Finding Space for Protection: An Inside Account of the Evolution of UNHCR’s Urban Refugee Policy

This article examines the evolution of UNHCR’s urban refugee policy from the mid-1990s to the present. It focuses on the complex and contested nature of the policymaking process, analyzing the roles that internal and external stakeholders have played in it. At the same time, the article identifies and examines key developments in UNHCR’s operational environment that drove and constrained policymaking in this domain. The article is written from the perspective of a former UNHCR staff member who was substantively engaged in urban refugee policy.Cet article étudie l’évolution de la politique urbaine relative aux réfugiés, menée par le HCR du milieu des années 90 à aujourd’hui. Il cible la nature complexe et contestée du processus de prise de décisions politiques, analysant le rôle joué de ce point de vue par différentes parties prenantes internes et externes. En même temps, il détermine et examine les évolutions clés de l’environnement opérationnel du HCR, qui ont été à la fois motrices et contraignantes vis-à-vis du processus de prise de décisions politiques dans ce domaine. Cet article est rédigé à partir de la perspective d’un ancien membre du personnel du HCR qui a été très engagé en matière de la politique urbaine relative aux réfugiés

Refugees, Persons of Concern, and People on the Move: The Broadening Boundaries of UNHCR

 This article examines the way in which UNHCR has expanded its range of policy interests and operational activities since its establishment in 1951, focusing on the extension of the organization’s mission from refugees to groups such as asylum seekers, returnees, stateless popula­tions, internally displaced persons, and victims of natural disasters.The article identifies the different factors that have contributed to this expansionist process, examines its implications for UNHCR’s core mandate, and asks whether the process is an irreversible one.L’auteur examine la façon dont le Haut Commissariat pour les réfugiés a élargi son éventail d’intérêts en matière de politiques et d’activités opérationnelles depuis sa création en 1951, mettant l’accent sur l’extension du mandat de l’organisation pour inclure des groupes tels les demandeurs d’asile, les rapatriés, les populations apatrides, les déplacés internes et les victimes de catastrophes naturelles. L’auteur identifie les différents facteurs qui ont contribué à cette expansion, examine ses implications pour le mandat principal du HCR et tente de déterminer s’il s’agit d’un processus irréversible

Los principios de repatriación bajo presión

Cada vez se vulneran más las leyes y normas establecidas por la comunidad internacional para garantizar que la repatriación organizada se lleva a cabo de manera que se protejan los derechos de los refugiados

Science with the Second Wide Field and Planetary Camera

With the commencement of Cycle 4 observations, the General Observer community will have access to the second Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WFPC-2), a replacement for the original WFPC instrument. WFPC-2, a wide-field photometric camera which covers the spectrum from 1200 to 10000 Angstroms, will be installed in the Hubble radial bay during the currently manifested December 1992 Shuttle servicing mission. Besides optical correction for the aberrated Hubble primary mirror, the WFPC-2 incorporates evolutionary improvements in photometric imaging capabilities. The CCD sensors, signal chain electronics, filter set, FUV performance, internal calibrations, and operational efficiency have all been improved through new technologies and lessons learned from WFPC operations and Hubble experience since launch. Here we provide an overview of the new instrument, beginning with the assumption that the reader is already familiar with the original WFPC now in service

Hubble Space Telescope Imaging of the Circumstellar Nebulosity of T Tauri

Short-exposure Planetary Camera images of T Tauri have been obtained using broadband filters spanning the wavelength range 0.55-0.80 μm. The optically visible star lies very close to an arc of reflection nebulosity. The arc's northern arm extends approximately 5" from the star, while its southwestern arm appears brighter and extends only 2". The arc shows an approximate symmetry along an axis toward the west-northwest, the direction of Hind's Nebula and the blueshifted molecular outflow. The morphology of the reflected light is similar to models of scattered light within an illuminated, axisymmetric outflow cavity in a circumbinary envelope, viewed ≈ 45° from the outflow axis. However, our model images do not successfully account for the amount of limb brightening that is seen. No optical counterpart to the infrared companion is seen to a limiting magnitude of V = 19.6, which suggests A_V > 7 mag toward this source. There is no evidence for an optical tertiary, to a limiting ΔV = 5.1 mag fainter than the primary, at the position where such an object has been previously reported

