IASFM Resources
Report on the 6th IRAP conference
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IASFM Resources Report on the 6th IRAP conference |
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6th International Research and Advisory Panel Conference on Forced Migration
13-16 December 1998
Narrative Report
The Sixth International Research and Advisory Panel (IRAP) Conference on Forced Migration was held at the Ambassador Hotel in Jerusalem from 13-16 December 1998. The event was convened under the auspices of the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) and was organized by the Gaza Community Mental Health Program (GCMHP).
 Introduction:
IASFM and GCMHP had planned to hold the conference in Gaza City. Initial contact and agreement were on holding the conference at Rashad El-Shawwa cultural center in Gaza City. The Local Organizing Committee and Program Committee of the conference started the preparations for the conference in January 1998. From the onset, the planning and execution of conference preparations such as conference announcements and correspondence with participants was based on the assumption that the conference was to be held in Gaza. In addition, all the logistic aspects of the conference were carried out under this assumption.
However, President Bill Clinton's visit to Gaza forced the conference out of Gaza. Despite reserving the Shawwa cultural center months in advance and signing an agreement with them, the administration of the center informed us about a month before the conference that the American Embassy in Tel Aviv has exclusive rights to the place from 12 -18 December. Thus, our reservation was cancelled.
Consequently, the Local Organizing Committee relocated the conference to another venue in Gaza City, El-Nawrus Seagull Tourist Resort. In addition, other logistic preparations were adjusted to this change. The Committee signed an agreement with the administration of El-Nawrus and made a $US 5,000 down payment to ensure the reservation.
Nine days before the opening of the conference (Wednesday 2 December), officials from the President Yasser Arafat's Office met with GCMHP Deputy Director and the Local Organizing Committee. The meeting centered on the President's Office need for the 140 hotel rooms reserved for the conference participants and El-Nawrus resort to accommodate for President's Clinton's visit to Gaza and the Palestinian National Council Meeting as well. They indicated that they understand the importance of the conference and will make available the President's Office services to hold the conference in the West Bank.
There were great odds against being able to organize a successful conference in the West Bank at such short notice. In addition, the relocation to the West Bank did not achieve the main aim of the conference, which was to hold it in a "refugee affected" area; and it did not expose the international participants to the situation of Palestinian refugees in Gaza. Moreover, the relocation substantially decreased local participation from Gaza at the popular, official, and institutional levels.
Nonetheless, GCMHP agreed to relocate the conference from Gaza for a variety of reasons. President Bill Clinton's visit to Gaza is a historic and national event. Postponing the conference or holding it before Clinton's visit was not possible because international participants (initial projections indicated that they would be 150) could not readjust their schedules at such short notice. In addition, they would suffer considerable financial losses in ticket rescheduling and/or cancellation. Moreover, Ramadan (Holy month for Muslims) starts on 19 December, making it impossible to organize the conference before the end of February 1999.
The President's Office in Gaza promised to issue permits for the Local Organizing Committee to travel to the West Bank to organize the conference there. They promised to issue at least 15 permits for the committee. Only 4 were issued.
Members of the Local Organizing Committee went to the West Bank on Monday 7 December (five days before the conference) to try to find a suitable conference venue. For two days, they visited numerous hotels in Ramallah and Jerusalem, and found that the Ambassador Hotel in East Jerusalem would be suitable.
The Committee members returned to Gaza on Tuesday 8 December in order to arrange for the relocation to the Ambassador Hotel. Accommodation, transportation, food, communication, press, registration, finance, and organization plans for the conference were redrawn to fit the relocation to Jerusalem. This had to be done in light of a severe shortage in the number of local organizers who will go to Jerusalem, as it turned out that only 7 had permits to Jerusalem.
All in all, it was extremely satisfying to know that the conference was successfully relocated from Gaza to Jerusalem at such short notice. In addition, it is more satisfying to hear the tremendous approval of the conference participants of this success. But, that was not achieved easily.
