Refugee Studies Current Awareness Blog: August 2007

Friday, 24 August 2007

Recovered Histories Website Launch

On 23 August, International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade

and its Abolition, Anti-Slavery International launches its newest

website. Recovered Histories <http://www.recoveredhistories.org/> provides

insight into the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the struggle between

those seeking to maintain the trade and those fighting for its

abolition.

The website contains over 40,000 digitised pages of literature on the

slave trade, Recovered Histories: Reawakening the narratives of

enslavement, resistance and the fight for freedom, makes Anti-Slavery

International's collection of literature on the Transatlantic Slave

Trade widely available on the internet for the first time.

The website chronicles enslavement as an institution and an enforced way

of life; the Middle Passage; and triangular trade. Included are

arguments condemning and supporting the slave trade, evidence gathered

to present to Parliament in the 18th and 19th centuries, illustrations

of life on the plantations, and details of slave uprisings in the

Caribbean and the attempts by many enslaved Africans to liberate

themselves and determine their own futures.

Tuesday, 21 August 2007

New Home Office RDS Publications

The UK Home Office RDS (Research Development Statistics) Department have just published two new statistical reports. These are:

Home Office Statistical Bulletin 14/07 - Asylum Statistics United Kingdom 2006

Asylum Statistics: 2nd Quarter 2007 United Kingdom

They can be downloaded in PDF format from the Home Office RDS website at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/whatsnew1.html

Monday, 20 August 2007

Latest WTYL Digest (20 Aug 2007)

Welcome to Your Library Website: http://www.welcometoyourlibrary.org.uk/default.asp

Welcome to your Library Jiscmail List: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/wtyl.html

WTYL Digest - 20 August 2007.

Dear All

This digest has been compiled by Helen Carpenter (Welcome to Your Library) and John Vincent (The Network). To send a message to all subscribers e-mail wtyl@jiscmail.ac.uk. To contact Helen Carpenter and/or John Vincent use e-mail addresses at the end of this digest.

Conferences

The Future of Cultural and Leisure Services - the shape of things to come
Thu 20 Sep 2007, Barbican Centre, London EC2

http://www.neilstewartassociates.com/se205/

Conference supported by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Arts Council England, Sport England, English Heritage and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA). The event will look at how cultural and leisure services can respond to and deliver new policy developments, exploring how these services can raise their profile by creating maximum impacts on local outcomes and performance. Speakers include: Rt Hon James Purnell MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Sir Michael Bichard, Rector, University of the Arts London. Paul Bristow, Policy Advisor for Local Government at MLA , will lead a seminar session on "Consulting and Engaging with Communities on their Priorities." For further information and to register see weblink above.

Building strong local communities: delivering community cohesion in London
16 October 2007, Clothworkers' Hall, London
http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/doc.asp?docId=20300
For programme and online booking form see weblink above.

Events
Exiled Lit Cafe. Women's Voices and Conflict: Arab and Jewish poets
Mon 3 Sep Poetry Cafe, Betterton St, London WC2 7.30pm
http://www.exiledwriters.co.uk/cafe.shtml
See weblink above for more information.

Opportunities

Their Past Your Future (Phase 2) Grant Programme (2007-2010)
http://www.mla.gov.uk/website/aboutus/grants
Closing date for applicants in first year of Phase 2 funding: 19 October 2007
The MLA Partnership is managing an annual grant programme for the second phase open to all museums, libraries and archives in England. The programme will offer funding for the sector to use their collections to explore innovative and creative ways of increasing community learning and young people's knowledge and understanding of the impact and significance of conflict. More details, application guidance and forms at weblink above. Further details of the ‘Their Past Your Future 2’ initiative are available from regional MLA agencies. Confirmed dates for regional seminars to offer advice for staff from museums, libraries and archives who are developing applications to the funding programme, include:
MLA London and MLA South East 25 Sept 2007
MLA East of England 26 Sept 2007
MLA E Midlands 13 Sept 2007
MLA North West 18 Sept 2007
MLA W Midlands 12 Sept 2007

Exiled Ink Magazine. Request for submissions

Deadline: End of September 2007
The next issue will include a feature on exiled writers' relationship to their new British space. How do you express this in poetry, prose and drama? If you write in your own language, please send to Exiled Writers with the translation. We are particularly interested in work by exiled writers living outside London. Please send to: lynette.craig@btinternet.com. Please send all other articles, poetry, prose, drama and images to: jennifer@exiledwriters.fsnet.co.uk

Resources
Infopankki (Infobank) website in Finland
http://www.infopankki.fi/en-GB/home/
Not new, but an example of what can be done by way of web-based information to welcome immigrants. This website began as a project co-ordinated by International Cultural Centre Caisa and Helsinki City Library. It was recently shortlisted in the European e-government awards.

