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Journal of Refugee Studies Vol. 11, No. 2 1998

BOOK REVIEWS

The Refugee in International Law. By Guy S. Goodwin-Gill. 2nd edition.

Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. xl + 58 4 pp. £22.50. ISBN 0 19 826020 2 (pb).
Guy Goodwin-Gill has once again produced a work of legal scholarship that provides
those interested in forced migration with a solid description of the international legal
regime related to refugee protection. The ambition and scope of this treatise are
matched by the sound judgment manifested throughout the work and the impressive
reflection on historical developments affecting refugee protection.
Readers familiar with the first edition will recognize the relatively straightforward
structure: three parts dealing respectively with the refugee definition, asylum and
protection. This structure appears very similar to the proposed first three parts of a
project by the late Atle Grahl-Madsen that was intended to comprise six parts (Part I
and approximately half of Part II were published as the remarkable Volumes I-II of The
Status of Refugees in InternationalLaw, in 1966 and 1972). As a consequence, Goodwin-
Gill's book is slightly affected by the same difficulty found in Grahl-Madsen's
categorization and structuring of subject matter: it is sometimes not obvious or clear
which subjects should be included under the various headings and why they are treated
at that particular stage. However, the reader is not forced to make undue effort to grasp
the flow of Goodwin-Gill's book since the sequential presentation of topics becomes
relatively easy to follow.
The categorizations used by these two leading authorities remain, nonetheless,
intellectually unsatisfying. Why should non-refoulement not be included under
'protection'? While the notion of refugee status is clearly distinct from the concept of
asylum in that one does not necessarily entail the other, how can the subject of
protection not include asylum? What is asylum (including the principle of non-
refoulement) if not the most basic form of protection accorded to refugees under
international law? Should the legal position on entitlements relating to entry and
sojourn be included under 'asylum' or 'protection'? Goodwin-Gill and Grahl-Madsen
have different answers to this last question, and students of refugee law are left with
theoretical treatises that do not include a clear and unequivocal use of basic terms. Yet
The Refugee in International Law is clearly the only book written to date that is
comparable to the volumes produced by the 'grandfather' of this relatively new field in
terms of scope, balance and quality. The growth in refugee literature and jurisprudence
is well-reflected in this edition, and the choice of sources and citations will satisfy most
readers. The abandonment of the descriptions of national laws and procedures is
understandable, since the endless modifications to municipal law cannot be adequately
described. The volume can therefore maintain its usefulness as a general reference
manual that will remain directly relevant for some time to come. Domestic laws are

@Oxford University Press 1998

200 Book Reviews
continually being revised, many even since the publication of this second edition!
Consequently, the transformation of the chapter on 'Protection in Municipal Law' into
a chapter that focuses on the sorts of thematic issues which daily preoccupy decision-
makers in asylum cases is welcome.
The expansion of legal instruments in the Annexes (177 pages) is also welcome,
although some researchers would certainly have appreciated an even greater number of
complete texts. A handy reference work that includes many pre-World War II
documents relating to forced migration is surprisingly still unavailable, although it
would not be fair to expect to find them in this second edition which already includes
584 pages. To his credit, Goodwin-Gill remains one of the few scholars of refugee law
who actually makes extensive use of historical documents and commentaries in a
manner that goes beyond the superficial.
While noting the 'less than healthy background against which to portray the
panorama of rules and principles that do compromise the international legal regime of
refugee protection' (viii), Goodwin-Gill also notes the progress that has been made in
the field of human rights in recent years. His concerns over recent developments are
usefully described as a 'piecemeal but persistent undermining of rules taken as
fundamental just a decade and a half ago' (viii), and he underlines that this has occurred
without a satisfactory alternative being provided that can address the legitimate
interests of States along with the needs of those displaced. In short, affluent countries
have decided to respond in a short-sighted manner that does not deal adequately with
the social realities or consequences of forced migration. Is Goodwin-Gill implicitly
suggesting that these responses will ultimately fail? Perhaps the only mild
disappointment a reader may be left with after going through this edition, which
includes significant revisions and additions, is that the author does not use his
extraordinary knowledge and insights relating to the history of refugee protection in
order to provide us with a comprehensive critique of current problems.
Of course, extensive critical analysis and suggestions for moving beyond the current
impasse may be too much to ask for in a general treatise on refugee law. Yet the
preface's strikingly critical tone of the recent orientation of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees is not developed or even found in the body of the text. In
fact, the chapter dealing with UNHCR's new activities ('Protection, Solutions,
Prevention and Co-operation') includes no clear analysis that explains the harsh
indictment found in the preface: 'a protection audit of recent activities seems overdue,
while it is by no means clear that the end result will have been positive for refugees in the
sense of international law' (viii). Strong words, especially given that they come from a
former top jurist at UNHCR. We eagerly anticipate future publications in which
Goodwin-Gill will explicitly lay out what is influencing his current thinking and how he
perceives the international community can best tackle current problems related to
refugee protection.
Overall, the second edition impressively succeeds in accomplishing its aim: the
description of the foundations and framework of international refugee law. The work
remains the most authoritative statement on the current state of refugee law and includes
sufficient analysis to serve as an indicator of future trends and basis of further inquiry. Put
simply, this second edition of a leading volume that has already established itself as a
standard reference should be included in any serious library concerned with refugee issues.

