Graphical version
University of East London
Refugee Council
IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 2381 C42396
Held at: University of East London
Title: Refugee Council
Date(s): 1951-
Level of description: collection
Extent: c 30,000-40,000 items
Name of creator(s): Refugee Council x British Refugee Council
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
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.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
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 The collection comprises published books and journals, published and unpublished articles and reports; conference papers; pamphlets and leaflets; newsletters, research papers including interviews, questionnaires and case studies; field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.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
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.
Conditions governing access:
Open
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copies, subject to copyright and the condition of the original, may be supplied. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the archivist.
Finding aids:
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.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Accruals:
New material is regularly received from the Refugee Council.
Archival history:
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.
Immediate source of acquisition:
The archive was moved to the University of East London in November 2002.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Related material:
The UK Web Archiving Consortium is archiving the Refugee Council Online's website on a regular basis. Researchers can access this archive here.
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Archivist's note: 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/
Rules or conventions: 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.
Date(s) of descriptions: Apr 2008
- INDEX ENTRIES
-
- Subjects
- Age groups | Age distribution
- Charities | Charitable organisations | Associations | Organizations
- Emigration | Migration
- Humanitarian assistance | International cooperation | International politics
- Immigrants | Migrants
- Refugees | Migrants
- Social class | Social stratification
- War devastated countries | International conflicts
- Ethnic groups
- Family
- Nonprofit organizations
- Religious groups
- Personal names
-
- Corporate names
- Refugee Council x British Refugee Council
- Places
- Afghanistan | Middle East
- Albania | Eastern Europe
- Algeria | North Africa
- Andorra | Western Europe | Europe
- Angola | Southern Africa
- Anguilla | Caribbean
- Antigua and Barbuda | Caribbean
- Argentina | South America
- Armenia | Caucasian States
- Australia | Oceania
- Austria | Western Europe | Europe
- Azerbaijan | Caucasian States
- Bahamas | Caribbean
- Bahrain | Gulf States | Middle East
- Bangladesh | South Asia
- Barbados | Caribbean
- Belgium | Western Europe | Europe
- Belize | Central America
- Belorussia | Europe
- Benin | West Africa | Africa
- Bermuda | North America
- Bhutan | South Asia
- Bolivia | South America
- Bosnia and Herzegovina | Eastern Europe
- Botswana | Southern Africa
- Brazil | South America
- Brunei | South East Asia
- Bulgaria | Eastern Europe
- Burkina Faso | West Africa | Africa
- Burundi | East Africa
- Cambodia | South East Asia
- Cameroon | Central Africa
- Canada | North America
- Cayman Islands | Caribbean
- Chad | Central Africa
- Chile | South America
- China | East Asia
- Colombia | South America
- Comoros | East Africa
- Congo | Central Africa
- Cook Islands | Oceania
- Costa Rica | Central America
- Croatia | Eastern Europe
- Cuba | Caribbean
- Cyprus | Western Europe | Europe
- Czech Republic | Eastern Europe
- Czechoslovakia | Eastern Europe
- Côte d'Ivoire | West Africa | Africa
- Democratic Republic of the Congo | Africa
- Denmark | Northern Europe | Western Europe | Europe
- Djibouti | East Africa
- Dominica | Caribbean
- Dominican Republic | Caribbean
- East Timor | South East Asia
- Ecuador | South America
- Egypt | North Africa
- El Salvador | Central America
- Equatorial Guinea | Central Africa
- Eritrea | East Africa
- Estonia | Eastern Europe
- Ethiopia | East Africa
- Falkland Islands | South America
- Fiji | Oceania
- Finland | Northern Europe | Western Europe | Europe