Background reading

Improving Opportunity, Strengthening Society. Two years on - a progress report
http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1512143
Launched in January 2005, Improving Opportunity, Strengthening Society sets out the Government’s commitment to create strong cohesive communities in which every individual, whatever their racial or ethnic origin, is able to fulfil his or her potential through the enjoyment of equal opportunities, rights and responsibilities.

Improving Opportunity, Strengthening Society: Two years on provides information on the work undertaken over the last year to improve race equality and community cohesion. This report outlines the progress that is being made towards achieving equality in the key public services and in building community cohesion.

Note from HC: There is a lot in this report where public libraries have a role to play. Opportunity and challenge for libraries here to provide evidence of the work they are already doing that contributes to this.

The impact of recent migration on the London economy
http://213.86.34.248/NR/rdonlyres/805656A4-92B6-4731-A204-1B75621D7324/0/BC_RS_immigration_FR.pdf
(Source: IRR News Digest www.irr.org.uk )
We highlighted the executive summary of this report in the background reading section of this digest on 16 July. You can access the full report from weblink above or via http://www.researchasylum.org.uk/?lid=1662

Library books for migrant workers
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/6927765.stm
(HC: Thanks to Fiona O'Brien fiona.obrien@llda.org.uk for drawing this to my attention)
A national collection of library books in minority languages is to be set up in Scotland. It aims to improve services for migrant workers from places such as Eastern Europe and the far east.

Cultural diversity in Britain: A toolkit for cross-cultural co-operation
http://www.jrf.org.uk/bookshop/eBooks/1922-cultural-diversity-Britain.pdf
Phil Wood, Charles Landry and Jude Bloomfield. Joseph Rowntree Foundation: Nov 2006
This research project explores the connections between cultural diversity, innovation and thriving and prosperous urban communities. The research also proposes new approaches and seeks to highlight examples of good practice. Note from HC: there are opportunities for public libraries as part of this.

A breath of fresh air from Scotland

http://refugeecouncil.typepad.com/poliblog/

REACH
http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1502668
Black boys and young Black men face serious challenges in every sector of society. They are less likely to do well at school, more likely to be unemployed and much more likely to become involved in the criminal justice system than their peers. REACH is Communities and Local Government’s figurehead project to raise the aspirations, attainment and achievement of Black boys and young Black men, enabling them to reach their potential. The REACH group has produced a report (see weblink above for more details of the group and to download the report) with five recommendations on how the Government can help achieve the project's aims.

Congratulations to Mir Mahfuz Ali: shortlisted for New Writing Partnership Poetry Prize
http://www.newwritingpartnership.org.uk/nwp/site/page.acds?context=747673&instanceid=747674
(Source: Exiled Writers Ink e-newsletter)
Click on the link on this page to read extracts of his work. See also: http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2139333,00.html

Best wishes

Helen Carpenter John Vincent
Project Co-ordinator The Network
Welcome To Your Library t/f: 0845 128 4897
t/f: 020 7641 5266 e: john@nadder.org.uk
e: helen.carpenter@llda.org.uk w: www.seapn.org.uk
w: http://www.welcometoyourlibrary.org.uk

Friday, 17 August 2007

New Journal Table of Contents [ToC]

New journal table of contents are now available for the following journals:

Disasters, Volume 31 Number 3, (September 2007) - [Table of Contents]

Development Policy Review, Volume 25 Number 5, (September 2007) - [Table of Contents]

Wednesday, 15 August 2007

Podcasts on Forced Migration Online

News from Forced Migration Online, (FMO).

As part of its expanding collection of multimedia resources, the
Forced Migration Online team have launched a series of podcasts.
These audio resources comprise a series of discussions between
experts on forced migration issues from academia, practitioner
organizations and international agencies. In the near future, the
team plan to add interviews and life histories of refugees and other
displaced people.

