communist writings of Peter Kropotkin, can be understood as the horizontal and free assembly of individuals…

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Striving to Achieve International Justice Through the Protection of Refugees: The Challenges for Greece and the European Union

Posted on by Bruno Dupeyron
Striving to Achieve International Justice Through the Protection of Refugees: The Challenges for Greece and the European Union

by Stephanie P. Stobbe and James C. Simeon   Dr. Stephanie P. Stobbe, Associate Professor, Conflict Resolution Studies, Menno Simons College (a College of CMU) at the University of Winnipeg, s.stobbe@uwinnipeg.ca     Dr. James C. Simeon, Associate Professor, Head of McLaughlin College, and School of Public Policy and Administration, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, York University, jcsimeon@yorku.ca       International justice should be the prime objective of all of us. It…

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CARFMS Meets: IMRC!

Posted on by Bruno Dupeyron
CARFMS Meets: IMRC!

By Stephanie J. Silverman Dr. Stephanie J. Silverman is a sociolegal scholar who focuses on the tripwires of migration control. Her recent publications include articles on detainee risk assessments, administrative decision-making, Canadian quarantine powers, and a special journal issue on abolishing detention and other forms of incarceration. Her forthcoming monograph presents a new explanatory and analytic theory of the meteoric rise and normalization of immigration detention, drawing on Canada as a key case study. Contact…

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Moving Refugee Protection from Regional Divergence to International Convergence

Posted on by Bruno Dupeyron
Moving Refugee Protection from Regional Divergence to International Convergence

by Dr. James C. Simeon, Associate Professor, Head of McLaughlin College, and School of Public Policy and Administration, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, York University, jcsimeon@yorku.ca     The international refugee protection regime is highly complex, regionally based, and far from uniform. There are, for example, at least three major United Nations Agencies that deal with refugees: the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); the United Nations Relief and…

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Unpacking the knowledge-practices of the “collective self”: The Rohingya social movement in Canada

Posted on by Bruno Dupeyron
Unpacking the knowledge-practices of the “collective self”: The Rohingya social movement in Canada

by Yuriko Cowper-Smith, Ph.D. Yuriko Cowper-Smith holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and International Development from the University of Guelph. Her main research interests lie in migration, statelessness, and social movements, and her dissertation research investigates the Rohingya social movement in Canada. For three years, she has worked with this diaspora community by volunteering, organizing and attending events, and raising public awareness about the refugee crisis and genocide through her research and writing. Yuriko’s research…

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15 Ways to Evaluate the Success of Community Sponsorship Programs, by Rachel McNally

Posted on by Bruno Dupeyron
15 Ways to Evaluate the Success of Community Sponsorship Programs, by Rachel McNally

Last year marked 40 years since the signing of the first agreement for private sponsorship in Canada. The government credits the program for “thousands upon thousands of new Canadian success stories.”[i] But what does the government mean by “success”? How can we determine if a sponsorship program is “successful”? New research reflects on these questions, including the Refuge journal’s new Special Issue on Private Sponsorship in Canada, the forthcoming book by McGill-Queen’s University Press Strangers…

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Notes from the Field: Unraveling the Intricacies of Migration with Dr. Nakache

Posted on by Petra Molnar

Delphine Nakache is Associate Professor in International Development and Global Studies at the University of Ottawa. Her research focuses on refugee and immigration law, human rights, protection of migrant workers, asylum seekers and non-status migrants.   Dr. Nakache was interviewed by Zainab Abu Alrob, a first-year PhD candidate in Policy Studies at Ryerson University who focuses her research on asylum policy, resettlement and refugee integration.  In an intriguing and wide-ranging interview, Dr. Nakache unveiled meaningful and…

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