Migration Studies Commons^™

No. 21: The Un Convention On The Rights Of Migrant Workers: The Ratification Non-Debate, Vincent Williams, Jonathan Crush, Peggy Nicholson

Southern African Migration Programme

In recognition of the need to explicitly define and uphold the rights of migrants, and in particular migrant workers and their families, the United Nations General Assembly approved the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (ICMW) on 18 December 1990 (Appendix A).

The significance of the Convention has been identified as follows:

• Migrant workers are viewed as more than labourers or economic entities. They are social entities with families and accordingly have rights, including that of family reunification.
• The Convention recognizes that migrant workers and members of their families, …

Who Is Responsible For The Process Of Labelling Refugees And The Creation Of The "Refugee Status"?, Soha Nader Abdelmalek

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Refugees And Asylum Seekers From Mixed Eritrean­Ethiopian Families In Cairo, Louise Thomas

Faculty Journal Articles

People from mixed Eritrean­Ethiopian families have been caught on the ‘front line’ of hostile relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia, especially since the outbreak of the 1998­2000 war between the two countries. This report, based on interviews conducted with refugees from mixed Eritrean­Ethiopian families in Egypt, seeks to explain the uniquely difficult situation still faced by this group. It contends that because of their family relations with both Eritrea and Ethiopia, people from mixed families find themselves in limbo legally, socially and psychologically, and should therefore be of concern to UNHCR’s international protection regime. This report has three aims. The first …

L’Imagination Du Corps Greffé : Filtres Bilingues, Mireille Rosello

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Contemporary narratives featuring organ transplants speak of a painful but also life-saving contact when the “donor” body is African and the receiving body is European. At this point the surgical operation and that of the imagination assume a whole other dimension, as the inequality and interdependence of these two bodies invite the reader to re-imagine the links between the concept of the “body,” on the one hand, and culture and language, on the other. This article looks at the transplanted body as an imagining machine capable of articulating a vision of itself different from the one that words impose upon …

A Tragedy Of Failures And False Expectations Report On The Events Surrounding The Three­Month Sit­In And Forced Removal Of Sudanese Refugees In Cairo, September–December 2005, Fateh Azzam, Maisaa Youssef, Andrew Woods, Nora Danielson, Themba Lewis, Laura Maxwell, James Pearce, Sarah Sedak

Faculty Journal Articles

On September 29, 2005, dozens of Sudanese asylum seekers and refugees initiated a sit­in near the offices of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Cairo to protest UNHCR’s ongoing suspension of refugee status determination procedures as well as their conditions in Cairo, a situation they considered unbearable. Their number quickly grew to an average of 1,800 to 2,500 and remained at those levels throughout the following three months. Periodic meetings and negotiations among the sit­in leadership, UNHCR, and a number of other parties failed to meet the demonstrators’ demands or to result in a satisfactory end to the …

The Floating Population And Crime In Contemporary China, Jonathan Wade Lopez

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Since the late 70's in China there has been a dramatic increase in both the floating population and criminal activity. Members of the floating population, numbering between 79 and 145 million, live apart from their place of official permanent household registration (hukou) and are ineligible for the state-sanctioned social and economic benefits which accompany permanent hukou status. Although the literature and the media suggest that the floating population is to blame for the marked increase in criminal activity, few statistical studies examine the relationship between these two phenomena. This study used data from an extensive population based survey conducted in …

Brain Drain Or Gain: Migration Of Knowledge Workers From India To The United States, Anjali Sahay

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation looks at the topic of brain drain from a new lens. It departs from the traditional literature to include discussion on brain gain and brain circulation using Indian migration to the United States as case study. While it cannot be denied that host countries have policies that encourage or provide the necessary conditions for brain drain to take place, it must be taken into account that many source countries now benefit from out-migration of their workers and students. These are usually measured as remittances, investments and savings associated with return, and network approaches that, with a connectionist approach, …

Solace And Security At The Cairo Refugee Demonstration, Stacy Schafer

Faculty Journal Articles

Over the course of a 92 day sit-in, Sudanese refugees demonstrating in a park in downtown Cairo formed a close-knit community. They preferred to remain outside in a public park indefinitely to other options available to them. Who these protestors were and the reasons for their prolonged stay were a matter of contention from the first days of their demonstration. This paper incorporates my research conducted during the demonstration in order to understand the factors that drew these refugees to protest for such an extended period of time. While consistently demanding that the UNHCR and international community give them ‘their …

Vol. 7, No. 1: Deadly Links Between Mobility And Hiv/Aids, Belinda Dodson, Jonathan Crush

Southern African Migration Programme

No abstract provided.