In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the
Refugee Studies Centre (RSC) at Oxford (which hosts FMO), FMO are
beginning this series of podcasts with a collection of conversations
with prominent academics, in which they discuss the evolution the
field of refugee and forced migration studies. The first of these is
with the founder and former Director of the RSC, Dr Barbara Harrell-
Bond.

http://www.forcedmigration.org/podcasts/

http://www.forcedmigration.org/podcasts/harrell-bond/

International Migration Review [ToC]

The latest online Table of Contents [ToC] for the International Migration Review Journal for the most recent edition, namely Volume 41 Issue 3, (September 2007), pp. 553-790, is now available online [here].

The Archive has a subscription to this journal and the latest addition will be made available when it arrives.

Tuesday, 14 August 2007

New Working Papers Published

The following working papers have recently been published by Compas ; the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford and the Sussex Centre for Migration Research:

Anderson, B., "Motherhood, Apple Pie and Slavery: Reflections on Trafficking Debates," Compas Working Paper No. 48 (2007) [full text available online]

Lindley, A., "The early morning phonecall: remittances from a refugee diaspora perspective," Compas Working Paper No. 47 (2007) [full text available online]

Bradley, M., "Return in Dignity: A Neglected Protection Challenge," RSC Working Paper No. 40 (June 2007) [full text available online]

Vigneswaran, D., "Free Movement and the Movement’s Forgotten Freedoms: South African Representation of Undocumented Migrants," RSC Working Paper No. 41 (July 2007) [full text available online]

Capjon, A., "Coordinating the Humanitarian Response to Refugee Situations: The Role of Power and Trust in Humanitarian Networks," Sussex Migration Working Paper No. 42 (2007) [full text available online]

Compas - http://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/

Refugee Studies Centre - http://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/

Sussex Centre for Migration Research - http://www.sussex.ac.uk/migration/

Latest WTYL Digest

Dear All

Reminder!

Welcome To Your Library Digest Survey

We welcome feedback and comments on the Welcome To Your Library Digest and on 16 July we mailed a short survey with just four questions. If you haven't yet replied, we hope you will! The survey will follow again as a separate e-mail in a moment as we're aware you may have been on holiday first time round. Please respond to john@nadder.org.uk

Follow-up to last week's enquiry

Helping first-time library visitors and supporting library staff

This enquiry is now on the message board of the Welcome To Your Library website. Note from HC: I have posted there also all the responses received. See http://www.welcometoyourlibrary.org.uk/forum.asp?fCat_id=6

Resources

Libraries for the future: progress, development and partnerships

World Library and Information Congress: 73rd General IFLA Conference and Council
19-23 August 2007, Durban, South Africa
http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla73/Programme2007.htm
There are several sessions in this broad-ranging programme that are relevant to the work of Welcome To Your Library/social inclusion and community cohesion. See strand 128: Social inclusion: how can public libraries embrace the challenge of reaching out to serve all people in their community? See weblink above and scroll down to Wednesday 22 August programmes taking place 8.30-10.30, also 10.45-12.45, 13.45-15.45, 16.00-18.00 - there are links to a range of theoretical and practice papers which will be presented.

Resource on IDeA website on community cohesion
http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=5770022
This resource supports councils who want to work with partners and their communities to promote interaction and foster positive community relations. There is useful advice as well as a growing bank of case studies. Note from HC: case studies involving public libraries notable by their absence. Have you thought about contributing? There are lots of good examples of work in public libraries out there.

Changing Lives: a Longitudinal Study into the Impact of Time Together Mentoring on Refugee Integration
http://www.timetogether.org.uk/TT_report_online.pdf
Time Together matches local people on one-one-one mentoring relationships with refugees. This report by Dr Lea Esterhuizen and Dr Tanya Murphy, published June 2007, is included here because it provides an insight into the value of mentoring for both mentor and mentee and its role in supporting integration. Note from HC: opportunities for public libraries working with refugees and asylum seekers to connect with their local Time Together programme if they haven't already done so.

Background reading

Britain failing to protect Iraqi asylum seekers
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2816686.ece
The Refugee Council has criticised the government for refusing nearly 90 per cent of asylum claims by Iraqis last year, even though Britain received far fewer applications than several other European countries.

