Human-Elephant interactions and associated damage in the northern transboundary areas of Bangladesh

We have studied human-elephant interactions in the northern transboundary of Bangladesh and estimated the scale of associated damage due to the negative interaction by visiting conflict area, performing focus group discussions key informant interviews and using secondary data sources. Around 70-80 non-resident elephants regularly intruded to the study area through the international border fence using several trespassing points and engaged in conflicts with frontier villagers. We discussed the nature and scale of conflict and the financial losses due to the conflict. Besides severe casualties in both ends, the enumerated economic loss was USD 1,171, 665 in 2013 and 2014 due to the damage to cropland, houses and properties, trees and orchards. We have identified major human-elephant conflict (HEC) zones adjacent to the border fence through spatial analysis with different level of intensity. Appropriate human-elephant conflict mitigation measures such as habitat improvement and management, monitoring of elephant population, alternative income generation, awareness programs for the local people and working together with India regarding this issue is a timely and urgent need for Bangladesh

Border Walls, Pushbacks, and the Prohibition of Collective Expulsions: The Case of N.D. and N.T. v. Spain

This essay explores the impact of N.D. and N.T. v. Spain on the ECHR system. The case deals with the immediate return of aliens at Melilla’s border fence. Based on conceptual analysis, the author submits to critical scrutiny the arguments developed by the ECtHR. The Court’s reasoning is framed within the riveting interdisciplinary debate on external border control. The Grand Chamber’s final decision reduces the scope of the protection offered by Article 4 Protocol 4, for it introduces a highly indeterminate exception to the prohibition of summary returns at the border. The author suggests that this solution might favor non-entrée strategies and promote the current trend of externalizing the asylum procedures. Introducing broad exceptions to the prohibition of collective expulsion, especially if coupled with strong presumptions in favor of States, increases the effectiveness of border walls qua accountability waivers.

The mechanism and pattern of injuries of undocumented immigrants crossing the Texas-Mexico border along the Rio Grande Valley

Background Apprehensions of undocumented immigrants in the Rio Grande Valley sector of the U.S.-Mexico border have grown to account for nearly half of all apprehensions at the border. The purpose of this study is to report the prevalence, mechanism, and pattern of traumatic injuries sustained by undocumented immigrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border at the Rio Grande Valley sector over a span of 5 years and were treated at a local American College of Surgeons verified Level II trauma center. Methods A retrospective chart review was conducted from January 2014 to December 2019. Demographics, comorbidities, injury severity score (ISS), mechanism of injury, anatomical part of the body affected, hospital and ICU length of stay (LOS), and treatment costs were analyzed. Descriptive statistics for demographics, injury location and cause, and temporal trends are reported. The impact of ISS or surgical intervention on hospital LOS was analyzed using an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Results Of 178 patients, 65.2% were male with an average age of 31 (range 0–67) years old and few comorbidities (88.8%) or social risk factors (86%). Patients most commonly sustained injuries secondary to a border fence-related incident (33.7%), fleeing (22.5%), or motor vehicle accident (16.9%). There were no clear temporal trends in the total number of patients injured, or in causes of injury, between 2014 and 2019. The majority of patients (60.7%) sustained extremity injuries, followed by spine injuries (20.2%). Border fence-related incidents and fleeing increased risk of extremity injuries (Odds ratio (OR) > 3; p < 0.005), whereas motor vehicle accidents increased risk of head and chest injuries (OR > 4; p < 0.004). Extremity injuries increased the odds (OR: 9.4, p < 0.001) that surgery would be required. Surgical intervention was common (64%), and the median LOS of patients who underwent surgery was 3 days more than those who did not (p < 0.001). Conclusion In addition to border fence related injuries, undocumented immigrants also sustained injuries while fleeing and in motor vehicle accidents, among others. Extremity injuries, which were more likely with border fence-related incidents, were the most common type. This type of injury often requires surgical intervention and, therefore, a longer hospital stay for severe injuries.

Who is watching? Refugee protection during a pandemic - responses from Uganda and South Africa

Both Uganda and South Africa were quick to respond to the global pandemic – Uganda for example imposing quarantine on foreign travellers after only a handful of cases before shutting off all international flights, and South Africa imposing one of the first lockdowns on the continent. Reflecting on the first 6 months of the pandemic responses in terms of refugee protection, the two countries have taken diverging pathways. South Africa used the pandemic to start building a border fence on the border with Zimbabwe, initially curtailed all foreign shop owners from opening under lockdown and excluded asylum seekers from emergency relief grants. In contrast, Uganda opened its borders to refugees from the DRC in June, when border closures were still the global norm. Whilst both responses are not unusual in light of their standard governance approaches, they highlight the own self-image the countries espouse – with Uganda positioning itself as the world’s premier refugee protector at a time when it is desperately in need of more funds and South Africa looking to politically capitalize internally from reiterating a division between migrant communities as a threat to poor and disenfranchised South Africans. Even during a pandemic, the practice of refugee protection does not happen in a political vacuum. This paper is based on over 50 in-person and digital interviews conducted in Uganda and South Africa in 2020, as well as nine focus groups with refugee and host communities.

