Queering Migrations: orientations, rights and sexualities in motion

The ISET seminar series addresses key issues in the making and remaking of Europe, whether economic, political, social or cultural. In the context of globalization, these extend beyond Europe’s borders, and interrogate definitions of European identity.

The queer deconstruction of heteronormativity is a strategic tool to study the nexus between migration, gender and sexuality.  Its intersectional focus on gender, sexuality and materiality potentially allows a better understanding of the social mobilities, identities and divisions underpinning migration.

During this half day workshop we will explore the theoretical and methodological potential offered by queer analyses of the nexus between migration and sexual orientations.  We will also discuss the complex entanglement of rights and identities characterising the experience of people claiming asylum on the grounds of their sexual orientation and gender identity in the UK.

This workshop will bring together a unique combination of scholars and practitioners addressing these issues from a variety of academic disciplines and fields in the UK

Panel 1: Queer mobilities, methodologies and intersections

Jon Binnie, Manchester Metropolitan University
‘Like a Bomb in the Gasoline Station’: East-West Migration and Transnational Activism around Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Politics in Poland – co-authored with Chris Klesse
Kath Browne, University of Brighton
Queer travels: Unfixing through movement
Nick Mai, ISET, London Metropolitan University
The Fractal Queerness of Non-Heteronormative Sex Workers in the UK and in the EU

Panel 2: Framing non-heteronormative migration and asylum in the UK

Calogero Giametta, ISET, London Metropolitan University
The making of Knowable and Liberated Subjectivities in Queer Asylum Cases in the UK
S.Chelvan, Barrister, No 5 Chambers and King’s College London
Analysing homo and hetero normativities in the narratives of lesbian and gay asylum seekers in the United Kingdom
Erin Power, UK Lesbian & Gay Immigration Group-UKLGIG
Translating Queer Migration Histories into LGBTI Asylum Cases

The Seminar will take place in the Old Staff Café, T1-20, Tower Building, London Metropolitan University, 166-220 Holloway Road, London N7 8DB

Attendance is free but places are limited so it is essential to register in advance at
http://isetspringseminar2012.eventbrite.com/

Year of Rebellion

The Arab Spring and the Death Toll in the Mediterranean: The True Face of Fortress Europe (StateWatch, Jan. 2012) [text]
See Also : Migrants At Sea blog posting – Statewatch Analysis: The Arab Spring and the death toll in the Mediterranean: the true face of Fortress Europe.
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog)

The EU’s Self-interested Response to Unrest in North Africa: The Meaning of Treaties and Readmission Agreements between Italy and North African States (StateWatch, Jan. 2012) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog)

Disaster Relief 2.0: The Future of Information Sharing in Humanitarian Emergencies.
A new report published by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
[Download Full Report]
(Source:   ALNAP).

Real Time Evaluation of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies’ Response to the MENA Civil Unrest (IFRC, Aug. 2011) [text via ReliefWeb]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog)

Year of Rebellion: The State of Human Rights in the Middle East and North Africa (Amnesty International, Jan. 2012) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog)

Landing in Dover

Comparative Study on Practices in the Field of Return of Minors (ECRE & Save the Children, Dec. 2011) [text via Refworld]
- See also related checklist. For more information about this project, visit ECRE’s web page.
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog)

Higher Education for Refugees. Special issue of Refuge: Canada’s Periodical on Refugees, vol. 27, no. 2 (2010) [full-text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog)

Landing in Dover: The Immigration Process Undergone by Unaccompanied Children Arriving in Kent (Children’s Commissioner of England, Jan. 2012) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog)

“Supporting Refugee Students in Schools: What Constitutes Inclusive Education?,” International Journal of Inclusive Education, vol. 16, no. 1 (2012) [preprint]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog)

Voice of Unaccompanied Minor Asylum Seekers on Guardianship: A Study on Guardians of Unaccompanied Minor Asylum Seekers in Cyprus (Hope for Children, 2011) [text via Terre des Hommes]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog)

Winding Pathways: Supporting Refugee Students in High School – A Narrative Inquiry into the Experiences of One EAL Teacher in Manitoba, Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies (University of Manitoba, Dec. 2011) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog)

Forthcoming publication:

Monday 30 January

2100-2200: BBC2 (1/3) Protecting Our Children.  VideoPlus 1769.  Whole Series Requested.