Michael Barutciski Refugee Studies Programme, University of Oxford

 Book Reviews 201
International Migration, Refugee Flows, and Human Rights in North America:
The Impact of Trade and Restructuring. Edited by Alan B. Simmons. New
York: Center for Migration Studies, 1996. vii + 335pp. nps. ISBN 0 934733
91 0 (pb).
There have been many studies and much speculation about the potential effects of the
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Canada, the United States,
and Mexico, on migration in the region. Most of these studies, however, have reflected the
ongoing political debate surrounding migration and trade, namely, the perceived effects
on labour markets. Important social and political consequences of regional integration
and resultant migration patterns have not been properly assessed. The present volume
seeks to call attention to this void, and it does so remarkably well. This is in part because it
places NAFTA within a broader context of globalization trends and the formation of
regional trade blocs, but also because in doing so, it does not reduce sociopolitical
implications to only the three countries in question. Thus, the volume also includes
important migration-related processes taking place in the immediately adjacent regions of
Central America and the Caribbean that affect and are affected by decisions in the three
NAFTA countries. The discussion is organized around four interconnected themes.
The first section, titled 'Social and Political Effects of Restructuring', deals with these
broader effects of NAFTA, discussing their effect on hemispheric trends of integration.
Grinspun argues that the social and political costs of the neo-conservative restructuring
that NAFTA promotes will fall on disadvantaged groups of society, and will exacerbate
existing trends of social inequality. Comparing Mexico and Peru, Cameron observes
similarities related to the implementation of neo-liberal policies in both countries,
notably a deterioration of social conditions and the institutional infrastructure
necessary for democratic stability. Velasco Arregui examines the precarious condition
of Mexican workers' rights, which may be further eroded as the Mexican government
limits even more the role of labour in efforts to attract foreign investment in the context
of NAFTA.
The relationship between global and regional migration trends, as well as changes in
specific migration patterns in North America-including the rise of short-term labour
and refugee claimants-forms the general theme of the section 'New Trends in
International Migration'. Zlotnik notes that the exchanges that NAFTA requires also
involve the transnational movement of people. Thus NAFTA will reinforce existing
global trends, such as migration from Asia, Latin America, and increasingly Africa, to
North America, but it will also foster regional patterns, such as the movement of
Mexicans to Canada. Michalowski examines the increasing trend of labour-related
temporary visas in Canada and the United States. In the context of NAFTA, temporary
worker visas may become an important mechanism to meet intensified labour migration
demands between the three countries. Guengant argues that even though the two major
trading blocs with impact on the Caribbean-the EEC and NAFTA-will expose that
region's economies to global competition and in the process these will lose preferential
treatment, the creation of these blocs is unlikely to alter existing migratory patterns in
the region. Castillo posits that the peace processes in Central America have not rendered
the region stable. The persistence of political and economic crises there will continue to
sustain migration trends from this region to North America. Casillas examines Mexico's
retrictionist response to the influx of Central American migrants, noting important
socio-economic differences between early European and South American 'exiles' and the
poor who comprise recent Central American migration flows.
202 Book Reviews
The section on 'The Emerging International Division of Labour' examines the social
organization of labour in the region. Fernandez-Kelly observes that the effects of
NAFTA will be complex and nuanced, as its employment impacts will affect immigrant
women and ethnic minorities differently; these in turn will respond in diverse ways.
Examining trends in the electronic sector, she notes that large manufacturing may not
be greatly affected, but this may not be the case for other industries. Boyd finds similar
trends in immigrant women's employment in the United States and in Canada, such as a
higher concentration in the service economy. She warns that less skilled women will
continue to migrate in the context of NAFTA due to the principles of immigration
legislation and to the objectives of competition in a global economy. Kopinak examines
the effects of internal migration and household reorganization on the social
organization of maquiladora production, and argues that Mexican migration to the
United States will continue, due to harsh economic conditions in Mexico.
This volume includes a section that is not usually discussed in compilations about
economics and trade. Issues related to politically-induced migration that may affect and
are affected by this trade agreement are discussed in the section 'Refugees and Asylum
in the Hemisphere'. Keely and Stanton Russell argue that, as in Europe, Canada, the
United States and Mexico are leaning towards regional solutions to issues of asylum and
refugees. An important difference between the two, however, is the immigration
tradition in the NAFTA countries and the focus on trade of this agreement. The authors
argue that issues of human rights have been relegated to a second plane in favour of
national security, but that eventually they will move to the centre of foreign policy
debates. Aleinikoff discusses the development of US refugee policy, the practice of
asylum, as well as the 'special cases' of the Cuban Mariels, Temporary Protected Status,
and Extended Voluntary Departure. He mentions that refugee law and asylum will
undergo radical change in the near future, with more attention focused on deterring
arrivals in the United States. Glenn discusses Canadian refugee policy, which differs in
some respects, but in others is congruent with US refugee policy. Most notably, both
countries tend not to deport most refugee claimants, but they have reacted very
differently to specific groups, such as Central Americans. Guttentag presents in detail
the case of the Haitians as the victims of US asylum policy. But even though only a few
Haitians were granted asylum, this did not mean that they were massively returned to
Haiti. Many managed to stay with temporary visas and work permits, while others
found ways to stay permanently. Aguayo Quezada documents the important role that
NGOs have played in the NAFTA countries, and will continue to play, in protecting
and defending displaced Central Americans. In fact, NGOs are contributing to the
internationalization of politics by forging links across the three countries to continue
their work with Central Americans, and to shape-directly or indirectly-the features of
NAFTA. Ochoa Garcia discusses the Guatemalan peace process in detail, but as part of
a broader pattern of regional issues affecting all of Central America. He further
supports Aguayo Quezada's point about the increasing importance of NGOs, and
points out that the role of the international community in overseeing human rights in
Central America-an important aspect of the peace process negotiation-will be central
in the future.
This volume represents a much-awaited contribution to studies of the migration-
related social and political effects of the North American trade agreement. Importantly,
it treats the different aspects of the integration-the economic, political, and social-as
interrelated, and thus, issues related to the 'political' sphere, such as those of refugees
and asylees, are given central consideration. Even though it deals with the North
 Book Reviews 203
American case, the broad scope of the issues discussed expands their applicability. The
range of topics and the expertise of the authors make even a dip into this book
instructive. I highly recommend it to academics and policy makers interested in issues of
immigration, refugee flows, economic restructuring, trends of globalization and
integration, and regional responses to all of these.