Global hip-hop calls on Roanoke

http://www.roanoke.com/columnists/flowers/wb/wb/xp-127325
Hip-hop may be the medium, but the message Roanoke officials are trying to convey to young people is that libraries are cool. See link above. For more information about Netsayi Chigwendere see http://www.africanmusiciansprofiles.com/netsayi.htm

First person
http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/homes/story/0,,2145538,00.html
Victoria Neumark inherited a houseful of old oak furniture; it is dark, depressing, oppressive. Friends tell her to get rid of it, but how can she when her family's history is in its very grain?

Best wishes

Video Arts Postcards

News from the Runnymede Trust:

Video Arts Postcards
Two groups of young people from around Newham in East London have taken part in the Video Arts Postcards workshops. Each participant used the five-day workshop to produce a one minute film chronicling their response to the legacy of the slave trade. A number of exciting opportunities to engage with the films are being developed and will be a main focus for Runnymede during October's Black History Month. To find out more about the project contact Marion

The Runnymede Trust - http://www.runnymedetrust.org/

Serbian Refugee Council Newsletter

Researching Forced Migration in Serbia: Serbian Refugee Council Newsletter.

Serbian Refugee Council - http://www.ssi.org.yu/

Serbian Refugee Council (SRC) has the pleasure to present to you the fourth issue of our quarterly Newsletter. The focus of this issue is the work of the Documentation and Research Centre of the SRC (D&R SRC) and SRC assessment of the need and relevance for the research and studying of the forced migration phenomena in Serbia.

In the first text we have presented the information about daily activities of the D&R SRC and the short report on the SRC research exercises conducted in 2006. The second article is the analysis about necessity of the establishment of academic interdisciplinary forced migration study programmes in Serbia. In the third text, our collaborator Mila Dragojevic, a PhD candidate at Brown University (Providence, USA), investigates the relevance of the forced migration research in social sciences.

This issue of the Newsletter gives an overview of the SRC activities in the past four months and introduces activities to be implemented within the project “People in Readmission”, which is financed by the European Commission.

SRC would like to invite you, our readers, to kindly contribute with suggestions and comments so we can continue to make the Newsletter truly interesting and useful for all those who are dealing with issues of forced migration.

With kind regards,

Serbian Refugee Council

The UN Security Council Approves New Peacekeeping Force in Sudan

News from Refugees International, (http://www.refugeesinternational.org/):

The UN Security Council Approves New Peacekeeping Force in Sudan

This past week marked a significant step for peace in the Darfur region of Sudan. The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved the use of 26,000 peacekeeping troops for the Darfur conflict. The new force will supplement the current 7,000 AU troops sometime later this year. Resolution 1769 calls for “early and effective implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement” and authorizes the force to “prevent the disruption of its implementation and armed attacks, and thus to protect civilians, without prejudice to the responsibility of the government of Sudan.” Refugees International is calling on the United States to use its influence and resources to ensure this mission is successful by continuing to pressure the Sudanese to abide by and fully support the terms of the agreement. Refugees International Peacekeeping Officer, Mark Malan, cautioned that the effectiveness of the force will depend on how the force commander and his troops “will face the challenge of responding to threats in a hostile environment where there has been little peace and safety for more than four years.”

Click here for Mark’s testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs about the new U.S. Africa Command
Read RI's recommendations for the new peacekeeping force for Darfur

Iraqi Refugees: Bilateral Aid For A Growing Crisis

News update from Refugees International, (http://www.refugeesinternational.org/):

Iraqi Refugees: Bilateral Aid For A Growing Crisis

Over two million Iraqis have fled their homes for neighboring countries and an additional two have been uprooted from their homes internally. Iraq is now the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world, with over 50,000 new refugees flowing over neighboring borders every month. Most of the refugees, now in Syria and Jordan, are unable to access health care, employment, food, and affordable housing. Refugees International recently returned from its third trip to the region and is calling on the United States and other donor nations to provide adequate funding for the support of these refugees. By coordinating with host governments, bilateral assistance programs can ease the tensions that can arise between huge populations of refugees and their host countries. Without the support of the United States government, the international community, and the Iraqi government itself, the stability of the entire region and the future of Iraq are further threatened.

