Abkhazia, a small strip of land in northwestern Georgia that hugs the Black Sea, has traditionally been inhabited by a mix of nationalities. By the time the USSR broke up, the Abkhaz population of Abkhazia was estimated at 18%, while…
Faced with the challenges of siting and designing a refugee camp, most professionals turn to UNHCR’s Handbook for Emergencies[1] and/or Sphere’s Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response[2]. These one-size-fits-all manuals set out everything from the minimum area of…
The conceptual apparatus in forced migration and population resettlement research is being continuously enriched. One important – but still relatively unknown – development was introduced recently into the resettlement policies of the World Bank, African Development Bank and Asian Development…
With a population of over 130 million and more than 250 ethnic groups, Nigeria has a multitude of religious, ethnic and political fault lines that periodically lead to communal violence. At least 10,000 have died since military rule ended in…
UNHCR is currently revising the Policy on Refugees in Urban Areas which it introduced in 1997. While this policy represented a step towards protecting the rights of urban refugees, it has been difficult to implement for technical, logistical and political…
Concerns over illegal immigration and the spread of international terrorism have moved the asylum issue up the collective and individual agendas of EU member states. Asylum and illegal immigration have become issues on which governments can fall, extremist parties and…
Elections are an important means by which IDPs can have a say in the political, economic and social decisions affecting their lives. As citizens of the country in which they are uprooted, IDPs are entitled to vote and participate in…
In April 2004 a meeting of the EU’s Justice and Home Affairs ministers adopted the Qualification Directive, a set of minimum standards for the qualification of third country nationals and stateless persons as refugees or as persons who otherwise need…
Adoption in 1997 of the Amsterdam Treaty marked a major step towards the establishment of a Common European Asylum System. The first set of legally binding instruments has been agreed. While some progress has been made towards incorporating refugee rights…
The East Timorese who took refuge in Sukabitetek have been lucky. When they arrived five years ago, fleeing the violence in East Timor, the local population welcomed them and the oldest man in the village, Herman Besin, provided land for…