Some International Protection Issues Arising During the 1970s and 1980s with Particular Reference to the Role of the UNHCR Executive Committee

Following a brief historical summary regarding the origins ofthe UNHCR of Executive Committee (ExCom) and its concern withinternational protection matters this article describes theaction of ExCom in regard to International Protection duringthe 1970s and 1980s. During this period efforts were undertakenby UNHCR not only to address current protection problems butalso to ensure that the principles of international protectionwere clarified, rendered more articulate and, when necessary,further developed. In carrying out these tasks UNHCR was greatlyassisted by ExCom, whose Conclusions on international protectionprovided an important conceptual framework for UNHCR's action.The article concludes that it would not be correct to regardthe action of the international community in adopting the UnitedNations refugee instruments and in establishing the Office ofUNHCR as primarily related to the "Cold War". Rather it wascomparable to the action taken by the international communityunder the League of Nations to address the humanitarian needsof successive groups of refugees prior to the Second World War.     

Anatomy of A Crisis: Relations Between the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Federal Republic of Germany from the 1970s to the 1980s

This analysis takes for its starting point an internal UnitedNations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) memorandum, whichcriticized West German asylum practices in rather strong terms,leaked, and generated considerable controversy in the FederalRepublic of Germany (FRG), internationally and within UNHCR.The article inscribes these events within the broader evolutionof the relationship between UNHCR and the FRG to present themas one of several initiatives envisaged within the refugee agencyin order to bend West Germany's increasingly restrictive stanceon asylum issues. In this sense, UNHCR's attempts to use confrontationas a diplomatic tool shed light on an international organization'savenues for influence and their limits. Tracing the emergenceof the UNHCR's chosen course of action and attempting to assessits repercussions, the study emphasizes the interaction betweenvarious members of UNHCR staff in the organization's branchoffice in Bonn and its headquarters in Geneva, as well as betweenpolitical factions within the FRG. Calling to mind that neitherUNHCR nor the FRG are unitary actors, this opens the way foran analysis of the role individual agency may play within largercollective actors.     

The Evolution of Humanitarian Action

A brief review of overall trends in humanitarian action followingthe end of the Cold War is followed by examination of UNHCR'sevolution from a narrowly focused, non-operational organizationto one with a wide field presence and whose concerns are notlimited to refugees. Three changes are highlighted: the increasein the range of UNHCR's interlocutors; the shift from neverquestioning causes to an explicit concern with them; and theimpact of the field presence. The conclusion suggests that humanitarianaction that is not accompanied by political action to addresscauses may eventually face insurmountable problems, and thatwhile UNHCR will continue operate in unstable environments andfor mixed caseloads, its unique responsibility for refugeesmust override wider interests and concerns.     

Selection of Documents from UNHCR Archives

The "UNHCR and the Global Cold War" project endeavored to describe,preserve and catalog the original records created by UNHCR fieldand headquarters operations between 1971 and 1984. The aim wasto facilitate the production and dissemination of this UN Agency'sinstitutional memory by making these tools available to UNHCRstaff and external researchers. In the same spirit, the researchteam has selected a few documents that exemplify the richnessof the "UNHCR Fonds 11 Series 2, Classified Subject Files 1971–1984".The first document is a mission report written by Sergio Vieirade Mello when he acted as UNHCR Regional Representative in SouthAmerica. It is a good example of the kind of long and detailedmemorandum one can find in the UNHCR Archives. The followingdocuments on Afghan refugees, the "Toscani Report" and DisplacedSalvadorans illustrate the articles written by the team of researchersfrom the Graduate Institute of International and DevelopmentStudies. Finally, the last document on the Orderly DepartureProgramme from Vietnam provides additional information on thisvery specific aspect of UNHCR activities during the 1970s and1980s and thus illustrates Judith Kumin's article.     

The Politics of Refugee Protection

This article looks back to the 1920s, and tries to tease outthe politics of refugee protection as it evolved in the practiceof States and international organizations in a period of growingideological divide. The question addressed is whether the politicsof protection at any particular moment are humanitarian or whetherthey serve primarily other purposes, in which the refugee ismerely instrumental. It is unrealistic to imagine that the problemof refugees can ever be entirely non-political. What the historyof the 1920–55 period confirms is the continued vitalityof self-interest as a motivating factor in the responses ofStates to refugee flows. The international refugee regime thatemerged in the late 1940s and early 1950s defined refugees throughthe politics of denunciation in a persecution-oriented definitionthat continues to limit and confuse, not only at the internationaloperations level, but also in national asylum procedures. Inthis context, the article concludes that the art for UNHCR isnot to allow solutions or assistance to have priority over protection.For if it cannot provide protection, it will be judged a failureand accountable, and not merely excused because it tried hardin difficult political circumstances.     

