RESEARCH AND ORIENTATION WORKSHOP ON FORCED MIGRATION
Tenth Annual Orientation Course on Forced Migration 2012
Research Assignments
MODULE A
Refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs): Definitions and New Issues in Protection (Research Assignments)
Participants opted for this module A should submit a research report/article (within 4000 – 5000 words with end notes on any one of the following themes:
1. What are the basic differences between the refugees and IDPs? Argue your case with suitable illustrations.
2. Why the ‘right to return’ is an important issue so far as refugees are concerned? Illustrate with at least two suitable examples.
3. What is meant by the phrase ‘mixed and massive flows’? Write an essay on emerging juridical discourses in view of the massive and mixed flows of displaced persons.
4. Make an assessment of the resettlement and rehabilitation policies of the conflict-induced or development-induced IDPs in your own country/province.
MODULE B
Gendered Nature of Forced Migration
Participants opting for this Module B should submit a research report/article (within 4000 – 5000 words) with end notes on any one of the following themes/questions:
1. Why listening to women’s experiences and chronicling them is particularly relevant for understanding refugee situations in South Asia.
2. 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.
3. Critically discuss whether the policies pursued by national and international actors have been adequate in addressing the specific issue of women refugees / displaces.
4. Write on camps as sites of insecurity for women. Give examples taken from any refugee or IDP Camps.
5. Can the right to return be the only durable solution for women? Give your response with examples taken from any one of the following cases: Sri Lankan IDPs/ Afghan refugees in Pakistan/ Bhutanese Refugees.
MODULE C
Environmental Crisis, Conflict, Resources and Displacement (Research Assignments)
Participants opted for this module C should submit a research report/article (within 4000 – 5000 words with end notes or foot notes on any one of the following themes:
1. Analyse the current environmental and resource crises causing involuntary migration with a suitable case studies of your choice.
2. Discuss the relevance of UN Guiding Principles vis-a-vis displacement induced by development or natural disasters
3. Discuss the experiences/ voices of vulnerable groups/ marginalised (e.g. Indigenous tribes) in development induced displacements in South Asia
4. Analyse any natural disaster case study (e.g. flood, cyclone, earthquake, tsunamis, etc) in the context of relief and rehabilitation policy.
5. Discuss the scope of integrating Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction with suitable illustrations.
6. Write an essay on the debate between developed and developing nations’ position on tackling global environmental challenges
MODULE D
Statelessness in South Asia (Research Assignments)
Participants opted for this module D should submit a research report/article (within 4000 – 5000 words with end notes or foot notes on any one of the following themes:
1. Discuss with reference to a case study how the distinction between a Refugee and a Stateless Person is increasingly getting blurred.
2. Discuss the 1954 Convention on Statelessness. Frame a Model Regional Law in order to address the problem of Statelessness in South Asia against the background of international legal regimes.
3. Suggest with reference to a case study a roadmap for civil society activism in order to address the problem of Statelessness.
4. Do you think that the Stateless should have a right to citizenship in the host country? Please enunciate your view on global responsibility relating to statelessness.
5. Can stateless women be considered as a special category? Write a research paper on one group of stateless women in South Asia.
MODULE E
Media and Forced Migration (Research Assignments)
Participants opted for this module E should submit a research report/article (with end notes or foot notes on any one of the following themes:
1. Write a news report on outmigration caused by Cyclone Aila (2009) with special emphasis on relief and rehabilitation measures. Compare the situations in West Bengal and Bangladesh. You may also write a report on the Kashmir earthquake of 2005, comparing relief and rehabilitation on the two sides of the Line of Control.
2. Write a follow-up report on the condition of those displaced in Tamil Nadu by the 2004 tsunami.
3. Prepare a script for a documentary on conflict-induced displacement in the northeast. You may select any sub-region.
4. Review the national and international legal regime governing forced migration. What does India have to do to strengthen it or implement it more effectively? Examine with a case study of your choosing.
5. Write a feature report on life in a rehabilitation camp. You can choose your area.
6. What is the status of Julian Assange? Write a biased report, reflecting on the Leveson inquiry into. You can also reflect on the situation refugees in India find themselves in when they are pushed back into an indeterminate country of origin in the context of the policy of refoulement/non- refoulement.