13 June 2002 review September 11th: has anything changed? NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL Published by the Refugee Studies Centre in association with the Norwegian Refugee Council/Global IDP Project Forced Migration Review from the FMR editors provides a forum for the regular exchange of practical experience, information and elcome to this special issue of FMR ideas between researchers, refugees and internally displaced people, and those who Wwhich has been produced in collabora- work with them. It is published three tion with the Migration Policy Institute, times a year in English, Spanish and Washington DC. We felt that the implica- Arabic by the Refugee Studies tions for refugees and IDPs of the terrorist Centre/University of Oxford in association with the Global IDP Project/Norwegian attacks of 11 September 2001 and the Refugee Council. The Spanish translation, events which followed were so significant Revista de Migraciones Forzadas, that they warranted changing our publishing Corinne Owen is produced by IDEI in Guatemala. schedule to accommodate this additional issue. Editors Many thanks to our MPI colleagues for their work on commissioning and reviewing Marion Couldrey & articles and liaison with authors. Their Introduction (pages 4-7) highlights the context Dr Tim Morris and theses of this issue and presents policy recommendations. Subscriptions Assistant Sharon Ellis Two additional commentaries, which FMR commissioned for its Arabic language edition, have been included, following the MPI special section. These look at the implications of Forced Migration Review Refugee Studies Centre, 11 September for the Middle East and are included for the purpose of further reflection. Queen Elizabeth House, 21 St Giles, Oxford, OX1 3LA, UK We are extremely grateful to the UK Department for International Development (DFID) Email: [email protected] for generously funding the bulk of the cost of producing and distributing the English and Tel: +44 (0)1865 280700 Fax: +44 (0)1865 270721 Arabic language edition of this issue. Global IDP Project Are you receiving Forced Migration Review for the first time? To receive future Chemin Moïse-Duboule 59 issues, you will need to take out a paid subscription (see the form in the middle of this CH-1209 Geneva, Switzerland magazine). If you are a regular reader but have not renewed your subscription for Email: [email protected] 2002, please use the subscription form in the magazine to do so – or email us at Tel: +41 22 799 0700 Fax: +41 22 799 0701 [email protected]. This year we will be producing four issues of FMR: feature themes of the next two issues are listed opposite. Subscription rates Individuals £15/US$22/€24 with best wishes Institutions £25/US$36/€41 FREE for: residents of developing countries, refugees/IDPs Marion Couldrey & Tim Morris and students/unwaged. See subscription form in centre of magazine Letter from the Migration Policy Institute Special Issue Copyright and disclaimer Material from Forced Migration Review Guest Editors may be freely reproduced but please acknowledge the source. Photographs We are privileged to have had the opportunity to work with the FMR editors on the should only be reproduced in the context Special Section contained in this special issue. Working on migration and humanitarian of the articles in which they appear affairs, and based as we are in Washington DC, we have been concerned to collect our (and credited). Material and information contained in Forced Migration Review are thoughts on the impact of the events of 11 September on forced migration and protection the opinions of the authors and do not issues. necessarily reflect the views of the Editors, the Refugee Studies Centre or the We are particularly grateful to the Andrew W Mellon Foundation for their generous sup- Norwegian Refugee Council. port of MPI’s work on forced migration, including the establishment of a policy dialogue Forthcoming features in 2002 among researchers, practitioners and policy makers in this field. Older refugees/IDPs Children Our thanks go most of all to our contributors, many of whom are actively involved in Website dealing with the consequences of 11 September and the war in Afghanistan, for finding www.fmreview.org the time to commit their thoughts and observations to paper. We hope you find the result as stimulating to read as we found it to work on. Designed by Colophon Media. Printed by LDI Ltd on environmentally Kathleen Newland, Joanne van Selm, Monette Zard and Erin Patrick friendly paper. ISSN 1460-9819 Front cover photos: World Trade Centre: Panos/HH/Rene Clement • Northern Alliance soldiers on road to Taloqan frontline, October 2001: Panos/Martin Adler • Assistance to Afghan refugees in Pakistan: Panos/Clive Shirley. FMR 12 3 contents September 11: Introduction 4 Has anything changed? by the Migration Policy Institute Guest Editors Afghanistan: conflict and displacement 1978 to 2001 8 Special Section by Hiram A Ruiz Hope on the brink 11 