Nothing Left To Lose? An Examination Of The Dynamics And Recent History Of Refugee Resistance And Protest, Matthew Themba Lewis

Faculty Journal Articles

Refugee protest is some of the most desperate, dramatic and spectacular. Instances of self-immolation, slow public starvation, and riotous violence are not rare, but public response and research has been limited at best. Simultaneously, it can be quiet, unnoticed, isolated, lonely - late night solitary suicides and disappearance from institutional routine. Coping with the harsh conditions of life in exile, institutional and otherwise, is an inherent component of the refugee experience - and a component that, as trends toward restrictive asylum policy grow, increasingly incorporates protest. Resistance in exile has become a tool of refugee identity, a vehicle through which …

Performance And Representation: Masculinity And Leadership At The Cairo Refugee Demonstration, Martin Rowe

Faculty Journal Articles

In the autumn of 2005, Sudanese refugees staged a protest of UNHCR in Cairo. Demonstration organizers were young, single men who confronted tasks of maintaining control and discipline and negotiating with an international agency. Their attainment of community authority would have been improbable in Sudan. Why did people listen to them, and why were they allowed to represent so many others? This paper evaluates the demonstration leadership in terms of preservation of masculine identity and status attainment. Their roles in the demonstration can be viewed as masculine “performance.” These considerations are developed through an examination of how leaders exercised authority, …

The Prospects Of Assisted Voluntary Return Among The Sudanese Population In Greater Cairo, Yasmine Ahmed

Faculty Journal Articles

This study looked at the prospects of assisted voluntary return among Sudanese migrants currently residing in Greater Cairo, Egypt. Its main objectives were to identify elements affecting the migration choices of Sudanese already residing in Egypt, especially their propensity to stay in Egypt, return to Sudan or move to a neighbouring country and to suggest components of a reinsertion programme that best suits the needs of potential returnees. This research project was commissioned by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and conducted by the Centre for Migration and Refugee Studies Program (CMRS) at the American University in Cairo. The project …

Sudanese Demonstration In Cairo: Different Stands And Different Opinions, Assad Khalid Salih

Faculty Journal Articles

The historical relationship between Sudan and Egypt harkens back to Pharonic and Nubian civilizations. As a consequence of both Turkish and British occupation, Sudan and Egypt have a shared experience of colonial rule and therefore share commonalities. During the period of occupation, many Sudanese and Egyptians settled in each others countries and many became citizens of both countries or intermarried. The relationship was, for many decades, peaceful and harmonious. However, the tranquility was disrupted in the 1980s when, as a consequence of the seizure of power by Pro-Islamists in Sudan, the relationship between the countries became one of tension. Relations …

Who Asked Them Anyway? Rights, Policies And Wellbeing Of Refugees In Egypt, Katarzyna Grabska

Faculty Journal Articles

This research, developed as part of the Development Research Centre on Migration, Poverty and Globalization, was funded by the Department for International Development (DfID) of the UK government. It was carried out by the Forced Migration and Refugee Studies program (FMRS) at the American University in Cairo between February and June 2005. It is part of a wider research program examining the policies affecting forced migrants in the Arab world. The project addressed the interplay of politics, policies, and populations in the production of current perceptions of refugees and other forced migrants. Throughout the project, the researchers looked at the …

No. 1: Migration And Development In Africa: An Overview, Richard Black, Jonathan Crush, Sally Pederby, Savina Ammassari, Lyndsay Mclean Hilker, Shannon Mouillesseaux, Claire Pooley, Radha Rajkotia

Southern African Migration Programme

Migration is clearly a major issue across Africa. Indeed, migration – both within countries and across borders – can be seen as an integral part of labour markets and livelihoods across much of the continent for at least the last century. Over time, and in different places, migration has taken a number of different forms. It has cut across class and skill boundaries, and exists in widely different geographical and demographic contexts. Migration represents an important livelihood strategy for poor households seeking to diversify their sources of income, but is also characteristic of the better off, and indeed of many …

No. 19: Irregular Migration To South Africa During The First Ten Years Of Democracy, Lyndith Waller

Southern African Migration Programme

Irregular migration poses a considerable problem for South Africa in migration management, population planning, infrastructure development, resource management, governance, social services, economic development and security. A government can only work with what it knows, with a reasonable margin of error. By its nature, irregular migration creates many unknowns. Where entry into South Africa is clandestine or fraudulent, no proper account can be kept of the migrant’s presence, movement, identity, nationality, health status or activities. Without the ability to measure the problem, the ability to address it remains elusive.