State border fences as a threat to habitat connectivity

The conservation value of transboundary management of wildlife populations in Europe, that marked end of the 20^th and the beginning of the 21^th century, has come under huge pressure since 2015 especially in the South-eastern ­Europe due to border fences construction in response to large influxes of refugees/migrants. The primary aim of this study was to present data on the direct impacts of the long fence on wildlife (e.g. fence-related mortality) across the Hungary–Croatia border. We collected data on fence-related animal mortality along 136 km of the fence in the first 28 months after its construction. In total, 64 ungulates (38 red deer, 23 roe deer, and three wild boar) were found ­entangled in or deceased due to the razor wire fence. In addition, we present direct (photographic) evidence of newly recorded behaviour of red deer, as they gather in huge herds attempting to cross the border fence between Hungary and Croatia. Short term effect of the border fence is reflected in direct animal mortality, and as obstruction to the movement and behaviour of animals. In the case that current fences will remain or continue to expand along the northern boundary of South-eastern Europe, it is likely that fragmented wildlife populations in the region will suffer from negative effects of genetic subdivision such as loss of alleles and reduced heterozygosity that can cause important long-term damage to their vitality.

THE ENFORCEMENT OF PRINCIPLE ON LEGALITY IN THE HUNGARIAN FIGHT AGAINST THE IRREGULAR MIGRATION

From 2015 Hungary has been permanently affected by the irregular migratory flow, which – already in 2015 - marked a beginning of a new era in the history of European migration. In many European countries, including in Hungary, the public opinion related to irregular migration has forced the legislators to take the necessary and effective measures against it. In Hungary, among others, criminal law has been also in focus. The first step was the construction of the physical border fence, and as a second stage, the Hungarian Parliament adopted the legal framework on its protection. In accordance with this step, new crimes were inserted into the Hungarian Criminal Code, which entered into force in 15 September 2015. These crimes - are called in the Hungarian literature as „crimes against the border barrier” – were the following: unlawful crossing the border barrier, damaging the border barrier and the obstruction on construction work of the border barrier. According to the relevant official statistical data, the number of crimes against the border barrier decreased significantly for the past few years. In contrast to it, the number of the irregular entries or attempts across the border barrier detected by the Hungarian authorities – at least according to the statistical data published by the Hungarian Police Force – are higher than the number of the criminal procedures conducted due to the crimes mentioned. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to present how the principle of „legality” is enforced by the Hungarian authorities concerning the irregular entries and what kind of conclusions can we make according to the criminal-statistical data and to the detected irregular entries. The paper – after presenting the legal background – will analyze the data mentioned above and will try to make legal conclusions and proposals in connection with the fundamental procedural principle mentioned above.

Fenced Out: The Impact of Border Construction on US-Mexico Migration

This paper estimates the impact of the US-Mexico border fence on US-Mexico migration by exploiting variation in the timing and location of US government investment in fence construction. Using Mexican survey data and data I collected on fence construction, I find that construction in a municipality reduces migration by 27 percent for municipality residents and 15 percent for residents of adjacent municipalities. In addition, construction reduces migration by up to 35 percent from non-border municipalities. I also find that construction induces migrants to substitute toward alternative crossing locations, disproportionately deters low-skilled migrants, and reduces the number of undocumented Mexicans in the United States. (JEL J15, J24, J61, K37, O15)

The Corona Virus and Migration Governance in South Africa: Business As Usual?

The South African response in dealing with the Corona pandemic needs to speak to the realities of all people living in the country, including migrant and refugee communities. Reflecting on this in light of ongoing research on the political stakes of migration governance, we find that the virus response shows little change in the government agenda when it comes to dealing with refugees and other migrants. Veritably, we see that the pandemic may even be an excuse for pushing through already-aspired to policies. This includes the securitised agenda behind the sudden building of a border fence to close off Zimbabwe and the xenophobic-rhetorical clout behind the lockdown rules about which shops are allowed to remain open. The temporary stay on renewing asylum seekers permits counts as a perfunctory exception. We show that each of these developments very much play into politics as usual.