Read our recommendations for increasing bilateral assistance for Iraqi refugees
President's Corner: Click here to read our latest blog entry on Iraqi refugees

Tuesday, 7 August 2007

New Journals

The following journals and newsletters have been published recently, those which provide full text access are given first:

Human Rights Brief, vol. 14, no.3 (Spring 2007).
Available full-text online at: http://www.wcl.american.edu/hrbrief/14/143.cfm
Entitled `Perspectives on Migration, Labor & Globalization.'

Humanitarian Exchange Magazine, no. 38 (June 2007).
Available full-text online at: http://www.odihpn.org/report.asp?id=2887
This edition of Humanitarian Exchange features articles on the topic of disaster risk reduction for humanitarian practitioners.

The Researcher, vol. 2, no. 2 (July 2007).
Available full-text online at:
Produced by the Refugee Documentation Centre, Ireland. Focus is on issues relating to refugee status determination, international human rights law, and country of origin information. Courtesy of Elisa Mason's FMO Current Awareness blog at: http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, vol. 33, no. 7 (2007)
Table of contents available at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=g781129425~db=all

Journal of Peace Research, vol. 44. no. 4 (July 2007).
Table of contents available at: http://www.prio.no/page/Project_detail//9244/41387.html?PHPSESSID=f25eff0ae4381218d613d88711e8243f

Asylum/Legacy: 'Case resolution' - 'care, protection and education'

The following news item is reproduced courtesy of Frank's List - http://www.frankslist.info :

Case resolution
----------

Update on case resolution: Q&A now on Home Office website – Case
Resolution is not an amnesty [August 2007]
In the week commencing 2 July 2007 the Home Office sent out a total of
6,000 letters and questionnaires to families with children in accordance
with its priority to address cases in receipt of support.
This briefing provides some basic advice about responding to these
letters.
http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/policy/briefings/2007/caseresolution.htm
Briefing:
"In July 2006 the Home Secretary announced that all asylum cases outside
the New Asylum Model1 will be resolved by June 20112. These cases,
formerly known as legacy cases and now called case resolution, are being
dealt with by the Case Resolution Directorate at the Border and Immigration
Agency (BIA). It is estimated that there could be as many as 450,000
such cases at all stages of the asylum determination process, hence the
need for a planned approach to their resolution."
http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/policy/briefings/2007/caseresolution.htm

Case Resolution Programme
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/applying/asylum/caseresolutionprogamme

Case Resolution Programme - FAQs
http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/applying/asylum/caseresolutionprogammefaqs/

[02] Education
----------

Children of asylum seekers
- From autumn 2007, giving asylum children who have spent at least
three years in Scottish schools the same access as Scottish children
to full time further and higher education
- Working with Glasgow City Council to implement recent HMIE
recommendations on providing nursery places for 3 and 4 year-old
children of asylum families

This government believes that regardless of where they come from and why
any child living in Scotland should receive care, protection and
education.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2007/08/03082811

Latest WTYL Digest

The latest Welcome To Your Library (WTYL) digest reproduced in full courtesy of Helen Carpenter and John Vincent:

WTYL website

New communities in Greenwich

Gerard Lewis from Greenwich Libraries has kindly agreed that we can add a report produced by the Greenwich Policy Team to the website, as a good example of how to map new communities arriving into your area – see the foot of the page at: http://www.welcometoyourlibrary.org.uk/editorial.asp?page_id=76

Courses
Living London: orientation programme for asylum seekers in London
http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/ragu/$living-london.cfm
(Source: www.refed.org.uk)
This free course, organised by RAGU (Refugee Assessment and Guidance Unit) in London, starts in September for 3 mornings a week for 4 weeks. Travel expenses will be paid and funds for childcare are available. It is for asylum seekers with a professional or graduate background and with intermediate English (ESOL level 1) or above. See weblink for more information.

