The term ‘refugee’ means many things to different people. Even its formal distinction, as defined by the 1951 Geneva Convention, is regularly challenged and under perennial review by academics, governments and humanitarian agencies. According to the Convention a refugee is someone who, ‘owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country’.

At the beginning of the 21st century, nearly 60 years after this definition was enshrined in international law, there are many other forcibly displaced people around the world who do not easily fit within the formal category. They and their rights are in urgent need of protection. We live in a rapidly changing world in which human migration has a significant impact on the economic, political and social agendas of sovereign states, intergovernmental agencies and civil society groups. It is vital that forced migrants – be they refugees, internally displaced people or those who have to move for other reasons such as global warming or development projects – have their rights defined and their freedom preserved.

Understanding the causes and consequences of forced migration and possessing the practical skills to deal effectively with its challenges are essential, both for the development of effective programmes to assist refugees, and in addressing the root causes of human displacement.

The Refugee Studies Centre’s International Summer School fosters dialogue between academics, practitioners and policymakers working to improve the situation of refugees and other forced migrants. It provides the time and space for them to reflect on their experiences and to think critically about some of the aims and assumptions underlying their work.

11 - 29 July 2011

• experience in working with, or on issues related to, refugees or other forced migrants
• a first-degree
• proficiency in the English language; as a guide, foreign-language English speakers should be able to obtain a score of 7.00 in ELTS/IELTS or 570 in TOEFL.

The fee for 2011 is £3,125. Pay by 31 March to qualify for a reduced fee of £2,950

Tel: +44 (0) 1865 281 729
Fax: +44 (0) 1865 281 730
E-Mail: summer.school@qeh.ox.ac.uk
Internet: http://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/study/international-summer-school

The MSc in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies is an interdisciplinary degree taught by leading scholars in the field of forced migration. The nine-month course enables participants to explore forced migration through a thesis, a group research essay and a range of courses. The degree exposes students to cutting-edge scholarship while allowing them to tailor their studies to
suit their own particular interests.
Please note that these courses are subject to change.

International Legal and Normative Stream
• International refugee and human rights law I & II

Causes and Consequences Stream
• Introduction to the study of forced migration
• Asylum and the modern state

Electives Stream (students choose two)
• Movement and morality
• Theory and practice of humanitarian intervention
• UNHCR and world politics
• International relations and refugees
• Dispossession and forced migration in the Middle East
• Rethinking displacement in Africa

The Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford (RSC), in collaboration with the Humanitarian Policy Group at the Overseas Development Institute (HPG), is organizing an international conference on the theme of Protecting People in Conflict & Crisis: Responding to the Challenges of a Changing World. This conference aims to convene a broad range of academic researchers, humanitarian practitioners, policy makers and civil society representatives to review the state of policy and practice in the broad field of humanitarian protection as we look forward into a potentially turbulent 21st Century.

The conference will address the following indicative themes:
* Populations at risk: Surviving and responding to protection threats
* Concepts of Protection
* The Politics of Protection
* Protection, security and the roles of military and armed actors
* National and regional responsibilities to protect
* Protection in Practice

This two-day workshop places the Palestinian refugee case study within the broader context of the international human rights regime. It examines, within a human rights framework, the policies and practices of Middle Eastern states as they impinge upon Palestinian refugees. Through a mix of lectures, working group exercises and interactive sessions, participants engage actively and critically with the contemporary debates in the human rights movement and analyse the specific context of Palestinian refugees in the Middle East (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank, Gaza and Israel) in light of the debates.

The workshop commences with the background of the Palestinian refugee crisis, with special attention to the socio-political context and legal status of Palestinian refugees in the region. This is followed by a careful examination of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights including its philosophical underpinnings. The key themes, which have taken centre stage in the debate on the Palestinian refugee crisis, are statelessness, right of return, repatriation, self-determination, restitution compensation and protection. These themes are critically examined along with current discussions about the respective roles of UNRWA, UNHCR and the UNCCP in the Palestinian refugee case.

18 - 19 March 2011

Katherine Salahi
Outreach Programme Manager
Refugee Studies Centre
Oxford Department of International Development,
University of Oxford
3 Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TB, UK
Tel +44 (0)1865 270723
Email: katherine.salahi@qeh.ox.ac.uk
Internet: http://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/events/palestinian-refugees-and-international-law or Click here

This two-day workshop examines mental health and psychosocial support in emergency and protracted refugee settings. It invites practitioners and theorists to struggle with complex intercultural issues associated with psychosocial programming.
The workshop begins with a critical analysis of contemporary psychological approaches to individual and community psychological and social needs following armed conflict and displacement. It examines the limits of Western psychological approaches to tasks such as healing and reconciliation in the cultures and situations of complex humanitarian emergencies. It also analyses how damage can be done through the imposition of Western approaches and the marginalisation of local approaches. Pointing out how individualised, narrow psychosocial programmes miss important opportunities for building peace and sustainable development, it suggests the need for integrated, holistic approaches.

Next, the workshop examines the value of indigenous psychological resources such as local rituals and traditional practices in assisting healing, community reconciliation, and processes of non-violent conflict resolution. Using exemplars from field programmes, it examines how to blend Western and local approaches through processes of consultation, dialogue, and collaborative problem-solving with local people.
Attention will be paid to the Interagency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings, its framework and implications.

Katherine Salahi
Outreach Programme Manager
Refugee Studies Centre
Oxford Department of International Development,
University of Oxford
3 Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TB, UK
Tel +44 (0)1865 270723
Email: katherine.salahi@qeh.ox.ac.uk
Internet: http://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/ or Click here

For the past twenty years Somalia has experienced one of the most devastating and intractable
humanitarian crises the world has known. Decades of ethnic infighting and failed attempts at
installing an effective state have left over 1 million people displaced within the country, and
around 3 million food insecure.

The urgent need for humanitarian assistance in the country, coupled with the extreme lack of
humanitarian space available under current conditions, calls for a radical rethinking of how
humanitarian action can and should take place. Humanitarian agencies are actively struggling
to develop new implementation methodologies that can cope with the volatility of the
situation, but deeper thinking is needed across the humanitarian community about how the
humanitarian deadlock can be broken.

This workshop addressed the question of humanitarian action in Somalia by convening
academics, policy makers, and humanitarian practitioners with expertise and interest in
Somalia to share their current thinking on the situation and to consider creative solutions to
the humanitarian deadlock.

E-mail: simon.addison@qeh.ox.ac.uk.
Internet: http://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/PDFs/RSC%20Somalia%20Workshop.pdf