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UNHCR RSD Bibliography |
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Fairness Transparency Accountability |
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Books, peer-reviewed journals and other professional fora
For earlier references (mostly pre-1992) related to UNHCR RSD, see our supplemental bibliography contributed by Oxford University’s Refugee Studies Centre library.
Michael KAGAN and Anat Ben-Dor (2008) Nowhere to Run: Gay Palestinian Asylum-Seekers in Israel,Tel Aviv University Public Interest Law Program. Report on violence against LGBT people in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Israel’s refusal to consider asylum requests by Palestinians. Analyzes UNHCR’s role in refusing to consider refugee claims by Palestinian asylum-seekers.
Edwin Odhiambo Abuya and GEORGE MUKUNDI WACHIRA (2006) Assessing Asylum Claims in Africa: Missing or Meeting Standards? Netherlands International Law Review 53:171. Argues that RSD procedures in Africa, including UNHCR’s procedures, fail to meet due process standards, and proposes steps that could be taken to improve fairness. MICHAEL KAGAN (2006) Frontier Justice: Legal Aid and UNHCR Refugee Status Determination in Egypt, Journal of Refugee Studies 19:45.Reports statistical evidence from Egypt in 2002 indicating that refugee applicants who received some form of legal aid had a high chance of being protected by UNHCR. Also explores potential innovative forms of legal aid and analyzes how they might work with UNHCR RSD. MICHAEL KAGAN (2006) The Beleaguered Gatekeeper: Protection Challenges Posed by UNHCR Refugee Status Determination, International Journal of Refugee Law 18:1. Examines how UNHCR can develop a comprehensive strategy for using RSD to promote better refugee protection, and for making its RSD procedures a model of best practice. MARK PALLIS (2005) The Operation of UNHCR's Accountability Mechanisms, New York University Institute for International Law and Justice Working Paper 12. Proposes reforms in accountability mechanisms within UNHCR to improve practices on RSD and other topics. EMILY E. ARNOLD-FERNANDEZ and MICHAEL KAGAN (2005) UN Decision-Making on B.S. Chimni (2005) Global Administrative Law: Winners and Losers. New York University Institute for International Law and Justice (draft working paper). Offers a critical analysis of emerging norms in the geopolitical south, with a focus on UNHCR RSD as an example illustrating the need for administrative justice. Guglielmo Verdirame and Barbara Harrell-Bond (2005) Rights in Exile: Janus-Faced Humanitarianism. Oxford: Berghahn Books. Contains a chapter on UNHCR’s RSD procedures in Uganda and Kenya. Laura Maxwell and Aya El Hilal (2004) Separated Refugee Children E Odhiambo-Abuya (2004) "Parlez-vous l'anglais ou le swahili"? The role of interpreters in Refugee Status Determination interviews in Kenya, Forced Migration Review 19. Identifies potential obstacles and proposes recommendations for competent interpretation. Natalie Briant and ANDREW Kennedy (2004) An Investigation of the Perceived Needs and Priorities Held by African Refugees in an Urban Setting in a First Country of Asylum, Journal of Refugee Studies 17:437. Reports that in the largest known survey of urban refugees in the geopolitical south, “assistance with UNHCR case preparation” was the refugees’ second highest reported need, exceeded only by medical care. ElEANOR Acer (2004) Making a Difference: A Legacy of Pro Bono Representation, Journal of Refugee Studies 17:347. Notes the emerging role of legal aid in UNHCR RSD procedures. Michael KAGAN (2002) Assessment of Refugee Status Determination Procedure at UNHCR’s Cairo Office 2001-2002, Cairo: American University in Cairo Forced Migration and Refugee Studies Working Paper No. 1. Follow up to Alexander’s 1999 study examining procedures used at UNHCR’s largest RSD office. Guglielmo Verdirame (1999) Human Rights and Refugees: The Case of Kenya, Journal of Refugee Studies 12:54. Assessment of the legal position of UNHCR activities in Kenya, including a brief discussion of UNHCR staff’s attitudes toward RSD. Michael ALEXANDER (1999) Refugee Status Determination Conducted by UNHCR, International Journal of Refugee Law 11:251. The seminal study of UNHCR RSD; focuses on procedures in Southeast Asia and on the gap between UNHCR’s procedures and standards of fairness in administrative and human rights law. Christine M. Cervenak, Promoting inequality: Gender-based discrimination in the UNRWA's approach to Palestine refugee status, Human Rights Quarterly 16:300 (1994). Analysis of the UN's policy of only allowing men to pass on Palestinian refugee status to children. DERECK COOPER (1992) Urban Refugees: Ethiopians and Eritreans in Cairo. Cairo
NGO reports Jesuit refugee service and International Rescue Committee (2005) Nowhere to Turn: A report on conditions of Burmese asylum-seekers in Thailand. Describes the effect of the suspension of UNHCR RSD in Thailand, and calls for UNHCR to resume RSD operations. Human Rights Watch (2004) Aceh Under Martial Law: Problems Faced by Acehnese Refugees in Malaysia. Summarizes challenges to UNHCR’s conduct of effective RSD in Malaysia. US Committee for Refugees/European Council for Refugees and Exiles (2003) Responding to the Asylum and Access Challenge. Summarizes the important role played by UNHCR RSD in the Middle East, noting many of the procedural limits about the process. Human Rights Watch (2002) Hidden in Plain View: Refugees Living Without Protection in Nairobi and Kampala. Contains a section discussing UNHCR RSD issues in Uganda and Kenya. HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH (2002) By Invitation Only: Australian Asylum Policy. Discusses problems asylum-seekers face accessing protection in regions where UNHCR carries out RSD, and raises concerns about UNHCR’s RSD procedures. Human Rights Watch (2001) 50 Years On: What Future for Refugee Protection? Contains a brief discussion on the protection concerns raised by UNHCR RSD. Iranian Refugees Alliance (1995) Evading Scrutiny: Does UNHCR’s Refugee Status Determination Procedure Measure Up to International Standards? Critique of UNHCR RSD in Turkey, by a US-based NGO assisting Iranian refugees. Amnesty International (1994) Selective protection: Discriminatory treatment of non-European refugees and asylum-seekers, EUR 44/16/94. Notes briefly that Amnesty International was concerned that some asylum-seekers it believed to be in genuine danger were refused protection by UNHCR in Turkey. No link available. |
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RSDWatch.org An independent source of information about the way the UN refugee agency decides refugee cases.
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A project of Asylum Access |