For years, figures on the number of irregular migrants present in South …

No. 16: South African Immigration Law: A Gender Analysis, Belinda Dodson, Jonathan Crush

Southern African Migration Programme

One of the last pieces of apartheid-era legislation to disappear from the South African statute books was the Aliens Control Act of 1991. Although amended in 1995, this Act was finally consigned to history only in March 2003, when the draft regulations implementing the new Immigration Act (no. 13 of 2002) came into effect (Republic of South Africa 2002 and 2003). While there is much in the new Act to be welcomed, and it certainly represents the advent of a more just and pragmatic immigration regime, many of its provisions give considerable cause for concern on gender grounds. The Act …

No. 43: Migration And Development In Mozambique: Poverty, Inequality And Survival, Fion De Vletter

Southern African Migration Programme

Despite Mozambique’s economic growth rate being one of the highest in Africa over the past few years, much of the growth is linked to the development of highly capital intensive “mega” projects with limited absorption of unskilled workers. The urban informal sector which has hitherto absorbed considerable numbers of the unemployed has become less attractive for the rural labour surpluses as increasing competition makes economic survival more difficult. Such limitations within the domestic economy, recently exacerbated by the current drought in the South, has forced many rural households to seek employment in South Africa. Although external migration to South Africa …

No. 44: Migration, Remittances And Development In Southern Africa, Wade Pendleton, Jonathan Crush, Eugene Campbell, Thuso Green, Hamilton Simelane, Daniel Tevera, Fion De Vletter

Southern African Migration Programme

Remittances by migrants are now a focus of attention of governments and development agencies worldwide. Globally, cash remittances by international migrants now exceed $250 billion per annum, easily outweighing the value of development assistance. Over a third of remittances to developing countries originate in other developing countries. International cash remittances are only part of the story. Remittances in the form of goods and commodities are also extremely important, as are internal remittances from urban to rural areas within countries.

Debate rages on the development impacts of remittances and how these can be maximized. Advocates of migration as a positive force …

No. 17: International Migration And Good Governance In The Southern African Region, Jonathan Crush, Sally Peberdy, Vincent Williams

Southern African Migration Programme

Southern Africa has a long history of intra-regional migration, dating back to the mid-nineteenth century. Migration was probably the single most important factor tying together all of the various colonies and countries of the sub-continent into a single regional labour market during the twentieth century. However, entrenched patterns of migration have undergone major restructuring in the last two decades. Southern Africa is now a region on the move (McDonald 2000). Several broader changes underly this shift towards greater and greater intra-regional mobility.

First, the end of apartheid, a system designed to control movement and exclude outsiders, produced new opportunities for …

No. 20: Migration Of Skills In South Africa: Patterns, Trends And Challenges, Lyndith Waller

Southern African Migration Programme

It is a human inclination to want to position oneself where conditions are best for personal fulfilment, growth and success. People migrate because they perceive their environment as inadequate in terms of what they desire or deserve. The more deserving they consider themselves the more likely they will be to leave a suboptimal environment in search of one in which they will be appreciated – through recognition or pay – and where they can develop their potential, live securely, work towards their goals and enjoy standards with which they align themselves.

Skilled people recognise that they have something to offer; …

No. 18: The Draft Protocol On The Facilitation Of Movement Of Persons In Sadc: Implications For State Parties, Vincent Williams, Lizzie Carr

Southern African Migration Programme

The migration of persons across international boundaries in search of better opportunities or as a result of war, conflict and political instability has risen substantially over the years. The UN Population Division estimates that there are currently 175 million people living outside of their country of origin which is more than twice the number a generation ago (United Nations Population Division 2002). As communications and transport infrastructure become more sophisticated and cheaper, this trend is likely to continue in the foreseeable future.

This movement of persons from their own countries of nationality or citizenship, to another country where they take …

No. 2: The Brain Drain Of Health Professionals From Sub-Saharan Africa To Canada, Ronald Labonte, Corinne Packer, Nathan Klassen, Arminee Kazanjian, Lars Apland, Justina Adalikwu, Jonathan Crush, Tom Mcintosh, Ted Schrecker, Joelle Walker, David Zakus

Southern African Migration Programme

Significant numbers of African-trained health workers migrate every year to developed countries including Canada. They leave severely crippled health systems in a region where life expectancy is only 50 years of age, 16 per cent of children die before their fifth birthday and the HIV/AIDS crisis continues to burgeon. The population of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) totals over 660 million, with a ratio of fewer than 13 physicians per 100,000.

SSA has seen a resurgence of various diseases that were thought to be receding, while public health systems remain inadequately staffed. According to one report, the region needs approximately 700,000 physicians …