Podcasts about Forced Migration Review

Lina AbiRafeh, PhD is a global women's rights expert and gender equality advocate with decades of experience worldwide. Lina worked for over 20 years in development and humanitarian contexts in Afghanistan, Haiti, Central African Republic, Papua New Guinea, and others. Her experience spans global organizations such as the World Bank and various United Nations agencies. Lina advises several organizations and companies at a senior level. In addition, she is also the Senior Advisor for Global Women's Rights at the Arab Institute for Women at the Lebanese American University, where she served as Executive Director for seven years. Lina sits on the board of numerous global women's rights organizations including SheDecides, Global Institute for Women's Leadership, Forced Migration Review, Society of Gender Professionals, Global Women's Institute, and others. Created and hosted by Mikey Muhanna, afikraEdited by: Ramzi RammanTheme music by: Tarek Yamani https://www.instagram.com/tarek_yamani/About the afikra Conversations:Our long-form interview series features academics, arts, ‎and media experts who are helping document and/or shape the history and culture of the Arab world through their ‎work. Our hope is that by having the guest share their expertise and story, the community still walks away with newfound curiosity - and maybe some good recommendations about new nerdy rabbit holes to dive into headfirst. ‎Following the interview, there is a moderated town-hall-style Q&A with questions coming from the live virtual audience ‎on Zoom.‎ Join the live audience: https://www.afikra.com/rsvp   FollowYoutube - Instagram (@afikra_) - Facebook - Twitter Support www.afikra.com/supportAbout afikra:‎afikra is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region- past, present, and future - through conversations driven by curiosity. Read more about us on  afikra.com

Host Aeriol Ascher gets fired up with the amazing Lina AbiRafeh on the subject of human rights and the abolishment of violence against women.Lina AbiRafeh is a global women's rights expert and humanitarian aid worker with decades of experience worldwide. Since 2015, she has served as the Executive Director of the Arab Institute for Women at the Lebanese American University, an academic and activist institute covering the 22 Arab states. The Institute was established in 1973 as the first women's institute in the Arab region – and one of the first globally. Lina spent over 20 years in development and humanitarian contexts in countries such as Afghanistan, Haiti, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nepal, and others. Her specific expertise is in gender-based violence prevention and response, summarized by her TEDx talk, WomenDeliver PowerTalk, keynote address for Swedish International Development Agency annual meeting, amongst others.Lina completed her doctoral work from the London School of Economics and published “Gender and International Aid in Afghanistan: The Politics and Effects of Intervention” based on her research. A second book on this theme is currently underway, to be released in early 2022. Lina speaks and publishes frequently on a range of gender issues, for instance on the need for a feminist response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on Arab women and girls. She believes women's leadership is the strongest vehicle for peace and sustainable development. Lina's piece I Hate International Women's Day has resonated with women's rights activists worldwide. Her work on women in Afghanistan was featured on CNN, leading to a live CNN interview on this topic, as well as appearances on France24, CNN Greece, BBC, and others. On October 11, Lina was featured on Good Morning America for International Day of the Girl. Lina is a board member of various organizations including SheDecides, Forced Migration Review, Society of Gender Professionals, and others. Lina is among the Gender Equality Top 100 worldwide in 2018 and 2019. She was awarded a Vital Voices fellowship for 2021 for outstanding women leaders. Healing Vibes with AeriolAeriol Ascher BodyMindSoul.TV & Media Network founder, producer, host and Empowered Self-Care book compilerHealing Body Mind and Soul Network Find the healing body Mind and soul network at BodyMindSoul.TV Get your self-mastery journal and self-mastery oracle deck for special pre-order price at: selfmasteryset.aeriolascher.comAeriol Ascher BodyMindSoul.TV & Media Network founder, producer, host and Empowered Self-Care book compilerHealing Body Mind and Soul Network Find the healing body Mind and soul network at BodyMindSoul.TVSupport the show (https://paypal.me/askaeriol?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US)

