The fifth edition of the Refugee Law Reader is now available. This resource is "designed to provide a full curriculum for a 48-hour course in International Refugee Law and contains over 700 documents and materials." This expanded version now includes "sections on international and regional frameworks of refugee law, covering Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America."
Posted in Web...
Development in Practice, vol. 18, no. 6 (2008) [contents]
- Mix of articles.
European Journal of Migration and Law, vol. 10, no. 4 (2008) [contents]
- Mix of articles including one on the right to seek asylum in Europe and another on forced migration, human rights and security.
International Migration Review, vol. 42, no. 4 (Dec. 2008) [contents]
- Mix of articles.
The Researcher, vol. 3, no....
Hundreds of young people are leading a new wave of climate change campaigning against the proposal to build eight new dirty coal fired power stations in the UK.
For the first time in nearly 30 years, our government and the energy giant E.On, are hoping to build power stations which would emit more carbon per annum than countries the size of Cameroon.
The Stop Climate Chaos Coalition brings together the largest environmental, development and even faith organisations, representing over four million people, to unite their opposition to one of the most baffling government policies in recent years.
We all know coal is the dirtiest form of power generation, and with our own Chancellor saying CCS technology may never become available, the claim that this will be ‘clean coal’ is...
Conflict and Health, vol. 2 (Oct. 2008) [full-text]
- Three new articles posted on reproductive services for refugees in Guinea and conflict in the Indian Kashmir (2 parts).
Conflict Trends, no. 3 (2008) [full-text]
- Theme is peacekeeping in Africa.
European Journal of Migration and Law, vol. 10, no. 3 (2008) [contents]
- Includes articles on non-refoulement and refugee protection in Europe....
from Cafe Babel By Vincent LebrouWhen people see ‘micro’ they think ‘small’. That was what Muhammad Yunus thought, an economy professor in Bangladesh during the famine of 1974 and 1975. The academic quickly realised that if peasants had access to just one dollar, they could have met with their economic difficulties. But no bank would want to lend this ‘micro’ amount without a financial guarantee from the borrower. So Yunus became the guarantor. He became the ‘banker to the poor’.Opportunity to combat miseryThe debts were repaid from the very first year and the idea spread to various Bangladeshi districts. In 1983, the Grameen Bank was created, materialising this system of solidarity. Twenty-five years later, the bank has a presence in more than half of the villages in...
The 2007 Humanitarian Accountability Report (HAP International, August 2008) [text]
2008 Report on International Religious Freedom (U.S. Department of State, Sept. 2008) [text]
Country reports 2007: Belarus, Moldova, Russian Federation and Ukraine (ECRE, July 2008) [text]
Failed States Index 2008 (Foreign Policy & Fund for Peace, July/August 2008) [text]
South Asia Human Rights Index 2008...
Access to Protection at Airports in Europe (Hungarian Helsinki Committee, 2008) [text]
Evaluation of UNHCR’s returnee reintegration programme in Angola (UNHCR, August 2008) [text]
Forced Evictions and Disability Rights in Africa (GlobaLex, Sept. 2008) [text]
Humanitarian Implications of Climate Change: Mapping Emerging Trends and Risk Hotspots (CARE, August 2008) [text via ReliefWeb]...
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evaluation,
airports,
internally displaced persons,
protection,
peace efforts,
climate,
returnees,
UNHCR EXCOM Conclusions,
disabled persons,
right to housing,
humanitarian assistance,
Africa,
Europe
from the BBC By Nick ThorpeThe European Union's freedom of movement laws mean Eastern Europe's large population of Roma (Gypsies) is now spreading west.The effect of this influx on national economies, as well as the deep poverty of the EU's Roma, are high on the agenda as the first summit on Roma integration within the EU begins in Brussels.Italy and Spain have received the most Roma, mainly from Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia, where they make up more than 10% of the population.Italy has witnessed the most serious effects - murders blamed on Roma, and revenge attacks by vigilante groups, followed by controversial government attempts to fingerprint Roma immigrants.In Hungary, there is tension between Roma and non-Roma, after a teacher was beaten to death by a Roma mob in one village, and...
