Refugee Studies Centre: Recent Episodes
Oxford University
Public lectures and seminars from the Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford Department of International Development.
The Refugee Studies Centre (RSC) aims to build knowledge and understanding of the causes and effects of forced migration in order to help improve the lives of some of the world's most vulnerable people.
Parallel session: Humanitarian Innovation and the Military 18 July 2015, 11:00-12:30, 1st Panel Room. Nathaniel Raymond, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, James Ryan, University of London. Chair: Josiah Kaplan, Humanitarian Innovation Project. Military and humanitarian actors increasingly interact across a range of contexts, from natural disaster response to complex emergencies. To date, however, sensitive but important questions surrounding knowledge creation, diffusion, and exchange between both communities remain under-explored, both in debates on humanitarian innovation and humanitarian civil-military coordination. This panel seeks to prompt critical discussion around a sensitive topic by examining how innovative forms of knowledge are created, diffused, and exchanged between military and humanitarian space. How do aid workers learn, adapt, and 'rebrand' military innovations for civilian use? To what degree are military actors adapting humanitarian concepts and practices for their own use? What sensitivities and dilemmas do such interactions pose for both humanitarian practice and principles? This discussion will be grounded in concrete case studies drawn from medical humanitarianism and emerging approaches to networked technologies such as remote sensing and mapping.
Parallel session: Understanding Humanitarian Innovation in Resettlement Contexts, 18 July 2015, 11:0--12:30, 2nd Panel Room. Gavin Ackerly, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre Innovation Hub: ‘Innovative ways of creating resource rich networks to support successful refugee resettlement’, Faith Nibbs, Southern Methodist University: ‘Innovative Strategies: How refugees have career-laddered in the US’, Eleanor Ott, Oxfam GB: ‘‘Forced’ innovation: A case study of US refugee resettlement’, Carrie Perkins, Southern Methodist University: ‘The Road to Resettlement: Transitions from the Thai-Burma border to Dallas, Texas’. Chair: Naohiko Omata, Humanitarian Innovation Project This panel will consider how the concept of humanitarian innovation can apply to refugees who have been resettled to third countries. The first presentation will introduce a purpose-built e-mentoring and networking project which connects refugees to industry professionals, small business mentors and peer groups in order to give refugees the opportunity to connect deep within mainstream networks, reducing reliance on service agencies and increasing opportunities for prosperity. The second presentation will address how refugees career-ladder when their skills don’t easily transfer to the country of resettlement, presenting some of the innovative strategies refugees have used over the past 30 years in the US gathered through ethnographic interviews of the refugee communities of Dallas, TX area. The third presentation will explore how resettled refugees use and build their own networks to relocate, acquire employment, and find economic and social support, presenting qualitative and quantitative data on resettled refugee livelihood adaptation from findings of research with resettled refugees, practitioners, and policymakers. The fourth presentation will use qualitative interviews from refugees both preparing for resettlement and those who have already made the transition to life in the U.S to explore the many challenges, struggles and successes encountered along the way.
Parallel session: Facilitating Bottom-Up Innovation, 18 July 2015, 13:34-15:15, 2nd Panel Room Gavin Ackerly, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre Innovation Hub, Robert Hakiza, Young African Refugees for Integral Development (YARID) Uganda, Avila Kilmurray, Global Fund for Community Foundations, Olivia O’Sullivan, Innovation Hub, DFID, Amplify Project. Chair: Louise Bloom, Humanitarian Innovation Project. This session centres on the fact that the humanitarian sector still has a lot to learn about fully engaging with crisis-affected communities in innovation practice. However several initiatives have started to support communities’ skills and ideas for new humanitarian solutions. Through a lively conversation with the panel members, this session will introduce the exciting work that has created hubs, funds and other platforms to support community-led innovation around the world. We will learn what some of the successes and challenges have been in facilitating grassroots initiatives, and ask what the future is for more direct involvement of crisis-affected communities in providing innovative solutions to humanitarian challenges. With a panel representing a range of global perspectives we hope to unpack some of the key lessons to good innovation facilitation.
Parallel session: Ethics for Technology and Big Data in Humanitarian Innovation 17 July 2015, 14:00-15:30, 1st Panel Room. Nathaniel Raymond, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative’s Signal Program: ‘Applying Humanitarian Principles to the Collection and Use of Digital Data in order to Identify and Mitigate Potential Risks to Vulnerable Populations’, Stefan Voigt, DLR Center for Satellite Based Crisis Information, and Josh Lyons, Human Rights Watch: ‘Between transparency and sensitivity: considerations on the use of very high resolution satellite mapping technologies for humanitarian operations and human rights investigations’ Chair: Anaïs Rességuier, Sciences Po Paris. This panel will discuss ethical issues and risks specific to the application of new and existing technologies and the collection of ‘big data’ for humanitarian purposes. The first presentation will identify potential risk vectors and models of prospective harm that may stem from current data collection practices through digital platforms, which is increasingly for humanitarian practice, and will provide examples of scenarios where this harm may occur and applying commonly accepted sources of humanitarian principles. The second presentation will give an insight in the current and up‐coming state‐of‐the‐art of satellite technology and will stimulate a discussion on how the geospatial community can navigate future policy debates in a balanced and informed way.
Parallel session: Community-based Food Production in Humanitarian Contexts 18 July 2015, 13:45-15:15. Panellists; Mikey Tomkins, CitizenD: ‘Refugee communities in Dallas: Develop community based urban agriculture in Vickery Meadow’ This panel will consider the role of community-based initiatives and innovations for food production as a way of addressing food security issues in refugee and other humanitarian situations. This presentation focuses on the ongoing work of Citizen-D in Dallas, Texas, a project which is in its first year, and aims to create, support and promote urban food growing projects within the refugee communities in Dallas.
Parallel session: Humanitarian Innovation: How to balance short-term results with long-term vision? 17 July 2015, 14:00-15:30. Panellists Kim Scriven, Humanitarian Innovation Fund, Pascal Daudin, ICRC, Johan Karlsson, Better Shelter. Chair: Marpe Tanaka, MSF Sweden Innovation Unit. For emergency-oriented organisations in the humanitarian sector, responding quickly to rapidly emerging crisis situations is absolutely crucial. However, a major challenge facing humanitarian organizations is how to maintain a balance between addressing short-term needs and building an innovation capability to meet long-term challenges. The emergency-oriented mind-set often leads to prioritization of short-term problem solving and neglects the exploration of long-term challenges and opportunities for innovation. This panel brings together representatives from MSF Sweden Innovation Unit, the Humanitarian Innovation Fund, the ICRC and Better Shelter to discuss how to successfully achieve a balance between the short-term and the long-term, and to explore the role of patience and trust in creating a sustained innovation capability in humanitarian organizations.
Guy Goodwin-Gill gives a talk for the Refugee Studies Centre podcast series. In 1977, as national refugee status determination procedures were gaining new life, State members of UNHCR’s Executive Committee asked the Office to provide guidance on the interpretation and application of the 1951 Convention/1967 Protocol. The outcome was the 1979 UNHCR Handbook, still widely cited in courts around the world, but substantially unchanged notwithstanding successive ‘re-issues’. Following adoption of its Agenda for Protection in 2000, UNHCR sought to keep up with jurisprudential developments and emergent issues by publishing supplementary guidelines, for example, on exclusion, gender, social group, and children; these were mostly drafted in-house, like the original Handbook, and without any formal input from States or other stakeholders. Following criticism of its 2013 guidelines on military service, however, UNHCR began to consider how external input could be usefully and effectively managed, for example, through the circulation of drafts for comment. Authoritative and influential guidelines will need a solid methodology when it comes to synthesizing best practice and pointing the way ahead, and UNHCR cannot just rely on its statutory and treaty role in ‘supervising the application’ of the 1951 Convention. In some respects, its task is analogous to that of the International Law Commission, incorporating both codification (identifying where States now see the law) and progressive development (showing how the law should develop consistently, if protection is to keep in step with need). So, what are the issues on which further guidance is needed today? What, if any, are the limits to interpretation, and when are new texts required? In drafting guidelines, who should be consulted? And how should others’ views and analysis be taken into account?
Dr James Milner gives a talk for the Refugee Studies Centre seminar series. Despite the attention paid to new examples of ‘global refugee policy’, we know surprisingly little about the process by which it is made and implemented. Building on the December 2014 special issue of the Journal of Refugee Studies, this seminar introduces the concept of ‘global refugee policy’ and argues for a more critical and systematic examination of the interests and actors that shape the process of making and implementing policy. Drawing on efforts to implement global policy with respect to protracted refugee situations in the context of Tanzania, the seminar considers the range of national and local factors that limited efforts to realise naturalisation for Burundian refugees, and outlines an approach to the future study of global refugee policy.
Dr Jeff Crisp and MaryBeth Morand give a talk for the Refugee Studies Centre podcast series.
Dr Phil Orchard gives a talk for the Refugee Studies Centre podcast series. In the past two decades, global policy on internal displacement has become a discernible area of activity for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and a range of other international and non-government organizations. It is an area of policy which operates in parallel with global refugee policy, alongside but separate as it is neither as strongly legally or institutional anchored. Its development has been far more ad hoc, incremental, and divided than refugee policy. And yet global policy on internal displacement as both process and product is clearly identifiable. This is reflected in legal developments including the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and the African Union’s Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (the Kampala Convention). But it is also reflected in practice within the United Nations, including the development of the cluster approach to provide protection and assistance to the internally displaced, and in the basic working processes not only of UNHCR, but also of the Security Council and the General Assembly. This suggests that incremental processes can have long term effects on global policy generally.
Professor Jane McAdam focuses here on the relocation of the Banaban population from Ocean Island (previously one of the Gilbert & Ellice Islands, now Kiribati) to Rabi Island in Fiji after the Second World War. Professor McAdam is Scientia Professor of Law and the Director of the Andrew & Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at the University of New South Wales. She holds an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship, and is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC and a Research Associate at the Refugee Studies Centre.
Seminar given on 18 February 2015 by Dr Benjamin Gray (University of Edinburgh), part of the RSC Hilary term 2015 Public Seminar Series This seminar addresses the place of exiles and refugees in the Greek polis (city-state), with a focus on the later Classical and Hellenistic periods (c. 400-100 BC). It addresses the different forms of protection and aid granted by Greek poleis and their citizens to Greeks displaced through war and civil strife. It also analyses the range of arguments advanced by ancient Greeks for protecting or helping exiles and refugees, including the self-presentation of displaced Greeks themselves. For example, refugees and their hosts could present aid to displaced groups as inspired by justice, law, freedom and shared Greek identity. Alternatively, in a move which became increasingly prominent in the period considered here, they could present help to the displaced as a matter of humane sympathy or even charity. This seminar argues that the diverse range of relevant Greek practices and values both reflected and helped to shape complex and shifting ancient Greek ideas about the city, citizenship, democracy, justice, freedom, virtue and gender. Throughout its argument, connections and contrasts are drawn between ancient Greek and modern practices and ideology, and their underpinnings in broader ethical and political ideals. Modern practices and values concerning aid to refugees draw on, and combine, different ancient Greek approaches and traditions, as well as departing from them. Dr Gray is the author of a forthcoming book on exile, refugees and the city in ancient Greece: 'Stasis and Stability: Exile, the Polis, and Political Thought, c. 404-146 BC' (OUP, forthcoming in summer 2015).