Cecilia Menjivar School of Justice Studies, Arizona State University

Historical Dictionary of Human Rights and Humanitarian Organizations. By

Robert F. Gorman and Edward S. Mihalkanin. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow
Press, 1997. xxxv + 297pp. $44. ISBN 0 8108 3263 1.
This slim volume brings together a useful collection of entries on the main human rights
treaties and different organizations involved in the protection of human rights,
particularly those within the United Nations system. However, it does not include
entries on some key human rights issues and its choice of entries seems at times rather
US-oriented.
The book comprises a chronology of twentieth century human rights events; an
introduction, which briefly traces the development of human rights from the ten
commandments through to the late twentieth century; the dictionary itself; a
bibliography; and four documentary appendices. At under 200 pages in length, the
dictionary nevertheless provides often substantial entries on key conventions,
declarations and organizations in the human rights and humanitarian spheres. There
are also useful contact details for organizations and bibliographic information at the
end of many entries.
The introduction to the book concedes that 'the list of organizations, particularly in
the nongovernmental sphere, is surely not exhaustive'. However, the inclusion of short
entries on a greater number of NGOs based outside the USA would have given the
dictionary a more global reach. Examples of NGOs not included are Anti-Slavery
International, Article 19, Charter 77, International Alert, the International Federation
of Human Rights, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, the Medical
Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, and Solidarity.
The book is also somewhat organization-oriented. Themes and conferences are
included, but the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, which does not get an entry, would
appear more relevant to the dictionary than the 1994 Yokohama conference on natural
disaster reduction, which does. A number of major human rights issues which one might
expect to see included are also omitted. These include capital punishment (although the
fact that there is a cross reference to it under 'right to life' suggests an entry was intended),
conscientious objection, democracy, humanitarian intervention (although there are
entries on United Nations operations such as those in Somalia and former Yugoslavia),
and sexual orientation, all of which have an interesting human rights history.
For a title published in 1997 the book already seems rather dated. There are some
references to 1994 developments and virtually none to later events. The title of the book
may include the word 'historical' but its usefulness to the reader is reduced if it is out of
date. There is, for instance, an entry on the 1975 Helsinki Accord, but nothing on the
Charter of Paris signed at the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe
(CSCE) summit meeting in November 1990, which marked the end of the Cold War in
204 Book Reviews
Europe and declared human rights to be 'the birthright of all human beings'. Indeed,
entries would also be relevant on the CSCE itself, the Organisation for Security and Co-
operation in Europe (OSCE) which succeeded it, and bodies such as the Office for
Democratic Institutions and Human Rights set up by the OSCE in Warsaw. Similarly, it
would be useful to mention, in the entry on 'indigenous rights', that the draft
declaration on the rights of indigenous people was actually adopted by the UN Sub-
Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities on 26
August 1994. Although there is a substantial paragraph on the 1985 Nairobi Forward-
looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, there is nothing on the Beijing
Declaration-Platform for Action agreed ten years later.
Finally, the choice of biographical entries is somewhat idiosyncratic, with a distinct
bias towards US human rights campaigners. There is, for instance, an entry on Lucretia
Mott but not on Emmeline Pankhurst, while Wendell Phillips and Elizabeth Cady
Stanton are included, but not Lord Shaftesbury or Lord Wilberforce. Outside the USA,
there are a handful of entries on major human rights figures such as Nelson Mandela,
Aung San Suu Kyi and Andrei Sakharov, but not on other figures who might equally
logically be included, such as Anatoly Shcharansky, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Harry Wu
or Vaclav Havel. Similarly, the US bill of rights is included, but not the English bill of
rights of 1688, or the Canadian charter of rights and freedoms of 1982.
The dictionary has clearly drawn heavily on existing titles in the Historical Dictionary of
International Organizations series already published by the Scarecrow Press, such as that
on refugee and disaster relief organizations, and on the United Nations itself. The entries
provide much useful information, but the dictionary would have benefited from a broader
and more systematic selection of headwords and from greater currency of information.

