Refugees

Canada Among Donors: What Do the Latest Foreign Aid Statistics Tell Us?
- April 17, 2018
The preliminary aid statistics for 2017 are now out. What do they tell us about global trends and Canadian foreign aid? Globally, official development assistance (ODA) from traditional donors has held steady. The total amount, US$147 billion, is down slightly compared to 2016, but only because the amount spent on resettling refugees in donor countries has dropped. (Accounting

By Stephen Brown
Canadian Foreign Policy, International Development, Refugees
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Time to Make the Rainbow Refugee Assistance Plan Permanent
- March 21, 2018
In too many countries around the world, LGBTQ persons are criminalized — singled out for who they love — with criminal penalties including prison time and death. Canada’s refugee admission system is not perfect, but one of its great strengths is that it prioritizes the admission of this highly vulnerable population. In doing so, Canada

By Patti Tamara Lenard
Canadian Foreign Policy, Gender, Human Rights, Refugees
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Afghanistan’s Outlook for 2018 and Beyond
- January 29, 2018
The New Year ushers in predictions of what to expect in the coming year, but no predictions are necessary for Afghanistan this past week — the news says it all: three major attacks adding up to hundreds of casualties. Since Operation Enduring Freedom (2001), the international community has provided assistance to the Afghan government, military,

By Nipa Banerjee
Fragile States, International Security, Middle East, Refugees
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Commemorating Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries and Iran
- December 5, 2017
On November 30th, the State of Israel commemorates Jewish refugees from Arab Countries and Iran. The date is symbolic in itself, as the previous day, November 29th, marks the anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly vote of 1947 that called for the creation of two independent states, one Arab and one Jewish, in the

By Costanza Musu
Middle East, Refugees
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Merkel’s “Homelessness” of Power and the Future of the EU
- October 23, 2017
It has been very quiet in Berlin after the general election of 24 September. Yes, Angela Merkel officially won the election with 26.8% or 200 seats in the new Bundestag. However, her Christian Democrats (CDU) together with the Christian Social Union (CSU) — a provincial party from Bavaria that works with the CDU on the

By Benjamin Zyla
Democracy, Environment, Europe, Refugees
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The Politics of Border Security in the Sahel
- May 9, 2017
By Philippe M. Frowd A casual observer of the Sahel could be forgiven for understanding this region of West Africa as a space of threat: radicalization, terrorism, massive population growth, and irregular migration all grab the headlines. This vision is visible in the policy world, too: one only needs to glance at the ever-expanding number

By CIPS
Africa, International Security, Refugees
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The New Colossus
- March 30, 2017
by Ruth Bradley-St-Cyr “Give me your tired, your poor,/ Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” The words inscribed at the base of the statue of Liberty are famous, and yet hardly anyone knows that they are from a sonnet called “The New Colossus” and hardly anyone could name the poet, Emma Lazarus. She shares

By CIPS
Human Rights, Refugees, USA
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Syrian Refugees and Canada’s “Defining Moment”: One Year On
- December 7, 2016
By Elke Winter, Benjamin Zyla, Charlotte Murret-Labarthe University of Ottawa Origins of the crisis In March 2011, three months after the Arab Spring began in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, fifteen Syrian schoolchildren were arrested and tortured for writing on a wall the anti-regime slogan: “The people want the overthrow of the regime.” This event sparked

By CIPS
Canadian Foreign Policy, Middle East, Refugees
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We Must Not Close the Doors to Spontaneously Arriving Asylum Seekers
- November 8, 2016
By Stephanie J. Silverman Governments understandably focus on enhancing security, surveillance, and risk management for their citizens, and as we have seen, particularly since 9-11, much of this increased attention is directed at national borders. While every person enjoys the legal right to seek asylum in Canada, the UK, the US, and any other signatory

By CIPS
International Security, Refugees
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How uOttawa is Taking Action to Support Syrian Refugees in Canada and Around the World
- May 20, 2016
The devastating civil war in Syria has resulted in the largest forced migration of people since the Second World War. To date, 13.5 million Syrians are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, including 4.8 million registered refugees and another 6.6 million internally displaced. Those who risk the journey out of Syria face perilous travel, bare

By Allan Rock
Middle East, Refugees
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Migration as a Threat to Foreign Aid?
- March 16, 2016
The current migration crisis poses a threat to foreign aid. By that, I certainly do not mean that the refugees and asylum seekers themselves are dangerous, but rather how Western governments respond to the crisis is already having a negative impact on foreign aid, one that will worsen significantly in the coming years. In short,

By Stephen Brown
Canadian Foreign Policy, International Development, Refugees
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Welcoming Syrians, detaining others
- December 8, 2015
By Philippe Bourbeau The newly elected Trudeau government seems to be moving quickly on one of its promises made during the federal election campaign: to accept 25,000 Syrians by January 1, 2016. On November 9, while announcing the formation of a sub-committee of cabinet ministers to expedite the refugee initiative, the minister for Immigration, Refugees

By CIPS
Human Rights, Middle East, Refugees
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