Ethnic minorities and sustainable refugee return and reintegration in Kosovo

ABSTRACT

Unprecedented levels of displacement make the return of refugees and internally displaced populations a critical challenge, with post-conflict minority return especially complex. This article investigates the return process in Kosovo to identify what supports and hinders sustainability. For nearly two decades the Government of Kosovo and international partners have supported the return of minorities displaced during the 1998–1999 conflict and March 2004 riots. We draw on interviews with all major stakeholder groups in return programming and on indicative survey data from 499 returnees. Using a framework adapted from Black, Koser and Munk (‘Understanding Voluntary Return’), we focus on the Kosovo return process in recent years. The survey results indicate some sustainability but high differentiation in returnees’ satisfaction. This warrants concern, as differences in returnee perspectives run along already conflictual ethnic and spatial fault lines. In post-conflict settings, sustainable return and reintegration require more than the provision of services – they require nuanced understanding of how the shadow of conflict shapes returnee experiences. Finally, we question the orthodoxy of return discourse and highlight critical factors to support sustainable return elsewhere.     

环境民事公益诉讼法律适用困境及其破解

环境民事公益诉讼在司法实践中已得到大量运用,但其存在以下法律适用上的问题:第一,在对具体个案是环境民事公益诉讼还是其他私益诉讼的性质判断上,现有裁判存在显著差异。第二,在环境民事公益诉讼与类似案件的审理中,不同案件裁判者在程序选择与裁判结果上也呈现各异的走向。原因在于该诉的法律适用中存在"公共利益"等现有民事法律体系难以评价的规范性构成要件。究其根源,是该诉的独立请求权基础尚未得到明确。因此裁判者在审案时通过"借用"环境侵权之诉等类似诉讼请求权基础进行涵摄时,其法律适用过程就容易产生混同。明确环境民事公益诉讼请求权并精细该诉的法律规则,有助于环境民事公益诉讼程序的公正运行与裁判结果的日趋统一。     

“It Is Better to Do Business in Africa than in Europe” – Socio-Economic Positionings among Business-Minded European Somalis Moving to Kenya

Abstract

Using the example of European Somalis moving to Kenya, this article argues that although these middle class return migrants share many similarities, they also differ in significant ways. Focusing on economically independent migrants, this paper will show that their move to Kenya is both return and onward migration at the same time. The transnational socio-economic positioning of Somali returnees in Kenya, this article demonstrates, rests on the importance of legal capital for enabling transnational mobility, which in turn is relevant for the convertibility of capital in the various local settings in which migrants settle.     

Political aspects of repatriation: Germany,Russia, Kazakhstan. A comparative analysis

This paper is based on a study which compares repatriation policies of Germany, Russia, and Kazakhstan. The choice of cases is based on a “most similar case design.” The Russian case results in unsuccessful and unsustainable repatriation, the German case exhibits a change from sustainable repatriation to a slow termination of the program, while the case of Kazakhstan is one of sustainable and relatively successful repatriation. The main argument of the paper is that in order for a repatriation program to be sustainable, the program must contain both a practical component and an ideological component. If a repatriation program lacks ideological backing which permeates other aspects of political life in a state, then the repatriation program grinds to a halt. If a repatriation program has ideological backing, but is rendered impractical and does not meet the economic, demographic and labor market needs of a state, then the further development of the program stops. The findings of this study merit further reflection on issues of changing national identities, on transnational migration pathways, and on the “post-Soviet condition” which has set the stage for all of the aforementioned processes and transformations.     

论没收国际合作中的资产返还问题

资产返还是没收国际合作领域中对没收资产进行处置的方式之一,其依据在于联合国两大公约,即2001年的《联合国打击有组织犯罪公约》和2003年的《联合国反腐败公约》。资产返还主要是基于两种原因：基于合法所有权的返还和基于赔偿性质的返还。事实上,被请求国在返还资产时可以考虑执行没收的费用,还可以考虑基于特殊用途的其他方式。     

科学发展视域下的文化建设

文化是手段,也是目的。科学发展观因突出强调文化建设自身价值的重要性而不断增强着中华民族的文化自觉,是为观念之更新;科学发展由于为文化建设指明了正确前进方向而日趋强化着中华民族的文化自信,是为信心之改变。科学发展观揭示了文化建设的基本规律,是为方法之转变。观念乃深层动力,信心是直接动力,方法乃科学动力,三者有机结合,共同构成推动中国特色社会主义的大发展和大繁荣的动力机制。     

国内外输电线路设计规范风荷载取值标准的比较

以我国现行电力行业标准DL/T 5154-2002和DL/T 5092-1999关于风荷载的计算规定为基准,对国内外4套有代表性的输电线路设计规范风荷载的取值标准进行了分析比较,初步摸清了国内外规范风荷载标准值差异的定量数据.计算结果表明,我国输电线路铁塔结构的风荷载标准值普遍低于国外规范相同条件下的风荷载标准值,规范修订时建议将基本风压的统计重现期提高到50a一遇,并对我国输电线路基本风压的合理取值和统计风速的基准高度进行适当的调整.     

The delisting decision: The case of buyout offer with squeeze-out (BOSO)

In this paper, we exploit the specificity of going-private transactions that are initiated by the historic controlling shareholders (i.e. voluntary delistings). In Continental Europe, the majority of firms that become private do so following a buyout offer with squeeze-out (BOSO); using this mechanism, the controlling shareholder can cash out minorities and take the firm private. We argue that the decision to go private results from a cost–benefit analysis. Moreover, we pay particular attention to the consequences and the related costs of compliance resulting from the passage of the French Financial Security Law (FSL) in 2003. A quantitative study was performed using a unique dataset spanning 1997–2006. This data set consists of 140 French firms, of which 70 were voluntarily delisted via BOSO and 70 were industry-matched control firms. Univariate analysis and logistic regressions support the cost–benefit analysis: when listing benefits decrease because of weak liquidity and/or weak analyst coverage, it seems better for the firm to go private. Furthermore, the inherent characteristics of delisted firms (i.e. performance, leverage, and risk as measured by the beta factor) appear to be important driving factors of delisting. The passage of the FSL has strengthened the impact of these characteristics on the decision to go private. Mature firms that have weak performance and low specific risk and that are not financially constrained by debt will decide to go private because they cannot afford the listing status anymore. Finally, we show that the driving factors of delisting differ according to the identity of the controlling shareholder; specifically, the level of risk appears to be the strongest determinant for family firms, while non-family firms also consider their own financial structure.     

疫情之下基于健康视角的农村进城务工人员 收入回报与提升研究

提升农村进城务工人员收入一直是近年来社会工作的重点,以往研究更多聚焦于农村进城务工人员教育、技术技能等的培养,忽视了健康的基石作用。新冠肺炎疫情的暴发,使健康的重要性再次受到关注。研究分析了健康对农村进城务工人员收入回报的影响,重点关注健康对农村进城务工人员和城镇职工这两类异质性劳动者收入可能存在的影响差异。研究表明,健康对两类就业人员收入的影响力度有差异,相比城镇职工,对于农村进城务工人员而言,健康是比教育更重要的人力资本。研究建议,在疫情防控进入常态化及推进新型城镇化进程中,为提升农村进城务工人员的收入回报,有关部门不应再局限于他们的教育、技能等认知能力的提升和培养,对其健康状况应同样给予足够重视,应通过完善医疗健康等社保体系支撑进城务工人员健康水平的提升,进而改善其收入。