Frances Nicholson Cambridge, UK

Exclusion and Inclusion of Refugees in Contemporary Europe. Edited by Philip

Muus. Utrecht University, Netherlands: European Research Centre on
Migration and Ethnic Relations, 1997. xi + 215pp. £11.95. ISBN 90 75719
04 3 (pb).
The contributions in this volume arise from the proceedings of a workshop organized by
the Centre for Migration Research at the University of Amsterdam, Department of
Human Geography, held in May 1995. 'Exclusion and Inclusion of Refugees' is perhaps a
misleading choice of title, since the multi-disciplinary contributions in this book suggest
there is very little work going on in the field of inclusion. Rather, refugees are increasingly
being excluded, both physically and socially, from contemporary European society.
The introduction begins with the assertion that the number of people seeking asylum
in Europe increased between the mid 1980s and 1992, which led to the development of
new legislation and policies aimed at curbing the increase. This is not a new proposition,
but what is different here is that an attempt has been made to link together practices
concerning the legal acceptance of refugees with the policies (or absence of policies)
surrounding their social acceptance.
Contributions in the first section of the book discuss refugee issues from legal, moral
and political angles. From the 1980s onwards, refugees in Europe have come to be
perceived as a 'problem' for European governments. Increasing numbers of
 Book Reviews 205
applications for asylum during this period may reflect the increase in tension and civil
strife in various countries, and especially in countries closer to Europe than in previous
decades, but the general response in Europe has not been welcoming. Governments
throughout Europe have amended their legislation on asylum, or introduced new
legislation, as well as interpreting the UN Convention on refugees more strictly, in
order to try to reduce the numbers of applications for asylum.The authors suggest that
there is a moral case to be made against increasing restriction. Guy Goodwin-Gill
argues that there needs to be reform of the legal situation for refugees, though the
governments of Europe have shown themselves rather better at devising ever more
restrictions. Johannes van der Klaauw maintains that the process of harmonization of
legislation at a European level should be used as an opportunity to ensure a minimum
standard of refugee rights and the inclusion of the Geneva Convention in domestic law.
He warns that if instead it is used to further restrict the rights of asylum seekers, it will
affect not only those wishing to seek asylum in Europe but also those outside Europe.
Governments outside the European Union may feel themselves entitled or even obliged
to follow the European example, and introduce restrictive measures of their own. Jens
Vedsted-Hansen examines the interpretation of the Geneva Convention, and argues
that a wider refugee definition is needed in order to take account of the needs of defacto
refugees.
The second section of the book looks at individual countries, some of them
traditional asylum states and others new asylum countries. Most authors aver that the
thrust of legislation has been to increase the restrictions on asylum seekers and enhance
their social exclusion. A focus on numbers has led to a climate whereby the very
presence of refugees is considered to be problematic. There has been little interest in
measures to promote the social inclusion of those deemed eligible to remain.
Contributors use studies of Germany, Belgium, France and the Netherlands to
illustrate the situation in countries with a history as refugee receiving, though there is
little to suggest that the situation may be different in other European countries. Studies
of Italy and Greece, relative newcomers to the field of refugee reception, show that both
have thus far failed to develop policies adequate to address the needs of refugees and
asylum seekers.
The final section of the book contains case studies of specific refugee populations.
The contributions of two authors are particularly interesting. These propose that it is
time to reappraise the theoretical concepts traditionally used to understand the
situation of refugees. Khalid Koser's study shows that it is increasingly necessary for
asylum seekers to use assistance from friends or agents in order to gain admission to
Europe. The fact of increasing restrictions means that those who have a genuine claim
for asylum are increasingly forced to use measures which may lead to them becoming
illegal residents or illegal immigrants. The legal category of refugee may no longer,
therefore, be sufficient for a sociological definition of a refugee, if it ever was. A more
theoretical chapter is provided by Osten Wahlbeck, who claims that viewing a refugee
population as an ethnic minority may be insufficient to understand their situation;
rather, theories developed around the concept of a diasporic society may be of greater
applicability.
This is a book which should be of interest to a wide readership, serving as an overview
or an introduction. This volume makes a valuable contribution to literature on refugees,
in that it brings together several of the factors in the integration and exclusion of
refugees which are often treated separately. Though there is a need for further detailed
study in many of the particular areas covered, to understand the contemporary situation
206 Book Reviews
of refugees in Europe these disparate factors need to be drawn together and studied
collectively.