Launch of 'Migrants at Work: Immigration and Vulnerability in Labour Law' (Oxford University Press 2014), held on 13 February 2015. The volume is edited by Professor Cathryn Costello (RSC) and Emeritus Professor Mark Freedland Event programme: 1) Welcome from the Editors and the Dean of the Faculty of Law Professor Hugh Collins; 2) Migration Law on the Labour Law Curriculum: Professor ACL Davies (University of Oxford); 3) ‘Modern Slavery’ and Migrant Workers: Panacea or Panopticon?: Professor Julia O’Connell-Davison (University of Nottingham), Dr Virginia Mantouvalou (UCL), Professor Bernard Ryan (University of Leicester), Professor Bridget Anderson (COMPAS); 4) Illegality after Hounga: On Firewalls and other Fantasies?: Professor Cathryn Costello (RSC), Professor Alan Bogg (University of Oxford); 5) Developing the Migrants at Work Research Agenda.
Seminar given on 28 January 2015 by Professor Dawn Chatty (RSC), part of the RSC Hilary term 2015 Public Seminar Series Refugee studies rarely address historical matters; yet understanding ideas about sanctuary, refuge and asylum have long roots in both Western and Eastern history and philosophy. Occasionally the Nansen era of the 1920s is examined or the opening years of, say, the Palestinian refugee crisis are addressed. But by and large the circumstances, experiences and influences of refugees and exiles in modern history are ignored. This seminar attempts to contribute to an exploration of the past and to examine the responses of one State – the late Ottoman Empire – to the forced migration of millions of largely Muslim refugees and exiles from its contested borderland shared with Tsarist Russia into its southern provinces. The seminar focuses on one particular meta-ethnic group, the Circassians, and explores the humanitarian response to their movement both nationally and locally as well as their concerted drive for assisted self-settlement. The Circassians are one of many groups that were on the move at the end of the 19th century and their reception and eventual integration without assimilation in the region provide important lessons for contemporary humanitarianism.
Seminar given on 21 January 2015 by Professor Peter Heather (King's College London), part of the RSC Hilary term 2015 Public Seminar Series Up to the mid-fourth century AD, the language of refuge regularly appears in Roman sources in the context of frontier management. It is employed both of high status individuals, but also – more strikingly – of very much larger groups: certainly several tens of thousands of individuals, and sometimes apparently a hundred thousand plus-strong. The basic political economy of the Empire – powered by unmechanised agricultural production in a world of low overall population densities – meant that there was always a demand for labour, and, in the right circumstances, refugees could expect reasonable treatment. Provided that their arrival posed no military or political threat to imperial integrity, refugees would receive not only lands to cultivate on reasonable terms, but might also be settled in concentrations large enough to preserve structures of broader familial and even cultural identity. In other circumstances, however, imperial control was enforced by direct military action and survivors were sold into slavery and might themselves redistributed as individuals in adverse socio-economic conditions over very wide geographical areas. In the late fourth and early fifth centuries, a distinct change becomes apparent in imperial policy. Some very large refugee groups – particularly those that were Gothic – were granted lands within the Empire on terms which broke with long-established Roman norms. These groups were so large and retained so much autonomy that they posed a distinct threat to the continued integrity of imperial rule over the particular regions in which they were settled. Over time, some of the settlements eventually became the basis of independent successor kingdoms as the power of the west Roman centre unravelled. This transition poses an obvious question. Why did traditional Roman policy towards refugees change so markedly in the late imperial period?
This event marked the launch of the RSC Policy Briefing 'Protection in Europe for refugees from Syria' and Forced Migration Review issue 47 on 'The Syria crisis, displacement and protection' There are currently more than 2.8 million registered refugees from Syria. Ninety-six percent of these refugees are hosted by neighbouring countries – Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. With the exception of Germany and a few other limited initiatives, the primary aim of the European response has been to contain the crisis in the Syrian region and to reinforce Europe’s borders. This event marked the launch of a new RSC Policy Briefing, ‘Protection in Europe for refugees from Syria’. Report authors, Cynthia Orchard and Andrew Miller, provided an overview of the European reaction generally, as well as brief summaries of selected countries’ responses. They argued that containment of the refugee crisis to the Syrian region is unsustainable and advocate for European countries to open their doors to refugees from the region and to expand safe and legal routes of entry. Also launched at this event was issue 47 of Forced Migration Review on ‘The Syria crisis, displacement and protection’. Professor Roger Zetter, co-author (with Héloïse Ruaudel) of a major article in the issue entitled ‘Development and protection challenges of the Syrian refugee crisis’, looked at early recovery and social cohesion interventions and the transition from assistance to development-led interventions in Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan. FMR47 was funded by the Regional Development and Protection Programme, a Denmark-led initiative with contributions from the EU, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, UK and Czech Republic, for whose inception report Professor Zetter was the lead author. Download the publications at www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/syrialaunch
This event marked the launch of the RSC Policy Briefing 'Protection in Europe for refugees from Syria' and Forced Migration Review issue 47 on 'The Syria crisis, displacement and protection' There are currently more than 2.8 million registered refugees from Syria. Ninety-six percent of these refugees are hosted by neighbouring countries – Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. With the exception of Germany and a few other limited initiatives, the primary aim of the European response has been to contain the crisis in the Syrian region and to reinforce Europe’s borders.
This event marked the launch of a new RSC Policy Briefing, ‘Protection in Europe for refugees from Syria’. Report authors, Cynthia Orchard and Andrew Miller, provided an overview of the European reaction generally, as well as brief summaries of selected countries’ responses. They argued that containment of the refugee crisis to the Syrian region is unsustainable and advocate for European countries to open their doors to refugees from the region and to expand safe and legal routes of entry.
Also launched at this event was issue 47 of Forced Migration Review on ‘The Syria crisis, displacement and protection’. Professor Roger Zetter, co-author (with Héloïse Ruaudel) of a major article in the issue entitled ‘Development and protection challenges of the Syrian refugee crisis’, looked at early recovery and social cohesion interventions and the transition from assistance to development-led interventions in Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan. FMR47 was funded by the Regional Development and Protection Programme, a Denmark-led initiative with contributions from the EU, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, UK and Czech Republic, for whose inception report Professor Zetter was the lead author.
Download the publications at www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/syrialaunch
Launch of the Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies. Seminar given on 15 October 2014 as part of the RSC Michaelmas term 2014 Public Seminar Series Refugee and Forced Migration Studies has grown from being a concern of a relatively small number of scholars and policy researchers in the 1980s to a global field of interest with thousands of students worldwide studying displacement either from traditional disciplinary perspectives or as a core component of newer programmes across the Humanities and Social and Political Sciences. Today the field encompasses both rigorous academic research which may or may not ultimately inform policy and practice, as well as action-research focused on advocating in favour of refugees' needs and rights. This authoritative Handbook critically evaluates the birth and development of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies, and analyses the key contemporary and future challenges faced by academics and practitioners working with and for forcibly displaced populations around the world.
In this talk, Dr Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh and Professor Gil Loescher, two of the Handbook's editors, discuss how the book provides a comprehensive and cutting-edge overview of the key intellectual, political, social and institutional challenges arising from mass displacement in the world today. Laying out the thinking behind the Handbook, they examine how it addresses these challenges and attempts to unify a diverse, evolving and crucial field.
Professor Loescher and Dr Fiddian-Qasmiyeh are joined by a number of the Handbook's authors, who reflect on their own contributions to the volume and highlight some of cutting-edge approaches and challenges emerging in their respective areas of expertise.
Read more about the Handbook: www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/news/oxford-hand…es-now-available
Seminar given on 22 October 2014 by Dr Fiddian-Qasmiyeh (University College London and the Refugee Studies Centre), part of the RSC Michaelmas term 2014 Public Seminar Series. Refugee camps are typically perceived as militarised and patriarchal spaces, and yet the Sahrawi refugee camps and their inhabitants have consistently been represented as ideal in nature: uniquely secular and democratic spaces, and characterised by gender equality. Drawing on extensive research with and about Sahrawi refugees in Algeria, Cuba, Spain, South Africa and Syria, Dr Fiddian-Qasmiyeh explores how, why and to what effect such idealised depictions have been projected onto the international arena. In this talk, she argues that secularism and the empowerment of Sahrawi refugee women have been strategically invoked to secure the humanitarian and political support of Western state and non-state actors who ensure the continued survival of the camps and their inhabitants. She challenges listeners to reflect critically on who benefits from assertions of good, bad and ideal refugees, and whose interests are advanced by interwoven discourses about the empowerment of women and secularism in contexts of war and peace. Read more about the book here: http://syracuseuniversitypress.syr.edu/fall-2013/ideal-refugees.html
Read more about the book here: syracuseuniversitypress.syr.edu/fall-2013…gees.html
Seminar given on 29 October 2014 by Dr Kirsten McConnachie (Refugee Studies Centre), part of the RSC Michaelmas term 2014 Public Seminar Series. Refugee camps are imbued in the public imagination with assumptions of anarchy, danger and refugee passivity. 'Governing Refugees: Justice, Order and Legal Pluralism' marshals empirical data and ethnographic detail to challenge such assumptions, arguing that refugee camps should be recognised as spaces where social capital can not only survive, but thrive. In this talk, Dr McConnachie examines themes of community governance, order maintenance and legal pluralism in the context of refugee camps on the Thailand-Burma border. The nature of a refugee situation is such that multiple actors take a role in camp management, creating a complex governance environment which has a significant impact on the lives of refugees. This situation also speaks to deeply important questions of legal and political scholarship, including the production of order beyond the state, justice as a contested site, and the influence of transnational human rights discourses on local justice practice. Dr McConnachie's book presents valuable new research into the subject of refugee camps as well as an original critical analysis. Read more about the book here: http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415834001/
The Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture, given by Her Royal Highness Princess Basma bint Talal on 5 November 2014 at the University of Oxford Examination Schools. The communities comprising the modern Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan have a long history as refugee hosts. Currently, 20 per cent of the residents of Jordan are refugees and asylum seekers from all over the world. Her Royal Highness Princess Basma bint Talal examines the ways in which earlier refugee communities’ experience of displacement itself contributed to their integration within the developing Jordanian state. Princess Basma discusses the ways in which Jordan’s Circassian, Chechen and Armenian communities have negotiated different aspects of their specific identities and integrated in Jordan, considering the role of forced migration itself in creating identities. Jordan’s own experience demonstrates how policies that engage and include refugee communities can have positive outcomes for both sides, creating peaceful and productive coexistence.
Seminar given on 12 November 2014 by Professor Jonny Steinberg (African Studies Centre and the Centre for Criminology, University of Oxford), part of the RSC Michaelmas term 2014 Public Seminar Series. In the course of writing an intimate biography of a Somali forced migrant, Professor Steinberg has explored some of the more important decisions his subject has made over the course of his life. Among them are decisions about public matters: how to position himself in the politics of the Somali diaspora; whether to take a public stand over xenophobia in South Africa; how to understand his place as a refugee in American society. In each case, Professor Steinberg finds that the public position he adopts is tied inextricably to his feelings about a woman he loves. In this talk, Professor Steinberg will examine connections between the very personal and the very public in the context of forced migration. His paper is an explorative piece, its conclusions tentative and suggestive.