by Filippo Grandi Civil-military relations in Afghanistan 14 compiled by Tim Morris Foreign policy considerations in dealing with Afghanistan’s refugees: 16 when security and protection collide by Joanne van Selm Receiving Afghanistan’s asylum seekers: Australia, 19 the Tampa ‘Crisis’ and refugee protection by William Maley Afghan refugees in Europe 22 by A-R Faquiri Afghanistan and the challenges of humanitarian action in time of war 23 by Roberta Cohen Reinvigorating resettlement: changing realities demand 28 changed approaches by John Fredriksson (with case study by Marta Bivak and Ceri Oeppen) Exclusion, terrorism and the Refugee Convention 32 by Monette Zard Screening in mass influxes: the challenge of exclusion and separation 35 by Bonaventure Rutinwa What does it take to rebuild a state? 38 by Paula R Newberg Security and the ethics of asylum after 11 September 40 by Matthew J Gibney Resources 43 Further reflections Palestinians in the aftermath of 11 September: wishing refugees 44 out of existence? by Abbas Shiblak Post 11 September jitters for Iraqi Kurds 46 by Maggy Zanger Endpiece Lessening tensions in a tumultuous world: The Royal Institute 47 for Inter-Faith Studies by HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal 4 FMR 13 Introduction by Kathleen Newland, Erin Patrick, Joanne van Selm and Monette Zard Migration Policy Institute, Washington DC Certain events divide moments in time into ‘before’ and criminals who may seek to use the country of asylum as a platform from ‘after’. Hiroshima ushered in the age of the nuclear which to continue their fight. threat; the fall of the Berlin Wall marked the end of The imperative to screen adds impetus to the need to ensure that equitable the Cold War. and adequate systems are established for burden sharing in various ways t is perhaps too soon to define the Old issues: new dimensions with countries of asylum. It is essential broad historical significance of 11 when considering both burden sharing September 2001. It may eventually However realities have changed and I and screening that states ensure that be seen as the start of a new period of will continue to change, the debates civilian populations displaced within transition from the post-Cold War era about various features of protection their country of origin are adequately to a ‘Grey War’. However, for refugees will be set in the context of policy pro- assisted and protected. This must be and internally displaced persons, as grammes and legal discussions of the carried out in such a way that the prin- for those who work with them or who post-Cold War era. In the 1990s, many ciple of asylum is not compromised – study forced migration, it is already people were discussing the movement the so-called IDP/refugee tension. clear that the terrorists’ strikes on the of people in ‘security’ terms. We can United States on 11 September hit expect to see this framing of the Afghanistan: a crisis in hard at certain fundamentals. There is forced migration debate to be intensi- context a new sense of vulnerability in the fied, with two key features: West, and the ensuing ‘war on terror- A wide range of issues will need to be ism’ has caused new obstacles to be i. a focus on the potential arrival of drawn out in order to start to under- put in place for people seeking asylum individuals who abuse the asylum stand the implications of the post 11 outside their own countries, tempting system and may pose security September context for responses to governments into labelling any force- threats to the country in which they forced migration. We can start to ful opposition as ‘terrorism’. seek asylum understand those implications by assessing, for example, the plight of In the first instance, attention has ii. an increased preoccupation with the Afghans displaced by decades of fight- been focused on the initial phase of security dimensions of mass exo- ing and by Operation Enduring the international war against terror- duses and influxes, and the Freedom and the situation of people ism: the US-led attack on the al-Qa’ida international management of such detained or suspected of potential and Taliban forces in Afghanistan. No refugee flows involvement with terrorism when sim- matter how the war against ‘terrorists ply filing immigration documents or With an increased fear of ‘terrorists with global reach’ unfolds, individuals asylum claims. Such an assessment with global reach’ there will be in many countries will almost certainly should be made within the context of increased focus on the need for careful be displaced as a result of this 21st developments in refugee protection screening and perhaps the exclusion of century war. In some cases these will that were already underway prior to certain individual asylum seekers from be displacements from countries that September 2001, and most particularly refugee status due to suspected have produced hundreds and thou- by analysing whether the tools with involvement in terrorist activities.