Stellar Populations at the Center of IC 1613

We have observed the center of the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy IC 1613 with WFPC2 aboard the Hubble Space Telescope in the F439W, F555W, and F814W filters. We find a dominant old stellar population (aged ~7 Gyr), identifiable by the strong red giant branch (RGB) and red clump populations. From the (V-I) color of the RGB, we estimate a mean metallicity of the intermediate-age stellar population [Fe/H] = -1.38 +/- 0.31. We confirm a distance of 715 +/- 40 kpc using the I-magnitude of the RGB tip. The main-sequence luminosity function down to I ~25 provides evidence for a roughly constant SFR of approximately 0.00035 solar masses per year across the WFPC2 field of view (0.22 square kpc) during the past 250-350 Myr. Structure in the blue loop luminosity function implies that the SFR was ~50% higher 400-900 Myr ago than today. The mean heavy element abundance of these young stars is 1/10th solar. The best explanation for a red spur on the main-sequence at I = 24.7 is the blue horizontal branch component of a very old stellar population at the center of IC 1613. We have also imaged a broader area of IC 1613 using the 3.5-meter WIYN telescope under excellent seeing conditions. The AGB-star luminosity function is consistent with a period of continuous star formation over at least the age range 2-10 Gyr. We present an approximate age-metallicity relation for IC 1613, which appears similar to that of the Small Magellanic Cloud. We compare the Hess diagram of IC 1613 to similar data for three other Local Group dwarf galaxies, and find that it most closely resembles the nearby, transition-type dwarf galaxy Pegasus (DDO 216).Comment: To appear in the September 1999 Astronomical Journal. LaTeX, uses AASTeX v4.0, emulateapj style file, 19 pages, 12 postscript figures, 2 tables. 5 of the figures available separately via the WW

Hubble Space Telescope Observations of the Draco Dwarf Spheroidal

We present an F606W-F814W color-magnitude diagram for the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy based on Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 images. The luminosity function is well-sampled to 3 magnitudes below the turn-off. We see no evidence for multiple turnoffs and conclude that, at least over the field of the view of the WFPC2, star formation was primarily single-epoch. If the observed number of blue stragglers is due to extended star formation, then roughly 6% (upper limit) of the stars could be half as old as the bulk of the galaxy. The color difference between the red giant branch and the turnoff is consistent with an old population and is very similar to that observed in the old, metal-poor Galactic globular clusters M68 and M92. Despite its red horizontal branch, Draco appears to be older than M68 and M92 by 1.6 +/- 2.5 Gyrs, lending support to the argument that the ``second parameter'' which governs horizontal branch morphology must be something other than age. Draco's observed luminosity function is very similar to that of M68, and the derived initial mass function is consistent with that of the solar neighborhood.Comment: 16 pages, AASTeX, 9 postscript figures, figures 1 and 2 available at ftp://bb3.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/draco/. Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journa

Observations and Implications of the Star Formation History of the LMC

We present derivations of star formation histories based on color-magnitude diagrams of three fields in the LMC from HST/WFPC2 observations. A significant component of stars older than 4 Gyr is required to match the observed color-magnitude diagrams. Models with a dispersion-free age-metallicity relation are unable to reproduce the width of the observed main sequence; models with a range of metallicity at a given age provide a much better fit. Such models allow us to construct complete ``population boxes'' for the LMC based entirely on color-magnitude diagrams; remarkably, these qualitatively reproduce the age-metallicity relation observed in LMC clusters. We discuss some of the uncertainties in deriving star formation histories. We find, independently of the models, that the LMC bar field has a larger relative component of older stars than the outer fields. The main implications suggested by this study are: 1) the star formation history of field stars appears to differ from the age distribution of clusters, 2) there is no obvious evidence for bursty star formation, but our ability to measure bursts shorter in duration than $\sim$ 25% of any given age is limited by the statistics of the observed number of stars, 3) there may be some correlation of the star formation rate with the last close passage of the LMC/SMC/Milky Way, but there is no dramatic effect, and 4) the derived star formation history is probably consistent with observed abundances, based on recent chemical evolution models.Comment: Accepted by AJ, 36 pages including 12 figure

WFPC2 Observations of the Cooling Flow Elliptical in Abell 1795

We present WFPC2 images of the core of the cooling flow cD galaxy in Abell 1795. An irregular, asymmetric dust lane extends 7 \h75 kpc in projection to the north-northwest. The dust shares the morphology observed in the H$\alpha$ and excess UV emission. We see both diffuse and knotty blue emission around the dust lane, especially at the ends. The dust and emission features lie on the edge of the radio lobes, suggesting star formation induced by the radio source or the deflection of the radio jets off of pre-existing dust and gas. We measure an apparent R$_V$ significantly less than 3.1, implying that the extinction law is not Galactic in the dust lane, or the presence of line emission which is proportional to the extinction. The dust mass is at least 2$\times10^{5} h_{75}^{-2}$ M\solar\ and is more likely to be 6.5$\times10^{5} h_{75}^{-2}$ M\solar.Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX, Figure 4 included, Postscript Figs. 1-3 available at ftp://astro.nmsu.edu/pub/JASON/A1795/, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter