Refinteg

THE WELCOMING OF REFUGEES AND GRASSROOTS SOLIDARITY
State of research and best practices in Europe and Canada

University of Genoa, October 27 - 28, 2022

Within the scope of the Refinteg project, the University of Genoa and the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS, Canada), in partnership with the Laboratorio di Sociologia Visuale and Centro Medì, are organizing the international conference "The welcoming of refugees and grassroots solidarity: state of research and best practices in Europe and Canada".

The purpose of the conference is to explore current developments in refugee intake and solidarity practices in Europe and Canada through three main areas:
• Politics of refugee reception
• Welcoming and local solidarity
• Private refugee sponsorship programs

In an effort to provide an open and multidisciplinary platform for dialogue, the organizers invite established and emerging scholars and practitioners to share their research and expertise in the field and welcome approaches from a variety of disciplines, including, but not limited to, sociology, anthropology, geography, law, political science and urban studies.

The conference language is English. Submissions should not exceed 300 words, and should be submitted along with a short biography of the author(s) by June 30, 2022 to [email protected]. Accepted proposals will receive a notification by July 15, 2022. Selected papers will be evaluated by the organizers for submission to a special issue of a peer-reviewed journal. The final paper must therefore be submitted by October 15, 2022.

Further details at the following link:

2022. The welcoming of refugees and grassroots solidarity • Laboratorio di Sociologia Visuale The welcoming of refugees and grassroots solidarity Conference 27 October 2022

UNHCR, States, partners meet to assess Global Refugee Forum’s progress

The first follow-up to the Global Refugee Forum started on December 14, 2021. The High-Level Officials Meeting, a two-day virtual event, bring together senior government officials, refugees and various stakeholders, to take stock of progress on how the world responds to refugee situations.

For more information:

UNHCR, States, partners meet today to assess Global Refugee Forum's progress High Level Officials Meeting takes place 14–15 December

Danish ex-minister given jail sentence for separating couples seeking asylum

Denmark’s former immigration minister has been sentenced to two months in prison after a special court found her guilty of illegally separating several couples of asylum seekers where the woman was under 18.

Inger Støjberg was sentenced on Monday to 60 days in jail over accusations that she violated the European convention on human rights by ordering the separation of couples, some of whom had children.

Full article:

Danish ex-minister given jail sentence for separating couples seeking asylum Inger Støjberg receives two-month sentence for separating several couples where woman was under 18

The Refugee Brief – By Kristy Siegfried

At least 53 migrants killed in southern Mexico road accident. The overturning of a truck crammed with over 100 migrants in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas on Thursday left at least 53 people dead and another 58 injured. Civil protection officials said the driver had been speeding when he lost control of the vehicle on the highway connecting the city of Chiapa de Corzo with the state capital Tuxtla Gutierrez. Prior to the crash, Mexican officials had stepped up transfers of mostly Central American migrants from southern Mexico to other regions of the country, but thousands remain in the city of Tapachula, close to the Guatemalan border, some living in makeshift shelters and overcrowded accommodation while they wait for their asylum cases to be processed. AP reports that Mexico’s refugee agency, COMAR, has been dealing with an unprecedented number of requests for humanitarian visas that have delayed the processing of asylum claims. According to COMAR, a record 123,000 asylum requests have been filed so far in 2021. UNHCR has called for alternatives to the asylum process to be made available to those people who do not qualify for refugee status but still need support. In the absence of such alternatives, said the agency, “people can often decide to take risks which can have fatal consequences”.

30,000 flee fighting between herders and farmers in northern Cameroon. A resurgence of tit-for-tat violence between herders, fishermen and farmers over scarce water resources has killed at least 22 people in Cameroon’s Far North region since Sunday and forced more than 30,000 people to flee into neighbouring Chad. Thousands of others have been displaced inside Cameroon. A traditional leader told Reuters the violence began when a herder wanted to bring his cattle to the banks of a river but was prevented by farmers and fishermen. Fighting later erupted in the city of Kousseri where the cattle market was destroyed and 10,000 people fled to Chad’s capital city N’djamena after crossing the Chari and Logone Rivers which mark the border. UNHCR said the climate crisis is worsening tensions in the region as water resources dwindle. A first outbreak of intercommunal violence occurred in August, displacing 23,000 people, 8,500 of whom have remained in Chad. UNHCR and authorities were leading reconciliation efforts in Kousseri this week when the violence broke out.

EU countries agree to take in 40,000 Afghans. A group of 15 European Union Member States have agreed to take in 40,000 Afghans, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said after a meeting of interior ministers on Thursday. Some will arrive on evacuation or humanitarian admission programmes while some will be resettled as refugees. Germany will accept over half of the Afghans, with the Netherlands, Spain, France and other countries taking smaller numbers, according to media reports. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi had previously urged the bloc to resettle 42,500 Afghans over five years, half of the 85,000 Afghan refugees UNHCR considers the most vulnerable. The agency has warned that an increasingly dire humanitarian situation inside Afghanistan may compel thousands more to flee the country. During the aftermath of the US military withdrawal and the return of the Taliban in August, EU States took in 28,000 evacuated Afghans. The United States is in the process of resettling another 60,000 evacuees and Canada has committed to welcoming 40,000 Afghans, while the UK has said it will resettle 20,000 over the coming years.

For more details:

The Refugee Brief - 10 December 2021 - The Refugee Brief By Kristy Siegfried | 10 December, 2021 THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES At least 53 migrants killed in southern Mexico road accident. The overturning of a truck crammed with over 100 migrants in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas on Thursday left at least 53 people dead and another 58 injured. Civil pr...