A conference was held in Paris on 8-9 September 2008 with the aim of preparing for the next phase of the Common European Asylum System. Called "Building a Europe of Asylum," participants included ministers from the 27 Member States of the European Union, the European
Commission, the European Parliament; representatives from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the International...
Armed Conflict and Schooling: Long-term Evidence from Cambodia and Rwanda (World Bank, May 2008) [text]
Building a Europe of Asylum: UNHCR's Recommendations to France for its European Union Presidency (UNHCR, June 2008) [text]
Critical Review Instead of Complacency: Amnesty International's Ten-Point Human Rights Programme for the French Presidency of the European Union
Iraq - Rhetoric and...
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Education,
Sudan,
cambodia,
Research,
European Union,
Rwanda,
armed conflict,
refugees,
Iraqis,
statelessness,
humanitarian assistance,
asylum,
Europe
Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies, no. 2008-1 [full-text]
- This issue focuses on psychosocial support programs.
AWR Bulletin, vol. 46, no. 1 (2008) [contents]
- Mix of articles on migrants/asylum seekers in Europe.
Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, vol. 22, no. 2 (Winter 2008) [contents]
- Mix of articles including one on the use of teleconferencing in asylum removal...
Medical devices group uncovers issues in sales at company it bought last year.Smith & Nephew shares fell by 13% yesterday after revealing that it had uncovered 'unethical' sales practices in a company it bought last year.The practices have led to the hiring of lawyers and forensic accountants, The Times reported, and will result in £50m in lost revenue.Most of the unacceptable activity, which are thought to have involved kickbacks to purchasers, occurred in Greece, newspaper reports said.See full...
European Journal of Migration and the Law, vol. 10, no. 1 (2008) [contents]
- Articles address different aspects of the war on terrorism.
Forced Migration Review, no. 30 (April 2008) [full-text]
- Theme of this issue is "Burma's Displaced People."
Government and Opposition, vol. 43, no. 2 (Spring 2008) [contents]
- Special issue on the "Refugee in Trans/national Politics and Society:...
The law firm hired by Siemens to investigate claims of corruption at the company said Tuesday it had found evidence of compliance violations and other infractions throughout the company, and in several countries where it operates.A summary of the report made by the firm, Debevoise & Plimpton, said it examined business transactions that took place between 1999 and 2006.Siemens, a conglomerate whose products range from trams to wind turbines, said in a statement that the investigation into several major divisions showed that "domestic as well as foreign compliance regulations have been violated."But Siemens said that its supervisory board had full confidence in current management and that the company did not yet have enough information to judge the possible consequences for former...
Many people enjoy using tropical hardwoods as garden furniture and parquet floors, but few consumers make the link with global warming.But the link is there, because some products are made from timber from areas like the Amazon and Southeast Asia that contain vast quantities of trees that absorb carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, but where the overall number of trees is diminishing under pressure from unscrupulous loggers.In recent years, many importers and retailers have started using labels on furnishings like deck chairs and other hardwood products to indicate whether forest companies that felled the timber had abided by sustainable principles. But even for green-minded consumers, prices can make environmentally correct choices difficult.See full...
Africa and Latin America should adopt their own versions of Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy as a response to rising demand for food, according to Michel Barnier, France’s farm minister.While critics of the CAP prepare to use surging food prices and threats of shortages to seek freer trade in agriculture, Mr Barnier told the Financial Times that, on the contrary, the developing world should draw inspiration from Europe and form self-sufficient regional agricultural blocs funded with a redirection of development aid.See full Article (paid subscription...
Spanish companies have begun committing to greater board independence and the unbundling of director elections because of a new corporate governance code that comes into effect this year. Though Spanish companies do not often disclose their efforts to recruit independent directors or detail their executive pay practices, more firms likely will seek to improve their governance in 2008.In 2006, a number of Spanish corporate governance experts--including the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV or National Stock Market Commission)--published the Código Unificado de Buen Gobierno (Unified Good Governance Code). In crafting the code, Spanish authorities were also influenced by the European Union, which is putting pressure on all member and prospective-member nations to have...