Seminar given on 19 November 2014 by Dr Nando Sigona (University of Birmingham) and Professor Roger Zetter (Refugee Studies Centre), part of the RSC Michaelmas term 2014 Public Seminar Series. Undocumented migration is a huge global phenomenon, yet little is known about the reality of life for those involved. Sans Papiers, co-authored by Alice Bloch, Nando Sigona and Roger Zetter, combines a contemporary account of the theoretical and policy debates with an in-depth exploration of the lived experiences of undocumented migrants in the UK from Zimbabwe, China, Brazil, Ukraine and Turkish Kurdistan. Built around their voices, the book provides a unique understanding of migratory processes, gendered experiences and migrant aspirations. In this talk, Nando Sigona and Roger Zetter draw on their book to explore the ambiguities and contradictions of being an undocumented migrant, providing insights into personal experiences alongside analysis of wider policy issues.
Find out more about the book here: bit.ly/sans-papiers-undocumented
Seminar given on 26 November 2014 by Dr Katy Long (Stanford University and University of Edinburgh), part of the RSC Michaelmas term 2014 Public Seminar Series. Katy Long is Lecturer in International Development at the University of Edinburgh, where her work focuses on migration and refugee issues. In addition, she researches the sale of citizenship in both legal and black market contexts at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. She is also a former RSC Research Associate and post-doctoral fellow.
Dr Long received her doctorate from Cambridge in 2009, and afterwards worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the Refugee Studies Centre in Oxford and as a lecturer at the London School of Economics, before joining the department in September 2013. She has also worked extensively with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees on a number of projects, including investigating the role migration could play in solving refugee crises, the use of voluntary repatriation and refugees' political participation, and emergency responses to border closures.
To date, her research has looked in particular at refugee movements and international "solutions" to forced migration crises. Most recently, her fieldwork has focused on migrations from and crises in the East, Horn and Great Lakes regions of Africa, but she's also worked in Guatemala and Mexico and is increasingly interested in understanding immigration policy here in the West.
Seminar given on 3 December 2014 by Professor Audrey Macklin (University of Toronto), part of the RSC Michaelmas term 2014 Public Seminar Series. Citizenship revocation has emerged in the UK and Canada as a supplement to the counter-terrorism toolkit, and is on the legislative agenda elsewhere. Citizens who engage in conduct deemed threatening to national security face potential deprivation of citizenship through the exercise of executive discretion. The author situates citizenship revocation within the evolving field of 'crimmigration', as well as in its historical context. The new 'two-step exile' extends the functionality of immigration law by turning citizens into deportable aliens: first, strip citizenship; second, deport the newly minted alien. This revival of banishment raises various normative, legal and practical considerations. Professor Macklin will critically engage with the depiction of citizenship as a privilege versus a right, and citizenship revocation for misconduct as constructive breach of the social contract versus punishment. She will argue that citizenship revocation as conceived under both the UK and Canadian regimes is essentially punitive. She will then analyse the legality of citizenship revocation under international law and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, using US Supreme Court judgements on expatriation as a relevant source of comparative jurisprudence.
Part 3 of 3 of a series of podcasts from the special workshop 'The Arab Uprisings: Displacement and Migration', held at the Oxford Department of International Development on 16 May 2014 The aim of this workshop was to investigate the relation between migration and revolts. Some of the questions that were addressed include: What is the theoretical link between emigration, immigration and revolts? What have been the short-term and long-term impacts of the uprisings on mobility, migration and displacement in the Middle East and North Africa region in terms of patterns and trends and of institutional responses to movements induced by the Arab Uprising? What has been the impact of the Uprisings on broader processes of social change in the region?
Part 2 of 3 of a series of podcasts from the special workshop 'The Arab Uprisings: Displacement and Migration', held at the Oxford Department of International Development on 16 May 2014 The aim of this workshop was to investigate the relation between migration and revolts. Some of the questions that were addressed include: What is the theoretical link between emigration, immigration and revolts? What have been the short-term and long-term impacts of the uprisings on mobility, migration and displacement in the Middle East and North Africa region in terms of patterns and trends and of institutional responses to movements induced by the Arab Uprising? What has been the impact of the Uprisings on broader processes of social change in the region?
Part 1 of 3 of a series of podcasts from the special workshop 'The Arab Uprisings: Displacement and Migration', held at the Oxford Department of International Development on 16 May 2014 The aim of this workshop was to investigate the relation between migration and revolts. Some of the questions that were addressed include: What is the theoretical link between emigration, immigration and revolts? What have been the short-term and long-term impacts of the uprisings on mobility, migration and displacement in the Middle East and North Africa region in terms of patterns and trends and of institutional responses to movements induced by the Arab Uprising? What has been the impact of the Uprisings on broader processes of social change in the region?
Special seminar by Dr Maha Shuayb (Centre for Lebanese Studies), which took place at the Oxford Department of International Development on 19 May 2014. Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis in 2011, more than 3 million refugees have fled to the neighbouring countries Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. According to the last regional response plan, it is estimated that the number of Syrian refugees in need of assistance across the region reached 3.45 million by the end of 2013. In Lebanon, the number of Syrian refugees has soared to over a million; 630,000 of them are between 3 and 18 years old. Syrian refugee children face a number of barriers in trying to access the educational system in Lebanon. The language of instruction poses difficulties for Syrians in coping with host country curricula: the Syrian national curriculum is solely in Arabic, whereas the Lebanese system includes English and French both as subjects and as languages of instruction for maths and science. The impact of all of these conditions on students’ education retention and opportunities to continue higher education is yet to be seen. This talk, hosted by Oxford Solidarity for Syria in collaboration with the RSC, focuses on access and quality of education offered to Syrian refugee children in Lebanon. The initial findings of the ongoing study of public, private and UNRWA schools that have Syrian students have highlighted numerous challenges facing Syrian children including discrimination, violence, acculturation and lack of support in the classroom. With the increase of the scale of the crisis, and hostilities toward the Syrian refugees, the Lebanese Ministry of Education and Higher Education has already started to adopt an exclusory approach to the education of the refugees by banning new Syrian children from registering in public schools, whilst putting pressure on UN agencies to sponsor afternoon school shifts for Syrian students only.
About the speaker:
Maha Shuayb is the Director of the Centre for Lebanese Studies (CLS). She is also a visiting fellow at the Faculty of Education at the University of Oxford and the President of the Lebanese Association for History. Maha joined CLS in 2008 as a Senior Research Fellow at St Antony’s College. In 2012, Maha became the Director of the Centre.
Maha has a BSc in Sociology from the Lebanese University and a PhD degree in Education from the University of Cambridge. She has been a visiting scholar at various universities including University of Cambridge and the American University of Beirut.
Maha’s research focuses on the sociology and politics of education. Her research interests include education and social cohesion, refugee education, citizenship education and history education. Her most recent publications are: Rethinking Education for Social Cohesion: International Case Studies (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) and 'The art of inclusive exclusions educating Palestinian refugee students in Lebanon' (Refugee Survey Quarterly, forthcoming).
The second panel discussion of the Silent University event which took place at the Oxford Department of International Development on 20 May 2014. Panel 2: The role of artists and institutions in challenging popular narratives about migrants. Moderator: Ahmet Öğüt, The Silent University. Panellists: Aaron Cezar, Delfina Foundation; Emily Fahlén, The Silent University Stockholm; Jonas Staal, New World Academy.
Two presentations and the first panel discussion of the Silent University event which took place at the Oxford Department of International Development on 20 May 2014. Recording details: 00:00:00-00:13:28 - Ten Types of Arabic Calligraphy (in English and Arabic), Behnam al-Agzeer, The Silent University; 00:13:32-00:17:01 - Sexually Transmitted Diseases and the History of HIV, Mulugeta Fikadu, The Silent University; 00:17:06-00:48:29 - Panel 1: Migrant Communities and Networks, and Social Exclusion in the UK and Europe. Moderator: Professor Bridget Anderson, COMPAS. Panellists: Carlos Cruz, The Silent University; Uvindu Kurukulasuriya, The Silent University; Geraldine Takundwa, The Silent University; Miriam Binsztok, The Silent University; Karin Waringo, The Silent University Paris.
The Silent University Visible Award Ceremony 2013 took place at the Oxford Department of International Development on 20 May 2014. Ahmet Öğüt, Silent University founder, was presented with the Visible Award, and various speakers contributed to the event. On 14 December 2013, the second edition of the Visible Award was awarded to The Silent University, a knowledge exchange platform initiated by the artist Ahmet Öğüt and led by a group of asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants. In recognition of the award, the London branch of The Silent University produced a two-day event, with the first day organised in collaboration with the Oxford Migration Studies Society and the Refugee Studies Centre. The event focused on drawing together members of The Silent University in dialogue with artists, curators, and theoreticians who are working on projects that deal with migration issues in the legal framework of Western democracies. The Visible Award, which in its mission is looking for art that 'leaves its own field and becomes visible as part of something else,' is proud to accompany The Silent University in its encounter with the academic realm outside of the space of art. Read more about The Silent University here: http://thesilentuniversity.org/. Recording details:
00:00:00-00:03:15 - Welcome by Professor Dawn Chatty, Refugee Studies Centre; 00:03:16-00:11:24 - Introduction to the day by Matteo Luchetti and Judith Wielander, Visible; 00:11:30-00:15:21 - Presentation of the Visible Award by Andrea Zegna, Fondazione Zegna; 00:15:32-00:22:46 - Paolo Naldini, Pistoletto Foundation; 00:22:47-00:26:06 - Acceptance of the Visible Award by Ahmet Öğüt, The Silent University.
Seminar given on 4th June 2014 by Dr Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen (The Danish Institute for Human Rights), part of the Trinity term 2014 Public Seminar Series International refugee law, in particular the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, is often taken as constitutive for national refugee and asylum policy. It places a legal constraint upon signatory states against the otherwise well-established right to decide who may enter and remain on its territory, and through both the definition and rights catalogue it sets a standard that is reflected in domestic law across the globe. The last twenty-five years, however, have seen an increased politicisation of asylum across both traditional and new asylum countries. Many countries have introduced a broad array of procedural and physical deterrence mechanisms to prevent refugees from reaching their destination or accessing full asylum procedures. Dr Gammeltoft-Hansen's talk takes this growing set of non-entrée practices as a critical case for examining the continued role of international law in refugee policy. Over the last two decades, many of the traditional non-entrée practices have been legally challenged. Rather than abandoning non-entrée, states have instead turned their attention to a new generation of deterrent regimes intended to overcome these legal objections. Much, if not most, of the work of deterrence is now taking place in the territory – or at least under the formal authority of – poorer states of origin and transit, which for economic, political or other reasons are often willing to serve as the gatekeepers to the developed world. Dr Gammeltoft-Hansen sets out this new generation of non-entrée and the legal avenues that must be pursued to constrain them. Secondly, he revisits the dominant accounts of the interplay between international law and politics, suggesting that we need to view this relationship more dynamically. International refugee law neither serves merely to contain politics, nor does it become obsolete when no longer backed by realpolitik. Rather, legal interpretation and policy in this area have developed in a dialectic process of mutual action and reaction where international refugee law equally works to constrain and drive refugee policy.