UNHCR Operations in Pakistan in the Early 1980s

The aim of this article is to describe the largest and longestoperation carried out by the UNHCR in providing protection andassistance to refugees from April 1979, when the Governmentof Pakistan requested UNHCR to urgently help deal with the risinginflux of Afghan asylum-seekers. This refugee crisis was butone consequence of the engagement of the superpowers in thisstrategically significant part of the world. The analysis focuseson three main factors: the magnitude of the refugee crisis,the complexity of the logistics, and the nature of the securitysituation. The challenge facing the Government of Pakistan,as well as the international community, was an enormous one.UNHCR, in addition to its mandated protection role, assumedthe overall coordination of the international relief effort,including the mobilization of resources, as well as being responsiblefor the international procurement of relief supplies, materialand equipment. This task was complicated by the security situationand the fact that local population was outnumbered by the refugeeswith whom it had to share already meagre resources.     

Orderly Departure from Vietnam: Cold War Anomaly or Humanitarian Innovation?

In May 1979, UNHCR and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam signeda Memorandum of Understanding establishing a program for legalemigration from Vietnam, known as the Orderly Departure Program,or ODP. The ODP was intended to make it possible for personswishing to leave Vietnam to do so in a safe and orderly manner,rather than having to join the ranks of the Vietnamese boatpeople. It is the only time UNHCR has extended its assistanceon a large scale to help persons to leave their country of origin.Well over half a million people emigrated from Vietnam underthe auspices of the program. The existence of the ODP made itpossible for the international community to reach consensuson how to tackle problems relating to Vietnamese refugees andasylum-seekers at two major conferences, once in 1979 and anotherin 1987. This article explores the origins of the program inthe context of the Cold War and the aftermath of the Americanwithdrawal from Vietnam, attitudes within UNHCR to the program,and the contribution the ODP made to resolving the Vietnameserefugee crisis.     

Afghan Migratory Strategies and the Three Solutions to the Refugee Problem

The present article proposes three main theses: the normalityof movements and the prior existence of transnational networksin and around Afghanistan; the resilience and inventivenessof the Afghan population, especially illustrated by the remittancesystem; the relevance of migratory movements and of transnationalnetworks for the reconstruction of the country and the stabilityof the region. In contrast to the migratory strategies developedby the refugees, the three solutions to the problem of the refugeespromoted by the UNHCR (voluntary repatriation in the countryof origin; integration in the host country; resettlement ina third country) are based on the idea that solutions are foundwhen movements stop. But mobility may be seen as a key livelihoodstrategy. A more comprehensive solution is needed, which takesinto account the full range of strategies and responses developedby the Afghan population, including the back-and-forth movementsbetween Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and beyond.     

Giving Peace a Chance: Displacement and Rule of Law During Peacebuilding

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) works increasingly in societies where conflict or humanrights violations of massive proportions have very much relativizedthe notion of rule of law. These are situations in which thebasic components of the machinery of protection and justicesimply do not exist, or where they do exist, have lost theirlegitimacy. In terms of practical outcomes for their persecuted,attacked, or terrorized populations, the relevance of rule oflaw has to be painfully reconstructed, institution by institution,law by law, and capacity by capacity. UNHCR contributes to thiseffort, because it can make the difference between solutionsor protracted exile for refugees, and if refugee issues go unresolved,the prospects for real and lasting peace are much diminished.The article gives a brief overview of recent developments inthis area, examines the challenges the UNHCR faces, stressesthe importance of prioritizing the reestablishment of the ruleof law, and outlines some lessons learned. Particular challengesinclude competing justice systems, the tensions between "topdown" and "bottom up" approaches, and the issues of land rightsand the fight against impunity.     

The role of visa class in the location choices of immigrants in Australia at the regional and neighbourhood scales

Australia’s pro-immigration policies have played a vital role in national population growth, serving to address what would otherwise be chronic labour shortages and population ageing. While migrants to Australian have shown a clear preference for cities and tend to locate with co-ethnics, variations by visa class—employment, family reunification, and asylum—have yet to be fully explored. This paper aims to identify variations in settlement patterns of immigrants in Australia by visa types and the factors underpinning these choices, paying particular attention to ethnic networks and employment opportunities. We apply a series of negative binomial regressions to aggregate census data linked to visa status. At the suburb level, our results show the importance of the presence of compatriots in shaping the location choices of family migrants, with the exception of skilled and humanitarian immigrants from China, Malaysia and Thailand. At the regional level, skilled migrants, including skilled regional migrants, respond to employment opportunities to a greater extent than family and humanitarian migrants.