Day One, 13 December
The conference opening session included addresses by Dr. Art Hansen of Clark Atlanta University, President of the IASFM; Mr. Faisel El-Husseini, PNA Minister for Jerusalem Affairs; and Mr. Husam El-Nounou, GCMHP Public Relations Coordinator, on behalf of Dr. Eyad El-Sarraj and GCMHP.
Dr. Hansen welcomed the participants, thanked the staff of GCMHP for their dedication in organizing the conference over the past year, and in particular for their extraordinary efforts in the last week after the conference itself became a victim of forced migration from Gaza to Jerusalem in anticipation of US President Bill Clinton's trip to Palestine. Dr. Hansen also outlined the history and goals of IASFM, which originated eight years ago as a select panel of academics brought together to advise Oxford's Refugee Studies Program. Within a few years, the small panel had grown into a full conference, and this new status was formalized as the IRAP Conference on Forced Migration. The first four IRAPs wee held in Oxford, England. It was then decided that future conferences should be held in refugee-affected countries, and the fifth IRAP was held at Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya. The choice of Gaza as the site for the sixth IRAP was informed by the same desire.
Dr. Hansen said that the goals of IASFM are twofold: to strive for a better understanding of the phenomenon of forced migration and to work to develop better practices and policies for dealing with forced migration and its consequences. He concluded by reminding the participants that 'experts' are simply ordinary people who are a long way from home. They have not come here to teach or preach, but rather to learn.
Mr. Husam El-Nounou, Public Relations Coordinator at GCMHP and Coordinator of the Local Organizing Committee, also welcomed all participants to Palestine, and expressed great disappointment that it had not been possible to hold the conference in Gaza as planned. He especially lamented the fact that so many people in Gaza who had devoted their time and energy preparing for the conference would not be able to see the result of their work. But the relocation of the conference, he pointed out, is simply a further example of the kind of realities that Palestinians face in their lives every day.
Mr. El-Nounou then read a message from Dr. Eyad El-Sarraj, Director of GCMHP, who wished the participants the best for their four days of work. Dr. El-Sarraj noted that GCMHP conferences in Gaza seem to correspond with historical events: the first GCMHP international conference took place at the same time as the signing of the Oslo Accords in Washington, and this conference marks the first visit by a US President to Palestinian territory.
Mr. Faisel El-Husseini, PNA Minister for Jerusalem Affairs, then delivered an effective and emotionally potent historical summary on the treatment of Palestinians in Jerusalem and their living conditions. He emphasized how important it is for international conferences of this type to take place in Palestine, as Israel goes to great lengths to keep these issues far from the public eye. He explained how the disasters of 1948 included the removal of 30,000 Palestinians from West to East Jerusalem, the transfer of the Palestinian capital from Jerusalem to Amman, and the occupation of Palestinian villages surrounding Jerusalem. Thus, cutting off the land from its capital, a fact that has had severe economic and social consequences for both Jerusalem and the West Bank. These events were followed by further disasters in 1967: the occupation and annexation of Jerusalem and the West Bank by Israel. The fact that this happened in June compounded the disaster because so many Palestinians were outside the city working, and many were not permitted by the Israelis to return after severe restrictions were place on Palestinian residency rights in Jerusalem.
Mr. El-Husseini then detailed the devastating effects of Israel's land and building policy in Jerusalem, and the inherent unfairness in Israel's policies governing who has the right to reside in Jerusalem. The situation has not improved after the signing of the Oslo accords, as Israel has continued its policies of physical, social, and economic isolation. Jerusalem, in fact, can be thought of as one big refugee camp because all Palestinians here, at least psychologically, feel like refugees. His remarks se the tone for the conference.
After the opening session, the conference broke up into three workshops: Palestinian Diaspora, Refugees and Refugee Policy in the Great Lakes Region, and Refugee Children and Psychosocial Care.
Ms. Christine Pirinoli-Ahmed began the workshop on the Palestinian Diaspora and discussed the collective memory of Palestinians from the village of Barbara who live in the Gaza Strip. She talked about how people from Barbara represent their refugee status to themselves, and how they pass their identity as Barbarawi on to their children. She remarked how one man she interviewed for her research told her that he wanted to 'plant his homeland in the hearts of his children before dying', so that his children or grandchildren might be able to return there, even if he could not.