Events

Somali and Exiled Voices Fusion: War and Peace
Wed 15 August, Oxford House, Derbyshire Street, London E2, 7pm
Oh! Art and Exiled Writers Ink event with Somali, Bosnian and Iranian writers and musicians. Featured guests: Darina Stojnic, Aar Band, and Mahdad Majdian. One of a series of events held every two months to bring the work of Somali and other exiled writers to the wider community of East London. More information from either: ayan.mahamoud@oxfordhouse.org.uk or jennifer@exiledwriters.fsnet.co.uk
NB: Oxford House has launched a Somali music compilation. More info about this and Somali Arts Programme at http://www.oxfordhouse.org.uk/template.php?ID=44

Resources

Connecting Communities. Recipes From Around The World
West London Refugee Women's Forum has produced a very attractive, full colour multilingual recipe book. Each page has a recipe from one of the organisation's volunteers who are of all ages and backgrounds and from all over the world. The book features 29 recipes in English with parallel text in mother tongue languages including Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Bosnian, Burmese, Chinese, Congolese, Farsi, Gujurati, Irish, Japanese, Norwegian, Romanian, Serbian, Slovakian, Spanish, Tamil, Thai, Tigrinya, Turkish, Twi. The book includes photographs of people, recipes, craftwork and cloth. The project, which aims to foster good relations between different communities and promote intercultural awareness and understanding, has been funded by the Community Development Foundation, Connecting Communities programme.

Single copies are available free of charge to libraries, schools and community groups. To request a copy please email your contact details and the name of the organisation you are requesting a copy for to wlrefugeewomen@yahoo.co.uk. Free copies will be posted out whilst stocks last. Anyone wishing to acquire a copy for personal use, or from an overseas address, or multiple copies please contact Zibiah at the e-mail address above or phone +44 (0)208 970 2145.

Case study: Refugees into Libraries in Leicester
http://www.coventry.ac.uk/researchnet/d/341/a/1804
Work in Leicester Libraries is featured in training/development/capacity good practice section on the website of the Institute for Community Cohesion - see weblink above.

From outside in: refugees and British society

(Source: Philip Wark)

New publication that brings together contributions by poets, playwrights, journalists and those with no previous writing experience from fifteen different countries to reflect on what Britain and British cultural identity means to them.

Cost: £11.99. Further info from: http://www.counterpoint-online.org/cgi-site/biblio.cgi?action=detail&id=69.

Talk To Your Baby – quick tips

http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/talktoyourbaby/quicktips.html?dm_i=142153346

Talk To Your Baby has produced a series of quick tips for parents and practitioners to help children develop good talking and listening skills. Each sheet is available in thirteen languages. Copies can be downloaded from the above weblink and photocopied free of charge.

The Children's Panel at the Refugee Council has opened new office in Birmingham and Leeds

(Source: Refugee Council newsletter, 30 July)

http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/news/news/2007/july/20070719.htm
The Children’s Panel works with separated children who are under the age of 18 when they enter the UK. The team can also work with asylum seeking young people under 21 who, in the absence of a parent, are caring for younger brothers and sisters.

Surveys
Asylum Aid online survey
http://www.asylumaid.org.uk/Policy/asylum_rights_watch2007.htm
(Source: Refugee Council newsletter)
This survey aims to document the experiences of people in the asylum process. Asylum Aid expect to use the evidence to present to the Independent Asylum Commission later this autumn. Anyone who has contact with asylum seekers, or who is themselves seeking asylum, is encouraged to present their evidence of what is happening on the ground during this period of change in Home Office procedures. You may provide your name or be anonymous as you prefer.

Background reading

Social Exclusion, Refugee Integration, and the Right to Work for Asylum Seekers http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/policy/briefings/2007/righttowork.htm
This policy briefing has been updated July 2007.

National Consortia Co-ordinating Group newsletter July 2007
http://www.refugeeaccess.info/uploads/news/NCCG_news_6.pdf
These consortia have largely changed their name to "Strategic Migration Partnerships" to reflect their expanded role, which now covers "migrants" and "migrant workers" as well as refugees and asylum seekers There is more detail about this in this newsletter, which also includes useful statistical information. The newsletter also includes a guide to funders that give priority to asylum seekers and refugees.

Migrant Workers - local authority initiatives
http://www.laria.gov.uk/
On 10 May 2007, the Local Authorities Research & Intelligence Association (LARIA) and the Local Government Association (LGA) held a seminar on this topic, looking at research undertaken in the Midlands, Slough and Crewe, and at activities in East Anglia. The presentations, including one from the Audit Commission, are available from a link on the home page of the LARIA website (see above).

Other background news
Ed Miliband MP has lead responsibility for Social Exclusion policy
Ed Miliband MP has been appointed Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and has lead responsibility for Social Exclusion policy. He will be supported on the social exclusion agenda by Gillian Merron MP, Parliamentary Secretary, who is also the Minister for the East Midlands.