2100-2200: BBC4: (1/4) Lost Kingdoms of Africa.  VideoPlus 1637635.  Whole Series Requested.

Tuesday 31 January

2100-2200: BBC2: Wonderland – My Son the Rioter.  VideoPlus  1238

2200-2300: BBC4: (2/3) The World Against Apartheid: Have You Heard From Johannesburg?  (Series recording).

Wednesday 1 February

2300-0000: Channel 5: (1/5) Royal Marines: Mission Afghanistan.  VideoPlus 7449352.  Whole Series Requested.

2320-0035: BBC2: Storyville – Sex, Death and the Gods.  VideoPlus  666994.

Thursday 2 February

2100-2200: BBC2: (3/3) Putin Russia and the West. (Series Recording).

Friday 3 February

 1900-2000: BBC2: Egypt: Children of the Revolution.  VideoPlus: 8999.

Call for Papers:   Special 60th Anniversary Issue: “Is the 1951 Convention Outdated?”

Many commentators who criticise the alleged widespread abuse of the refugee protection system point to the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention as the source of the problem. Its supposed generosity constrains government actions and allegedly prevents the adoption of measures that would make the system more effective and efficient. If we consider developments in global modes of transportation and border controls, it becomes apparent that conditions have changed considerably since governments adopted this historic treaty following the Second World War. It is therefore not surprising that the Refugee Convention’s relevance has been questioned in recent years. Yet a closer look at the Convention reveals that it does not include anything relating to status determination procedures which constitute the most burdensome aspect of protection in many rich countries. It does not even guarantee a right to asylum for persecuted people who are granted refugee status. Have national procedures become inefficient because of the Convention or do other factors explain this situation?

The common response from advocates and academics suggests that any opening of discussions on the Refugee Convention will result in diminishing standards which will leave refugees with even less protection. Aside from legitimate fears about a general lack of solidarity and generosity, what specific forms of protection offered in the Convention risk being abandoned? Is there any fundamental right in this refugee treaty that would be threatened or that is not already covered in other areas of international law? Recent cases suggest courts have relied to a large extent on other human rights treaties to provide actual legal protection. What particular reasons lead advocates to prefer the status quo with regards to the Refugee Convention?

For its special issue on the 60th anniversary of the Refugee Convention, REFUGE invites submissions that explore the debate surrounding the relevance of this historic treaty. In particular, we are interested in papers that recognise the diverging assessments in order to propose approaches that might address current and future problems in a more effective manner.

Submission Deadline: **March 30, 2012**

For more information, visit the Refuge web site at http://pi.library.yorku.ca/ojs/index.php/refuge/index.

Human Rights Watch World Report

The following publications have recently been published by Human Rights Watch:

Human Rights Watch World Report 2012: Events of 2011.
This is the flagship annual report produced by Human Rights Watch.  “This 22nd annual World Report summarizes human rights conditions in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide in 2011. “

Human Rights Watch state that:

The introductory essay examines the Arab Spring, which has created an extraordinary opportunity for change. The global community has a responsibility to help the long suppressed people of the region seize control of their destiny from often-brutal authoritarian rulers. Standing firmly with people as they demand their legitimate rights is the best way to stop the bloodshed, while principled insistence on respect for rights is the best way to help these popular movements avoid intolerance, lawlessness, and summary revenge once in power.

[Download Full Report]
Human Rights Watch Press Release.
(Source: Human Rights Watch).

The Road Ahead

The Road Ahead: A Human Rights Agenda for Egypt’s New Parliament

This 45-page report sets out nine areas of Egyptian law that the newly elected parliament must urgently reform if the law is to become an instrument that protects Egyptians’ rights rather than represses them. Egypt’s existing laws – the penal code, associations law, assembly law, and emergency law – limit public freedoms necessary for a democratic transition, challenge respect for the rule of law, and impede accountability for abuses by the police and the military.

[Download Full Report]
(Source: Human Rights Watch).

Justice for Serious Crimes before National Courts

Justice for Serious Crimes before National Courts: Uganda’s International Crimes Division

This 29-page briefing paper provides a snapshot of progress from Uganda’s complementarity-related initiative: the International Crimes Division (ICD). The ICD is a division of the High Court with a mandate to prosecute genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, in addition to crimes such as terrorism. Based on research by Human Rights Watch in Uganda in September 2011, this briefing paper analyzes the ICD’s work to date, the obstacles it has encountered, and challenges both for the future work of the ICD and for national accountability efforts more broadly.

[Download Full Report]
(Source: Human Rights Watch).

“They Hunt Us Down for Fun”

“They Hunt Us Down for Fun”: Discrimination and Police Violence Against Transgender Women in Kuwait

This 63-page report documents the physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and persecution that transgender women – individuals who are born male, but identify as female – have faced at the hands of police. The report also documents the discrimination that transgender women have faced on a daily basis – including by members of the public – as a result of the law, an amendment to penal code article 198. Based on interviews with 40 transgender women, as well as with ministry of interior officials, lawyers, doctors, and members of Kuwaiti civil society, the report found that the arbitrary, ill-defined provisions of the law has allowed for numerous abuses to take place.

[Download Full Report]
(Source: Human Rights Watch).

CMRB

The following seminars have been planned as part of the UEL Centre for Migration, Refugees and Belonging (CMRB) Semester B seminar series 2012:

Imaging Migrants Seminar Series 2012

25th January 2012

Documentary: Calais: The Last Border and discussion

Marc Issacs (film-maker)

13th Februaury 2012 (Monday 5pm-7pm)

The Cleaners’ Voice

Luis C.Sotelo (film-maker)

Anna Lopes  (University of East London)

29th February 2012

Gevald and the role of truth in documentary

Yohai Hakak (University of Portsmouth)

28th April 2012

Evidence of the transformative moment of decision to migrate, explored through image as archive and memory as testimony.

March Helene Kazan (Goldsmith’s College)

25th April 2012

A Visual Journey through the Balkans: from Socialism to the UK.

Nela Milic (journalist and film-maker)

2nd May 2012

Imagined diasporas: domestic violence migrants within the UK

Janet Bowstead  (London Metropolitan University)

For more details on these seminars, click here.

CALL FOR PAPERS: MIGRATION STUDIES

Migration Studies is a new multi-disciplinary refereed journal from Oxford University Press. It will publish work that significantly advances our understanding of the determinants, processes and outcomes of human migration in all its manifestations.

Migration has always defined human populations, and today it is one of the most powerful currents shaping global society. In recent decades, the increasing scope, complexity and salience of human migration have inspired new conceptual and policy vocabularies, and stimulated ground-breaking research efforts across many different academic disciplines.

Migration Studies will contribute to the consolidation of this still-fragmented field of study, developing the core concepts that link different disciplinary perspectives on migration, and bringing new voices into ongoing debates and discussions. Drawing on the expertise and networks of a Global Editorial Board of senior migration scholars, the journal will publish articles of exceptional quality and general interest from around the world.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Migration Studies invites papers that contribute substantively to a core scholarly discipline or sub-discipline, while engaging with migration research in other disciplines. Papers will be reviewed through a global editorial board including senior scholars in each of the following fields:

*Anthropology

*Demography

*Economics

*Forced Migration

*Geography

*History

*International Relations

*Sociology

*Political Science

The editorial team also welcomes book reviews, special issue proposals, and ideas for presenting content in new ways.