Mr. Blair van Dyke of Brigham Young University in Utah, USA, reported on his research on education in Gaza. He said that centuries of foreign control over Palestinian education by the Ottoman Empire, Britain, and now Israel, has resulted in a lack of democracy in Palestinian society, even though democracy is a core value of Palestinian culture. He recommended that authority structures be removed from schools, and that students be taught to think critically rather than memorize by rote.
Finally, Ms. Elham Bayour of the Amnesty International Women's Rights Committee in California, USA, delivered an impassioned speech on the desperate conditions of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon that left a deep impact on the audience. She described how Palestinian refugees are discriminated against both officially by the Lebanese government, which refuses to grant work permits for all but the most menial fobs and does not offer social services to Palestinians, as well as by ordinary Lebanese, who are encourage to believe that Palestinians are dirty and lazy. Her remarks were all the more forceful because Ms. Bayour herself is a Palestinian from Lebanon who grew up in refugee camps there.
The workshop on Refugees and Refugee Policy in the Great Lakes Region included presentations by Ms. Monica Kathina Juma of Pembroke College, Oxford, England on "The Fallacy of participatory Emergency Response: The Case of Agency Relations during Emergencies in Kenya and Uganda". Mr. Pierre-Claver Ngezahayo gave a presentation on "Forced Displacement and Resettlement in the Great Lakes Region". Also, Mr. Duncan Ngare of Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya made a presentation on "Health Nutritional Status of Refugees: Case Study of Kukuma Camp, Kenya".
The workshop on Refugee Children and Psychosocial Care consisted of a talk by Jumana Odeh, Dr. Maryanne Loughry of the Refugee Studies Program, Oxford, England, and Dr. Eyad El-Sarraj, GCMHP on "A Child-Centered Approach to Investigating Refugee Children's Concerns". Also, Professor Mladen Knezevic on "Creativity: A potential danger to Psychotraumatized Children". Moreover, Professor A. Nweze gave a presentation on "Refugee Children in Africa: Psychological Impact and Issues Involved".
The conference continued in the afternoon with workshops on Information about Forced Migration studies, Sudanese Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, and Internal Forced Migration and Displacement. The first workshop has a talk by Dr. Marilyn Deegan of the Refugee Studies Program, Oxford on the Refugee Studies Program Digital Library, as well as informational films by BADIL and GCMHP.
The workshop on Sudanese refugees featured presentations by Benaiah Nyaing Duku of the American University in Cairo on "Redefining Gender roles and Relations in Exile: The Case of Sudanese Exiles in Northern Uganda and Displaced Persons in Southern Sudan". Mr. Duku also gave a talk on "Sex and Marriage in the Midst of Civil War and Refugee Life: The Case of Southern Sudanese in Exile and Internally Displaced Persons". Mr. Lee Samuel Lamua talked about the "Current Situation of the Forced Sudanese Migrants, Refugees, and Internally Displaced Persons: The Case of the Sudanese Refugees and Internally Displaced Sudanese in SPLM/A Controlled Areas of the Southern Sudan". Mr. Michael Abat Elikana reported on "Ethnic Relations: The Case of the Sudanese Refugee in Northern Uganda, the Democratic Republic on Congo and Internally Displaced Persons in the SPML/A Controlled Areas of Southern Sudan".
Heloisa Szymanski of the Pontifical Catholic University of Sao Paulo gave the final workshop on internal forced migration. She talked on "Community Development through educational Projects: Internal Migrants from Northeastern Brazil in Sao Paulo".
Moreover, conference participants enjoyed a two-hour tour of Jerusalem in the evening. They visited the Mount of Olives, the Buraq Wall, and Qalandia refugee camp.
Day Two, 14 December
The plenary session for the second day featured presentations by Mr. Patrick Taran of the Refugee and Migration Service of the World Council of churches, Geneva, and Professor James Hathaway of the University of Michigan Law School.