     

Tinder and humanitarian hook-ups: the erotics of social media racism

In March 2014, at the height of the popularity of the hook-up application Tinder, The Guardian published the “Seven Shades of Cliché” of user profiles claiming that Humanitarians of Tinder are the “creepiest ticket yet to laidsville.” Humanitarians of Tinder are Tinder users (a hook-up application) who have selected to present images of themselves in humanitarian or volunteer settings outside of the West (or Global North, developed world). With a Tumblr devoted to this subgroup of Tinder users, and mainstream media outlets including The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Huffington Post, Yahoo News, and the feminist blog Jezebel following this story, Humanitarians of Tinder evoke dialogue about the intersections of sexiness and racialized benevolence. This article takes seriously Humanitarians of Tinder to think through the connections between social media hook-ups, racial affect, feminist studies humanitarianism, and racisms in development. It asks: why do people use humanitarian photos to generate hook-ups on social media? How does holding an African baby make someone “hot”?     

Conditional Solidarity: Social Class,Experiences of the Economic Crisis,and Welfare Attitudes in Europe

The aftermath of the Global Financial and Economic Crisis of 2007/2008 turned out as a veritable “stress test” for European welfare states. Aiming to stabilize citizens’ living conditions and mitigate socio-economic hardship, European governments have engaged in active crisis management. Yet, the protective capacities of European welfare states vary, as does individuals’ exposure to crisis-induced social risks. Hence, the crisis has impacted countries and the members of different social classes unequally. Against this backdrop, this paper asks how Europeans’ perceptions of the personal impact of the crisis are associated with their welfare attitudes, focusing on variations between social classes and across nations. Using cross-sectional Eurobarometer survey data from 2010 for 27 European countries, I find that perceived crisis impact is associated with greater support for welfare state responsibility and redistribution. However, this association is not homogeneous but moderated by an individual’s class position as well as national economic conditions and social spending levels. More specifically, on the individual level, perceived crisis impact is associated with more favourable welfare attitudes not only among its traditional supporters—such as the working class or the unemployed—but also among its traditional opponents, notably the self-employed. Furthermore, where social spending is higher, welfare state support is less strongly related to perceived crisis impact, suggesting that more encompassing welfare states mitigate the subjective impacts of the crisis. However, redistribution appears to be slightly more contested between those affected and those not affected by the crisis under better economic conditions. Given the challenges facing welfare states across Europe, it remains to be seen how stable a basis of popular support can be formed on these grounds.     

Population Weights in the International Order

Relative population sizes play little part in the international system. A state's economic and military power is influenced by population size, but as one factor among many. Formal relations among states exclude population from consideration by the principle of sovereign equality. Three sources of possible change in this situation are explored, in which states would be “population-weighted” to a greater degree than before. Convergence of productivity levels around the world, expected by many, would bring the economic and population rankings of states more into line. Some convergence is occurring, but selectively and for the most part quite slowly. Anticipation of its effect, however, influences the international order well in advance. A second source of change is the necessity to allocate among states the use of global commons, particularly the atmosphere as a sink for greenhouse gases. Acceptable remedies for this problem and perhaps for other global-level threats are likely to involve at least in part a per capita allocation principle. And third, population weights will tend to be more prominent in futures in which states are less important—as envisaged, for example, in the more benign scenarios of global society.     

The dispersion of pederasty and the athletic revolution in sixth-century BC Greece

Dorian Crete and Thebes are conventionally seen by ancient sources as the originators of pederasty; modern historians see support for this view in Dorian male-centered militarism and sexual segregation in upbringing. Here athletic culture, including training, nudism, and competition, is argued to be a chief 'trigger' for the emergence of pederasty in Sparta and its relatively rapid spread to other Greek states in the seventh to sixth centuries BC. Athletic nudity, in particular, was not a device to enforce civic egalitarianism, as some have argued, but is a persistently erotic incentive that reinforces hegemonic maleness and advertises the individual's virtuous exercise of restraint. In particular, Sparta is found to be the likely source of generalized athletic nudity combined with open pederasty in the early seventh century BC. Nudism in Greek art is erotically charged and not, as others argue, simply a gender marker in the seventh century. Generalized athletic nudity spread to other Greek states emulating the successful Spartan model by the 'athletic revolution' of the early sixth century. With athletic nudity, open pederasty, again following Sparta, was fostered.     

A semigroup approach to the strong ergodic theorem of the multistate stable population process

In this paper we first formulate the dynamics of multistate stable population processes as a partial differential equation. Next, we rewrite this equation as an abstract differential equation in a Banach space, and solve it by using the theory of strongly continuous semigroups of bounded linear operators. Subsequently, we investigate the asymptotic behavior of this semigroup to show the strong ergodic theorem which states that there exists a stable distribution independent of the initial distribution. Finally, we introduce the dual problem in order to obtain a logical definition for the reproductive value and we discuss its applications.     