Kattie and Mila invite their dear friend Lina AbiRafeh (global women's rights expert and "Hell Yeah" Feminist) to join them in a discussion around feminism and feminists.   They'll explore the concept and misconceptions around the term feminist, discuss their own personal journeys around being feminists, and tackle some tough questions that often get presented to feminists to defend or justify.  They'll also spend some time discussing the situation in Afghanistan and the impact on women and girls in the country and what we can do to help.Shared on this episode: TEDBlog: What's the definition of feminism?  12 Talks that explain it to you.  The Washington Post: What type of feminist (or anti-feminist) are you? The Guardian: Am I a feminist? You asked Google - here's the answer.  by Natasha Walter, Lola Okolosie, and Kate Maltby "Feminists: What Were They Thinking?" - Trailer Roxanne Gay:  Confessions of a Bad Feminst - TEDtalk Did You Know:  The Fate of Women and Girls in Afghanistan CNN Article:  For Afghan Women the US Rhetoric of Liberation has Fallen Short by Lina AbiRafeh CNN Interview:  Fears over rights of women under Taliban control Shamsia Hassani : First female street artist in Afghanistan It Doesn't All Suck:  Compensation for Housework in DivorceNYTimes:  Husband Must Pay Wife $7,700 for Years of Housework, Chinese Court RulesGuest Bio, Links and Information:  Lina AbiRafeh, PhDLina AbiRafeh is a global women's rights expert and humanitarian aid worker with decades of experience worldwide. Since 2015, she has served as the Executive Director of the Arab Institute for Women at the Lebanese American University, an academic/activist institute covering the 22 Arab states. The Institute was established in 1973 as the first women's institute in the Arab region – and one of the first globally. Lina spent over 20 years in development and humanitarian contexts in countries such as Afghanistan, Haiti, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nepal, and others. Her specific expertise is in gender-based violence prevention and response, summarized by her TEDx talk, Women Deliver PowerTalk, keynote address for Swedish International Development Agency annual meeting, amongst others. Lina completed her doctoral work from the London School of Economics and published “Gender and International Aid in Afghanistan: The Politics and Effects of Intervention” based on her research. She speaks and publishes frequently on a range of gender issues, for instance on the need for a feminist response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on Arab women and girls. She believes women's leadership is the strongest vehicle for peace and sustainable development. Lina's piece I Hate International Women's Day has resonated with women's rights activists worldwide. Her most recent writing, on women in Afghanistan, was featured on CNN, leading to a live CNN interview on this topic. Lina is a board member of various organizations including SheDecides, Forced Migration Review, Society of Gender Professionals, and others. Lina is among the Gender Equality Top 100 worldwide in 2018 and 2019. She was awarded a Vital Voices fellowship for 2021 for outstanding women leaders. She was recognized by the Women's Media Center as one of their Progressive Women's Voices for 2021 and is featured in their database of experts.  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lina-abirafeh-28774867/Twitter: @LinaAbiRafeh Instagram: @LinaAbiRafeh Medium: https://linaabirafeh.medium.com/Blog: https://linasays.wordpress.comHouse of Apis Social Media:House of ApisInstagramTwitterFacebookLinkedInCredits:Hosts:  Mila Aleman and Kattie CapozzaGuest: Lina AbiRafeh, PhDMusic: Hussa Al HumaidhiSound Effects: Zapsplat