Lynette Kelly Centrefor Research on Ethnic Relations, University of Warwick

The Flight, Exile and Return of Chadian Refugees. A Case Study with a Special
Focus on Women. Research conducted by Madi Passang and Noelle Nodjal.
Prepared by Carol Watson. Geneva: UNRISD, 1996. xxx + 182pp. nps.
ISBN 92 9085 017 5.
This book gives the reader the impression that it is the result of a study which, originally
designed as a very ambitious, thorough and systematic investigation on the return of
Chadian refugees, lost its original ilan somewhere on the way and became much more
modest in the course of its realization. Indeed, there is a conspicuous gap between the
complex and exacting research questions formulated at the outset, and the data which
were actually collected.
For instance, the interesting hypothesis that 'basic differences in the assistance
policies guiding programmes for refugees in the camps established in Cameroon and in
the Central African Republic were to have some repercussions on later processes of
resettlement after the refugees returned to Chad' (p. 39) is never really tested. This is
unfortunate as it would have been extremely important to collect systematic data about
the ways in which different groups of refugees fared upon their return: a useful
comparison might have been made between those who had lived under the aid umbrella
throughout their period in exile, those who had lived in camps in Cameroon where self-
sufficiency was successfully pursued, and those who had always lived outside camps
without receiving any form of assistance.
The main problem with this study is that it adopted a methodology that could not
have possibly elicited the type of data required by the scope of the investigation. Some
of its methodological limits are acknowledged by the authors, who indicate that 'the
reduction of field research to two months' was a limitation, as 'it gave insufficient time
for a thorough investigation of the conditions of returned refugees in the different
regions of the country' (p. 14). The brevity of the fieldwork inevitably affected the
quality of the research, particularly as the most interesting aspects initially identified as
deserving investigation-the impact of different experiences in exile on the returnees'
ability to re-integrate, the role of returnees who had lived in the country of exile outside
the aid umbrella, processes of re-adaptation, changes in the socio-cultural ties of
solidarity and social responsibility, and the consequence of relief and development
programmes-necessarily required a longer data collection period.
Conceptually, this study would have also greatly benefited from an analysis of key
concepts like re-integration, adaptation and re-adaptation, social responsibility, and
kinship and family ties in Chadian society. Such concepts are referred to throughout the
book but they are never fully discussed.
The background information on Chad, which is provided in two chapters, is overall
quite exhaustive. In short, this is a book which those who embark upon research on
repatriation in the future may want to take into account for the initial terms of reference
of the enquiry rather than for the methodology that was actually followed and the
analysis that ensued.

Guglielmo Verdirame London School of Economics

 Book Reviews 207
Estonia and Latvia: Citizenship, Language and Conflict Prevention. By the
Forced Migration Projects of the Open Society Institute. New York: The
Open Society Institute, 1997. 87pp. nps. ISBN 0 964 1568 8 1.

Crimean Tatars: Repatriation and Conflict Prevention. By the Forced Migration

Projects of the Open Society Institute. New York: The Open Society
Institute, 1996. 95pp. nps. ISBN 92 9068 065 2.