Mr. Taran's talk focused on globalization, migration, and human rights. He discussed the different meaning of the word 'globalization' and about the consequences of globalization processes for migrants. He pointed out that developing countries are crippled by their debt servicing obligations, and that as a result their efforts to provide adequate social services to their citizens are severely impaired. Mr. Taran also linked globalization to the rise of ethnic regrouping and religious fundamentalism. Attitudes to foreigners in developed countries are increasingly hostile, and they have become stigmatized as a threat to society. He worried that the designation of certain kinds of migrants as 'illegal immigrants' puts them outside the applicability of international legal instruments designed to protect their rights. He argues that this in a dangerous precedent because other marginal groups in society may also be denied their basic rights in the future. He called for increased efforts to expand the international legal system.
Professor James Hathaway disagreed with Mr. Taran's analysis in his presentation. Rather than create ever more declarations of rights, he called for the academic community to help make the already existing legal instruments work better, and for researchers to concentrate on concrete proposals to help real suffering people. He argued that the current international refugee regimes is in crisis because governments have failed to "add content" to their formal legal obligations. He explained his opinion that the international refugee regime is not designed to address the "root causes" of forced migration. Rather, it is a palliative system designed to protect the rights of victims of conflict. Professor Hathaway analyzed the tendency of states to withdraw from their duty to protect refugees as due to two factors. First, states fear the refugee admissions amount to an uncontrolled 'back door' route to permanent immigration. Second, the real costs associated with the arrival of refugees are not distributed equally among refugee-receiving countries. He called for reform of the existing system, and for the UN High Commission for Refugees to focus more on its protection mandate and leave humanitarian intervention to the many specialized agencies that already fulfill this function. He then presented the proposals of his research group on how to effect the necessary reforms.
After the plenary session, the conference divided into three simultaneous workshops. One workshop was on Palestinian Refugees, International Law, and Asylum in the Arab World that included a presentation on "The Right of Return of Palestinian refugees in International Law" by Dr. Abdallah Abu Eid from Najah University in Palestine. Also, Dr. Abbas Shublaq, member of the Palestinian delegation to the multilateral talks, gave a presentation on "Statelessness among Palestinian Refugees. And Dr. Khadija Elmadmad, Professor of International Law at Casablanca University (Morocco), presented a paper on "Asylum in the Arab World: An Analysis of Recent Arab Instruments on Human Rights and Refugees". Finally, Ms. Ingrid Jaradat Gassner of BADIL Center in Palestine talked about the "Current Refugee Positions and Organizing in Relation to UN Resolution 194 'Right of Return'".
A second workshop was on New Asylum Laws in African Countries. The workshop featured presentations by Jeff Handmaker on "Current Issues in Forced Migration: The Right of Asylum in South Africa", Patrick Matlou on "The Creation of Refugee Law: The South African Experience", and R. M. Wafula on "The Complexities of Drafting a Progressive Refugee Law: A Travaux Preparatoires of Uganda's Refugee Law Reform Process".
The third workshop was on Differing Definitions of What the Situation is in Forced Migration and Resettlement. The presentations were on "The Navaho-Hopi Land Dispute and the Relocation and Resistance to relocation that has Emerged from it" by Mark Davidheiser and "Post Soviet Diaspora Politics: The Case of the Soviet Greeks" by Dr. Efitihia Voutira.
The first afternoon session of this day consisted of three workshops on (1) Psychosocial Work with Refugees in Sub-Saharan Africa, (2) Origins and Consequences of Camps in East Africa, and (3) Asylum Procedures and Security Issues.
The first workshop featured presentations by Dr. Steven Fox on "Refugees in The Gambia, West Africa: A Study of Mental Health Status", Hannah Carew on "The Social Support Component for Female Africans in Returnee Programs", and Giorgia Dona on "Rwandese Fostered Refugee and Displaced Children: The Hidden Group".
