A Tale of Two Refugee Crises

When the 2015 refugee “crisis” drove more than a million Syrians towards Europe, the EU justified detaining these refugees for up to 18 months. Less than two weeks into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and more than one million people have already fled into neighbouring countries—but don’t expect Brussels to call for their detention this time. […]

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THE UKRAINE CRISIS Double Standards: Has Europe’s Response to Refugees Changed?

Global Detention Project, 2 March 2022 During the 2015 refugee “crisis,” the EU called for detaining arriving refugees for up to 18 months. Not so today in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The reasons for this difference point to an intractable challenge in Europe’s ability to embrace the international refugee protection regime.   […]

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Immigration Detention in Libya: “A Human Rights Crisis”

Libya is notoriously perilous for refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants, who often suffer a litany of abuses, including at the country’s numerous detention facilities. Conditions at these facilities, many of which are under the control of militias, are deplorable. There are frequent shortages of water and food; over-crowding is endemic; detainees can experience physical mistreatment […]

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The Dilemmas of the International Organization for Migration

In June, Antonio Vitorino was elected Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Formerly a minister in the Portuguese government of the Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Guterres, Vitorino is only the second non-American director in the IOM’s history. Given the historical and political proximity between the IOM and the U.S. government, his election is a notable development. In this article for “The Conversation” (France), GDP Researcher Mariette Grange and Antoine Pécoud (Paris 13 University) examine the IOM’s relations with the U.S. and the organisation’s involvement in migration control “dirty work.” […]

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International Organization for Migration

Searching for Safe Haven

“Of the planet’s more than 6 billion people, some 240 million are on the move, fleeing war, persecution, poverty, environmental degradation, or just seeking a better life.” You’ll find their names on page two of every issue of the Bulletin: Albert Einstein, Hans Bethe, Rudolf Peierls, Leo Szilard, Victor Weisskopf, and James Franck. Besides having […]

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Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Special Issues on Refugees, 2002