Paved with Good Intentions? The Road of the Humanitarian Project of DNA Identification of the Missing in Post-Conflict Cyprus

2019

The Eritrean community is one of the hardest hit by the problem of migrant family members that remain unaccounted for. This work uses a combination of qualitative research methods to explore the way Eritreans in Germany are connected and how they search for their missing relatives. The analysis of their networks indicates that their community is close but divided, and that the issue of missing migrants is, indeed, a deeply sensitive subject. The field data also brings to light that Eritreans tend to distrust institutions and would rather seek the help of activists and other key persons in the community. It is shown that the use of social media is widespread among Eritreans in Germany and that there are a few community-based initiatives that address the issue of missing family members. From the observation of the gaps ascertained during the analysis, six recommendations to both organizations and the Eritrean community are then formulated, with several examples of possible activities for their implementation.

downloadDownload PDFView PDFchevron_right

2020

Border deaths are a result of dynamics involving diverse actors, and can be interpreted and represented in various ways. Critical voices from civil society (including academia) hold states responsible for making safe journeys impossible for large parts of the world population. Meanwhile, policy-makers argue that border deaths demonstrate the need for restrictive border policies. Statistics are widely (mis)used to support different readings of border deaths. However, the way data is collected, analyzed, and disseminated remains largely unquestioned. Similarly, little is known about how bodies are treated, and about the different ways in which the dead – also including the missing and the unidentified – are mourned by familiars and strangers. New concepts and perspectives contribute to highlighting the political nature of border deaths and finding ways to move forward. The chapters of this collection, co-authored by researchers and practitioners, provide the first interdisciplinary overview of this contested field.

downloadDownload PDFView PDFchevron_right

The paper explores how the management of migrant bodies by national and EU authorities reflects particular understandings of contemporary borders and how the failure to address such bodies has implications far from the frontier. The study of the management both of the dead and of the data that can serve to identify missing migrants, can benefit our understanding of the contemporary border, and has to date received only limited scholarly attention. To address this gap we draw on field research carried out on the Greek island of Lesbos, one of the key migrant entry points to the EU, that has seen repeated incidents of deadly shipwrecks. Based on interviews with families of migrants and local stakeholders the paper explores how death at the border introduces novel e and often invisible e borders and categories of inclusion and exclusion. By shedding light on the experiences of the families of the dead we aspire to introduce a critical set of actors who have been marginalized from the study of the border. In exploring the remote effects of deaths on such families in migrant countries of origin, the paper shows that bordering practices have transnational impacts at the human level, thereby broadening our conceptu-alization of the border.

downloadDownload PDFView PDFchevron_right

The touring model employed by the Caravan of Central American Mothers in search of disappeared migrants in transit through Mexico creates processes of political empowerment for poor, indigenous peasant women who have no previous experience as activists and human rights defenders. Interviews and participant observation with members and organizers of the ninth caravan (held in December 2013) reveal three key moments that anchor the mothers' transformation into political subjects and human rights activists: the creation of a collective identity based on maternal activism, the forging of an alliance with transnational human rights networks, and the emergence of a budding politics of visibility based on public acts of grieving that candidly lament the vulnerability of migrants caught in the drug war and border securitization across the hemisphere. El modelo itinerante de la Caravana de Madres Centroamericanas en busca de migrantes desaparecidos en tránsito por México genera procesos de empoderamiento político de mujeres pobres, indígenas, campesinas y sin experiencia como activistas y defensoras de derechos humanos. Entrevistas y observación participante con integrantes y organizadores de la novena Caravana (diciembre 2013) identifican tres momentos claves para entender la transformación de las madres en sujetos políticos y luchadoras sociales por la defensa de los derechos migrantes: la conformación de una identidad colectiva basada en el activismo maternal, la alianza con redes transnacionales de promoción y defensa de los derechos humanos, y la emergencia de una política de la visibilidad a partir de acciones de duelo público en respuesta a la vulnerabilidad de los migrantes en el contexto de la narcoguerra y la política hemisférica de securitización de fronteras.

downloadDownload PDFView PDFchevron_right

Humanitarian Exchange Magazine, 2017

The article will examine the humanitarian impact of non-conventional violence in Northern Triangle of Central America and Mexico and explore the nexus between the humanitarian and development agendas as a way to address the far-reaching implications of this violence from protection to prevention.

downloadDownload PDFView PDFchevron_right

Report: Prof. Dr. Ayhan Kaya and Aysu Kıraç Field Coordinator: Aysu Kıraç Research Assistants: Ayşe Afet Dinçer, Clémence Dumas and Pınar Yüksel Field Team: Karam Alhindi, Abeer Alkak, Naouras Al-Matar, Barizan Alyusuf, Ramah Awad, Hend David, Renas Mele and Zozan K. Mousa Acknowledgements: We would like to thank Burcu Kuğu, Gonca Girit McDaniel, Sema Genel Karaosmanoğlu and Hanzade Germiyanoğlu from Support to Life, and Prof. Dr. Ayhan Kaya who advised the Support to Life team and assisted with data analysis. We are also grateful to the multitude of refugee families and individuals we interviewed during the assessment as well as all the public officials, NGOs and other organizations who shared their experiences with us in support of this report. This report was prepared with the support of the Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

downloadDownload PDFView PDFchevron_right

During conflicts and crises, children often face multiple stressors that can have significant impacts on their physical, cognitive, social and emotional development. Because unaccompanied and separated children (UASC) have lost the care and protection of their primary caregivers, they face a heightened risk of abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence. As a result, programming for UASC cases is often prioritized in the context of humanitarian interventions. But what is the impact of protection interventions on UASC in humanitarian crises in low and middle income countries? How effective are child protection activities specific to UASC at restoring a protective environment? How effective are interventions aimed at preventing and responding to abuse, exploitation, violence and neglect at ensuring the safety of UASC? How effective are mental health and psychosocial support interventions in promoting the mental health and psychosocial well-being of UASC? This systematic review synthesizes and evaluates the existing evidence base in order to find a response.

downloadDownload PDFView PDFchevron_right