Megan Bradley

At the start of 2014, more people were displaced globally by conflict and human rights violations than at any time since the Second World War. Although many of those displaced, from countries such as Syria, Iraq, Colombia, Kenya, and Sudan, have survived grave human rights abuses that demand redress, the links between forced migration, justice, and reconciliation have historically received little attention. This collection addresses the roles of various actors including governments, UN agencies, NGOs, and displaced persons themselves, raising complex questions about accountability for past injustices and how to support reconciliation in communities shaped by exile. Forced Migration, Reconciliation, and Justice draws on a variety of disciplinary perspectives including political science, law, anthropology, and social work. The chapters range from case studies in countries such as Bosnia, Cambodia, Lebanon, Turkey, East Timor, Kenya, and Canada, to macro-level analyses of trends, interconnections, and theoretical dilemmas. Furthermore, the authors explore the contribution of trials and truth commissions, as well as the role of religious practices, oral history, theatre, and social interactions in addressing justice and reconciliation issues in affected communities. In doing so, they provide fresh insight into emerging debates at the centre of forced migration and transitional justice. Exploring critical issues in political science and development studies, this provocative collaboration unites leading researchers, policymakers, human rights advocates, and aid workers to examine the theoretical and practical relationships between displacement, transitional justice, and reconciliation. Contributors include Ian B. Anderson (Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada), John Bell (Toledo International Center for Peace), Chaloka Beyani (London School of Economics), Mateja Celestina (Coventry University), Ayse Betül Çelik (Sabanci University), Mick Dumper (Exeter University), Roger Duthie (International Center for Transitional Justice), Huma Haider (University of Birmingham), Nancy Maroun (United Nations Development Programme Office in Lebanon), James Milner (Carleton University), Mike Molloy (University of Ottawa), Paige Morrow (Frank Bold), Lisa Ndejuru (Concordia University), Thien-Huong T. Ninh (California State University, Dominguez Hills), Anneke Smit (University of Windsor), Roberto Vidal López (Pontifica Universidad), Luiz Vieira (formerly with IOM), Nicole Waintraub (University of Ottawa), Jennifer Winstanley (lawyer).

Forced Migration, Reconciliation, and Justice

James Milner

Blair Peruniak

How are refugee crises solved? This has become an urgent question as global displacement rates continue to climb, and refugee situations now persist for years if not decades. The resolution of displacement and the conflicts that force refugees from their homes is often explained as a top-down process led and controlled by governments and international organizations. This book takes a different approach. Through contributions from scholars working in politics, anthropology, law, sociology and philosophy, and a wide range of case studies, it explores the diverse ways in which refugees themselves interpret, create and pursue solutions to their plight. It investigates the empirical and normative significance of refugees’ engagement as agents in these processes, and their implications for research, policy and practice. This book speaks both to academic debates and to the broader community of peacebuilding, humanitarian and human rights scholars concerned with the nature and dynamics of agency in contentious political contexts, and identifies insights that can inform policy and practice.

Beyond Beneficiaries

Refugees' Roles in Resolving Displacement and Building Peace

Ibrahim Fraihat

Houda Mzioudet

Libya faces a bleak humanitarian crisis, the result of the country’s descent into civil war in the summer of 2014 following the 2011 revolution. Hundreds of thousands of Libyan citizens are uprooted within the country and many more are sheltering in neighboring states, particularly Tunisia. Drawing on in-depth interviews with policymakers, practitioners, and displaced Libyans both inside and outside the country, Megan Bradley, Ibrahim Fraihat, and Houda Mzioudet present a brief, yet thoroughly illuminating assessment of the political, socioeconomic, security, humanitarian, and human rights implications of the continued displacement of Libyan citizens within and outside their country. Assessing the complex dimensions and consequences of the situation, Libya’s Displacement Crisis lays the groundwork for what comes next. Acknowledging that the resolution of this crisis hinges on a negotiated end to the Libyan civil war, the authors present ideas to improve assistance strategies and to support durable solutions for displaced Libyans with implications for refugee crises in other parts of the world, including Syria and Iraq. Georgetown Digital Shorts—longer than an article, shorter than a book—deliver timely works of peer-reviewed scholarship in a fast-paced, agile environment. They present new ideas and original texts that are easily and widely available to students, scholars, libraries, and general readers.

Megan Bradley

Books

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