Collection GB 2381 C42396 - Refugee Council

c 30,000-40,000 items

The history of the Refugee Council Archive can be traced back to 1951 when it was initially conceived by the forerunners of the Refugee Council. The Archive was extensively developed over a period of three decades from the 1960s to the late 1990s. This resulted in the Council establishing an Archive of international importance covering refugee issues from all over the world, but with a particularly strong emphasis on British materials.

GB 2381 C42396 1951- collection c 30,000-40,000 items Refugee Council x British Refugee Council

The Refugee Council is the UK's largest organisation working for refugees and asylum seekers. It offers direct support, alongside capacity-building amongst community groups, undertaking international work, and campaigning, lobbying and researching in a bid to influence public policy in the area.

The Council was formed in 1981 through the merger of the British Council for Aid to Refugees (BCAR), and the Standing Conference on Refugees (SCOR), both of which had been established in 1951, following the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. After the merger it was originally known as the British Refugee Council and was later renamed the Refugee Council due to the establishment of various other regional refugee councils. The Refugee Council became a membership organisation in 1983.

The history of the Refugee Council Archive can be traced back to 1951 when it was initially conceived by the forerunners of the Refugee Council. The Archive was extensively developed over a period of three decades from the 1960s to the late 1990s. This resulted in the Council establishing an Archive of international importance covering refugee issues from all over the world, but with a particularly strong emphasis on British materials.

The archive was moved to the University of East London in November 2002.

Papers of the Refugee Council relating to all aspects of refugee history, policy and practice, both in the UK and worldwide, from the 1950s to the time of writing. The collection comprises published books and journals, published and unpublished articles and reports; conference papers; pamphlets and leaflets; newsletters, research papers including interviews, questionnaires and case studies; field reports; working papers; statistical data; press cuttings; bibliographies and audio-visual resources including videos, DVDs, tapes, CDs, multi media CD-ROMs, photographs and slides. Topics include conditions in the countries of origin of refugees; causes of flight; migration; asylum; assistance and relief programmes; adaptation and integration of refugees into new communities; groups including ethnic groups, religious groups, gender groups, age groups, social class and family; and organisations including intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations.

New material is regularly received from the Refugee Council.

In coordination with the Refugee Studies Centre based in Queen Elizabeth House at the University of Oxford, the Refugee Council Archive uses a classification scheme initially created by the Refugee Council. This was established solely for the cataloguing of refugee-related materials and the scheme covers most geographical regions and countries. Archival materials are indexed using terms taken from the International Thesaurus of Refugee Terminology produced by the UNHCR and available online. Major sections of the Archive are organised under topics including country of origin conditions; causes of flight; migration; asylum; assistance; adaptation; special groups and organisations. Materials are organised according to state of origin of refugees in question; the main regions include Central Asia, East Asia, South-East Asia, West Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, North Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, Central Africa, West Africa, Europe, America, Caribbean, Latin America and Oceania.

Open

Copies, subject to copyright and the condition of the original, may be supplied. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the archivist.

English

Items for the refugee collection can be searched on the Talis online catalogue. On the search page, it is possible to limit any search by selecting "Refugee Collection" in the collection box to the right of the search term boxes.

The UK Web Archiving Consortium is archiving the Refugee Council Online's website on a regular basis. Researchers can access this archive here.

Entry compiled by Sarah Drewery.
Sources: http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/; http://www.dango.bham.ac.uk/record_details.asp?recordType=ngo&id=462; http://www.uel.ac.uk/rca/

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Apr 2008 Afghanistan Africa Age distribution Age groups Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Associations Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belgium Belize Belorussia Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Caribbean Caucasian States Cayman Islands Central Africa Central America Central Asia Chad Charitable organisations Charities Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Côte d'Ivoire Cuba Cyprus Czechoslovakia Czech Republic Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic East Africa East Asia Eastern Europe East Timor Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Emigration Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Ethnic groups Europe Falkland Islands Family Fiji Finland France French Polynesia Gabon Gambia Georgia German DR Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Grenada Guam Guatemala Guinea Guinea Bissau Gulf States Guyana Haiti Holy See Honduras Hong Kong Humanitarian assistance Hungary Iceland Immigrants India Indonesia International conflicts International cooperation International politics Iran, Islamic Republic Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea Korea DPR Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao PDR Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Middle East Migrants Migration Moldova R Monaco Mongolia Montserrat Morocco Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue North Africa North America Northern Europe Norway Oceania Oman Organizations Pakistan Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Island Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Refugee Council x British Refugee Council Refugees Religious groups Republic of Cape Verde Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Social class Social stratification Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South America South Asia South East Asia Southern Africa Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Swaziland Sweden Syrian AR Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania UR Thailand The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda UK Ukraine United Arab Emirates Uruguay USA USSR Uzbekistan Venezuela Viet Nam Virgin Islands War devastated countries West Africa Western Europe Yemen Yugoslavia Zambia Zimbabwe Crimea London England Nonprofit organizations

The archive was moved to the University of East London in November 2002.

Papers of the Refugee Council relating to all aspects of refugee history, policy and practice, both in the UK and worldwide, from the 1950s to the time of writing. The collection comprises published books and journals, published and unpublished articles and reports; conference papers; pamphlets and leaflets; newsletters, research papers including interviews, questionnaires and case studies; field reports; working papers; statistical data; press cuttings; bibliographies and audio-visual resources including videos, DVDs, tapes, CDs, multi media CD-ROMs, photographs and slides. Topics include conditions in the countries of origin of refugees; causes of flight; migration; asylum; assistance and relief programmes; adaptation and integration of refugees into new communities; groups including ethnic groups, religious groups, gender groups, age groups, social class and family; and organisations including intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations.

New material is regularly received from the Refugee Council.

In coordination with the Refugee Studies Centre based in Queen Elizabeth House at the University of Oxford, the Refugee Council Archive uses a classification scheme initially created by the Refugee Council. This was established solely for the cataloguing of refugee-related materials and the scheme covers most geographical regions and countries. Archival materials are indexed using terms taken from the International Thesaurus of Refugee Terminology produced by the UNHCR and available online. Major sections of the Archive are organised under topics including country of origin conditions; causes of flight; migration; asylum; assistance; adaptation; special groups and organisations. Materials are organised according to state of origin of refugees in question; the main regions include Central Asia, East Asia, South-East Asia, West Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, North Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, Central Africa, West Africa, Europe, America, Caribbean, Latin America and Oceania.

Open

Copies, subject to copyright and the condition of the original, may be supplied. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the archivist.

• anglais

• latin

English

Items for the refugee collection can be searched on the Talis online catalogue. On the search page, it is possible to limit any search by selecting "Refugee Collection" in the collection box to the right of the search term boxes.

The UK Web Archiving Consortium is archiving the Refugee Council Online's website on a regular basis. Researchers can access this archive here.

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

• anglais