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Centre for Refugee ResearchThe Centre for Refugee Research is situated in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at UNSW |
The Centre for Refugee Research holds a range of information about many aspects of refugee rights, refugee law, policy and service provision. Other comprehensive sources of information can be found on our Useful Refugee Related Links page.
Pre-ExCom and ExCom 2007
Click HERE for the Pre-Excom and Excom Report 2007
The image above will take you to a video of the work carried out by the Centre with it's Internship Program. This is a a demonstration of the practical and valuable contribution that the interns, students and staff of the Centre for Refugee Research make to promote advocacy by refugee groups and refugee women especially.
5th March 2008
The Rohingya are both stateless and refugees, persecuted in their identified homeland of Burma and denied adequate protection in the land to which they have fled. This report details consultations held with the refugees in March 2007.
The launch was held in the Council Chambers on the Ground Floor of the Chancellery Building at the University of New South Wales.
Please click above image to watch a video of parts of the proceedings
Forming an International Working Group on the
Protection of Refugee Women and Children
From Words on Paper to Actions on the Ground
Since the adoption of the Conclusion on the Protection of Women and Girls at Risk by the Executive Committee of UNHCR in 2006, (see below) some important steps have been taken towards its implementation, but these are not enough. There is still a long way to go to change the words on paper to actions on the ground.We are bringing together a working group of NGO's and Refugee organisations to advocate for the implementation of the commitments made in the Conclusion and monitor the implementation process. We will report back during the UNHCR annual meeting of NGO's each year in September.
The establishment of the working group is sponsored by The Centre for Refugee Research, UNSW, Asian Women's Human Rights Council, The Australian National Committee on Refugee Women, The African Women's Advocacy Unit, Australia and The Refugee Council of Australia. We are inviting organisations from around the world to join with us in this endeavour.We held two meetings in Geneva during Excom to establish the working groups and to plan the first years work. If you could not attend the meetings, but are interested in being involved in this important work, please email us and add your name to the list of participating organisations.
TRAINING PROGRAMS
The Centre for Refugee Research runs a number of training programs to assist refugees here and overseas
A list of courses currently being offered can be located here
NEW ARC FUNDNG TO CONTINUE OUR WORK WITH WOMEN AT RISK - June 2007
The Centre for Refugee Research and ANCORW have received new ARC Linkages funding for three years to look into the experience of women at risk once they are resettled in Australia. This project will follow up on the research into the women at risk work completed in Thailand, Kenya and Ethiopia and will examine links between pre arrival experience and settlement. It will include women settled in urban, regional and rural areas of NSW. Rebecca Eckert, research assistant and a long time supporter and volunteer with CRR and ANCORW will undertake her PhD as part of this project
The project will begin in August 2007 and a new link will be created on this website so that information and emerging findings can be shared with refugee communities, interested academics, community workers and policy makers .
For more information on this project please contact Rebecca Eckert on Rebecca.Eckert@unsw.edu.au
The Centre staff were awarded a three year ARC grant in 2003 to examine the status of refugee women at risk in refugee camps in Africa and Northern Thailand. More detail regarding this work can be found here
The provision of training to refugee groups is an integral part of the Women at Risk Project. A power point presentation detailing the training methods used in northern Thailand can be downloaded here.
A case study prepared for Amnesty International can be read here
CONSULTATIONS WITH ROHINGYA REFUGEES IN BANGLADESH - March 2007
Eileen Pittaway and Linda Bartolomei recently conducted consultations and trialled risk assessment tools with the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. This project was funded by UNHCR and staff from the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture, Amnesty International and AUSTCARE were included in the team, along with representatives from UNHCR Geneva.
The mission utilised the methods of community consultation developed as part of the Women at Risk Research and further developed the risk assessment tool which was a key outcome of that project to include torture and trauma, elderly refugees and refugees with a disability.
The camps at Cox’s Bazaar were some of the worst we have ever seen in all of our work in the field, and the condition of this ‘forgotten’ population of refugees is heartbreaking.
A major report containing pictures and stories drawn and told by the refugees will be launched in the near future and will be posted on this website. The comprehensive risk assessment tool will be released by UNHCR later this year.
THE NEW ‘CONCLUSION’ ON WOMEN AT RISK
POSITIVE OUTCOMES OF THE FIRST WOMEN AT RISK PROJECT CONTINUE (See women at risk project outcomes site for details and documents.)
In 2006 a new “Conclusion on the protection of women and girls at risk” was passed by the Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The Conclusion has the status of “soft’ international law. It was based on the “ Case for a Conclusion for Women at Risk” prepared by Eileen Pittaway and Linda Bartolomei in 2005.
In February 2007, in a press release, the High Commissioner for refugees announced significant new funding to address sexual and gender based violence in refugee camps and urban areas.The consultations’ held with the Rohingya refugees mentioned above are also part of the response to this research project.
Recent Publications and Reports
Long Journey, Young Lives
A fascinating ABC Online Interactive production which extends the discussion about the experience of refugee children and young people in Australia.
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Centre for Refugee Research UNSW Sydney 2052, Australia Tel:(International)+61 2 9385 1961 Email: CRR@unsw.edu.au
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