The Forced Migration Projects (FMP) of the Open Society Institute have been very
active in drawing attention to the discrimination various groups of people have faced
since the break-up of the Soviet Union. In 1996-97 Justin Burke, associate director of
the FMP, travelled to Estonia and to the Crimea in Ukraine. The results of these fact-
finding missions are presented in Estoniaand Latvia: Citizenship, Language and Conflict
Prevention, and Crimean Tatars: Repatriation and Conflict Prevention. Both books
provide interesting glimpses of the ethnic conundrums facing states that are in the
process of nation building.
Estonia and Latvia, with total populations of 1.5 and 2.5 million respectively, have
high percentages of Russian speakers, a legacy of their annexation by the Soviet Union
during World War II, an annexation which lasted 40 years. This historical 'colonization'
of the Baltics is the origin of the present-day problem. Upon securing independence, the
Estonians and Latvians both took steps to ensure their cultural and political survival by
adopting exclusionary citizenship policies. Russians who may have resided in either
Estonia or Latvia for decades were made aliens overnight. Bitter feelings have surfaced
among Russian speakers, who claim their civic and cultural rights have been infringed.
Estonians and Latvians defend their actions, citing past oppression endured under the
Soviet Union as justification for their present measures. Both sides are deeply
mistrustful of each other and Burke has done an admirable job by presenting all shades
of the debate from Estonian, Latvian and Russian points of view.
In the background of the tense stand-off between the Russian speakers and the Baltic
states is the Russian Federation. Its commitment to defending the interests of the
Russian speakers remains only words at present. As Burke suggests, these words could
turn into action at any moment, and the fragile relations between the Estonian and
Latvian governments and the Russian government could be upset if, for example,
Russian speakers, who constitute the majority of the population in northeast Estonia,
decided to join the Russian Federation.
Burke also comments on the long-term drawbacks of the Baltic states' policy. Entry
into the European Union is contingent upon the establishment of stable democracies in
Estonia and Latvia. If they proceed to disenfranchise a large part of their population,
and allow discriminatory treatment of Russian speakers to continue, the likelihood of
winning European approval is slim. NATO partnership by these two states is also on
hold, but Burke does not elaborate on the Russian Federation's desire to see that the
Baltics never enter NATO. The strategic geopolitical position of the Baltics means that
Russia will always have an interest in this area, so that the Baltic nations must expect a
certain amount of 'Finlandization' whether they like it or not.
Burke provides no easy solutions to the conflict because there are none. Streamlining
the naturalization procedure in both states, as well as actively encouraging Baltic
languages to be taught to all, would be positive steps towards resolving the present
impasse. Giving Russian speakers the right to vote at municipal level could also defuse
208 Book Reviews
tension between the two groups. But to move towards these goals requires a united
political will which is lacking in the current political scene in the Baltics. Writing as
rapporteur for a conference on statelessness hosted by the International Organization
for Migration, Papademetriou offers a perceptive criticism of the Estonian/Latvian
attitude: 'Minority rights is still too dominant a paradigm among [the Baltic states] ...
full membership in each society is the true challenge, rather than the legal protections
for minorities' (1995: 13). Burke's summary reiterates this criticism.
The Crimean Tatars are on the reverse side of the 'imperial' legacy of the Soviet
Union. Their plight does not involve the right to stay, but rather the right to return. The
Tatars, victims of Stalin's policy to relocate entire ethnic groups he considered
politically suspect, were transferred to Central Asia and Western Siberia in the space of
three days-18-20 May 1944. Between 45,000 and 110,000 of the 250,000 relocated
perished in this ordeal. Burke's main task in Crimean Tatars is to outline the efforts the
Tatars have made to reconstitute their rights, and the trials they have faced since
receiving permission to return in 1988. The Crimean Tatars' case exemplifies the
complicated ethnic and social struggles taking place in the present day CIS. The Tatars
are a minority within a minority, in that the population of the Crimea, heavily russified,
does not identify with the present Ukrainian state. To safeguard their interests the
Tatars have allied themselves with the Ukrainian government, but this has served to
increase the insecurity of the Crimean Russians. The latter have put pressure on
Moscow to support their bid for territorial independence from Ukraine. The dbicle in
Chechnya has dampened Russia's enthusiasm to intervene, but there are no guarantees
of avoiding conflicts, especially with the Crimea's appalling economic situation. Until
employment and social conditions improve, the strife between Russians and Tatars is
likely to intensify.
The possible scenarios and recommendations to improve ethnic relations in the
Crimea echo those the Open Society proposes'for Estonia and Latvia. The building of a
'civil society' is the greatest insurance against confrontation, but the historical enmity
which was greatly exacerbated in the Soviet era will not be easily forgotten. Efforts by
the international community to mediate between ethnic groups are appreciated, but true
change will only arrive when the economic situation improves.

Natasha Gya Visiting Fellow, Refugee Studies Programme

PAPADEMETRIOU, D. (1995) Newsletter on Migration Issues 5:13. Moscow: IOM

Bureau.

CIS Migration Report. By the International Organization for Migration.

Geneva: Technical Cooperation Centre for Europe and Central Asia, 1997.
160pp. US$20. ISBN 92 9068 065 2.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), one of the first international
agencies to operate in the former Soviet Union, has undertaken activities to raise
awareness of international standards pertaining to migration regulation in twelve of the
thirteen countries which make up the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). In
its advisory capacity, the IOM has gained respect throughout the republics for its
comprehensive outlook on the problems besetting the nascent states of the ex-USSR. It
 Book Reviews 209
has identified the need to look beyond the issues that cause immediate complications to
the West, such as illegal transit migration, to other pressing concerns: the formulation of
mechanisms to control migration flows, and the lack of knowledge on the part of CIS
officials about basic migration concepts.
Along with UNHCR and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
the IOM hosted the CIS Conference held in May 1996. This was the first time
problems and obstacles plaguing the CIS region were raised at an international level.
The conference resulted in a plan of action outline to improve the institutional
capacity-building and early warning monitor networks across the CIS. The IOM's
contribution to the follow-up stage has been to publish this CIS migration report.
Included in the report is an. executive summary of the major migration problems and
trends in the CIS region, as well as statistics dating from 1989-96 characterizing the
nature of migration flows. The aim of the report is to provide 'the international
community with a complete, accurate, and up to date picture of the migration
situation in each of the CIS countries' (p.1). This is a huge task and one that the IOM
does not completely achieve.
The statistics are categorized according to the definition of migrant groups accepted by
the CIS Conference participants: refugees, persons in refugee-like situations, internally
displaced people, repatriants, involuntarily relocating people, formerly deported people,
and ecological migrants. This gives the reader an idea of how complicated migration
issues in the former Soviet Union are. The terms 'involuntarily relocating people' and
'repatriants' indicate that people are on the move for reasons other than those associated
with conflict. Many former Soviet citizens are opting to move to the republic of their
nationality, such as Russians to Russia, or Turkmens to Turkmenistan. Migration was
common in the Soviet era, with citizens encouraged or forced to move to different parts
of the empire. The USSR's implosion resulted in many people suddenly living in states
that no longer reflected their nationality. Many people have sought domicile in their
nationality's titular republic, causing influx into republics that were unprepared to
absorb additions to their populations. Deported peoples date back to the Stalin era,
when entire ethnic groups were exiled from their homeland and sent to other parts of the
Soviet Union. The return of Crimean Tatars, Germans, and Meskhetians has caused
social and economic instability in the areas which they claim as their ancestral homes,
since local people feel these groups are encroaching on their rights.
If the newly founded democracies had stronger economies, the impact of the
population movements would be less severe, but given the tenuous conditions most
republics find themselves in, it is impossible to provide much assistance to incoming
migrants. Russia, as the main inheritor of the Soviet Union's legacy, has become the
greatest target for immigration. Whether it or any of the other republics can withstand
such population shifts remains to be seen. The conflicts waged in Chechnya, Tadjikistan
and Nagorno-Karabakh demonstrate the ease with which people can be displaced, but
can the CIS resolve the upheavals brought about by these armed confrontations? The
IOM remains silent on this point.
The IOM has created a framework for gathering statistical information, but the data
collected proves to be incomplete, with no republics divulging how many involuntarily
relocating people are in their country, and none being able to say how many citizens
they have. This could be caused by many factors, not least of which could be a republic's
hesitancy to make such information public, for example, the number of illegal migrants.
But if the IOM wants to maintain the credibility of its report, it should try to
compensate for these large omissions in data.
210 Book Reviews
What the IOM does very well is to give a concise summary of the conditions in each
republic. It provides very restrained commentary on the conditions in CIS countries,
noting the absence of very elementary mechanisms and legislation concerning migration
control in the most neutral of terms. This information helps to make up for the
statistical shortcomings of the report. Each country is examined by looking at migration
flows, governmental policies and programmes, intergovernmental cooperation, future
trends and programmes by international organizations and NGOs. The latter tends to
focus on IOM projects in the republics, as well as mentioning UNHCR activities. Given
the brevity of the report, an exhaustive look at the international actions in each republic
is impossible, but it would be a mistake to believe that only the IOM and UNHCR are
taking an active role in the former Soviet Union. Others such as the Carnegie
Foundation and Open Society Institute are also doing valuable work in the area of
forced migration.
The IOM report has a good structure but there is room for improvement. This edition
provides a conservative overview of the former Soviet republics, but it could do much
more, especially given the IOM's pioneering role in the CIS. This can hopefully be
rectified in the next report.

