On the Media Effects of Immigration and Refugee Board Hearings via Videoconference

Canada's Immigration and Refugee Board conducts some of itsrefugee hearings via videoconferencing. As part of a reviewof the fairness of this practice, a theoretical approach andreview of the empirical literature was commissioned. Particularlyunder ‘high stakes’ conditions, it was found thatvideoconferencing reduces mutual trust and understanding, exacerbatescultural differences in non-verbal communication, and increasesthe propensity to lie while decreasing the ability to detectfalsehoods. Further, the inherent power imbalance between thetribunal and the claimant is widened as the tribunal membersbecome acclimatized to the technology. In general, the differencein sensory perception of a mediating technology creates cognitivedifferences between mediated and non-mediated environments.Further, sensory perception that feeds narrative constructionvaries by culture. The process of conveying and understandingmeaning across cultures is sufficiently difficult; adding thecomplexity of videoconference mediation introduces the possibilityof inconsistency, inaccuracy, and altered judgement.     

The Quantitative Analysis of Terrorism and Immigration: An Initial Exploration

This article uses immigration and other biographical data to refute much of the conventional wisdom about the relationship between terrorism and immigration. Using a database created from the biographical data of 373 terrorists, we have established a number of significant findings. Over forty percent of our database is made up of Western Nationals. Second, despite widespread alarms raised over terrorist infiltration from Mexico, we found no terrorist presence in Mexico and no terrorists who entered the U.S. from Mexico. Third, we found a sizeable terrorist presence in Canada and a number of Canadian-based terrorists who have entered the U.S. In addition to illuminating the terrorist networks entrenched in the West, this paper is also an attempt to advance the field of terrorism studies by taking a quantitative approach to data analysis.     

Negotiations for Refugee Repatriation or Local Settlement: A Game-Theoretic Analysis

This paper uses a model developed by Brams and Doherty (1993) to examine negotiations among a country of origin, a country of asylum, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in a refugee crisis. A unique feature of the paper is its treatment of the country of asylum as a separate player in the negotiations, which makes the choice to permit or deny settlement in the asylum country endogenous.
The model is applied to two groups of Rwandese refugees: Tutsis living in exile in Burundi for three decades and Hutus in Zaire during the 1990s. The contrasting circumstances surrounding these two refugee crises provide an opportunity to study asylum countries that were sympathetic and unsympathetic, and to model changing attitudes in the country of origin and the international community toward the refugees. For both crises, the predictions of the model are broadly consistent with the unfolding of the negotiation process and the opportunities that eventually became available to the refugees.     

20世纪上半叶国际性难民组织与难民保护考察

1950年的联合国难民署、1951年的《难民公约》及1967年修订的《难民地位公约议定书》从制度与法律上对难民进行保护,是当今国际难民保护机制的核心角色。它是在两次世界大战前后成立的国际性难民组织的难民保护实践基础上建立和发展起来的。实际上,当今国际难民保护机制与早期难民组织提供难民保护面临的困境大体相似。本文通过考察20世纪上半叶成立的4个国际性的难民组织在难民保护上所起到的作用,并试图分析其局限性,以期为我们考察当今国际难民保护机制的持久性与它延续的可能性提供历史的与国际关系的分析视角。     

The Origin of the Iraqi Refugee Issue

The frequent conflicts and wars in Iraq have bred large floods of refugees. Millions of Iraqis were forced to leave their home and wandered about as refugees as a result of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980-1988 and Iraq＇s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and later the Gulf war. In particular, the long-lasting Iraqi War that erupted in 2003 has brought about another and even bigger flood of refugees. The large number and serious impact of the issue of Iraqi refugees have attracted the high attention of the international community.     

“不丹难民问题”久拖未决的原因及其前景分析

本文对“不丹难民问题”产生过程作了较为系统的回顾,分析了长期以来未能解决的原因,对“不丹难民问题”解决前景作了一定程度的分析。     

难民问题治理上的各相关行为体分析——对缅甸罗兴伽难民的个案研究

本文分析在孟加拉国的缅甸罗兴伽(Rohingya)难民问题的形成,以及在难民保护、援助和难民问题治理过程中各个国家、国际组织、地区组织、国际非政府组织等各相关行为体的角色和作用,并通过进一步探讨认为,罗兴伽难民问题需要东盟组织通过创建新的地区难民问题治理机制来解决。     

Radicalism of the Hopeless: Refugee Flows and Transnational Terrorism

We examine whether refugee flows increase transnational terrorism in states to which refugees flee. Recent studies find that refugee flows contribute to the spread of interstate and civil war, but to a far lesser extent have studies examined how refugee flows could lead to other forms of political violence. We discuss two ways in which refugee flows can lead to transnational terrorism: how conditions in camps contribute to the radicalization of refugees; and how poorly host states treat refugees. We then conduct empirical tests using data on worldwide international refugee flows and transnational terrorism. Specifically, we model the effect of refugee flows on transnational terror attacks within a directed dyad framework to account for characteristics of origin and host states. Using a rare-events logit model, along with count models to check robustness, we find that refugee flows significantly increase the likelihood and counts of transnational terrorist attacks that occur in the host country, even when controlling for other variables. Given the prominence of refugee flows and populations worldwide, the results suggest that states with significant refugee populations and the international community at large should take measures to address the conditions in refugee camps, as well as the treatment of refugees by host states in order to prevent transnational terrorism.     

The Rise of the Far Right in Europe and the Refugee Crisis

The rise of the far right in Europe has captured the attention of the international community in recent years.Its specific features are:an unprecedentedly strong influence,an obvious trend towards the moderate line,horizontal collaboration to expand its reach,and a very adept use of social media networks.The refugee crisis has given the far right an historical opportunity.The rise has also had a profound effect on European politics;it has deepened the political divide inside EU member states,and shaken up the traditional political values and the foundation of the union.The rise of the far right will likely not change Europe's political landscape,but problems of EU governance over its handling of the refugee crisis cannot be ignored.