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NTS Bulletin

NTS Bulletin September 2010 (Issue 2)

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MAIN HIGHLIGHT

World Humanitarian Day and Victimisation of Humanitarian Workers

The United Nations (UN) marked World Humanitarian Day on 19 August 2010 in honour of aid workers who have lost their lives in the humanitarian cause. The day was designated in memory of those who died in the bombing of Canal Hotel, Iraq in 2003. That attack claimed the lives of UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and others. The day is celebrated by various agencies, from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to the World Health Organization.

Key messages by the UN described the global and diverse composition of humanitarian work, extending beyond the field of armed conflicts. They highlighted the prevalent perception that humanitarian assistance is delivered mainly by Western organisations; many humanitarian workers in fact come from the countries they work in, and are increasingly targets of violence. Humanitarian operating environments are also increasingly unsafe and there was insistence that this be addressed. Prominent amongst the perils to the humanitarian working space are easily accessible small arms. Guns are identified as the leading tools used to commit violence.



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MIGRATION

News & Commentaries

Selected Publications

This working paper assesses the relationship between authorities in the host country and foreign nationals who are ‘deportable’. It assesses the phenomenon whereby foreign nationals do not become members of the host country but cannot be deported. It evaluates the state’s social regulative function and capacity, and the rights and obligations linking the host country and the foreign nationals.

This report provides an analysis of the major trends in employment and social conditions in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region since the beginning of the global financial, economic and jobs crisis. It also reviews national policy responses and identifies lessons learned that can be applied in the post-crisis era. The report examines the policy opportunities and challenges in sustaining the recovery and in fostering more balanced and inclusive pathways to growth; in the areas of improving competitiveness and productivity, promoting skills and development, addressing issues related to labour migration, preparing for green growth and strengthening social dialogue.

The paper investigates the labour market and the social impacts of the global financial and economic crisis in Asia and the Pacific as well as national policy responses to the crisis. It draws on recent macroeconomic, trade, production, investment and remittances data to assess the employment and social consequences of the crisis. These consequences include falling demand for labour, rising vulnerable and informal employment, and falling incomes. The paper also examines the related pressures on the working poor.

Brain drain has long been a common concern for migrant-sending countries, particularly for small countries where high-skilled emigration rates are highest. This paper presents the results of surveys which tracked academic high-achievers from five countries to wherever they moved in the world in order to directly measure at the micro level the channels through which high-skilled emigration affects the sending country.

Events & Announcements

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INTERNAL AND CROSS-BORDER CONFLICT

News & Commentaries

Selected Publications

Responding to the increased global attention on youth issues and youth policy, this is a national human development report focused on the youth in Kyrgyzstan and their views on issues of human development such as health, education, social activism and the environment.

This paper observes that the recent protests in Thailand indicate a divide between the conservative elites who have traditionally governed and those in the underclass. It postulates that the present unilateral reconciliation process, without early elections and genuine political, social and economic reform, will prolong political instability in Thailand, with extended effects on the economy and the rest of the region.

This paper notes the political reforms underlying Myanmar’s transition towards democracy. It assesses this with regard to internal ethnic discord which remains unresolved. The paper draws on the literature on multiculturalism to examine ways forward.

The paper analyses the elevation of the principle and practice of non-interference in the internal affairs of Southeast Asian states into a central pillar of Southeast Asian regionalism. It also examines the impact of this principle on response to economic crises, cases such as Myanmar and transnational security threats. This article critiques the norm, arguing that it has never been absolute, but has been upheld or ignored in line with the interests of the region's dominant social forces. While the principle formally remains in place, it is now subject to competing demands and contestation.

This paper explains the persistent and steady expansion of the sphere of military autonomy in spite of democratisation and how it affects security sector transformation (SST). It argues that SST processes will be constrained, limited and even undermined so long as the military enjoys significant degrees of political autonomy. It discusses the ways in which the military enjoys such autonomy. Using the case of the Philippines, this study seeks to examine the causal mechanisms that link military autonomy with the space or opportunities for governments to implement programmes and policies that could transform the security sector.

This report is to update member states on certain aspects of the Responsibility to Protect. It addresses matters raised in the ‘Implementing the Responsibility to Protect (A/63/677)’ report.

Events & Announcements

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WATER SECURITY

News & Commentaries

Latest Publications

This report presents an economic framework for the assessment of the use of reclaimed water in agriculture, as part of a comprehensive planning process in water resource allocation strategies to provide for more economically efficient and sustainable water utilisation.

Spate irrigation has for many centuries provided rural populations in arid and semi-arid regions with a way to manage their scarce water resources. It requires special skills and approaches that address the unpredictability and magnitude of spate floods, their high sediment load, and the associated water rights and management models. The objective of this publication is to assist planners and practitioners in designing and managing spate irrigation projects, drawing on information, experience and examples from places where spate irrigation is practised.

This paper argues that an analysis of social vulnerability seeking to enhance social resilience must take into account the social construction of vulnerability, namely, the economic, institutional and political factors which promote or constrain options for adaptation. Drawing on a case study of water security in the Lower Mekong Basin, this paper further argues that in the area of water governance, a critical hydropolitics approach would indicate that what some perceive as creativity and adaptation in the activities of the water regime may be argued to demonstrate constraints imposed by the dominance of law, engineering and economics. The central concern raised is that of the relationship between the apparent resilience of institutions and the resilience of individuals and communities. In response to this concern, the paper explores people-centred approaches to resilience that focus on community rights and access to resources.

Events & Announcements

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HUMAN TRAFFICKING

News & Commentaries

Selected Publications

The book uses case studies from Africa and Asia to trace the experiences of girls and women sold into sex slavery. In addition it describes how survivors have emerged from the experience with the assistance of aid groups to become educated professionals and entrepreneurs. The main emphasis of the book is on supporting women, highlighting their potential to address poverty. It describes how China has effectively gained from bringing women into the formal economy.

