RESEARCH AND ORIENTATION WORKSHOP ON FORCED MIGRATION
Winter Course on Forced Migration, 2005
Assignments
MODULE A
Forced Migration,racism,immigration, and xenophobia
Connect the four key words in the title of the course – forced migration, racism, immigration, and xenophobia – and write a note on how the syllabus and the reading material of the course integrated these into an orientation course on forced migration.
OR
Who are ‘we’, and who are ‘they’? Discuss and show how the issue of forced migration is underwritten in the process of identity formation.
Show how racism at times is linked to nationalism, majoritarianism, and discriminations of various kinds thereby producing forced displacement of people – both within the borders of the country and across the borders.
OR
Discuss a concrete situation to present a report on how in-migration of people to an area has produced neo-racist and communal discriminations and attacks against them by the State, or the majoritarian forces, and or the host communities.
Prepare and present a fact sheet of newspaper reports (4 pages) on an event or topic related to any of the four themes mentioned in the title of the module.
Or
Discuss the right to return and argue in the context whether partition refugees should be considered as a distinct category.
MODULE B
Gender dimensions of forced migration, vulnerabilities, and justice
On the basis of a close reading of B.S. Chimni’s Reader address the debate: is it desirable that women be treated as a separate legal category in international and national legal regimes of protection.
OR
Compare the situation of Sri Lankan women IDPs and Afghan refugee women in Pakistan.
OR
Why listening to women’s experiences and chronicling them is particularly relevant for understanding refugee situations in South Asia.
OR
In the context of women’s displacement all over South Asia discuss women’s lack of control over institutional structures of protection.
OR
Is lack of control over resources a reason for women’s displacement? Argue your case with reference to one particular group of women refugees/IDPs.
(For Terms Papers)
MODULE C
International, regional, and the national regimes of protection
Do you think that the category of “well-founded fear” reflects subjectivity in the definition of refugees as indicated in the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees? Comment in the light of the definition adopted by the OAU Convention.
2. Examine the principle of non-refoulement in relation to the policy of non-entrée.
3. Do you think that there is a need for a national law on refugees? Argue your case with reference to experiences of any country.
4. Explain how the Conclusion No. 39 and 73 adopted by the UNHCR Executive Committee and the CEDAW have attempted to take into account the special needs of women refugees.
5. How the internally displaced persons can return to the places of their habitual residence and/or resettled? Discuss with special reference to Principles 28 and 29 of the UN Guiding Principles.
MODULE D
Internal displacement – causes, linkages, and responses
Show how the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement base themselves on human rights and humanitarian legal regimes.
OR
What are the special provisions for Women IDPs in international regimes of protection and care of IDPs. How far have they helped the cause of women’s rehabilitation and care?
OR
On the basis of a close reading of Internal Displacement in South Asia write an essay on how development have often led to displacement in South Asia.
OR
How relevant are the UN Guiding Principles for different countries in South Asia?
OR
Compare the situation of conflict related IDPs and Tsunami related IDPs in Sri Lanka.
MODULE E
Resource Politics, Environmental Degradation, and Forced Migration
On the basis of your reading of Meghna Guhathakurta’s article “Globalization, Class and Gender Relations: The Shrimp Industry in South-western Bangladesh,” Report on the Workshop on Engendering R & R (both available in CRG website) and the chapter entitled “Shefali” in Marginal Nations, analyse how lack of control over resources have led to large-scale displacement of women?
OR
On reading “Development Induced Displacement in Pakistan,” in Refugee Watch (available in CRG website) and “Pakistan: Development and Disaster” in Internal Displacement in South Asia, comment on how the developmental model that has been favoured by the Pakistani state have led to large-scale dispossession and displacement of people?
OR
On reading Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury’s “Uprooted Twice: Refugees From the Chittagong Hill Tracts,” in Refugees and the State do you agree that conflict in CHT is in the last resort a conflict over land.
MODULE F
Ethics of Care and Protection of the victims of forced displacement
Review relevant sections on ethics and justice in B.S. Chimni’s International Refugee Law: A Reader and comment on the importance of these two issues in rehabilitation and care of refugees.
OR
After reading Ranabir Samaddar’s article on “Power, Fear, Ethics,” in Refugee Watch critically discuss “fear” as a factor in the displacement of vulnerable groups.
OR
Critically analyse Peter Penz’s article on “Development, displacement and International Ethics,” and comment how ethical it is to displace people for reasons of development?