The second workshop consisted of presentations on "How Camps Became 'Mainstream' Policy for Assisting Refugees" by Dr. Anna Schmidt, "Human Rights and Refugee Camps" by Guglielmo Verdiram, and "Women in Difficult Circumstances: Sexual Violence in Kakuma Refugee Camp - Northwestern Kenya" by Gilbert Lukhoba.
The third workshop included a presentation by Liza Schuster on "Asylum and the Need for Control". Also, Dr. Joanne van Selm-Thorburn gave a paper on "The Securitisation of Asylum: Who and What Must be Secured?". In addition, Dr. Avram Bornstein talked about "Cultural Stereotypes and Policing Immigrants: New Terrorist Laws in the U.S.". The final presentation in the workshop was by Rex B. Wingerter entitled "In Search of Enemies: US Immigration and International Criminal Law and Policy in the Post Cold War".
The final afternoon session of the day consisted of two workshops on (1) Perspectives on Mental health Care of Refugees Preparing for Repatriation and (2) Policy and Practice in and around Camps in East Africa.
The first workshop consisted of a presentation by Mr. Abdelhak El-Ghezouani on "Repatriation Can be a Successful New Migration for Asylum Seekers" and another on "The Importance of Psychosocial Counseling regarding Repatriation" by Ms. Patricia Schell.
The second workshop featured presentations by Deborah Mulumba on "Constraints on the Integration of Refugee Affected Areas: Some Observations from Uganda", Kenneth Porter on "Physical Performance and Growth Characteristics in Refugee Communities", and "Douglas Asiimwe on "Policy for the Integration of Services for refugees and their Hosts in Northern Uganda".
Day Three, 15 December
On the third day, participants heard plenary lectures by Mr. Eduard Nazarski, Political Director of the Dutch Refugee Council, Amsterdam and Professor Barry Stein of Michigan State University in the USA.
Mr. Nazarski spoke about host responses to asylum seekers in the European Union. He noted that European countries have passed restrictive asylum and immigration legislation since the 1980's, which involves carrier sanctions and detention of asylum seekers, among other measures. The discourse about refugees in Europe has shifted from protection and human rights to abuse, fraud, and punishment. He pointed out that the restrictive policies of European countries sets a "bad example" for refugee receiving countries in the developing world, which host the vast majority of the world's refugees. Mr. Nazarski emphasized the importance of promoting public sympathy for asylum seekers by showing that they are simply ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.
Professor Stein gave a talk on regional responses to refugee problems. He discussed the examples of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) intervention in Liberia and Sierra Leone, as well as the recent NATO/OSCE involvement in Kosovo. Regional responses, he said, have only become possible after attempts at international (UN) intervention have collapsed. Regional responses to refugee flows should be comprehensive in character, meaning that each state shares the burden to the best of its ability. Professor Stein warned, however, that military intervention may prolong suffering and war. He cited the case of Liberia where the ECOWAS intervention began just as warlord Charles Taylor, now President of Liberia, was on the brink of victory. The ECOWAS intervention prevented Taylor from completing his conquest of the country, and as a result factional fighting continued for five more years, resulting in several hundred thousand more deaths.
After the plenary session, the conference split into three simultaneous workshops. The first was on "Palestinian Refugees and Cultural Identity". It consisted of two presentations by Dr. Najeh Jarrar on "Whither Palestinian Refugees? Palestinian refugees' uncertain future" and by Dr. Samir Qouta and Bradley Brigham of GCMHP (presented by Mr. Abdel Hamid Afana) on "The Long-term Perception of Forced Uprooting and the Persistence of Trauma through Generations: The Palestinian Experience".
The second workshop was on Insecurity: Hosts and Refugees in East Africa. It consisted of presentations by Katherine Reuer on "Insecurity in Kakuma", John Ekuru Aukot titled "It is Better to be a Refugee than a Turkana in Kakuma: Relationships between Hosts and Refugees", and Tania Kaiser on "Refuge from Refuge: Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement in Uganda".