This article examines visual and legal representations of transnational sex and domestic work. Specifically, it analyses a United Nations public service announcement in 2003, Cleaning Lady; the UN Protocol on Human Trafficking in 2000; the US Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act 2000; and current trends in the sociological literatures of both types of work. It demonstrates how these texts allow particular connections between domestic and sex workers, while foreclosing others. It draws out the ways these regimes suppress understandings of work in favour of moralising workers, how the ‘domestic’ in domestic work, and ‘work’ in sex work continues to vex humanitarian operations, and the ways national and racial privileges cut across connections between domestic and sex work.

Despite the potentially overlapping causes and consequences of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and human trafficking, there is limited recognition of the links between the two. The limited research suggests that trafficked individuals face increased risks of HIV infection and that there is stigmatisation associated with the convergence between HIV and human trafficking. HIV awareness-raising interventions are needed among potential trafficked populations and migrant sex workers alike during the pre-departure stage. Also, increased access to healthcare and voluntary HIV screening is needed for all migrant populations, including trafficked individuals, in countries of origin and destination. All such interventions must give sufficient attention to stigma reduction strategies.

The book provides multi-disciplinary perspectives on slavery, prostitution and trafficking in persons in Southeast Asia. The underlying reasons for the steadily increasing rise of trafficking in women and children for the purpose of sexual exploitation are explored. The reasons include not only the ongoing process of globalisation and the lagging behind of the economies concerned, but also a number of cultural factors specific to the region.

The report is part of a sub-project of the Cambodian Trial Monitoring Project of the Cambodia Center for Human Rights. The sub-project monitors human trafficking trials. This report assesses the fairness of the trials for both the victims and the accused against fair trial standards as well as the impact of recent legal developments aimed at combating human trafficking. The findings of the report are to be used for dialogue with the judiciary and other relevant stakeholders. The report is also meant to serve as a useful resource for research in issues related to human trafficking and fair trial rights in Cambodia.

Events & Announcements

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TRANSNATIONAL CRIME

News & Commentaries

Selected Publications

The paper studies inequalities induced by globalisation that have created conditions for the rise of violent non-state actors that possess significant capabilities to challenge the emergent economic order. It reveals that the sea-based trading system is vulnerable to piracy, terrorism, illegal drug trafficking, gun-running, human smuggling, maritime theft, fraud, illegal fishing and pollution, which can all disrupt maritime supply chains at heavy cost to the global economy. It also elaborates on the regional and international cooperative initiatives targeting the problem of piracy and terrorism. Finally, the paper argues for a UN-mandated force for anti-piracy and counter-terrorism.

This chapter documents the criminal groups and profit-driven motives which account for a substantial proportion of violence in many areas of armed conflict. It identifies a growing reliance by armed non-state actors on shadow economic activity, which contributes to the erosion of boundaries between political and criminal violence. The chapter states that, on a global level, criminal violence is far more widespread than organised political violence. It argues that in conflict areas, organised crime and the shadow economy can only be effectively addressed once the state has already regained some basic elements of functionality, such as the ability to provide minimal law and order. It advocates that the study of organised crime and criminal violence be more actively integrated into the broader analysis of collective organised armed violence in and beyond conflict areas.

This article explores the growth of organised crime within the Vietnamese community with particular reference to the cultivation of cannabis, money laundering and the smuggling or trafficking of children. The article begins by exploring the history of the ‘Vietnamese community’ in the United Kingdom and the role of Vietnamese culture in shaping their criminal enterprises. It examines the relationship between illegal immigration of Vietnamese citizens and the urban cultivation of cannabis, in what has become known as ‘cannabis factories’, and the laundering of the profits abroad to Vietnam. The article concludes that those involved in cannabis cultivation, money laundering and people smuggling are primarily motivated by profit, and operate within what theorists refer to as the ‘mono-ethnic criminal network’.

This paper studies the effects of the smuggling out of democratic leaders after the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989 and China's resumption of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997. Following these events, China applied a ‘united front’ tactic to recruit Hong Kong triad societies to the Communist camp. Consequently, triad leaders were able to set foot in China and connect with officials and state enterprises. Against this backdrop, this paper argues that when political dynamics are involved, both the traditional structural and social network approaches are insufficient to explain triad-organised crime. Therefore, a social capital perspective is proposed. Using two case studies, the paper documents triad leaders converting the social capital they developed in mainland China into economic capital through illegitimate means in the stock market. The paper concludes by highlighting the similarities and differences between triad-organised crime and other forms of Chinese organised crime.

Events & Announcements

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Use of this article:

You are free to publish this article in its entirety or only in part in your newspapers, wire services, internet-based information networks and newsletters and you are also free to use the information in your radio-TV discussions or as a basis for discussion in different fora. We would, however, appreciate it if you could let us know when and where the article was used.

About the Centre:

The Centre for NTS Studies of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, was inaugurated by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan in May 2008. The Centre maintains research in the fields of Climate Change, Energy Security, Health Security, as well as Internal and Cross Border Conflict. It produces policy-relevant analyses aimed at furthering awareness and building capacity to address NTS issues and challenges in the Asia Pacific region and beyond. The Centre also provides a platform for scholars and policymakers within and outside Asia to discuss and analyse NTS issues in the region.

In 2009, the Centre was chosen by the MacArthur Foundation as a lead institution for the MacArthur Asia Security Initiative, to develop policy research capacity and recommend policies on the critical security challenges facing the Asia-Pacific.

The Centre is also a founding member and the Secretariat for the Consortium of Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies in Asia (NTS-Asia). More information on the Centre can be found at www.rsis.edu.sg/nts


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