Natasha Gya Visiting Fellow, Refugee Studies Programme

Transcaucasian Boundaries. Edited by John F. R. Wright, Suzanne Goldenberg

and Richard Schofield. London: University College London Press, 1996. 237
pp. £14.95 ISBN 1 85728 235 3 pb; £40 ISBN 1 85728 234 5 hb.
The book is a collection of essays originally presented at a conference on
'Transcaucasian Boundaries' organized in July 1992 by the School of Oriental and
African Studies at the University of London. The quality of the essays is uneven, as is
their level of partisanship. In addition, the rapid unfolding of events in the region has
quickly rendered the book outdated.
The two main subject areas are the geopolitics of the Caucasus region, with
contributions touching upon the role of Russia, Iran and Turkey, and the internal
situation in the republics of both the Northern and Southern Caucasus. The key
geopolitical factor affecting the region is that, for the first time in 200 years, Russia no
longer borders Iran and Turkey. The demise of the Soviet Union created a power
vacuum and led to the re-establishment of links between the Caucasus and the Middle
East. As a result, foreign policy options for Turkey and Iran in the region have
dramatically increased. The attitude of both states to these epochal changes has been
one of great caution, however, concerned as they are with the stability of the newly
independent states. As for Russia, its ambiguous role as both troublemaker and peace-
keeper makes it an uneasy but unavoidable partner in the resolution of the conflicts
taking place in the region.
The main problem faced by the Caucasus states is the integration of their ethnic
minorities into the structure of the nation-state. The ethnic diversity of this region is
extraordinary: in the Northern Caucasus alone there are at least 30 major ethnic groups.
Already .during perestroika, the slackening of central control exacerbated tensions
between ethnic minorities and the eponymous majority at the republic level (for
example, between South Ossetians and Georgians), the latter constituting in turn a
minority in the wider USSR context, dominated by Russians. As early as 1988, these
tensions degenerated into armed conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh and South Ossetia; a
 Book Reviews 211
few years later, Abkhazia and Chechnya were engulfed by warfare, leading to hundreds
of thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons.
Although the issue of displacement is not addressed as such, the authors duly note
that the intricacy of the current ethnic fabric stems to some extent from previous
population movements, both voluntary and coerced. In 1944, the entire Chechen
population was deported from their homes and Russians resettled in their place; as a
result, until the recent conflict, Chechens were barely a majority in Chechnya.
Abkhazians started moving to the Ottoman Empire after 1878, and, following the
massive immigration of Russians, Georgians and Armenians, their share of the
population of Abkhazia was cut by half. The same can be said of Ossetians in North
Ossetia. On the other hand, in the Southern Caucasus migratory movements have
significantly contributed to the homogenization of the population. The repatriation
trend dates back to the early 1980s, but accelerated with the clashes between Armenians
and Azerbaijanis starting from 1988. As a result, Armenia and Azerbaijan are now far
more ethnically homogeneous than ten years ago. Regrettably, the authors barely
mention the hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced persons stranded in the
region, and the role that they play in the politics of their host country.
Since the book was published, the issue of the Caspian Sea oil has come to the fore,
and has significantly altered the priorities of all the players in the region. This does not
mean, however, that the Caucasus will soon see an end to instability, nor that the
displaced can look forward to a return to their homes in the near future.

