scholarly journals Becoming a Refugee: Reflections on Self-Understandings of Displacement from the Syrian Case

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 299-309
Author(s):  
Wendy Pearlman
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
International Law ◽  
Government Policy ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Displaced Persons ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Physical Displacement ◽  
Over Time

AbstractInternational law, government policy, and a range of academic disciplines all demonstrate different approaches to the task of defining who is a refugee. Yet how do refugees define themselves? When, how, and why do they come to identify with this term, or not? This essay offers reflections on these questions based on interviews with hundreds of displaced Syrians in the Middle East and Europe from 2012 to 2018. Syrian experiences illustrate how individuals’ self-understandings as refugees evolve over time as a contingent process not necessarily coterminous with actual physical displacement. I trace how these self-understandings are generated as shifts in three indicative relationships: displaced persons’ relationships to their expectations of return to their homeland; their relationships to their pre-flight lives; and their relationships to the word “refugee” itself. This focus on the bottom-up, organic development of a new subjectivity suggests how one's self-definition as a refugee might be less a quality or state that exists synonymously with forced migration than it is an identity that comes into existence gradually over time. That is, it is the product of a process of “becoming” more than “being.”

scholarly journals Forced Displacement and Refugees

2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 439-440
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Fourth Generation ◽  
Internally Displaced Persons ◽  
Displaced Persons ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Palestinian Refugees ◽  
Displaced Populations ◽  
Syrian Civil War ◽  
The World

Forced migration has come to be the defining feature of the contemporary Middle East, a region that is both the source of and host to some of the largest forcibly displaced populations in the world. In 2015, 65 percent of the world's 19.4 million refugees—including the 5.5 million Palestinian refugees—as well as 30 percent of the world's thirty-eight million internally displaced persons were in the Middle East, while one out of every four refugees worldwide was from Syria. Seeking security and stability, millions of people from the region are on the move within and across social spaces that are at once strange and familiar, and in which they themselves are familiar and strange to others. In 2015, Turkey became host to the world's largest refugee population of over two million, while Zaʿatari camp in Jordan has grown rapidly to become one of the world's largest camps since the Syrian civil war began. With 7.6 million people—or 35 percent of the population—internally displaced, Syria now has the highest number of internally displaced persons in the world. Iraq has produced multiple overlapping displacements, resulting in one of the largest refugee resettlement programs of the past decade. Thousands of Syrians, Libyans, and Iraqis have undertaken perilous journeys across the Mediterranean Sea to seek asylum in Europe and elsewhere. Palestinian refugees are now in a fourth generation of exile, making their plight the longest running unresolved refugee situation in the world.

scholarly journals The Special Issue ‘Forced Migration and Refugeedom in the Modern Middle East’ Towards Connected Histories of Refugeedom in the Middle East

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Jordi Tejel ◽  
Ramazan Hakkı Öztan
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Displaced Persons ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Historical Processes

This special issue approaches the study of refugees and forcibly displaced persons in the Middle East beyond the analytic bounds dictated by states, nations and regions. Each author is interested in showing connections, influences, and far-reaching consequences that cut across analytic boundaries. By challenging state-centred accounts and instead placing refugees, institutions, and states in a mutually interactive framework, each contributor frames refugees as the driving force behind various historical processes. By providing a range of case studies drawn from the Middle East, the volume also marks a step away from the Euro-centrism that so often defines the study of refugees and shows the centrality of the developments in Europe for the Middle East and the developments in the Middle East for Europe. We therefore propose the connected histories of refugeedom as the historiographical way forward in the study of refugees.

scholarly journals The impact of internal displacement on the refugee migration crisis

KPGT_dlutz_1 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-274
Author(s):  
Eveline Vieira Brigido ◽  
Fabiola Wust Zibetti ◽  
Liton Lanes Pilau Sobrinho
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Migration ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Internal Displacement ◽  
Internally Displaced Persons ◽  
Displaced Persons ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Migration Crisis ◽  
The Impact

This article aims to analyze the potential impact of forced internal displacement on international refugee migration, considering the relation between internal and international migration: Are today’s IDPs tomorrow’s refugees? It is likely that many refugees were forcibly displaced in their own countries before applying for asylum. Therefore, to develop this investigation, this article is divided into three sections. In the first section, it presents a general approach about internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees, including definitions and the bases of its protection under international law. Afterwards, it analyzes data on international migration and on internal displacement. At the end, these data are compared and possible link between internal and international forced migration is analyzed.

scholarly journals Regulatory guarantees of the internally displaced person’s rights and freedom

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 71-76
Author(s):  
Alina Orieshkova
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
The State ◽  
Internally Displaced Persons ◽  
Displaced Persons ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Basic Law

The state cannot be considered democratic, social and legal in the absence of normative legal guarantees that ensure the unimpeded realization of the rights, freedoms and interests of a person and a citizen, including internally displaced persons, and in case of their violation, protection and restoration. Encountered in 2014 with military aggression, the occupation of part of Ukraine, the authorities faced not only the problem of internal forced migration, but also the need to create effective safeguards for the rights and freedoms of internally displaced persons, in particular, regulatory and legal ones. It is highlighted that in the context of ensuring the rights and freedoms of internally displaced persons, one of the issues of discussion is the correlation of international and national law, which requires doctrinal study. After analyzing the correlation between international and national law, it is noted that in Ukraine superiority is given to the monistic theory, which is characterized by preservation of the supremacy of the basic law of the state, with the recognition of the priority of international law over the national one. It is stressed that the norms of international and national legal acts on protection and assistance to internally displaced persons provide an opportunity to ensure the effective functioning of public authorities and local self-government bodies for the protection and support of such a category of persons as IDP. It is noted that normative-legal regulation in the field of protection of rights and freedoms of internally displaced persons is characterized by imperfection and imbalance in various aspects of public life. On the basis of a comprehensive analysis of international and national normative legal acts in the field of ensuring the rights and freedoms of internally displaced persons, author’s classification is given. The advantages of classification of normative legal acts in the context of ensuring the rights and freedoms of internally displaced persons are noted.

International Court Authority

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikael Rask Madsen
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Political Science ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
International Courts ◽  
International Court ◽  
Context Shapes ◽  
Criminal Matters ◽  
Over Time

Identifying the “varied authority” of international adjudicators as a common object of inquiry, this book develops a framework to conceptualize and analyze international court authority with the goal of assessing how contextual factors affect international courts’ authority, and therby their political and legal influence. Scholars drawn from a range of academic disciplines—namely law, political science, and sociology—have contributed to this book and examine the varied authority of thirteen international courts with jurisdictions that range from economic to human rights, to international criminal matters. Interdisciplinary commentaries reflect on what the framework and findings imply for the study of international court authority and legitimacy. Focusing on both global and regional adjudicatory systems, the chapters explore different ways in which contextual factors contribute to the fragility of each court’s authority over time and across the breadth of their jurisdiction. A conclusion pulls together the collective insights of how context shapes the authority of international courts.

scholarly journals Ordering global governance complexes: The evolution of the governance complex for international civil aviation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mette Eilstrup-Sangiovanni
Keyword(s):  
Global Governance ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Civil Aviation ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Governance Systems ◽  
Governance Effectiveness ◽  
Political Agents ◽  
Over Time

AbstractMany observers worry that growing numbers of international institutions with overlapping functions undermine governance effectiveness via duplication, inconsistency and conflict. Such pessimistic assessments may undervalue the mechanisms available to states and other political agents to reduce conflictual overlap and enhance inter-institutional synergy. Drawing on historical data I examine how states can mitigate conflict within Global Governance Complexes (GGCs) by dissolving or merging existing institutions or by re-configuring their mandates. I further explore how “order in complexity” can emerge through bottom-up processes of adaptation in lieu of state-led reform. My analysis supports three theoretical claims: (1) states frequently refashion governance complexes “top-down” in order to reduce conflictual overlap; (2) “top-down” restructuring and “bottom-up” adaptation present alternative mechanisms for ordering relations among component institutions of GGCs; (3) these twin mechanisms ensure that GGCs tend to (re)produce elements of order over time–albeit often temporarily. Rather than evolving towards ever-greater fragmentation and disorder, complex governance systems thus tend to fluctuate between greater or lesser integration and (dis)order.

Trends in Global Disarmament Treaties

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Casey-Maslen ◽  
Tobias Vestner
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Biological Weapons ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
State Party ◽  
Chemical Weapons Convention ◽  
Support Mechanisms ◽  
Biological Weapons Convention ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Core Features

Abstract Since the adoption of the UN Charter, states have concluded numerous international disarmament treaties. What are their core features, and are there any trends in their design? This article discusses the five global disarmament treaties, namely the 1971 Biological Weapons Convention, the 1992 Chemical Weapons Convention, the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions and the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. It first considers how a broad set of prohibitions of activities with respect to specific weapons has evolved over time. Then, it analyses the treaties’ implementation and compliance support mechanisms as well as their procedural aspects regarding entry into force and withdrawal. This article finds that a pattern has developed over the last two decades to outlaw all and any use of weapons by disarmament treaty, without first instituting a prohibition on their use under international humanitarian law (IHL). It also finds that reporting obligations, meetings of States Parties and treaty-related institutions are generally created, either directly by treaty or by subsequent state party decisions. Finally, there is a tendency to make the treaty’s entry into force easier, and the withdrawal more difficult. It is argued that these trends arise from states’ attempt to establish more easily disarmament treaties, design more robust disarmament treaties and more effectively protect civilians. The article concludes by reflecting whether these trends form the basis of a new branch of international law—international disarmament law—and discusses them in the context of emerging weapons and technologies.

Migration, Poverty, the Role of State, (International) Law and Development in the Industrialised Countries of Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian-Vincent Ikejiaku
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
International Law ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The State ◽  
Border Security ◽  
Law And Development ◽  
Poor Countries ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Industrialised Countries

Abstract The current radical strategies by which there is, on one hand, an increasing European assistance to developing poor countries of Africa/Middle East and on the other hand, tightened border-security within Europe as a means to reduce migration from the South; may worsen the state of poverty in Europe, particularly on the immigrants and impact on the workforce in Europe with implication on development. Though, these strategies may sound radically appealing, they are however, unlikely to reduce migration flows to Europe. While there is still a “wide development gap” between the poor countries of Africa/Middle East and industrialised countries of Europe, migration will often increase, at least in the next two-three decades. Radical border security in Europe will expose the migrants to human trafficking in different form and manifestation contrary to Article 3 UN Protocol on Trafficking in Person. The paper examines the role of the State and Law and development, in addressing the issues of poverty and migration within the industrialised countries of Europe. The research argues that there is the likelihood that poverty and human right issues will increase in Europe in the near-future, if the State/EU fails to play their role, by changing their policy direction and repositioning themselves by improving their Law and development stance. The research employs the human rights-based approach, interdisciplinary and critical-analytical perspective within the framework of international Law and development. It employs qualitative empirical evidence from developed countries of Europe and poor developing countries for analysis.

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