HOW TO SUBMIT A PAPER

Please send submissions or expressions of interest to migration.studies.oup@gmail.com.

Warm regards,

The Editorial Team: Alan Gamlen (Editor), Alexander Betts, Thomas  Lacroix, Emanuela Paoletti, Nando Sigona and Carlos Vargas-Silva (Associate Editors).

CMRB

Details taken from the Centre for Migration, Refugees and Belonging (CMRB) website at the University of East London:

Intersectionality and the Spaces of Belonging

28-29 June 2012 Bangor University, UK

Keynote Speakers:
Prof. Nira Yuval-Davis, Director of the Research Centre on Migration, Refugees and Belonging, University of East London, UK.   Nira Yuval-Davis will speak on the subject of her recent book, The Politics of Belonging: Intersectional Contestations.
Prof. Jie-Hyun Lim, Director of the Research Institute of Comparative History and Culture, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea/ Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin.  Jie-Hyun Lim will speak on his current research project, ‘A transnational history of victimhood nationalism: national mourning and global accountability’. Dr Gurminder K. Bhambra, Director of the Social Theory Centre, University of Warwick, UK .  Gurminder K. Bhambra will speak on her current research on early African-American sociologists and their conceptions of identity, inequality, and social theory.

Overview:
Current debates on gender, nation, sexuality, religion and other categories of social divisions and belonging often address the relations between these categories with the term ‘intersectionality’: intersecting in an infinite variety of ways, each of these categories helps construct all the others. What we are, what we suffer, what we belong to, or what we long to be, is multifaceted and contradictory. Our longings, or aversions, are related to our belongings in but complicated and ambiguous ways, and what social group or category we belong to does not determine our political or cultural values, goals or dreams. And yet: the former inform the latter, if only to the extent that we do not wish to remain tomorrow what we are today. Nor do our positionings, situatedness and belongings simply add up to an ‘identity’ (a being so and not other) – as if my hold of ‘ethnicity no. 7’ plus ‘gender no. 2’ plus ‘citizenship in state no. 11’ etcetera could ever equate to exactly what ‘I am’: ‘citizenship in state no. 11’ does not mean the same depending on whether I am of this or that sex, or sexuality, or age, or ethnicity. These intersections complicate, perhaps thwart, any efforts to ground the cultural and political projects, coalitions, emancipation that we long for in the spaces (physical, virtual, rhetorical) we belong to. The organisers welcome critical contributions on all aspects of ‘spaces of belonging’ under the perspective of the concept of intersectionality. Theoretically informed contributions from scholars in all disciplines in the social sciences and humanities, broadly conceived, are invited, as well as from social and community activists or artists. Key themes of interest to the conference include, but are in no way limited to:

• Citizenship, cultural and state membership • Nation, race, ethnicity, nationality • Indigeneity •         Diasporas •  Religion •  Cosmopolitanism and human rights • Longing and the non-space of utopia • Majority-minority relations • Class and belonging •  Sex, gender and sexuality • Standpoints, dialogues and politics of recognition •   Virtual spaces of belonging • Belonging, feeling, intimacy •  Belonging and equality •   Age-spaces and ability-spaces

Abstract Submission:

Please submit, by January 22nd 2012, a proposal of between 300-500 words, including title and references, prepared for blind review, alongside a brief biographical note (max. 100 words), in separate electronic files to berg@bangor.ac.uk<mailto:berg@bangor.ac.uk>

Contacts for questions:

Prof. Howard Davis  h.h.davis@bangor.ac.uk

Dr. Sally Baker :s.baker@bangor.ac.uk

Dr. Marcel Stoetzler:m.stoetzler@bangor.ac.uk

Dr. Robin Mann:  r.mann@bangor.ac.uk

A conference website containing programme and registration details will be launched in January 2012. The conference is sponsored by the Belonging and Ethnicity Research Group (BERG), the Bangor University School of Social Sciences and the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research Data and Methods (WISERD).