Read Ed Miliband’s statement on his appointment at: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/newsroom/news_releases/2007/statements/070628_miliband.asp

More information on the Cabinet Office Ministerial Team is available at: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/about_the_cabinet_office/ministers.asp#ministers

UK gets 2.5m new foreign workers
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6913296.stm

Umi Prasad presents Open House, a topical programme for Liverpool's Asian Community
http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2006/07/14/radiomerseyside_pres_umiprasad_feature.shtml
"Umi Prasad.....discovered that her previous experience as a librarian was invaluable. She was still disseminating information, but just entertaining an audience in a different way........In 1957 she came over to Liverpool, and some years later, she became the Asian Librarian in the Multi-Cultural unit of Liverpool City libraries"

“One in seven joins Iraq’s human tide spilling into neighbouring countries”

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2816666.ece

Article by Patrick Cockburn, looking at the vast number of people fleeing Iraq as refugees.

ICG Report - After Gaza

New Report from the International Crisis Group -

After Gaza, the latest report from the International Crisis Group, examines the situation following Hamas’s takeover of Gaza and President Mahmoud Abbas’s appointment of a new government. Some in the international community have viewed the result positively, seeing the new government as one with which Israel can make peace and hoping stagnation in Gaza will discredit Hamas to the point of surrender. They are mistaken. Security and a credible peace process depend on minimal intra-Palestinian consensus.

Available to download from the ICG website - http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4975&l=1

UNHCR Note on Fumigations

New Publication from UNHCR:

Note on Issues Related to Eligibility for International Protection in the Context of Fumigations 30 July 2007 http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain?docid=46b6d62f2

This Note provides guidance on the elements to be considered in deciding on asylum applications for international protection as refugees which may be lodged by persons who have fled areas where fumigation operations are conducted. In Part I, the Note analyses the applicable criteria set out in the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. It examines two distinct situations: (a) persons fleeing harm related to conflict and/or generalized violence in areas where fumigations take place; and (b) persons fleeing harm resulting from fumigation operations as such. Part II of the Note outlines the assessment which should be undertaken with respect to other international protection needs that may be relevant under broader refugee definitions and/or by virtue of the extended refugee definition under UNHCR's mandate.

The position can be accessed through www.refworld.org, or directly at the above-mentioned URL.

Journal of Refugee Studies [ToC]

The table of contents [ToC] for the latest issue of the Journal of Refugee Studies, namely Volume 20, Number 2, (June 2007) is now available via the publishers website at : http://jrs.oxfordjournals.org/

Details of the articles themselves are as follows:

More Labels, Fewer Refugees: Remaking the Refugee Label in an Era of Globalization: Roger Zetter; Journal of Refugee Studies 2007 20:172-192.
http://jrs.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/20/2/172
‘Generations’ in Forced Migration: Towards Greater Clarity: Peter Loizos; Journal of Refugee Studies 2007 20:193-209.
http://jrs.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/20/2/193
The Microphysics of Participation in Refugee Research: Giorgia Doná; Journal of Refugee Studies 2007 20:210-229.
http://jrs.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/20/2/210
Methodological Challenges for National and Multi-sited Comparative Survey Research: Alice Bloch; Journal of Refugee Studies 2007 20:230-247.
http://jrs.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/20/2/230
Stories as Lived Experience: Narratives in Forced Migration Research: Marita Eastmond; Journal of Refugee Studies 2007 20:248-264.
http://jrs.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/20/2/248
Researching Refugee Youth in the Middle East: Reflections on the Importance of Comparative Research: Dawn Chatty; Journal of Refugee Studies 2007 20:265-280.
http://jrs.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/20/2/265
In Search of ‘Invisible’ Actors: Barriers to Access in Refugee Research: Barbara Harrell-Bond and Eftihia Voutira; Journal of Refugee Studies 2007 20:281-298.
http://jrs.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/20/2/281
Beyond ‘Do No Harm’: The Challenge of Constructing Ethical Relationships in Refugee Research: Catriona Mackenzie, Christopher McDowell, and Eileen Pittaway; Journal of Refugee Studies 2007 20:299-319.
http://jrs.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/20/2/299
Linkages Methodology: No Man is an Island: Elizabeth Colson; Journal of Refugee Studies 2007 20:320-333.
http://jrs.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/20/2/320