On 1st February 2014, a revised asylum law came into force in Switzerland, abolishing the right for recognised refugees to receive a permanent residence permit. This permanent permit is the most attractive residence permit that Swiss law provides for foreigners,…
Many of the Iraqi refugees resettled in California are in areas where there is a dominant ‘Latino’ Spanish-speaking cultural environment. They have to meet the challenges of life by building bridges with their Spanish-speaking neighbours (as well as other ethnic…
Annual monsoon-related flooding, river and coastal erosion, tidal surges and tropical cyclones emanating from the Bay of Bengal are a frequent cause of displacement in Bangladesh. Between 1995 and 2015, Bangladesh suffered damages worth over US$ 2.28 billion, equal to…
People whose application for asylum has been refused are often deported, usually to their country of origin. Little is known, however, about what happens to them on that return journey, on arrival in the country to which they are deported,…
‘Capacity building’ is often defined in a way which implies that international organisations/agencies are ‘investing’ and national organisations are ‘developing’. In an effort to recognise the added value that national organisations can offer to their international counterparts, the capacity-building discourse…
The Tsunami Evaluation Coalition (TEC)[1] highlighted the disparity between the stated policies of international humanitarian actors and the operational realities in terms of direct execution, engagement with local capacity and community participation. It showed that when the aid system is…
The tsunami which hit Aceh in December 2004 and the earthquake which struck near the Java city of Yogyakarta in May 2006 were not just tragedies and opportunities to display solidarity. For Indonesians with knowledge of English and technical capacity…
Since 1997 the number of major acts of violence (killings, kidnappings and armed attacks resulting in serious injury) committed against aid workers has nearly doubled. A recent study by the Center on International Cooperation (CIC) and the Humanitarian Policy Group…
Protection is one of the components of the new UN-led cluster approach in emergency environments.[1] Can the protection cluster mobilise the international community to protect civilians in areas where states are either unwilling or unable to do so? A pilot…
For decades an increasing percentage of official development assistance (ODA) has been spent on humanitarian assistance: from around 3% in the 1970s to between 10% and 14% today. In 2005, an estimated $18 billion was raised by the international community…