Scandals, concerns over control, and heavy losses at several large European firms have led some investors this year to consider voting against resolutions to ratify board actions.Shareholders at many European companies are asked each year to retroactively “discharge,” or ratify the actions of, the management and supervisory boards and to indemnify directors against loss or legal action. At most firms, these management proposals are considered routine and pass with minimal resistance. However, at companies like Germany’s Volkswagen and Siemens, and Switzerland’s UBS, shareowners are expressing a greater reluctance this year to sign off on directors’ past decisions.Wolfsburg-based Volkswagen likely will see resistance to its discharge resolutions and board nominees at its April 24...
US-produced biofuels could in effect be shut out of Europe under plans being discussed in Brussels.Anxious to distance itself from charges that its push for biofuels is creating hunger round the world, the European Union is considering stringent social and environmental criteria for imports that the US and some other big biofuel producers would not meet.The sustainability criteria under discussion would in effect bypass World Trade Organisation rules forbidding biofuel bans. By excluding those products not meeting the criteria from its biofuels target of a 10 per cent contribution to the fuel mix by 2010, the EU would deprive those products of government support, removing incentives to import them.See full Article (paid subscription...
Heinrich von Pierer, one of Germany’s leading businessmen, was thrust at the weekend into the centre of the billion-euro bribery scandal that has shaken Siemens.People close to the investigation said a Siemens worker five years ago had told Mr von Pierer, then chief executive of Europe’s largest engineering group, that a payment of about $10m was needed to seal a contract in Argentina. The worker told a Siemens investigation, according to those people, that Mr von Pierer said that those involved in the deal should act like “soldiers for Siemens”.Mr von Pierer, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing or knowledge of any alleged bribery, could not be reached for comment yesterday. But he told a German newspaper at the weekend that the allegations were false, that he had never...
The British may be among Europeans most concerned by climate change, but few people in this tiny village in the English Midlands want to be part of their government's latest proposal for a low-carbon future: an initiative called eco-towns.Stoughton is one of about 60 areas under consideration for new eco-town developments, so-called because they are supposed to be made carbon neutral through clean technology and projects to reduce carbon dioxide. A shortlist of about 15 areas will be announced shortly, and Stoughton - like a number of other communities across Britain - is fighting hard to avoid selection.Villagers in Stoughton and their politicians say that their area is predominantly rural and that these developments, containing up to 20,000 new homes, would do more harm than good to the...
Influential City accountant, Michael Snyder of Kingston Smith, adds to criticisms of auditor liability rulesThe government is coming under increasing pressure to look at auditor liability again, as the profession turns on the arrangements introduced in the Companies Act.Michael Snyder, senior partner of Kingston Smith and one of the most influential accountants in the City, has added to criticisms of the rules, which have introduced negotiated liability arrangements between auditors and their clients.Snyder is currently chairman of the policy and resources committee at the City of London corporation, a position he relinquishes today.See full...
ICAEW is urging EC to ease the ₤10bn administrative burden on small businesThe Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales is urging the EC to introduces measures so the ‘huge administrative burdens’ on small to medium-sized enterprises be eased.ICAEW’s submission to a commission consultation seeking views on the measures needed to remove the obstacles to the EU’s SMEs prosperity, notes a ‘one size fits all’ approach to business has created a disproportionate burden on SMEs. See full...
* By 2020, Germany could eliminate 30 percent of its 1990 level of greenhouse gas emissions, without curbing economic growth. * The country has already eliminated 17 percent of its 1990 level of emissions, largely by restructuring and modernizing the high-emissions power and industrial sectors of the former East Germany. * A study found that Germany could achieve most of the remaining cuts needed for a 30 percent reduction by increasing the use of renewable energy and implementing measures (such as better insulation in buildings) that would not only improve energy efficiency but also pay off for investors. * Cuts of more than 30 percent, however, could involve difficult trade-offs on issues such as nuclear power and the international competitiveness of Germany’s...
Sound corporate governance practices inspire investor and lender confidence, spur domestic and foreign investment, and improve corporate competitiveness. This IFC publication highlights key topics to consider in developing corporate governance codes for European Union candidate and potential candidate countries that will facilitate trade across borders or help attract investors.The objective is to build understanding and raise awareness of the European Union's corporate governance directives, regulations, best practices, and guidelines and to help countries access relevant information more efficiently.See full...