The third workshop was on Perspectives on Mental health Care of Refugees and featured three presentations: "Evolution of Health Characteristics of Forced Migrants" by Professor Ronald Waldman, "From Displacement to Disorder: The Medicalisation of the Refugees" by Dr. Marita Eastmond, and "A Medical Anthropological Approach towards the Problems of Forced Migration - a Firm Stance for an Authentic and Emotional Response" by Dr. Sanja M. Spoljar-Vrzina.
The first afternoon session of the conference included three workshops on (1) Refugee Admission and Policy in Countries of the 'North', (2) Principles and Practice, and (3) Changes in Resettlement Policy.
The first workshop consisted of two presentations. Monica Feria-Tinta gave the first presentation on "Surviving the Asylum Process in the United Kingdom: Destitute Asylum Seekers and their Rights under International Human Rights Law". Wolfgang Bosswick gave the second presentation on "Development of Asylum Policy in Germany: The Change of Article 16 Basic Law - Background and Consequences".
The workshop on "Principles and Practice also included two presentations. The first by Zachary Lomo on "Refugees and Access to the Justice System in host Countries: Experience from Uganda. The second was on "Death of Asylum: Fallacies and Dangers" by Guglielmo Verdirame.
The third workshop consisted of papers by Dr. Salah Al-Bandar on "Calculated Kindness: The Linking between National Security and Refugee Policy Aimed at Keeping the Sudanese Refugees in the First Country of Asylum" and by Dr. Max Meis on "Current Changes in Resettlement Policy".
The second afternoon session of the conference on the third day consisted of two workshops on Refugee Admission Policy in Countries in 'The North' 2 and Forced Migration in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
The first workshop in the session featured three presentations. Dr. Claudia Tazreiter presented a paper on "The Erosion of the Right to Asylum in Australia: Defensive Liberalism". Also, Dr. Alice Bloch gave a presentation on "Refugee Settlement in Britain: The Impact of Policy on Participation". Finally, Dr. Treasa Galvin gave a talk on "The Right to Wait: Ireland's Answer to Asylum Seekers".
At the end of the day, another group of conference participants took part in a two-hour tour of Jerusalem that included visits to the Mount of Olives, Boraq "wailing" wall, and Qalandia refugee camp.
Day Four, 16 December
The last day of the Sixth International Research and Advisory Panel (IRAP) Conference on Forced Migration commenced with the morning plenary session.
The plenary speaker was Dr. Lex Takkenberg, Deputy Director of UNRWA operations in the Gaza Strip. Dr. Takkenberg presented the results of his doctoral thesis on Palestinian refugees in international law, which has recently been published by Oxford University Press. He pointed out that Palestinians are the only group of refugees that fall outside the international system. UNHCR and UNRWA were created by the United Nations in the same week in 1949, and it was deliberately decided to exclude Palestinian refugees from the mandate of UNHCR, the agency charged with protecting the world's refugees. Instead, UNRWA was created to assist them. A problem with the arrangements, Dr. Takkenberg, stated, is that UNRWA does not have the protection mandate that UNHCR has, and it is also not tasked with finding a "durable solution" to the Palestinian refugee problem. This has resulted in a lack of adequate protection for Palestinian refugees, although UNRWA has undertaken certain actions to protect refugees, for example by positioning international monitors at crisis points in the West Bank.
The morning conference workshops were on Palestinians in Palestine, Repatriation and Reconciliation: Decisions at the Local and Individual Level, and Decisions on Repatriation by Host Countries and Refugees.
The workshop on Palestinians in Palestine included four presentations. Mohammed Almbaid presented a paper on "Reverse Migration as a Development Strategy: The Case of Palestine". Also, Dr. Abdel Aziz Thabet (and Panos Vostanis) gave a presentation on "Social Adversities and Anxiety Disorders in the Gaza Strip". Moreover, Mr. Christopher Parker on "Constituent Transition, Mobilization, and Conflict in the Palestinian Diaspora: A Conceptual Approach and Tentative Applications". And finally, Mr. Mustafa Mari discussed "Peace Processes, Refugee Rights, and Population Transfer: A Comparative Analysis of the Peace Processes in Northern Ireland, Palestine, and South Africa".