- France | Western Europe | Europe
- French Polynesia | Oceania
- Gabon | Central Africa
- Gambia | West Africa | Africa
- Georgia | Caucasian States
- German DR | Eastern Europe
- Germany | Western Europe | Europe
- Ghana | West Africa | Africa
- Gibraltar | Western Europe | Europe
- Greece | Western Europe | Europe
- Grenada | Caribbean
- Guam | Oceania
- Guatemala | Central America
- Guinea | West Africa | Africa
- Guinea Bissau | West Africa | Africa
- Guyana | South America
- Haiti | Caribbean
- Holy See | Western Europe | Europe
- Honduras | Central America
- Hong Kong | East Asia
- Hungary | Eastern Europe
- Iceland | Northern Europe | Western Europe | Europe
- India | South Asia
- Indonesia | South East Asia
- Iran, Islamic Republic | Middle East
- Iraq | Middle East
- Ireland | Western Europe | Europe
- Israel | Middle East
- Italy | Western Europe | Europe
- Jamaica | Caribbean
- Japan | East Asia
- Jordan | Middle East
- Kazakhstan | Central Asia
- Kenya | East Africa
- Kiribati | Oceania
- Korea | East Asia
- Korea DPR | East Asia
- Kuwait | Gulf States | Middle East
- Kyrgyzstan | Central Asia
- Lao PDR | South East Asia
- Latvia | Eastern Europe
- Lebanon | Middle East
- Lesotho | Southern Africa
- Liberia | West Africa | Africa
- Libyan Arab Jamahiriya | North Africa
- Liechtenstein | Western Europe | Europe
- Lithuania | Eastern Europe
- London | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe
- Luxembourg | Western Europe | Europe
- Macao | East Asia
- Madagascar | East Africa
- Malawi | Central Africa
- Malaysia | South East Asia
- Maldives | South Asia
- Mali | West Africa | Africa
- Malta | Western Europe | Europe
- Marshall Islands | Oceania
- Mauritania | West Africa | Africa
- Mauritius | East Africa
- Mexico | North America
- Micronesia | Oceania
- Moldova R | Eastern Europe
- Monaco | Western Europe | Europe
- Mongolia | East Asia
- Montserrat | Caribbean
- Morocco | North Africa
- Myanmar | South East Asia
- Namibia | Southern Africa
- Nauru | Oceania
- Nepal | South Asia
- Netherlands | Western Europe | Europe
- Netherlands Antilles | Caribbean
- New Caledonia | Oceania
- New Zealand | Oceania
- Nicaragua | Central America
- Niger | West Africa | Africa
- Nigeria | West Africa | Africa
- Niue | Oceania
- Norway | Northern Europe | Western Europe | Europe
- Oman | Gulf States | Middle East
- Pakistan | South Asia
- Palestine | Middle East
- Panama | Central America
- Papua New Guinea | Oceania
- Paraguay | South America
- Peru | South America
- Philippines | South East Asia
- Pitcairn Island | Oceania
- Poland | Eastern Europe
- Portugal | Western Europe | Europe
- Puerto Rico | Caribbean
- Qatar | Gulf States | Middle East
- Republic of Cape Verde | Africa
- Romania | Eastern Europe
- Russia | Eastern Europe
- Rwanda | East Africa
- Saint Helena | Southern Africa
- Saint Lucia | Caribbean
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Caribbean
- Samoa | Oceania
- San Marino | Western Europe | Europe
- Sao Tome | Sao Tome and Principe | Central Africa
- Saudi Arabia | Gulf States | Middle East
- Senegal | West Africa | Africa
- Seychelles | East Africa
- Sierra Leone | West Africa | Africa
- Singapore | South East Asia
- Slovakia | Eastern Europe
- Slovenia | Eastern Europe
- Solomon Islands | Oceania
- Somalia | East Africa
- South Africa | Southern Africa
- Spain | Western Europe | Europe
- Sri Lanka | South Asia
- Sudan | East Africa
- Suriname | South America
- Swaziland | Southern Africa
- Sweden | Northern Europe | Western Europe | Europe
- Syrian AR | Middle East
- Taiwan | East Asia
- Tajikistan | Central Asia
- Tanzania UR | East Africa
- Thailand | South East Asia
- The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia | Eastern Europe
- Togo | West Africa | Africa
- Tonga | Oceania
- Trinidad and Tobago | Caribbean
- Tunisia | North Africa
- Turkey | Middle East
- Turkmenistan | Central Asia
- Turks and Caicos Islands | Caribbean
- Tuvalu | Oceania
- USA | North America
- USSR | Eastern Europe
- Uganda | East Africa
- Ukraine | Eastern Europe
- United Arab Emirates | Gulf States | Middle East
- Uruguay | South America
- Uzbekistan | Central Asia
- Venezuela | South America
- Viet Nam | South East Asia
- Virgin Islands | Caribbean
- Yemen | Middle East
- Yugoslavia | Eastern Europe
- Zambia | Southern Africa
- Zimbabwe | Southern Africa
- Crimea x Krym