Latest Updates
“We leave it all behind because we have to.” Our research teams have concluded six weeks of volunteering with local partners and interviewing migrants in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Colombia. As the testimonies reveal, migrants usually leave their homes reluctantly, out of desperation, and with remarkably little information about what lies ahead. They also rely heavily on their faith and love for their children to sustain them on these perilous journeys. At the same time, we have found notable contrasts between the different sites. Read more in our new entry.
A report by the Fletcher International Law Practicum (FILP) in partnership with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) FILP Supervisor & Lead Author, Christine Bustany, Senior Lecturer in International Law, The Fletcher School at Tufts University On July 10, 2023, the UN Security Council failed to renew authorization for critical cross-border humanitarian aid access into Northwest Syria (NWS), on which 90 percent of the population depends. A new report finds that, compounding the humanitarian crisis, hundreds of thousands of children living in opposition-held areas in Northwest Syria are being denied access to their rights to nationality and legal identity, resulting in profound deprivations of their most basic rights. If their rights to nationality and legal identity are not ensured, these children, and the adults they become, will remain living on the margins, vulnerable to the harms associated with exclusion and statelessness. Based on in-depth research, this report documents the many deprivations experienced by children in NWS that flow as a result of not having access to their nationality and legal identity, features case studies, and provides recommendations on how to address these fundamental children’s rights violations. FILP Masters of Law and Diplomacy (MALD) and Master of Law (LLM) students: Khulood Fahim (MALD ‘22); Shuchi Purohit (LLM ‘22); Amal Rass (MALD ‘22); Gaurav Redhal (LLM ‘22); Michael Vandergriff (MALD ‘22); Alex Avaneszadeh (MALD ‘23); Zaina Basha Masri (MALD ‘24); Samata Sharma Gelal (MALD ‘24); Shahzel Najam (LLM ‘23); Padmini Subhashree (LLM ‘23) Read the Full Report Read the Executive Summary & Recommendations
Researchers share reflections from their research sites, offering a near-real-time look at Central American migration.
By Chidi Odinkalu, Professor of Practice in International Human Rights Law, Fletcher School & Leir Affiliated Faculty As active fighting in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, nears the two-month mark, the African Union’s Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) finally found time to meet at the level of heads of State and government on May 27. Emerging from the meeting, the leaders acknowledged that the armed conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the rebranded Janjaweed, now known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has resulted in “gross violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.” They transmitted six demands to the belligerents, including unconditional cessation of hostilities, unhindered humanitarian access, and resumption of the political process, which formed the foundation for their six-point plan for resolving the crisis. This is only a modest update of the AU’s penultimate statement on the conflict.
Newsletters
“We leave it all behind because we have to.” Our research teams have concluded six weeks of volunteering with local partners and interviewing migrants in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Colombia. As the testimonies reveal, migrants usually leave their homes reluctantly, out of desperation, and with remarkably little information about what lies ahead. They also rely heavily on their faith and love for their children to sustain them on these perilous journeys. At the same time, we have found notable contrasts between the different sites. Read more in our new entry.
Leir Migration Monitor – June 2023 Notes on migrants’ hopes and fears This summer, eight Fletcher research assistants are conducting research across Central America, from Tijuana, Mexico to Necoclí, Colombia, seeking to better understand how migrants process information and assess risk on their journeys north. This journal shares notes from the field, offering regular updates on the themes, similarities, and differences our researchers are observing.
To our alumni and friends, Record numbers of migrants are attempting the dangerous trek to the United States and Europe in search of safety and a decent standard of living. Yet, despite mounting evidence that the strategy of “prevention through deterrence” is no match for the powerful forces uprooting people from their homes, policymakers continue to rely on restrictionist policies that severely compromise the human security of migrants and affected communities. At Leir, we seek to expose this and other mismatches between policy and reality and to privilege the lived experiences of migrants and those around them. We do so by engaging people, programs, and partners in empirically rigorous, applied research. Our ultimate goal is to achieve a world where migration is a choice; in the interim, we seek more humane and effective responses to forced displacement in all its forms. Unfortunately, recent developments like the war in Ukraine, the conflicts in Ethiopia and Sudan, the earthquakes in Türkiye, the uptick in criminal violence in once-relatively safe countries such as Ecuador, Chile, and Costa Rica, and the lingering effects of the global pandemic continue to push people from their homes.
Introducing the Leir Briefing Room Migration and human security, simplified. 3-minute briefs authored by the Fletcher School’s expert faculty. Key terms and data essential to our work. For clear, concise content, start here. The Leir Briefing Room is an information clearinghouse on the foundational topics in migration and human security, including root causes. Populated by our expert affiliated faculty, it serves as a trusted source of information that contextualizes the challenges and opportunities policymakers and practitioners face. We look forward to continually updating this clearinghouse with timely and relevant terms, briefs, and data.
Leir Briefing Room
Migration and human security, simplified. 3-minute briefs written by the Fletcher School's expert faculty. For clear, concise foundational content, start here.