“Waiting Here for Death”

“Waiting Here for Death”: Forced Displacement and “Villagization” in Ethiopia’s Gambella Region (Human Rights Watch, Jan. 2012) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

Ending the Displacement Cycle: Finding Durable Solutions through Return and Resettlement (Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, June 2011) [text]
(Source: Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog).

Arab Spring, Tunisia and Turkey
A Policy Debate publication produced by the SETA Foundation.

Tunisia triggered a wave of protests that has been sweeping all over the North Africa and the Middle East since the early 2011. It set the motion in the so-called Arab Spring and successfully demonstrated that social and political transformation is possible without resorting to violence. Through fair and transparent elections that was held on October 23, 2011, Tunisians elected a Constituent Assembly that is mandated to draft the new Constitution of Tunisia. The new political actors in Tunisia has shown great interest in increasing the level of cooperation with Turkey, a country whose experience in political transformation and economic development has become a source of inspiration for the people in the region.

[Download Report]
(Source: DocuBase).

FRAN Quarterly Q3 2011

The Frontex Risk Analysis Unit (RAU) released its 3^rd Quarter Report (July-September) for 2011 on 18 January.  (See also  2^nd Quarter Report (April-June 2011) and 1^st Quarter Report (Jan-March 2011).)

The reports contain a significant amount of information, graphs, and statistical tables regarding detections of illegal border crossings, irregular migration routes, detections of facilitators, detections of illegal stays, refusals of entry, asylum claims, and more.  The Report is based on data provided by Member States.  The Report states that “Frontex and the Member States are currently harmonising their illegal-migration data, a process that is not yet finalised. Therefore more detailed data and trends in this report should be interpreted with caution and, where possible, cross-referenced with information from other sources.”

[Download Report]
See Also – Frontex:  FRAN Quarterly | Q03 2011.
Click here for previous post on Q1 and Q2 Reports.
(Source: Migrants At Sea blog).

Criminal Justice v Racial Justice: Minority ethnic overrepresentation in the criminal justice system.
Edited by Kjartan Páll Sveinsson.
A new report published by The Runnymede Trust.
[Access to the Report]
See Also – Runnymede Trust Press Release.
(Source: Runnymede Trust)

Making systematic reviews work for international development research

Making systematic reviews work for international development research
Discussion papers, January 2012.
Authors: Jessica Hagen-Zanker, Maren Duvendack, Richard Mallett and Rachel Slater with Samuel Carpenter and Mathieu Tromme.
[Download Full Summary and the Full Report]
(Source: Overseas Development Institute).

‘Nationality at point of National Insurance number registrationof DWP claiments” is a newly published report by the Department for Work  and Pensions and the Home Office.
[Download Report]
(Source: Migrants’ Rights Network – DWP report on nationality of benefit claimants).

Seeking support: a guide to the rights and entitlements of separated refugee and migrant children in England

http://www.seekingsupport.co.uk/

(Source: refed, http://www.refugeeeducation.co.uk/mailing.htm)
4^th edition of this guide “to the rights and entitlements of separated refugee and migrant children in England, and [which] provides advice to professionals on how to support young people in accessing those rights.”
[Download report]
(Source: Migrants’ Rights News, 16 January)

The Children’s Society has published research on the 2011 August riots based on a survey with over 1000 people: ‘Behind the riots’.
Download the research at:
http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/tcs/the_childrens_society_riots_report.pdf (pdf file, 268kb)
(Source: Institute for Race Relations).

The Trust for London has published a report: ‘Are you saying I’m Racist? An evaluation of work to tackle racist violence in three areas of London’.
Download the full report at:
http://www.trustforlondon.org.uk/PVR_Full%20Report.pdf (pdf file, 456kb)
Download the summary
http://www.trustforlondon.org.uk/PVR_Summary.pdf (pdf file, 276kb)
(Source: Institute for Race Relations).