RSC 2014 Conference: Refugee Voices. Lectures by Matthew Wilch; Zo Tum Hmung; Victoria Jack. Recorded on 24 March 2014 at St Anne's College, University of Oxford. This recording begins with a talk from Matthew Wilch (Refugee Policy Advisor, US Conference of Catholic Bishops) and Zo Tum Hmung (Chin community activist) on 'The Chin seeking refuge in Mizoram State, India: a roundtable approach to refugee protection'. Victoria Jack (University of Newcastle, Australia) follows with a talk on 'Communication as aid: giving voice to refugees on the Thai-Burma border.'
RSC and Oxford Diasporas Programme special seminar. Professor Harris Mylonas (George Washington University). Recorded on 27 May 2014 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. What drives a state’s choice to assimilate, accommodate, or exclude ethnic groups within its territory? In this talk, Harris Mylonas speaks on his book, The Politics of Nation-Building: Making Co-Nationals, Refugees, and Minorities (Cambridge University Press, 2013), in which he argues that a state’s nation-building policies toward non-core groups – any aggregation of individuals perceived as an ethnic group by the ruling elite of a state – are influenced by both its foreign policy goals and its relations with the external patrons of these groups. Through a detailed study of the Balkans, Mylonas shows that how a state treats a non-core group within its own borders is determined largely by whether the state’s foreign policy is revisionist or cleaves to the international status quo, and whether it is allied or in rivalry with that group’s external patrons. Mylonas injects international politics into the study of nation-building, building a bridge between international relations and the comparative politics of ethnicity and nationalism. This is the first book to explain systematically how the politics of ethnicity in the international arena determine which groups are assimilated, accommodated or annihilated by their host states.
Public Seminar Series Trinity term 2014. Dr Daniel Wilsher (City University London) & Francesca Cancellaro (Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna). Recorded on 28 May 2014 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford The detention of asylum seekers is always particularly controversial. The Saadi v UK decision of the Strasbourg Court was much criticised for condoning administrative detention of asylum seekers. It did, however, impose apparently strict legal constraints on such detention. Nevertheless, in that time, executive practice in Europe has evolved in ways that arguably further undermine these constraints. This seminar considers practices in the UK under the detained fast-track system and in Italy on the island of Lampedusa to assess the current state of detention and its compliance with the rule of law.
Public Seminar Series, Trinity term 2014. Seminar by Professor Kelly M. Greenhill (Tufts University). Recorded on 7 May 2014 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. In this seminar, Professor Greenhill examines an understudied, yet relatively common, bargaining tool and method of persuasion: namely, the use of migration and refugee crises as non-military instruments of state-level coercion. Who employs this unconventional weapon, how often it succeeds and fails, how and why this kind of coercion ever works, and how targets may combat this unorthodox brand of coercion will be explored. Contemporary cases, including Libya, Syria, North Korea, Cuba and Kosovo are discussed, as are the sometimes-devastating humanitarian implications of engineered migration crises. The talk is drawn in part from Professor Greenhill's book of the same name, which received the International Studies Association's Best Book of the Year Award.
Public Seminar Series Trinity term 2014. Madeline Garlick (Radboud University). Recorded on 14 May 2014 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. Madeline Garlick is a Guest Researcher and PhD candidate at the Centre for Migration Law at Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. She is also an International Migration Initiative (IMI) Fellow with the Open Society Foundations, working in 2014 on an asylum project with Migration Policy Institute Europe.
She was previously Head of the Policy and Legal Support Unit in the Bureau for Europe of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and responsible for UNHCR’s liaison to the EU institutions from 2004-2013. She served with the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), as a member of the Secretary-General’s Good Offices negotiating team on Cyprus, from 1999-2004. She worked from 1996-1999 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the Commission for Real Property Claims of Displaced Persons and Refugees and for the Office of the High Representative. She has also worked for Justice, the British Chapter of the International Commission of Jurists, on asylum issues She is qualified as a barrister and solicitor in Victoria, Australia.
Madeline Garlick writes and speaks in her personal capacity, and any views expressed or implied do not necessarily represent the position of the United Nations or UNHCR.
RSC 2014 Conference: Refugee Voices. Lectures by Tun Khin; Amal de Chickera; Maung Zarni. Recorded on 25 March 2014 at St Anne's College, University of Oxford. This recording begins with a lecture by Tun Khin (Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK) on 'The treatment of the Rohingya.' It continues with a lecture by Amal de Chickera (the Equal Rights Trust) on 'Shared responsibility: an international approach to the Rohingya crisis.' The recording finishes with a lecture by Maung Zarni (London School of Economics) on 'The Rohingya: reading the State.'
RSC 2014 Conference: Refugee Voices. Lectures by Cathrine Thorleifsson; Dina Jane Kiwan; Ruba Al Akash and Karen Boswall; Veronica Ferreri. Recorded on 25 March 2014 at St Anne's College, University of Oxford. This recording begins with a lecture by Cathrine Thorleifsson (Fafo Institute for Applied International Studies) on 'Coping strategies among self-settled Syrians in Lebanon.' It continues with a lecture by Dina Jane Kiwan (American University of Beirut) on 'Constructions of ‘refugees’ through cultural expression: Syrian refugees in Lebanon.' Next, Ruba Al Akash (Jordan University of Science and Technology) and Karen Boswall present their work on 'Listening to the voices of Syrian women refugees in Jordan: ethnographies of displacement and emplacement', which includes video interviews with Syrian refugees in Jordan. The videos can be found here on the RSC YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/RefugeeStudiesCentre. The recording finishes with a lecture by Veronica Ferreri (School of Oriental and African Studies) on '"Khidan li-Adhan… walls have ears" even in the diaspora: Syrians in London.'
RSC 2014 Conference: Refugee Voices. Lectures by Louise Newman; Julian Caruana and Alexia Rossi; Devorah Wainer; and Mollie Gerver. Recorded on 25 March 2014 at St Anne's College, University of Oxford. This recording begins with a lecture by Professor Louise Newman of Monash University on 'Beyond the Island - experiences of asylum seekers in Australia'. Psychologists Julian Caruana and Alexia Rossi are next, with a joint lecture on 'Responding to mental health vulnerability in Maltese detention centres: the use of psychological support groups as an intervention tool'. Devorah Wainer (Sydney University) follows with 'The voice of the silenced in the Australian detention system'. Mollie Gerver (London School of Economics) ends the recording with her talk on 'Deportation of Sudanese children by Israel'.
RSC 2014 Conference: Refugee Voices. Lecture by Dr Jeff Crisp (Refugees International) with an introduction by Professor Dawn Chatty, Director of the RSC. Recorded on 24 March 2014 at St Anne's College, University of Oxford. Jeff Crisp was appointed to the position of Senior Director at Refugees International in Washington DC in September 2013. Previously, he served as Head of the Policy Development and Evaluation Service at the headquarters of UNHCR in Geneva, a position that he held since 2006. Dr Crisp has also held senior positions with the Global Commission on International Migration, where he served as Director of Policy and Research; the Independent Commission on International Humanitarian issues; and the British Refugee Council.
Dr Crisp has first-hand experience of refugee situations and humanitarian operations in more than 60 countries around the world, has published and lectured extensively on refugee, humanitarian, and migration issues, as well as African affairs, and was responsible for the publication of two editions of UNHCR’s flagship publication, 'The State of the World’s Refugees'. A volume of Dr Crisp's work has been published as an open-access e-book titled ‘Asylum, migration and humanitarian action: a collection of papers on refugee-related issues’.
Dr Crisp's most recent work has focused on the issues of refugee protection and solutions in urban areas, protracted refugee situations, the linkage between refugee protection and international migration, refugee return and reintegration, the gap between humanitarian relief and development aid, and the Syrian refugee crisis. A British national, he has a master’s degree and a PhD in African Studies and Political Science from the University of Birmingham.
Public Seminar Series, Hilary term 2014. Seminar by Dr Anne Hammerstad (University of Kent), recorded on 12 March 2014 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. In this presentation, Dr Hammerstad discusses the rise and decline of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as a global security actor. She follows the refugee agency through some of the major conflict-induced humanitarian crises and complex emergencies of the past two decades, including Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iraq, Kosovo and eastern Zaire/Congo. In the 1990s UNHCR went through a momentous transformation from a small, timid legal protection agency to the world’s foremost humanitarian actor playing a central role in the international response to the many wars of the tumultuous last decade of the twentieth century. Then, as the twenty-first century set in, the agency’s political prominence waned. It remains a major humanitarian actor, but the polarised post-9/11 period, concern over shrinking 'humanitarian space', and a worsening protection climate for refugees and asylum seekers spurred UNHCR to abandon its claim to be a global security actor and return to a more modest, quietly diplomatic role. Dr Hammerstad investigates UNHCR’s response to this new international environment, and why it adopted, adapted and finally abandoned a security discourse on the refugee problem. Her presentation is based on the findings in her newly published book, The Rise and Decline of a Global Security Actor: UNHCR, Refugee Protection, and Security (Oxford University Press).
Public Seminar Series, Hilary term 2014. Seminar by Professor Gregor Noll (Lund University) recorded on 5 March 2014 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. Asylum applications by young persons may raise the question whether the applicant is a minor or not. Being a minor offers advantages in the asylum procedure, such as access to procedural benefits and safeguards, the exemption from removal to other EU Member States under the Dublin Regulation, and a much higher likelihood of being granted protection as an ‘unaccompanied minor’. Host states are interested in limiting the group to which those advantages apply so as to minimise costs and to avoid what has been termed ‘pull effects’ on future asylum seekers. In cases where applicants arrive without documents, or hold documents deemed unreliable, there are no formal or historical sources that may alleviate or confirm this doubt. So decision takers speculate on what age the applicant’s biological or intellectual development might indicate. Frequently, they resort to medical age assessments in such situations.In this seminar, Professor Noll pursues the question of how skeletal x-ray images are translated into medical and legal knowledge and what role aesthetic judgment plays in this translation. He focuses in particular on the interplay between law and medicine in this translation process.
Public Seminar Series, Hilary term 2014. Seminar by Dr Chaloka Beyani (London School of Economics and the United Nations). Recorded on 26 February 2014 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. In this seminar, Dr Beyani explores the results of his research into the right to seek and obtain asylum under African human rights instruments, also contained in his recent book Protection of the Right to Seek and Obtain Asylum Under the African Human Rights System (Brill | Nijhoff 2013). The use of international human rights machinery to protect refugees has acquired an important dimension in recent years. This is true of both the United Nations treaty body system and the African, European and Inter-American regional systems of human rights. The result is a dynamic international invigoration of traditional refugee law that, in contradistinction, tends to be applied at the level of national courts and tribunals. Yet the precise role of human rights in the protection of refugees is sometimes viewed with suspicion and uncertainty. This commentary provides a valuable insight into the use of human rights in the protection of refugees through the prism of the African human rights system.
