Annual R epor t 1 9 9 9 - 2 0 0 0
1. T he Refugee Watch has continued to be a maj or publication of the Mahanir ban Calcutta Res ear ch Gr oup (MCRG). MCRG has published four is s ues (Nos. 6, 7, 8, and 9) dur ing 1999 – 2000. T he is s ues contained ar ticles and r epor ts on dis placements in Kar gil and other par ts of Kas hmir . T her e was als o a wr ite – up on the families and par tition of the I ndian s ubcontinent, Refugee Watch focus ed on the r etur nee r efugees in the Chittagong Hill T r acts (CHT ) and on the r efugees fr om s outh Bhutan. T her e was a s pecial ar ticle on the legal pr otection of r efugees in S outh As ia. T he news letter als o examined the r ole of T amil women in the civil war in S r i Lanka. One contr ibutor examined the pos t – Ams ter dam migration policy and Eur opean citizens hip.
T her e was als o a s pecial ar ticle on the inter nal dis placement in nor theas t I ndia. Excer pts wer e publis hed fr om Jur gen Haber mas ’ T he As ylum Debate and fr om Patr ick T hor nber r y’s I nter national Law and the Rights of Minor ities.
T he Refugee Watch contained all other r egular r eatur es like the news s ection, book notice, r es ear ch notes and voices fr om the ex ile.
2. T he MCRG or ganized a two – day works hop in November 1999 on the exper iences of r efugees who ar r ived in West Bengal after the par tition of I ndia in 1947 or thos e who ar r ived dur ing the genocide in Pakistan in the ear ly 1970’s . I nter im repor ts of the UNHCR aided pr oj ect with the s ame title wer e pr es ented in the wor ks hop and commented upon by eminent s cholar s, litter ateur s , media per s ons , film per s onalities , bur eaucr ats, r efugee activist as well as the officials of the UNHCR.
3. T he MCRG s ubs equently publis hed the paper s pr es ented in the wor ks hop in the for m of a book entitled T he Refugees in West Bengal: I ns titutional Pr actices and Contes ted I dentities . Pr adip Kumar B ose edited the volume and Madam S adako Ogata, the United Nations High Commis s ioner for Refugees , r eleas ed it at Vigyan B havan, New Delhi. Paula B aner j ee and S amir K. Das attended the function on behalf of the gr oup. T he book cons is ts of the following r epor ts :
Refugee Cr is is : Res pons es of the Gover nment of Wes t Bengal (S amir Das) Millions s eeking Refuge: T he Refugee Ques tion in Wes t Bengal: 1971 (S andip Bandopadhyay)
T he Legal Regime for Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation in Wes t B engal, 1946- 1958 (S ar bani S en)
T he UCRC: I ts Role in es tablis hing the Rights of Refugee S quatter s in Calcutta (Ar un Deb)
Foundation of a Refugee Mar ket: A S tudy in S elf- r eliance I nitiative (Dipankar S inha) Reintegr ating the Dis placed, Refr actur ing the Domestic: A Repor t on the Exper iences of Uday Villa (Bolan Gangopadhyay)
Bengali Refugees at Dandakar anya: A T r agedy of Rehabilitation (Alok Ghosh) Exiled to the Andamans : T he Refugees fr om Eas t Pakis tan (S abyas achi B as u Ray Chaudhur y)
Adj ustment and T r ans ition in a Begali Refugee S ettlement: 1950 – 1999 (Dipankar S inha)
Gr owing up Refugee: On Memor y and Locality (Manas Ray) T he Cr uelty of I ns ide/Outs ide (Ranabir S amaddar )
4. I t held an intens ive thr ee – day sympos ium on the idea of “Peace as Value”
on 29 November – 1 December in Dar j eeling. T hr ee br oad themes wer e dis cus s ed in the s ympos ium – the concept of peace as value, the political content of cur r ent conflicts in S outh As ia, and new modes of conflict r esolution. Nineteen paper s (19) wer e pr es ented in the s ympos ium. I t was held in collabor ation with Konr ad Adaneur Foundation. T he paper s will come out in for m of a volume in 2001 publis hed by Monohar Publisher s.
5. Member s of the MCRG pr es ented paper s and par ticipated in s eminar s, s ympos ia and wor ks hops on the pr oblems of r efugees or ganized in I ndia and abr oad.
S ecr etar y
Mahanir ban Calcutta Res ear ch Gr oup