The Runnymede Trust has published a report: ‘Criminal Justice v. Racial Justice: Minority ethnic overrepresentation in the criminal justice system’.
Download the report at:
http://www.runnymedetrust.org/publications/172/32.html
(Source: Institute for Race Relations).

The Jesuit Refugee Service Europe has published a report: ‘From Deprivation to liberty: Alternatives to detention in Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom’.
Download the report at:
http://www.jrseurope.org/JRSEuropeFromDeprivationToLiberty20122011.pdf (pdf file, 1.5mb)
(Source: Institute for Race Relations).

The Pan London HIV Prevention Programme (PLHPP) has published a needs assessment.
Download the report and associated documents at:
http://www.northwestlondon.nhs.uk/publications/?category=1669-HIV-d
(Source: Institute for Race Relations).

HM Inspector of Prisons has published a: ‘Report on an unannounced inspection of the short-term holding facility at: Festival Court, Glasgow’.
Download the report at:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/inspectorate-reports/hmipris/glasgow-festival-court-2011.pdf (pdf file, 124kb)
(Source: Institute for Race Relations).

HM Inspector of Prisons has published a: ‘Report on an unannounced inspection of the short-term holding facility at: Glasgow International Airport’.
Download the report at:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/inspectorate-reports/hmipris/glasgow-airport-2011.pdf ()pdf file, 128kb)
(Source: Institute for Race Relations).

HM Inspector of Prisons has published a: ‘Report on an unannounced inspection of the short-term holding facility at: Eaton House, Hounslow’.
Download the report at:
http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/inspectorate-reports/hmipris/eaton-house-2011.pdf (pdf file, 140kb)
(Source: Institute for Race Relations).

The House of Commons Home Affairs Committee has published a report on: ‘UK Border Controls’.
Download the report at:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmhaff/1647/1647.pdf (pdf file, 1.2mb)
(Source: Institute for Race Relations).

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Tuesday 24 January

2200-2300: BBC4: (1/5) The World Against Apartheid: Have You Heard from Johannesburg?  VideoPlus:  7617140.  Whole Series Please.

Wednesday 25 January

 2000-2100: ITV4: (4/13) Border Security USA.    (Series recording)

Thursday 26 January

2100-2200: BBC2: (2/4) Putin, Russia and the West.  VideoPlus: 9074.  (Series recording)

Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford 30th Anniversary Conference: ‘Understanding Global Refugee Policy’

Call for Papers

The Refugee Studies Centre’s 30th Anniversary Conference will take place on 6-7 December 2012, focusing on the theme ‘Understanding Global Refugee Policy’. This conference aims to examine and theorise the policy-making processes relating to refugees and forced migration at the global level. Critical reflection upon the processes through which global public policy on refugees, internally displaced persons, statelessness, human trafficking, and other areas of forced migration is made is intended to offer new and valuable insights for scholars, policy makers and practitioners.

This conference therefore provides a forum for a critical discussion on ‘Understanding Global Refugee Policy’ by bringing together academics, policy makers, practitioners, advocates and displaced people to engage in a debate on how we might begin to make sense of and conceptualise the global refugee policy process. It seeks to explore the nature, content and implications of ‘global refugee policy’ with questions such as: What is ‘global refugee policy’? How can we theorise global refugee policy? What factors explain variation both in the motivations for policies, and in outcomes? To what extent do the diverse interests and priorities of key stakeholders shape global refugee policy, and to what effect?

The conference invites contributions that explore any aspect of the policy-making process: emergence, negotiation, development, implementation, and outcomes, examining global policy at the multilateral, regional, bilateral, or transnational levels. It invites reflections from politics, law, history, anthropology, and sociology, and seeks to involve contributors with case specific studies in addition to those with a broad focus on regional, bilateral, international and global policy-making processes. Papers might fall within one or more of the following categories:

Reflections

In order to lay the foundations for a critical academic understanding of global refugee policy processes, the conference invites reflection pieces on the experience of working on or within regional, bilateral, international and global refugee policy. Such reflections may explore the intersection between and across these different levels of policy making and implementation.