Public Seminar Series, Hilary term 2014. Seminar by Jean-François Durieux (RSC and the Graduate Institute, Geneva) recorded on 12 February 2014 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. What special sense of duty connects us to those people whom we call refugees, and how does this duty translate into asylum? What does the practice of asylum tell us about who we are, as individuals as well as members of political communities? How does one morally justify the special concern we feel for, and consequently the privileged treatment we give, refugees as compared with other foreigners in need? Revisiting the main features of the ethical debate over asylum and refugeehood, Mr Durieux argues that there cannot be one coherent set of answers to these questions, because in today’s world the concepts of ‘refugee’ and ‘asylum’ describe not one, but three distinct realities. The 1951 Refugee Convention provides a coherent framework to explain the first asylum paradigm, centered on admission and on the figure of the refugee as a ‘moral comrade’. The concept of persecution, emphasising the prohibition of discrimination and the identifying value of tolerance, is key to understanding this first paradigm. However, one must acknowledge that a proper understanding of the moral duty to admit and integrate refugees does not suffice to explain contemporary state practice in dealing with the ‘refugee problem’ as a matter of solidarity. Mr Durieux also discusses two additional asylum paradigms at work in today’s world: one takes disaster as a motivation for action, and rescue as the underpinning moral and legal imperative; and the other rests upon a duty not to return individuals to specific forms of danger, absent affinity or even compassion. He examines some of the impacts which the co-existence of these three paradigms has on the global refugee regime, and their implications for law- and policy-making on asylum, both within and among states.
Public Seminar Series, Hilary term 2014. Seminar by Jason Pobjoy (Blackstone Chambers) recorded on 5 February 2014 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. International law has played an important role in advancing the rights of refugee children. In this seminar Mr Pobjoy considers how international refugee law and international law on the rights of the child might be creatively aligned to respond to the reality that a child seeking international protection is both a child and a refugee. Specifically, he examines three contexts – defined as ‘modes of interaction’ – where the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) might be engaged to assist in determining the status of a child seeking international protection. First, the CRC may provide procedural guarantees not otherwise provided under international refugee law. Secondly, the CRC may be invoked as an interpretative aid to inform the interpretation of the Refugee Convention, and in particular the Article 1 definition. Thirdly, the CRC may give rise to an independent source of status outside the international refugee protection regime. These three modes of interaction provide a ‘child rights framework’ for assessing the status of a refugee child.
Public Seminar Series, Hilary term 2014. Seminar by Dr Ana Aliverti (Warwick School of Law) recorded on 29 January 2014 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. Fifteen years have passed since the High Court delivered the ground-breaking decision in Adimi [1999], in which Lord Justice Brown called attention to the scarce observance of Article 31 of the Refugee Convention in domestic criminal proceedings against asylum seekers arriving in Britain, or en route to another country, without proper documents. In response to the judgment, the British Parliament incorporated section 31 in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, providing for a defence for refugees against certain criminal charges under a number of conditions. While the then Attorney General stated that only meritorious cases would be prosecuted, recent Court of Appeal decisions (R v MV and others [2010]; R v Adom (Bismark) [2013]; R v Mateta and others [2013]) suggest that successful asylum claimants continue to be prosecuted for their illegal entry into or transit through Britain. Indeed, even if there are no precise figures about the number of asylum seekers who have been prosecuted in such circumstances, the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) considered that the number of cases referred to it revealed a ‘significant and potentially widespread misunderstanding or abuse of the law’ (CCRC, 2012: 15). Although these judicial developments concern cases at the appeal stage, little is known about the everyday work of the lower criminal courts and how working practices of prosecutors, defence lawyers and the judiciary influence the handling of cases involving asylum seekers accused of immigration-related crimes. Dr Aliverti argues that the examination of those practices can shed light on the reasons for the continuing criminalisation of asylum seekers, and perhaps the key to its undoing.
Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture 2010 by António Guterres (UN High Commisioner for Refugees) recorded on 13 October 2010 at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History The RSC was delighted to host António Guterres, High Commissioner for Refugees, to present the eleventh Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture. The lecture examines current trends in relation to forced migration with a specific focus on the challenges and opportunities confronting the UNHCR.
Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture 2010 by António Guterres (UN High Commisioner for Refugees) recorded on 13 October 2010 at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History The RSC was delighted to host António Guterres, High Commissioner for Refugees, to present the eleventh Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture. The lecture examines current trends in relation to forced migration with a specific focus on the challenges and opportunities confronting the UNHCR.
Public Seminar Series, Hilary term 2014. Seminar by S. Chelvan (No5 Chambers) recorded on 22 January 2014 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. Following the heralded 2010 landmark judgment of the UK Supreme Court in HJ (Iran) and HT (Cameroon), the LGBTI refugee has faced a culture of disbelief, which has led in some instances to filming, or photographing of sexual acts, to ‘prove’ identity. Analysing his DSSH (Difference, Stigma, Shame and Harm) model, endorsed by UNHCR, and adopted by both New Zealand and Sweden, Mr Chelvan tackles directly the main hurdle facing LGBTI refugees, ie, proving refugee status based on actual, or perceived sexual or gender identity, within a humane investigatory framework. Mr Chelvan then shifts the focus of status determination away from the victim, to the persecutor in the country of origin, as this provides the source of the refugee claim. Through the prism of identification of the victim due to their lack of conformity with a heteronormative stereotype, this leads to persecution, and motivates migration. The Supreme Court in providing guidelines – which still enable claims to fail on the basis of discretion – fails to engage with this point, highlighting the urgent need to focus on perception as the primary factor in LGBTI refugee claims.
Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture 2014 by Professor Yakin Ertürk (former UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women) recorded on 20 November 2013 at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History In this lecture, Professor Yakin Erturk speaks on the role of UN mandates in the protection of the human rights of women asylum seekers. Professor Erturk poses the question: Can the protection which States recognise for Convention refugees be extended to others (eg, women) in need of international protection? Arguing that entitlement to protection under international law applies whether for Convention refugees or otherwise, Erturk draws on her experiences as UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women to outline the evolving women’s rights agenda and the challenges and obstacles that lie ahead.
Public Seminar Series, Michaelmas term 2013. Seminar by Dr Martin Ruhs (University of Oxford) recorded on 4 December 2013 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. Many low-income countries and development organisations are calling for greater liberalisation of labour immigration policies in high-income countries. At the same time, human rights organisations and migrant rights advocates are demanding more equal rights for migrant workers. In his new book, The Price of Rights, Dr Martin Ruhs shows why we cannot always have both.
Dr Ruhs analyses how high-income countries restrict the rights of migrant workers as part of their labour immigration policies and discusses the implications for global debates about regulating labour migration and protecting migrants. The analysis looks at the tensions between human rights and citizenship rights, the agency and interests of migrants and states, and the determinants and ethics of labour immigration policy.
In this talk, Dr Ruhs discusses the main findings and arguments of the book and explores the implications for debates about policies for admitting asylum seekers and refugees.
Public Seminar Series, Michaelmas term 2013. Seminar by Professor Susan Kneebone (University of Oxford) recorded on 30 October 2013 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. In this talk, Professor Kneebone explains the coincidence between the Australian governments ambivalent acceptance of its obligations under the Refugee Convention and its securitised approach to regional solutions for refugees under the Bali Process (that is, the Conference on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime). Australia is situated in the Asia and Pacific region which is host to some 10.6 million people of concern to UNHCR, representing almost 30 per cent of the global refugee population. Yet few countries in the region are signatories to the Refugee Convention, and there is no effective regional engagement leading to durable solutions for refugees.Professor Kneebone explains how the highly politicised discourse in Australia on refugees reflects a long-standing culture of border control and the ability to use the legal system with impunity.
Special lecture, Michaelmas term 2013. Lecture by Madeline V Garlick (UNHCR) recorded on 24 October 2013 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. In this lecture, Madeline Garlick analyses the trends in arrivals, recognition rates and other responses to date to Syrians claiming protection in and at the borders of the EU. She questions whether the Common European Asylum System has proven its ability to deliver swift and consistent protection to those in need, as foreseen in the Treaties and successive political declarations, in the face of widespread and well-documented persecution, extreme violence and horrifying violations of human rights.
Public Seminar Series, Michaelmas term 2013. Seminar by Dr Alexander Betts (University of Oxford) recorded on 16 October 2013 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. The talk, based on Betts new book, will explore the challenge of responding to new drivers of cross-border displacement that fall outside the existing refugee framework. Rather than beginning with particular causes of displacement, whether environmental change, food insecurity or generalized violence, it offers a human rights-based framework through which to critically consider who, in a changing world, should be entitled to cross an international border and seek asylum. Based on extensive fieldwork, it grounds its analysis in an exploration of contemporary flight from three of the most fragile states in the world: Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia. It explains the massive variation in national and international institutional responses in the neighbouring states, arguing that politics rather than law ultimately determines how the refugee regime is implemented in practice.
Public Seminar Series, Trinity term 2013. Seminar by Dr Laura Hammond (School of Oriental and African Studies) recorded on 29 May 2013 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. This presentation shares the findings of a research project recently completed with the FAO Food Security and Nutrition Assessment Unit in Somalia, in which more than 700 households in urban and rural areas were interviewed to find out about how they use remittance support and how resources are shared between better-off and poorer households. This provided new information on the extent to which rural households are involved in the remittance economy and the vulnerabilities inherent in the system.
Public Seminar Series, Trinity term 2013. Seminar by Dr Jeremie Gilbert (University of East London) recorded on 22 May 2013 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. The last decade has witnessed a constitutional revival in Africa, with several countries adopting new constitutions. Several of these constitutions have been adopted following serious ethnic tensions, especially in the Great Lakes region. Because of the nature of the ethnic conflicts which were rooted in the repression of minority communities, the new constitutional frameworks regarding ethnicity and minority rights are going to be extremely significant for the peace and stability of the region. By analysing the recently adopted constitutions of Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, this presentation examined the extent to which some of the most recently adopted constitutions of the continent are addressing, or not, the rights of the most marginalised minority communities. By focusing on the Great Lakes region, this presentation wished to explore why there is still a general reluctance towards the recognition of minority rights in most African constitutions.
Public Seminar Series, Trinity term 2013. Seminar by Dr Toby Kelly (University of Edinburgh) recorded on 15 May 2013 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. This presentation examined some of the difficulties involved in the production and assessment of evidence about torture in the British asylum system.
Special seminar by Roy Wood (MapAction) recorded on 30 April 2013 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. This talk will describe the British charity MapAction and its work in providing rapid response geospatial support to decision making and information management in humanitarian situations. The charity has been operational for over ten years and has deployed its teams of highly trained and self-sufficient professional volunteers to almost 40 emergencies covering both sudden onset natural disasters and complex crises. These deployments are usually but not exclusively in support of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The methods used by MapAction will be covered with examples from its deployments to illustrate its extensive field experience. The value to the direction of relief work of having a robust and adaptable geospatial team on the ground in the often chaotic conditions in the immediate aftermath of a disaster will be emphasised. The talk will also include discussion of MapAction's regular participation in disaster preparation exercises, its many deployments to train staff in vulnerable countries in geospatial aspects of disaster risk reduction and its programme of data preparedness which was started as a result of the Haiti experience.