Gillian Mosely (Film Director and Producer) joins Dr Anne Irfan, Professor Eugene Rogan and our Middle East Centre webinar audience to talk about her documentary film, The Tinderbox - Israel and Palestine: time to call time? Dr Anne Irfan (Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford) and Professor Eugene Rogan (St Antony’s College, Oxford). Extract from British Council Film website: Knowledge is power, but lack of knowledge keeps power where politicians want it... From BAFTA-award-winning producer Gillian Mosely, in association with multi-award winners, Spring Films (NIGHT WILL FALL, THE ACT OF KILLING), THE TINDERBOX is a controversial, revealing, and timely new feature documentary exploring both sides of the Israeli Palestinian conflict. It’s the first time the facts behind the divide have been brought to the screen in a single film, and delves deep into history, as well as hearing from contemporary Israeli and Palestinian voices. Exposing surprising, shocking and uncomfortable truths, not least for its Jewish director and onscreen investigator, this is an important film that will provide valuable context and help people make up their minds – or even change them. http://www.thetinderboxfilm.com A first-time director, Gillian Mosely began producing films in 1997, creating, developing, producing and exec producing a wide range of high end documentaries for Arte, BBC, Channel 4, Discovery, History, ITV, NatGeo, PBS and ZDF among others. In 2017 Gillian produced her first Feature Documentary: Manolo: the Boy Who Made Shoes for Lizards (Netflix). TV films include “Ancient Egypt: Life and Death in the Valley of the Kings,” BBC2, and BAFTA, Royal Television Society and AIB award-winning “Mummifying Alan,” Channel 4, Discovery, NGCI. Dr Anne Irfan is Anne Irfan is Departmental Lecturer in Forced Migration at the Refugee Studies Centre. She holds a Dual Master’s Degree from Columbia University and the LSE and a PhD from the LSE, where she wrote her doctoral thesis on the historical role of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the Palestinian refugee camps. She previously taught at the University of Sussex and the LSE, and is an Associate Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. Anne’s research interests include global refugee history, UNRWA and Palestinian refugees, forced migration in the Middle East, the spatiality of refugee camps, and archival suppression. She is currently Co-Investigator on the British Academy-funded research project Borders, global governance and the refugee, examining the historical origins of the global refugee regime. In recent years, she has spoken at the UK Parliament in Westminster, and the UN Headquarters in New York and Geneva about the functions of the UNRWA regime and the exclusions facing Palestinian refugees from Syria. Anne’s work has been published in Journal of Refugee Studies, Jerusalem Quarterly and Forced Migration Review, as well as media outlets The Washington Post and The Conversation. Her article ‘Is Jerusalem international or Palestinian? Rethinking UNGA Resolution 181’ was named co-winner of the 2017 Ibrahim Dakkak Award for Best Essay on Jerusalem. She is currently working on a book about UNRWA’s institutional history. Professor Eugene Rogan is Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History at the University of Oxford and Director of the Middle East Centre at St Antony’s College. He is author of The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East, 1914-1920 (Penguin, 2015) which was named The Economist books of the year 2015 and The Sunday Times top ten bestseller; and The Arabs: A History (Penguin, 2009, 3rd edition 2018), which has been translated in 18 languages and was named one of the best books of 2009 by The Economist, The Financial Times, and The Atlantic Monthly. His earlier works include Frontiers of the State in the Late Ottoman Empire (Cambridge University Press, 1999), for which he received the Albert Hourani Book Award of the Middle East Studies Association of North America and the Fuad Köprülü Prize of the Turkish Studies Association; The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948 (Cambridge University Press, 2001, second edition 2007, with Avi Shlaim), which has been published in Arabic, French, Turkish and Italian editions; and Outside In: On the Margins of the Modern Middle East (I.B. Tauris, 2002).

Voluntary return in safety and with dignity has long been a core tenet of the international refugee regime. Voluntary return in safety and with dignity has long been a core tenet of the international refugee regime. In the 23 articles on ‘Return’ in this issue of FMR, authors explore various obstacles to achieving sustainable return, discuss the need to guard against premature or forced return, and debate the assumptions and perceptions that influence policy and practice. This issue also includes a mini-feature on ‘Towards understanding and addressing the root causes of displacement’.

Humanitarian agencies must be extremely cautious about how they support returns and relocations to ensure that they avoid causing harm or allowing humanitarian assistance to be instrumentalised by political actors.

There are multiple factors influencing refugees’ decisions to return to their country of origin, not all of which reflect conventional wisdom.

The laws and norms established by the international community to ensure that organised repatriation takes place in a way that protects the rights of refugees are increasingly being violated.

For Tamil refugees, considerations of sustainability affect their decision to remain in India or return to Sri Lanka. Their views and aspirations must inform planning for both integration and repatriation.

Gaining insight into the experiences and perceptions of refugees can help ensure programming is better able to support refugees’ durable return and reintegration.

Acknowledging the root causes of Palestinian displacement and objectively applying international law will be key to any solution to the Palestinian refugee question.

Significant displacement is caused in Central America by gang violence, gender-based violence and hate crimes against LGBT+ people but State responses have failed to address their root causes.

There is growing recognition of the need to address the root causes of displacement through the perspective of the humanitarian-development-peace ‘triple nexus’. A locally led programme in DRC and Somalia reflects this approach and offers useful lessons.

Thousands of displaced Yazidis in Iraq have been assisted in making a safe, sustainable return through a project that addressed the complexity of issues around land tenure.

Building sustainable peace requires both a greater awareness of the dynamics of localised conflict and a willingness on the part of external actors to cede control to local actors.

Preventing displacement by addressing its root causes requires a holistic approach and engagement by a wide range of actors. The starting point must be a better understanding of root causes and their complexity.

Syrian refugees in Europe are not one homogenous group but are individuals and families from different parts of Syria who have different experiences in exile and different expectations around return.

Refugees and IDPs require national and international actors to make concerted efforts to ensure that they are successfully reintegrated into the economic, social and political landscapes of their countries of origin.