Case Studies

Papers might revisit important ‘moments’ or processes in which attempts to develop global refugee or forced migration policies have emerged, such as in relation to the Global Consultations, CIREFCA, the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, Australia’s “Pacific Solution”, the EU Asylum Qualification Directive, or the role of international actors in influencing national refugee legislation, for example.

Theories of Process

Papers might focus on conceptualising, theorising and critiquing aspects of the policy process in particular areas of refugee or forced migration policy. They may seek to explain variation in outcomes or they may aim to conceptualise how power, interests and ideas shape policy and its relationship to practice, or to examine how particular actors play particular roles in different stages of the policy process.

Abstracts of no more than 200 words should be submitted to:

Heidi El-Megrisi:  rsc-conference@qeh.ox.ac.uk  by 1 July 2012 at the latest.

Date: 09:00am, Saturday, March 10, 2012 – 05:30pm, Sunday, March 11, 2012

Palestine Refugees and International Law

Presenter/Convenor: Refugee Studies Centre

Location: QEH, 3 Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TB

Series: Conferences and workshops

The workshop examines, within a human rights framework, the policies and practices of Middle Eastern states as they impinge upon Palestinian refugees. Through a mix of lectures, working group exercises and interactive sessions, participants engage actively and critically with the contemporary debates in international law and analyse the specific context of Palestinian refugees in the Middle East (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza).

The workshop commences with the background of the Palestinian refugee crisis, with special attention to the socio- political historical context and legal status of Palestinian refugees in the region. This is followed by a careful examination of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights including its philosophical underpinnings and ensuing human rights instruments in international law. The key themes, which have taken centre stage in the debate on the Palestinian refugee crisis, are statelessness, right of return, repatriation, self-determination, restitution compensation and protection. These themes are critically examined along with current discussions about the respective roles of UNRWA, UNHCR and the UNCCP in the Palestinian refugee case.

Instructors

Professor Dawn Chatty is University Professor in Anthropology and Forced Migration and Director of the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford. She is a social anthropologist and has conducted extensive research among Palestinian and other forced migrants in the Middle East. Some of her recent works include Children of Palestine: Experiencing Forced Migration in the Middle East (ed. with Gillian Lewando-Hundt), Berghahn Press, 2005, and
Dispossession and Displacement in the Modern Middle East, Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Dr Susan M. Akram is Clinical Professor at Boston University School of Law, teaching immigration law, comparative refugee law, and international human rights law. She is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, Washington DC (JD), and the Institut International des Droits de l‘Homme, Strasbourg (Diploma in international human rights). She is a past Fulbright Senior Scholar in Palestine, teaching at Al-Quds University/Palestine School of Law in East Jerusalem

Application

Fee: £300

Maximum twenty-five places on the workshop.

For further information contact:
Heidi El-Megrisi
Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford, 3 Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TB, United Kingdom
Tel +44 (0)1865 281728
Email: rsc-outreach@qeh.ox.ac.uk

The Asylum Support Appeals Project (ASAP) has published a new factsheet which provides advice for asylum-seeking women, and women refused asylum, who are experiencing domestic violence.  The factsheet is entitled: Asylum support for women who are victims of domestic violence.
[Download Factsheet]
(Source: Migrants’ Rights Network).

The Prison Reform Trust has published a new entitled No Way Out which deals with the situation of foreign national women in prison in England and Wales.
[Download Report]
(Source: Migrants’ Rights Network).

The new thinktank on citizenship and identity issues, British Future,  has published its report, Hopes and Fears: state of the nation report 2012.
[Download Report]
See Also – British Future Press Release.
(Source: Migrants’ Rights Network).