Annual Elizabeth Colson Lecture 2013. Lecture by Hugh Brody (Canada Research Chair in Aboriginal Studies, University of the Fraser Valley) recorded on 8 May 2013 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. The 2013 Annual Elizabeth Colson Lecture set out the history of the drastic and often violent dispossession of the peoples of the southern Kalahari. This is an area reached by the 1908 German wars of extermination against indigenous peoples, and where all the forces of colonial occupation have been brought to bear. For the San living within South Africa, the apartheid regime meant a final eviction from their last remaining lands. This meant that the Khomani became a diaspora of people without rights to land, work or even a place to live; refugees in what was supposed to be their own country. In 1999, a small group of Khomani San succeeded in winning a land claim, as a result of which many were deemed to have rights to land and places to live in new security. The lecture followed the events and aftermath of this land claim, looking at how a settlement might achieve justice but may not necessarily bring well-being. The short film included as part of the lecture follows the people as they launch and then celebrate their claim. NB As part of the lecture, a 35 minute film, 'Overture', from the DVD, 'Tracks Across Sand', was shown. To find out more about the DVD, including a trailer for the documentary and information on how to order, visit the Face to Face Media website.
Public Seminar Series, Trinity term 2013. Seminar by Tania Kaiser (School of Oriental and African Studies) recorded on 24 April 2013 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford.
Public Seminar Series, Hilary term 2013. Seminar by Melanie Griffiths (COMPAS) recorded on 6 March 2013 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. It has been said that refugees are approached through depoliticised and dehistoricised eyes, to which we might add 'ungendered'. This seminar considers gender as an unspoken but critical dimension of the creation and management of the category of failed asylum seeker. Drawing from qualitative research conducted with male failed asylum seekers in the UK, it explores the interplay of gender with asylum protection practices. This will include looking at mechanisms of emasculation, as well as what implications the ideological construct of the 'genuine' refugee has on how those refused protection are imagined. Ethnographic examples are used to explore how individuals negotiate and experience the tension between being demonised and infantilised.
Public Seminar Series, Hilary term 2013. Seminar by Melanie Teff (Refugees International) recorded on 6 February 2013 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. In September Melanie Teff travelled to Rakhine State and spent several days visiting the Muslim Rohingya and the Buddhist Rakhine displacement camps in and around the state capital, and interviewing both communities about current living conditions and their concerns and hopes for the future. She will discuss issues that came up during her research related to humanitarian access, coordination, funding, segregation and freedom of movement, reconciliation, and citizenship.
Public Seminar Series, Hilary term 2013. Seminar by Dr Roland Bank (University of Oxford) recorded on 27 February 2013 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. This paper will cover the reach of international refugee law obligations and address the questions arising in multilateral operations (including those coordinated and financed by Frontex).
Public Seminar Series, Hilary term 2013. Seminar by Dr Victoria Redclift (London School of Economics) recorded on 20 February 2013 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. What does it mean to be a citizen? In depth field research with a stateless population in Bangladesh reveals that the limits of political community are not set in stone. The Urdu speaking population in Bangladesh exemplify some of the key problems facing uprooted populations. Set in a site of camp and non camp based displacement, their experiences illustrate the nuances of political identity, and lived spaces of statelessness, that Western political theory has too long hidden from view.
Public Seminar Series, Hilary term 2013. Seminar by dr Alice Edwards (UNHCR) recorded on 13 February 2013 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. The United Nations Refugee Convention recognises that the problem of refugees is inherently international and cannot be solved by a single State alone. Yet achieving international cooperation, or even achieving consensus on what this means, has had a long and chequered history. This lecture will examine the many ways in which a focus on asylum statistics has impacted on the international protection regime for refugees, and what needs to be done about it.
Refugee from Inhumanity Conference recorded on Tuesday 12 February 2013 at All Souls College, University of Oxford. Panel VII: Perspectives on Protection against Refoulement under International Humanitarian Law. This expert conference breaks new ground by exploring the role of international humanitarian law (IHL) in the protection of refugees and asylum-seekers. A high-level event, it brings together exciting new contributions from more than twenty leading specialists in the fields of IHL and refugee law - including experts from the ICRC and UNHCR - to take stock of recent developments in law and practice, and to cultivate new approaches to the topic.
Public Seminar Series, Hilary term 2013. Seminar by Dr Simon Addison (SOAS) recorded on 30 January 2013 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. By applying theoretical insights drawn from the work of Foucault and Ranciere, this paper explores the paradoxically political nature of international doctrine on the protection of internally displaced persons as an apparatus of global biopolitical governmentality.
Public Seminar Series, Hilary term 2013. Seminar by Pierre Gentile (ICRC) recorded on 23 January 2013 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. Protection as understood by the ICRC, taking the Health Care in Danger project as an illustration.
Public Seminar Series, Hilary term 2013. Seminar by Professor Bridget Anderson (University of Oxford) recorded on 21 November 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford.
RSC 30th Anniversary Conference. Closing plenary by Filippo Grandi (UNRWA), Arafat Jamal (IASC) and James Milner (Carleton University) recorded on 7 December 2012 at St Anne's College, Oxford.
RSC 30th Anniversary Conference. Opening plenary by Professor Guy S. Goodwin-Gill (University of Oxford) recorded on 6 December 2012 at St Anne's College, Oxford.
Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture 2012. Lecture by Professor Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar (Co-Director of the Stanford Center for International Security and Cooperation)recorded on 7 November 2012 at the Oxford Museum of Natural History.
Public Seminar Series, Michaelmas term 2012. Seminar by Professor Lydia Morris (University of Essex) recorded on 28 November 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford.
Public Seminar Series, Michaelmas term 2012. Seminar by Professor Bridget Anderson (University of Oxford) recorded on 21 November 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford.
Special seminar by Dr Alexander Betts, Louise Bloom and Dr Naohiko Omata (University College Dublin) recorded on 15 November 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. HIP is a new project based at the Refugee Studies Centre, researching the role of technology, markets and the private sector to identify new and sustainable humanitarian solutions. The launch event consisted of a panel discussion on the following topics: Humanitarian innovation and refugee protection, Dr Alexander Betts;Building a humanitarian innovation database, Louise Bloom; Refugee livelihoods and private sector engagement in Uganda, Naohiko Omata.
Public Seminar Series, Michaelmas term 2012. Seminar by Dr Nando Sigona (University of Oxford) recorded on 14 November 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford.
Public Seminar Series, Michaelmas term 2012. Seminar by Dr Irial Glynn (University College Dublin) recorded on 31 October 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford.
Special seminar by Professor Roger Zetter (Refugee Studies Centre) recorded on 30 October 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford.
Public Seminar Series, Michaelmas term 2012. Seminar by Dr Katy Long (London School of Economics and Political Science) recorded on 24 October 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford.
Special lecture by Ambassador William Lacy Swing (Director General, International Organization for Migration) recorded on 15 October 2012 at the Tsuzuki Lecture Theatre, St Anne's College. During his visit to the University of Oxford, Ambassador Swing reflected upon the nuanced and complex relationship between crises and mobility, as well as the institutional set-ups and cooperation mechanisms that can complement and strengthen existing systems aimed at providing assistance and protection to crisis-affected populations. The discussion shed light on the types of migratory patterns that can result from complex crises; the effectiveness of migration policy tools in addressing certain aspects of crisis situations; and the ways in which mobility can be used as a positive strategy toward long-term recovery of crisis affected areas.
Public Seminar Series, Michaelmas term 2012. Seminar by Dr Kieran Oberman (University College Dublin) recorded on 10 October 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford.
Public Seminar Series, Michaelmas term 2012. Seminar by Dr Matthew J Gibney (University of Oxford) recorded on 10 October 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford.
Workshop on South-South Humanitarianism in Contexts of Forced Displacement. Opening lecture by Simone Haysom (ODI) recorded on Saturday 6 October 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford.
This podcast was recorded for the launch of Policy Briefing 9 on 'Displacement, transitional justice and reconciliation: assumptions, challenges and lessons ' on 25 June 2012 at the Canadian High Commission, London. 'Displacement, transitional justice and reconciliation: assumptions, challenges and lessons ' explores the links between reconciliation, forced migration and transitional justice, bringing into focus the ways in which displaced persons figure in transitional justice processes, and the potential implications of this involvement for reconciliation. The briefing addresses the interlinked conceptual and practical challenges associated with trying to advance reconciliation in post-conflict societies affected by large-scale displacement, and highlights some of the ways in which policymakers and practitioners have sought to support reconciliation between displaced populations and other actors. It analyses some of the assumptions that have characterised these efforts, and suggests ways in which the challenges surrounding the interface of displacement, transitional justice and reconciliation may be more effectively navigated.
Public Seminar Series, Trinity term 2012. Seminar by Helene Lambert (University of Westminster) recorded on 30 May 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford.
Public Seminar series, Trinity term 2012. Seminar by Violeta Moreno-Lax (University of Oxford) recorded on 23 May 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford.
Public Seminar Series, Trinity term 2012. Seminar by Elspeth Guild (Radboud University Nijmegen and Queen Mary University) recorded on 16 May 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford.
Public Seminar Series, Trinity term 2012. Seminar by Dr Maria-Teresa Gil-Bazo (Newcastle University) recorded on 9 May 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford.
Annual Elizabeth Colson Lecture 2012. Lecture by Professor Alessandro Monsutti (Graduate Institute, Geneva) recorded on 6 June 2012 at the University Museum of Natural History, Oxford. This lecture explored how refugees are defined as people who have lost the protection of their state origin and therefore fall under the responsibility of the international community, represented by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. They are situated at the interstice of national and international sovereignty. Building on the Afghan case, one of the most massive forced displacements of population since World War II, the lecture will examine the growth of a global bureaucracy linked to the action of international and non-governmental organizations, philanthropic foundations, think tanks, and even private security contractors. They promote new forms of transnational governmentality that involve benevolence and welfare programmes but also coercion and repression; they may by turns support or challenge the more familiar territorialised expressions of state authority.
Unlocking Protracted Displacement of Refugees and IDPs: Somali and Iraqi displacements and policy responses. A workshop co-hosted by Refugee Studies Centre and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees at UNHCR London office on 6 March 2012. The protracted displacement of refugees and IDPs constitutes a pressing yet seemingly intractable challenge facing the international community. Since 2010, the RSC has led a project, with the support of the Norwegian government and in cooperation with IDMC, NRC and NUPI, that suggests a number of innovative strategies to better match international policy to the needs of those trapped in protracted displacement. At an event co-hosted by the Refugee Studies Centre and UNHCR in London, the lead researchers shared their findings on Somali and Iraqi displacements and discussed with a group of 30 policymakers and practitioners some of the possible avenues for future policy responses.
Unlocking Protracted Displacement of Refugees and IDPs: Somali and Iraqi displacements and policy responses. A workshop co-hosted by Refugee Studies Centre and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees at UNHCR London office on 6 March 2012. The protracted displacement of refugees and IDPs constitutes a pressing yet seemingly intractable challenge facing the international community. Since 2010, the RSC has led a project, with the support of the Norwegian government and in cooperation with IDMC, NRC and NUPI, that suggests a number of innovative strategies to better match international policy to the needs of those trapped in protracted displacement. At an event co-hosted by the Refugee Studies Centre and UNHCR in London, the lead researchers shared their findings on Somali and Iraqi displacements and discussed with a group of 30 policymakers and practitioners some of the possible avenues for future policy responses.