Rumour of angels and heavenly midwives: anthropology of transpersonal events and childbirth

Some contemporary women can experience non-ordinary states of consciousness when childbearing. The purpose of this paper is to bring a ‘transpersonal’ frame to these non-ordinary states of consciousness (hereafter: NOSC). Transpersonal psychology is an interdisciplinary movement in Western science that studies ‘religious’, ‘peak’ or ‘healing’ experiences in different cultures and social contexts. Between 2001 and 2006 in Auckland, New Zealand, while engaged in anthropological fieldwork, I collected stories from mothers, fathers, and midwives who had participated in transpersonal events during childbirth.I will compare the local women's NOSC with ethnographic accounts of spirit-possession and its relationship to indigenous midwifery then revisit and reconstruct the witch-hunts of Medieval Europe from this perspective. Midwives are encouraged to learn to identify and support women's NOSC during labour and birth as many women find strength and wisdom by passing through these states in labour. The subject is also critical to men, whether they are present with women and birth as fathers or health professionals. The hoped for result of this inquiry is to revalorise NOSC among birth-giving mothers, and to educate birth attendants in this field.     

Internal Displacement and Peacebuilding: Institutional Responses

Addressing the needs and respecting the rights of internallydisplaced persons (IDPs) is not only a humanitarian and humanrights issue, but also a strategic one affecting both internationalpeace and security and the prospects for sustainable development.This article explores the conceptual linkages between internaldisplacement and peacebuilding, focusing on the ways in whichaddressing the concerns and needs of IDPs can contribute tosustainable peace. The second half of the article looks at institutionalresponses to the challenge of integrating internal displacementinto peacebuilding, with a particular focus on the potentialrole of the new UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC).     

Migration stock and the issue of competing and complementary flows in United States interstate migration

The purpose of this paper is to study the determinants of interstate migration in the United States from 1965–1970 when a new change in direction of migration has started, and to examine the flow creation or flow diversion that results from migration to some appealing regions. Several related variables have been selected and tested for gross interstate migration flows. The results show that overall both push and pull factors have not been important. People from higher income regions migrate more, and migrants tend to move to states with higher incomes and larger population. Distance was not found to act as a significant deterrence to migration, whereas population density of origin and destination was significant. Previous migration was found to have a very strong effect on migration. The results of the study also suggested that there has been a major change in the location of growth areas in the United States during 1955–1970.The study of concurrent flow showed that the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida combined have positively influenced migratory flow between origin and destination states. Empirical results, however, also showed that California did not have flow creation or flow diversion effects on interstate migration.This research was supported partly through Organized Research Funds of The University of Texas at Arlington.     

Change in the stressfulness of life in American states and regions from 1976 to 1982

The State Stress Index (SSI) described in this paper^I measures difference between the states of the United States, and differences over time, in the occurrence of stressful life events. The method of constructing the SSI is described and the scores for each of the American states in 1976 and 1982 are presented. There are large differences between the states in the stressfulness of life. The construct validity of the SSI was supported by analysis which show that the higher the SSI, the higher the incidence of behaviors that have long been assumed to be affected by stress, such as violence and heavy smoking and drinking, and suicide. Scores on the SSI revealed an increase in the stressfulness of life between 1976 and 1982, largely due to the economic recession in 1982. Despite this the 1982 rank order of the states was essentially the same as their relative position in 1976. The West remained the most stressful region of the United States, despite its other attractions, and the North Central and North East remained the least stressful regions, despite their rustbelt and frostbelt images.     

Obtaining multistate life table distributions for highly refined subpopulations from cross-sectional data: A bayesian extension of sullivan’s method

Multistate life table methods are often used to estimate the proportion of remaining life that individuals can expect to spend in various states, such as healthy and unhealthy states. Sullivan’s method is commonly used when panels containing data on transitions are unavailable and true multistate tables cannot be generated. Sullivan’s method requires only cross-sectional mortality data and cross-sectional data indicating prevalence in states of interest. Such data often come from sample surveys, which are widely available. Although the data requirements for Sullivan’s method are minimal, the method is limited in its ability to produce estimates for subpopulations because of limited disaggregation of data in cross-sectional mortality files and small cell sizes in aggregated survey data. In this article, we develop, test, and demonstrate a method that adapts Sullivan’s approach to allow the inclusion of covariates in producing interval estimates of state expectancies for any desired subpopulation that can be specified in the cross-sectional prevalence data. The method involves a three-step process: (1) using Gibbs sampling to sample parameters from a bivariate regression model; (2) using ecological inference for producing transition probability matrices from the Gibbs samples; (3) using standard multistate calculations to convert the transition probability matrices into multistate life tables.