Finding a ‘durable’ solution for Somali refugees in Dadaab means ensuring they have the knowledge, capacity, confidence and qualifications required for meaningful, lasting return.

This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Taif agreement that formally ended the Lebanese Civil War of 1975–1990. Three decades later, some communities remain internally displaced because of the actions of the State.

Durable solutions frameworks for measuring progress towards sustainable return and reintegration fail to specifically consider children’s different needs and experiences.

Return preparedness of Syrian refugees has become a prominent issue in Jordan, but the prospect of return raises numerous concerns.

Amid uncertain return conditions, the repatriation of Somali refugees from Kenya risks leading to instances of forced return. Alternative avenues, such as local integration, should be explored.

Turkey’s approach to encouraging refugees to return to Syria risks jeopardising the safety and voluntariness of such returns.

Despite recent political developments in Myanmar and difficult conditions in Thailand, there has been widespread and deep-seated reluctance among refugees to participate in the official facilitated return mechanism.

There are many lessons to be learned from UNHCR’s controversial – and ultimately reversed – decision to end refugee status for Burmese Chins in India and Malaysia.

Studying cases of successful minority return may help determine what policies could help other potential returnees.

Preparation in terms of legal rights is crucial for Syrian refugees who are planning to return.

Syrian refugees who have evaded military service face barriers to return which call into question the viability and sustainability of other refugee returns.

Having limited legal status has direct negative consequences for Syrian refugees' access to protection and assistance during their stay in Lebanon. Limited legal status also increases the risks of abuse and exploitation.

From the Editors

As the civil war in Syria drags on, the scale of displacement continues to increase. While the crisis may be prolonged, refugees and IDPs need support now for their protection, their recovery, and both their immediate and their long-term prospects.

The Syria Regional Response Plan 6 (RRP6) 2014 provides an increased focus on early recovery, social cohesion interventions and a transition from assistance to development-led interventions, alongside the continuing large-scale humanitarian assistance.

The most effective way to tackle the Syrian refugee crisis is for neighbouring states to assume a leading role in development spending, infrastructure upgrading and job creation, particularly in the most underdeveloped regions of those countries.

The circumstances for both successful livelihoods programming for refugees and for contributing to the local economy are present in the Kurdish region of Iraq.

Research conducted in Akkar, north Lebanon, suggests that the role played by the host community demonstrates good local capacity which should be built on to encourage further civic engagement and empowerment.

A cadre of educated middle-class Syrian refugees dedicated to improving conditions for Syrians at home and in Lebanon are building a civil society in exile but face obstacles to consolidating their presence and becoming more effective.

Refugees in Lebanon prefer living outside camps, where they can influence their situation.

The struggles endured by men who remain inside Syria and the obstacles faced by others who choose to remove themselves from the fighting by fleeing the country demonstrate a need to redefine classic conceptions of vulnerability.

Many Syrians, even when they have not been individually singled out, meet the refugee criteria on the grounds of being at risk of persecution because of a perceived association, in the broadest sense, with one of the parties to the conflict.

It is easy to say that people fleeing Syria should stay in camps or satellite cities but people move on for a variety of reasons, and programmes and services must adapt to assist them.

It is important to Jordan both that it protects its national identity and maintains its cultural obligations, and that it faces up to its humanitarian obligations.

Despite the humanitarian community's clear focus on addressing the protection concerns of displaced Syrians, in Jordan the beneficiaries of many protection programmes have had limited influence on the shape of the protection response to date.

Could re-opening the Golan Heights to Syrians displaced by the conflict be a beneficial option for those fleeing the Syrian conflict and for Israel's relations with its north-eastern neighbour?

In contexts of displacement it is critical to recognise that some groups in the population may require specific attention. Awareness of these needs has major consequences for the types of services required, and the way they are delivered.

While Syrian nationals may eventually return to their home country, the future for Palestinians from Syria is increasingly uncertain. Meanwhile they are more vulnerable, and treated worse, than most other refugees from the Syrian conflict.

Mental health services can be key to restoring basic psychological functioning and to supporting resilience and positive coping strategies for children, adolescents and adults.

With IDPs currently constituting two-thirds of those uprooted by the conflict, the ‘inside story' of displacement in Syria requires much greater attention.

The significance of women as both distributors and recipients has been pivotal to the implementation of humanitarian assistance but also points to the burgeoning of a new social dynamic that has come about as a result of the upheaval caused by the war.

Not all those who have gone to Syria's neighbours are registered, nor do all of these people regard themselves as refugees