Unlocking Protracted Displacement of Refugees and IDPs: Somali and Iraqi displacements and policy responses. A workshop co-hosted by Refugee Studies Centre and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees at UNHCR London office on 6 March 2012. The protracted displacement of refugees and IDPs constitutes a pressing yet seemingly intractable challenge facing the international community. Since 2010, the RSC has led a project, with the support of the Norwegian government and in cooperation with IDMC, NRC and NUPI, that suggests a number of innovative strategies to better match international policy to the needs of those trapped in protracted displacement. At an event co-hosted by the Refugee Studies Centre and UNHCR in London, the lead researchers shared their findings on Somali and Iraqi displacements and discussed with a group of 30 policymakers and practitioners some of the possible avenues for future policy responses.
RSC Public Seminar series of Hilary Term 2012. Podcast from the Refugee Studies Centre's Public Seminar Series on 'Critical Approaches to Environmental Displacement' convened by Dr Alexander Betts. This podcast was recorded on Wednesday 7 March 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. The seminar was delivered by Dr Hein de Haas, University of Oxford
RSC Public Seminar series of Hilary Term 2012. Podcast from the Refugee Studies Centre's Public Seminar Series on 'Critical Approaches to Environmental Displacement' convened by Dr Alexander Betts. This podcast was recorded on Wednesday 29 February 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. The seminar was delivered by Nina Hall, University of Oxford.
RSC Public Seminar series of Hilary Term 2012. Podcast from the Refugee Studies Centre's Public Seminar Series on 'Critical Approaches to Environmental Displacement' convened by Dr Alexander Betts. This podcast was recorded on 22 February 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. The seminar was delivered by Dr Andrew Baldwin, Durham University.
RSC Public Seminar series of Hilary Term 2012. Podcast from the Refugee Studies Centre's Public Seminar Series on 'Critical Approaches to Environmental Displacement' convened by Dr Alexander Betts. This podcast was recorded on Wednesday 15 February 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. The seminar was delivered by Calum Nicholson, Swansea University.
RSC Public Seminar series of Hilary Term 2012. Podcast from the Refugee Studies Centre's Public Seminar Series on 'Critical Approaches to Environmental Displacement' convened by Dr Alexander Betts. This podcast was recorded on Wednesday 8 February 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. The seminar was delivered by Hannah Smith, Climate Outreach and Information Network.
RSC Public Seminar series of Hilary Term 2012. Podcast from the Refugee Studies Centre's Public Seminar Series on 'Critical Approaches to Environmental Displacement' convened by Dr Alexander Betts. This podcast was recorded on Wednesday 1 February 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. The seminar was delivered by Dr Francois Gemenne, Sciences Po, Paris.
RSC Public Seminar series of Hilary Term 2012. Podcast from the Refugee Studies Centre's Public Seminar Series on 'Critical Approaches to Environmental Displacement' convened by Dr Alexander Betts. This podcast was recorded on Wednesday 25 January 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. The seminar was delivered by Professor Roger Zetter, University of Oxford.
RSC Public Seminar series of Hilary Term 2012. Podcast from the Refugee Studies Centre's Public Seminar Series on 'Critical Approaches to Environmental Displacement' convened by Dr Alexander Betts. This podcast was recorded on Wednesday 18 January 2012 at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. The seminar was delivered by Professor Brad Blitz, Kingston University.
This podcast was recorded at the RSC Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture on 16 November 2011. The lecture was delivered by Mr Filippo Grandi, Commissioner-General of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. This podcast was recorded on 16 November 2011 at the RSC Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture 2011. The lecture was delivered by Mr Filippo Grandi, Commissioner-General of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees at the Examination Schools, University of Oxford
This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's last Wednesday Public Seminar of Michaelmas Term 2011. This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre on Wednesday 30 November 2011. The lecture was given by Dr Jelka Zorn, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.
This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's seventh Wednesday Public Seminar of Michaelmas Term 2011. This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre on Wednesday 23 November 2011. The lecture was given by Dr Bridget Wooding, Observatorio Migrantes del Caribe, San Domingo.
This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's fifth Wednesday Public Seminar of Michaelmas Term 2011. This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre on Wednesday 9 November 2011.
This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's second Wednesday Public Seminar of Michaelmas Term 2011. This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's second Wednesday Public Seminar of Michaelmas Term 2011, which was on Wednesday 19th October 2011 at the Department of International Development, University of Oxford. Laura van Waas, Tilburg Law School, the Netherlands, spoke on the subject of 'International Law and Statelessness in the 21st Century'.
This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's first Wednesday Public Seminar of Michaelmas Term 2011. This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's first Wednesday Public Seminar of Michaelmas Term 2011, which was on Wednesday 12th October 2011 at the Department of International Development, University of Oxford. Dr Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh and Dr Nando Sigona, spoke on the subject of 'Stateless diasporas and immigration and citizenship regimes in the EU'.
On 23 June 2011, the RSC launched its sixth Policy Briefing on 'Responding to protracted refugee situations: lessons from a decade of discussion' at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations in Geneva. On 23 June 2011, the RSC launched its sixth Policy Briefing on 'Responding to protracted refugee situations: lessons from a decade of discussion' at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations in Geneva. The joint presentation by Dr James Milner and Prof Gil Loescher was followed by an intervention from Dr Jeff Crisp, the Head of UNHCR Policy Development and Evaluation Service.
This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's Annual Elizabeth Colson Lecture which was on Wednesday 15th June 2011. This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's Annual Elizabeth Colson Lecture which was on Wednesday 15th June 2011 at the Department of International Development, University of Oxford. The Elizabeth Colson Lecture is held annually in honour of Professor Elizabeth Colson, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Didier Fassin, James D. Wolfensohn Professor of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton and Director of Studies at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, gave this years lecture on the subject of 'The vanishing truth of refugees'.
This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's second Wednesday Public Seminar of Trinity Term 2011. This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's second Wednesday Public Seminar of Trinity Term 2011, which was on Wednesday 25th May 2011 at the Department of International Development, University of Oxford. Dr Oliver Bakewell, spoke on the subject of 'Negotiating local emplacement: the silent integration of refugees on the Zambian-Angolan borderlands'.
This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's seventh Wednesday Public Seminar of Trinity Term 2011. This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's first Wednesday Public Seminar of Trinity Term 2011, which was on Wednesday 18th May 2011 at the Department of International Development, University of Oxford. Jon Bennett, spoke on the subject of 'Conflict and displacement in Southern Sudan: findings from a new evaluation of international assistance'.
This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's fourth Wednesday Public Seminar of Trinity Term 2011. This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's fourth Wednesday Public Seminar of Trinity Term 2011, which was on Wednesday 8th June 2011 at the Department of International Development, University of Oxford. Professor Alessandro Monsutti, spoke on the subject of 'Beyond conventional solutions to the refugee problem: mobility as a strategy for Afghans'.
Recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's third Wednesday Public Seminar of Trinity Term 2011, on Wednesday 1st June 2011 at the Department of International Development, University of Oxford.
This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's fifth Wednesday Public Seminar of Hilary Term 2011. This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's fifth Wednesday Public Seminar of Hilary Term 2011, which was on Wednesday 16th February 2011 at Department of International Development, University of Oxford. Benjamin White, spoke on the subject of Refugees and the Definition of Syria.
This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's fourth Wednesday Public Seminar of Hilary Term 2011. This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's fourth Wednesday Public Seminar of Hilary Term 2011, which was on Wednesday 9th February 2011 at Department of International Development, University of Oxford. Philip Marfleet, spoke on the subject of 'Collective amnesia' - refugees and the problem of History.
This workshop provided a space for interested academics, practitioners and policy makers to critically engage with the evolving contemporary crises in North Africa. From the end of 2010, a series of unexpected popular uprisings have spread across North Africa and the Middle East. The dramatic unfolding of events has disrupted the ever changing patterns of mobility in the region in new and disturbing ways, including uprooting people,transforming existing migrants into refugees and constraining the movement of mobile populations. Some events, as in Egypt and Tunisia, have been largely peaceful, with political transitions under the mediation of the army. Other events have been brutal, with a witnessing of force of arms and violent suppression of the opposition in Libya.
This workshop provided a space for interested academics, practitioners and policy makers to critically engage with the evolving contemporary crises in North Africa. From the end of 2010, a series of unexpected popular uprisings have spread across North Africa and the Middle East. The dramatic unfolding of events has disrupted the ever changing patterns of mobility in the region in new and disturbing ways, including uprooting people, transforming existing migrants into refugees and constraining the movement of mobile populations. Some events, as in Egypt and Tunisia, have been largely peaceful, with political transitions under the mediation of the army. Other events have been brutal, with a witnessing of force of arms and violent suppression of the opposition in Libya, for example.
This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's second Wednesday Public Seminar of Hilary Term 2011. This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's second Wednesday Public Seminar of Hilary Term 2011, which was on Wednesday 26th January 2011 at Department of International Development, University of Oxford. Nira Yuval-Davis, spoke on the subject of Citizenship, autochthony and the question of forced migration.
This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's 2nd Astor Lecture which was on Tuesday 25th January 2011 at The Taylor Institute, University of Oxford. This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's 2nd Astor Lecture which was on Tuesday 25th January 2011 at The Taylor Institute, University of Oxford. Sondra Hale, Professor of Anthropology and Women's Studies, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) gave the lecture on the subject of Gendered Violence and the Politics of Memory in Sudan's Conflict Zones.
This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's first Wednesday Public Seminar of Hilary Term 2011. This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's first Wednesday Public Seminar of Hilary Term 2011, which was on Wednesday 19th January 2011 at Department of International Development, University of Oxford. Dr Dawn Chatty, spoke on the subject of Refugees, Exiles and other Forced Migrants in the late Ottoman Empire.
This podcast was recorded at a launch event for the fifth Refugee Studies Centre Policy Briefing which was held on Thursday 30th September 2010 at the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, London. This podcast was recorded at a launch event for the fifth Refugee Studies Centre Policy Briefing which was held on Thursday 30th September 2010 at the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, London. The talk given by Dr Jason Hart and Claudia Lo Forte, was on the subject of the Policy Briefing - 'Protecting Palestinian children from political violence: the role of the international community'.
This podcast was recorded at the evening lecture of the Refugee Studies Centre's workshop on faith-based humanitarianism in the context of forced migration which was on Tuesday 22th September 2010 at The Vaults, University Church of St Marys, Oxford. This podcast was recorded at the evening lecture of the Refugee Studies Centre's workshop on faith-based humanitarianism: the response of faith-based communities and faith-based organisations in the context of forced migration which was on Tuesday 22th September 2010 at The Vaults, University Church of St Marys, Oxford. The talk given by Elizabeth Ferris, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy and Co-Director, Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement was on the subject of 'Improving responses: distinctiveness, partnership and professionalism'.