The second morning workshop included a presentation by Professor Robert Mazur on "Rural Development Struggles in Zambezia Province", and another by Dr. Oliver Bakewell on "Repatriation and Self-settled Refugees in Zambia: Bringing Solutions to the Wrong Problems".
The last morning workshop featured three speakers. Dr. Lucia Ann McSpadden talked about "To Return or not to Return: Gendered Decision-making of Eritrean Women and Men Contemplating Repatriation". Dr. Richard Black and Dr. Khalid Koser gave a presentation on "The Political Geography of refugee Return to Bosnia and Herzegovina". Finally, Dr. Laura Hammond gave a paper on "'Express Lane' Repatriation: Opportunity or Obstacle to Development in Post war Somaliland".
This day featured only one afternoon session consisting of three workshops, which were followed by the conference closing session. The afternoon workshops were on Perspectives on Mental Health Care of Refugees after Repatriation, Reconciliation and Repatriation in Latin American Countries, and Environmental Degradation and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
The first workshop included two presentations. Dr. Anica Mikus Kos gave a talk on "The Social Responsibility of the Medical Profession in Post war Conditions and Possibilities for Action. Also, Dr. Nancy Farwell presented a paper on "After Liberation: Psychosocial Well-being of Refugee Youth Repatriating from Sudan to Eritrea".
The second workshop consisted of three presenters. Dr. Frederick Ahearn and John Noble (junior author) presented a paper on "Forced Migration as a Result of the civil War in Nicaragua: The Psychosocial Adjustment of Refugees, Ex-combatients, and Displaced Persons". Sean Loughna's presentation was on "CIREFCA: Evaluation of Central American's Regional Approach to Resolving Internal Crisis". Ms. Ana Maria Rebaza concluded the workshop with a presentation on "The Role of Internally Displaced Women in the Reconstruction of the Social Tissue Affected by the Political Violence in Peru".
In the third afternoon workshop, Dr. Jad Isaac of the Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem made an extremely convincing presentation on the geography of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. He showed how Israeli road building is strangling Palestinian towns in the West Bank, and presented date on the number of Palestinian homes that have been demolished without compensation to build those roads. He demonstrated how control of water resources is the crucial variable in the political equation of peace. Shared water resources are not shared equitably as Israeli settlers in Palestine use several times more water than the Palestinians. This unequal distribution of water has allowed Israeli settlers to develop irrigated agriculture, while Palestinian lands turn to (or remain) desert.
The conference closing session that was chaired by the newly elected President of the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration, Dr. Loes van Willigen. There was a report and analysis by Karin Geuijen about the conference as a whole and future vision for the IASFM. Dr. Art Hansen, ex-president of the IASFM expressed his hope that the participants would return to their various jobs and functions with new ideas and visions about working with the issue of Forced Migration. Abdel Hamid Afana from the Gaza Community mental Health Program made a speech on behalf of Dr. Eyad El-Sarraj, thanked the organization for choosing to hold their conference in Palestine, and said that the conference was a great opportunity for the exchange of knowledge about the Palestinian refugee issues. He hoped that mutual work and networking would come as a result of this conference.
Dr. Loes van Willigen made the last speech of the conference where she wished that new ideas and recommendations for the next IRAP conference would come from the participants. She thanked GCMHP for their hospitality and for their organizing the conference although it was very complicated to move the conference to Jerusalem from Gaza. In addition, Dr. van Willigen thanked the local organizing committee and a present signed by all the participants was forwarded to Husam El-Nounou, who received it behalf of the Local Organizing Committee and GCMHP.
We want to thank Husam El-Nounou of the GCMHP for providing this narrative report on the 6th IRAP's proceedings.[Home] .. [Mission] [Conferences] [Activities] [Resources] [Report on the 6th IRAP] [Abstracts of 6th IRAP][Membership] [Statutes] [Officers] Wolfgang Bosswick is running this site |