Claire Messina InternationalOrganizationfor Migration, Geneva

Harvard Guide to Khmer Mental Health. Edited by James Lavelle, Svang Tor,
Richard Mollica et al. Also available in Khmer. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
Program in Refugee Trauma, 1996. 126pp. hb. nps. No ISBN.
Mollica and his team are well known for their reports on psychosocial problems in
refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border in the 1980s, and for subsequent work
with Cambodian refugees in the United States. In 1993, following the repatriation,
Harvard University started a training programme for Cambodian doctors in Siam
Reap, as well as a mental health consultancy in the provincial hospital. This book is the
result of this long experience of Cambodian mental health issues, in Thai camps, in the
US, and in Cambodia.
The book consists of a number of short chapters, by Khmer and American authors
from a wide range of disciplines, each of which introduces a specific issue, such as
therapeutic methods, nosography, Khmer ways of representing illness, and traditional
healing. This variety is a strength of this small book, which does not pretend to provide
deep analysis but is rather a guidebook to further investigation and new practices. The
authors also suggest a new, global, approach to the mental health problems of refugees
and displaced persons, which considers their own understanding of their suffering as
well as the coping strategies provided by their own culture.
The aim of introducing readers to Khmer cognitive representation of mental illness
and the different kinds of healers and treatments they can resort to is to be applauded.
The authors guard against transferring Western psychiatric interpretation and
classification of symptoms. The experience of the Siam Reap team paves the way for
new approaches in Cambodia, focused on the community and the social environment of
the patient rather than simply on drug distribution. If we consider the social dimension
212 Book Reviews
of mental suffering, a depressed patient might go home with a bag of rice rather than a
course of tablets. Though the role of traditional healers is recognized, however, there is
little on how or whether to integrate them into the general mental health care system
and how they can work with psychiatrists or mental health workers.
The whole book is quite eclectic and the quality of the different papers uneven. There
is no glossary, index or bibliography. However, the book is worth reading for all those
working in the humanitarian field with refugees and displaced persons, because it
provides useful insights and opens new perspectives for other countries. There are so few
books published in Khmer that we congratulate the editors on this initiative and hope
they will find funds to distribute it widely within the country.

Didier Bertrand Refugee Studies Programme, University of Oxford

Children of War: Responses to Psychosocial Distress in Cambodia. By Jo

Boyden and Sara Gibbs. Geneva: UNRISD, 1997. 216pp. nps. ISBN 92 9085
019 1.
Although many 'experts' and consultants visit Cambodia, the findings and conclusions
of their missions hardly ever find their way into the public domain. This book, written
by two consultants to UNICEF, analyses the relationship between the conflict of the last
twenty years and psychosocial distress.
The book addresses a number of questions: how are children, their families and
communities still affected by the war? how are people confronting the problems of
ongoing social change? and what are the solutions being offered at the national and
international levels?
Based on a brief seven weeks of field work, mostly in the capital and Battambang
province, by authors who are not familiar with Cambodia, this book does not pretend to
give an in-depth account of Cambodian society. It is largely based on secondary data,
published and unpublished, and on interviews with local NGO workers and foreign
expatriates. These different sources, supplemented by several direct testimonies, provide
an interesting overview of the key problems linked with the restructuring of Cambodian
society and pave the way for further research.
The authors, both anthropologists, highlight the need to look beyond employing
general recipes based on economic support and using only external analyses of how to
rebuild post-war society. Instead they give an insight into Cambodian reality from the
inside. How do people interact with each other and with their environment in a
particular context of violence and stress? As the preface indicates, the book reveals 'the
complex nature of psycho-social distress and the ways in which its effects are mediated
by a range of conditions related to socio-economic conditions, cultural contexts and
values', as well as access to services, family circumstances, and so on.
The children and their families are not only seen as passively affected by the war and
as dependent or vulnerable but also as developing a broad range of resources in order to
survive and protect themselves against psychosocial distress. Bringing a critical overview
of the role of national and international agencies, the authors point to a whole range of
possible solutions starting from a strengthening of community and human resources,
based on local coping strategies.
They argue that aid and relief must focus mainly on building capacity for sustainable
development. This supposes that western interventions consider another framework for
their efforts, paying attention to Cambodian understandings and answers to the
 Book Reviews 213
reconstruction process-how the local socio-economic, political and historical
environment gives rise to both pressures and opportunities for the development of the
country.
Other than political scientists, historians and archaeologists, very few people have
written about Cambodia. This book, addressing the contemporary problems of
Cambodian society in a very challenging way, is warmly welcome, providing an
innovative research perspective and a tool for the agents of development.

Didier Bertrand Refugee Studies Programme, University of Oxford

 Instructions to Authors
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