This podcast is the second part of a recording made on 25 August 2005 as part of the Oxfam Archive Oral History project and is an interview with Maurice Herson, he had many interesting and challenging times with Oxfam including in the Great Lakes crisis. This podcast is the second part of a recording made on 25 August 2005 as part of the Oxfam Archive Oral History project and is an interview with Maurice Herson, Editor of Forced Migration Review and previously Deputy Humanitarian Director and Head of Humanitarian Programme Advisory Team at Oxfam. Maurice left Oxfam in December 2004 after nearly 17 years with Oxfam. He made a huge and lasting contribution during this time which was largely with the Emergencies (later Humanitarian) Department. Maurice had many interesting and challenging times with Oxfam including in the Sudan and in the Great Lakes crisis of the mid-1990s. The interview was carried out by John Magrath who has worked for Oxfam since 1985, in a variety of communications and research roles. He was Press Office Manager during the Great Lakes crisis.
This podcast is the first part of a recording made on 25 August 2005 as part of the Oxfam Archive Oral History project and is an interview with Maurice Herson, he had many interesting and challenging times with Oxfam including working in Sudan in the 80s. This podcast is the first part of a recording made on 25 August 2005 as part of the Oxfam Archive Oral History project and is an interview with Maurice Herson, Editor of Forced Migration Review and previously Deputy Humanitarian Director and Head of Humanitarian Programme Advisory Team at Oxfam. Maurice left Oxfam in December 2004 after nearly 17 years with Oxfam. He made a huge and lasting contribution during this time which was largely with the Emergencies (later Humanitarian) Department. Maurice had many interesting and challenging times with Oxfam including in the Sudan and in the Great Lakes crisis of the mid-1990s. The interview was carried out by John Magrath who has worked for Oxfam since 1985, in a variety of communications and research roles. He was Press Office Manager during the Great Lakes crisis.
This podcast was recorded at the Endnote Lecture of the Refugee Studies Centre's International Summer School in Forced Migration which was on Friday 23rd July 2010 at Wadham College, University of Oxford. This podcast was recorded at the Endnote Lecture of the Refugee Studies Centre's International Summer School in Forced Migration which was on Friday 23rd July 2010 at Wadham College, University of Oxford. Dennis McNamara, Humanitarian Adviser, at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, Geneva (former Special Adviser to the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator) gave this years Endnote Lecture on the subject of Protection.
This podcast was recorded at the Regional Presentation of the Forced Migration Policy Briefing on 'Iraq's refugees - beyond tolerance', which was held on 13th April 2010 in Amman, Jordan. This podcast was recorded at the Regional Presentation of the Forced Migration Policy Briefing on 'Iraq's refugees - beyond tolerance', which was held by the Refugee Studies Centre and the Regional Human Security Centre (RHSC) on 13th April 2010 in Amman, Jordan. Keynote address by HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan.
In this podcast the issue of the transfer of young Uyghur women in China is discussed. In this podcast the issue of the transfer of young Uyghur women in China is discussed. Dr. Michael Dillon, visiting professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing, Omer Kanat, Uyghur Service at Radio Free Asia, Amy Reger, Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) and Enver Tohti, chairman of the UK Uighur Association talk about the impact the Chinese government programme is having on the women that have been moved to eastern China from their Uyghur muslim society in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of north west China.
This podcast was recorded at the third plenary session of the Protecting People in Conflict and Crisis conference. This podcast was recorded at the third plenary session of the Protecting People in Conflict and Crisis: Responding to the Challenges of a Changing World conference, which was held by the Refugee Studies Centre (in collaboration with the Humanitarian Policy Group) on Thursday 24th September 2009 at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford. Presented by Professor David Keen, Professor of Complex Emergencies, London School of Economics and Marc DuBois, Medecins Sans Frontieres - UK.
This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture which was on Wednesday 18th November 2009 at the Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford. This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture which was on Wednesday 18th November 2009 at the Museum of Natural History, University of Oxford. The Harrell-Bond Lecture is held annually in honour of Dr Barbara Harrell-Bond, founding former director of the Centre and of the academic field of refugee studies or forced migration studies. Jan Egeland, former UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator and currently director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs gave the 2009 lecture on the subject of 'Beyond Blankets: in search of political deals and durable solutions for the displaced'.
This podcast was recorded at the fourth plenary event of the 12th International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) conference. This podcast was recorded at the fourth plenary event of the 12th International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) conference, which was held on Thursday 2nd July 2009 in Nicosia, Cyprus. Chaired by Paula Banjerjee, including Peter Schatzer, Helen Muggeridge, Anneliese Baldaccini and Patricia Coelho.
This podcast was recorded at opening address of the 12th International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) conference. This podcast was recorded at opening address of the 12th International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) conference, which was held on Sunday 29th June 2009 in Nicosia, Cyprus. Presented by Dr. Nicholas Van Hear, University of Oxford.
This podcast was recorded at the International Gender Studies Centre's Kaberry Commemorative Lecture which was on Thursday 27th May 2009 at St Anne's College, University of Oxford. This podcast was recorded at the International Gender Studies Centre's Kaberry Commemorative Lecture which was on Thursday 27th May 2009 at St Anne's College, University of Oxford. The Rt Honourable Professor The Baroness Afshar gave the lecture on the subject of Peace and Reconstruction in the Middle East: Where are the Women?
Dr Dawn Chatty, University of Oxford. The Sahrawis. Dr Dawn Chatty, Deputy Director of the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford talks about The Sahrawis.
This podcast was recorded between September 2002 and October 2007 in Algeria, Switzerland and the UK. This podcast was recorded between September 2002 and October 2007 in Algeria, Switzerland and the UK. The podcast includes comments from Philip Luther (Amnesty International), Christian Viret (BIRDHSO), and Sidi Omar (Polisario representative to the UK and Ireland) as well as former Sahrawi disappeared Daoud El Khadir and other Sahrawis with family members still missing.
This podcast was recorded at a talk and book signing by the author Mike Kim which was on Tuesday 10th March 2009 at St Antony's College, University of Oxford. This podcast was recorded at a talk and book signing by the author Mike Kim which was on Tuesday 10th March 2009 at St Antony's College, University of Oxford. The talk was on the subject of 'Escaping North Korea: Defiance and Hope in the World's Most Repressive Country'.
This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's Astor Lecture which was on Thursday 5th March 2009 at Rewley House, University of Oxford. This podcast was recorded at the Refugee Studies Centre's Astor Lecture which was on Thursday 5th March 2009 at Rewley House, University of Oxford. Professor Audrey Singer, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution gave the lecture on the subject of Obama's policy challenges and the future of US immigration.
This podcast was recorded in May 2008 and presents an overview of Kurdish forced migration in Turkey with a particular focus on forced migration in the 1990s. This podcast was recorded in May 2008 and presents an overview of Kurdish forced migration in Turkey with a particular focus on forced migration in the 1990s. The work also covers the issue of Kurdish identity in the Turkish state. The podcast includes comments from Prof Joost Jongerden, Dr David Cuthell and Mustafa Gündoğdu as well as displaced Kurds in Diyarbakir and Istanbul.
In this podcast Oscar F. Gil-Garcia is interviewed about his work on the photographic project 'Guatemalan forced migration: the politics of care in representing refugees'. In this podcast Oscar F. Gil-Garcia is in conversation with Sean Loughna. The photographic exhibition 'Guatemalan forced migration: the politics of care in representing refugees' is a collaboration between photographer, Manuel Gil, and doctoral research student in Sociology, Oscar Gil. It explores the mechanisms of representation used for forced migrants that stage appropriate refugee identities to justify the need for humanitarian care. The exhibition explores these issues through photo-documentary work with indigenous Guatemalan forced migrants living in the former refugee camp of La Gloria in the state of Chiapas in Mexico. The photos and details about their findings and perspectives can also be viewed on Forced Migration Online: http://www.forcedmigration.org/photos/guatemala/.
The Annual Elizabeth Colson Lecture was on Wednesday 21st May 2008 at Somerville College, University of Oxford. Professor James C. Scott, Sterling Professor of Political Science, Yale University gave the lecture on the subject of Zomia, Southeast Asia. This podcast was recorded at the Annual Elizabeth Colson Lecture which was on Wednesday 21st May 2008 at Somerville College, University of Oxford. Professor James C. Scott, Sterling Professor of Political Science, Yale University gave the lecture on the subject of Zomia. Zomia is a shorthand reference to the huge massif of mainland Southeast Asia, running from the Central Highlands of Vietnam westward all the way to northeastern India and including the southwest Chinese provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, and western Guangxi. Zomia has, I contend, been peopled over the last 2,000 years largely by runaways from several state-making projects in the valleys, most particularly Han state-making projects. They have, in the hills, acquired, and shifted, their ethnic identities. Far from being 'remnants' left behind by civilizing societies, they are, as it were, "barbarians by choice"?, peoples who have deliberately put distance between themselves and lowland, state-centers. It is in this context that their forms of agriculture, their social structures, and much of their culture, including perhaps even their illiteracy, can be understood as political choices.
The first of The Hague Debates entitled "When home gets too hot: Human Displacement and Climate Change in International Law." The debate features Professor Roger Zetter, Director of the Refugee Studies Centre. This podcast was recorded by Radio Netherlands Worldwide at the first of The Hague Debates on Thursday, 22 May 2008 in the Peace Palace and is entitled "When home gets too hot: Human Displacement and Climate Change in International Law." The debate features Professor Roger Zetter, Director of the Refugee Studies Centre, Department of International Development (QEH), University of Oxford. Audio: Copyright Radio Netherlands Worldwide 2008.
Interviews with a number of Iraqi refugees now living in Jordan from a range of backgrounds and current situations. This podcast was recorded in Amman, Jordan in December 2007 with additional interviews recorded in February 2008. The Amman recordings include interviews with a number of Iraqis now living in Jordan from a range of backgrounds and current situations. The podcast includes comments from Rana Sweis UNHCR, Amman and Dana Graber Ladek International Organisation for Migration (IMO), Iraq. Produced by Simon James.
HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan gave the 2007 Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture on the subject of human rights and refugees. This podcast was recorded at the Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture which was on Wednesday 21 November 2007 at the University of Oxford's Museum of Natural History. In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Refugee Studies Centre, HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan gave the lecture and spoke on the subject of human rights and refugees.
In this podcast Professor Elizabeth Colson is in conversation with Dr Anna Schmidt. Elizabeth Florence Colson is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley. In this podcast Professor Elizabeth Colson is in conversation with Dr Anna Schmidt. Elizabeth Florence Colson is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley. Her work in anthropology addresses politics, religion, social organisation, social change, migration, anthropological history, and theory and the ethnography of Africa and North America. Colson is best know for her field work with the Gwembe Tonga of Zambia which began in 1956, through the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute as a control study of the social change caused by forced resettlement. All of Colson's work is solidly anchored in ethnography and through it she has made theoretical contributions to the subdisciplines of applied development and political anthropology. Colson was also one of a group of academics that played an important role in consolidating the Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford in its early years, working closely with the former director, Dr Barbara Harrell-Bond and the development officer at the time, Belinda Allan. Dr Anna Schmidt is a political scientist who gained her PhD at the University of California, Berkeley.
Professor Roger Zetter, Director of the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford interviews Dr Barbara Harrell-Bond, the founder and former Director of the Centre. In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Refugee Studies Centre (RSC) at Oxford (which hosts FMO), we are beginning this series of podcasts with a collection of conversations with prominent academics, in which they discuss the evolution the field of refugee and forced migration studies. The first of these is with the founder and former Director of the RSC, Dr Barbara Harrell-Bond.