2022 Summer Course on Refugees and Forced Migration

8:15 - 8:45

Coffee

8:45 - 9:00

Registration

9:00 - 10:00

Welcome

10:00 - 10:45

Introduction Activities

10:45 - 12:15

Audrey Macklin: Private sponsorship

This presentation will first situate resettlement in relation to the other ‘durable solutions’ for refugee displacement, as well as in contrast to asylum-seeking. This presentation will then examine national models of refugee resettlement, focusing mainly on Canada.

12:15 - 13:00

Lunch

13:00 - 14:30

James Milner: Understanding the politics of the Global Refugee Regime

When we think of global refugee responses today, we often think about the effectiveness of the norms, institutions and decision-making procedures that are supposed to ensure protection for refugees and help find a solution to their plight. Together, these norms, such as the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and institutions, especially the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), combine to give us the global refugee regime. Created by states in the aftermath of World War Two, and in the early days of the Cold War and decolonization, the regime has faced considerable challenges and criticisms during its 70+ year history, but remains central to global refugee responses today. This session seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the politics of the global refugee regime and how forms of power and diverse interests conditioned both the formation of the regime itself and its functioning today. Specifically, the session asks: What is the global refugee regime and why do we have the regime we have? What are the core elements of the regime? How do we explain the main challenges confronting the regime today? How does an understanding of the politics of the regime help us address core challenges?

14:30 - 15:00

Health Break

15:00 - 16:00

Idil Atak: Introduction to the law on refugees and migration

The global refugee regime is based on the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugeesand the 1967 Protocol. It provides a status to persons who have a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion. This presentation will explore historical developments that led to the emergence of the global refugee law and the set of rules and procedures that aims to protect refugees. The mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the rights of refugees under the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees will be examined as well as permanent solutions for refugees. The presentation will also touch on the difficulties faced by the refugee regime in adequately addressing the protection needs of forced migrants in a context of the securitization of migration, climate change and struggles for scarce resources.

16:00 - 17:00

Jay Ramasubramanyam: Regional refugee protection: Asia

Amidst the myriad viewpoints and perspectives that animate discussions on forced migration, the greatest challenge for academics and policymakers, continues to be the relevance and applicability of pre-existing international frameworks that were established to afford protection to people of concern, and the broader implications such challenges have on the global refugee regime. In this session we will discuss some of the gaps associated with the global refugee regime and the historical development of refugee protection in South Asia. We will talk about alternate locations of practice with respect to refugee protection and the notion of ‘resistance’ specifically with respect to India’s relationship to international refugee law mechanisms. This session will shed light on how non-signatories of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol tend to operationalize refugee protection norms. It will present some points of discussion on a new place for discourse on forced migration research. In the context of the study of refugee law and refugee studies, it is crucial to not only move from the rudimentary definitions of a refugee, but also to identify alternate locations of practice. Finally, in this session, we will examine some ad-hoc ‘practices’ of refugee protection and find out whether it has been used consistently or in an interest-based and privileged manner in the region.

17:00 - 18:00

Opening Reception

18:00 - 19:30

Annual Howard Adelman Lecture

with Guest speaker: Debbie Douglas, Executive Director, Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI)

8:15 - 8:45

Coffee

8:45 - 10:15

Christina Clark-Kazak: Ethics, Power and Research in Forced Migration

What are the specific ethical considerations and power relations that need to be taken into account when working and doing research in forced migration contexts? This interactive session will challenge participants to think through the implications of precarious legal status, criminalization and politicization of migration and extreme power hierarchies in displacement spaces. We will consider the implications of these contexts for procedural ethics questions of voluntary, informed consent; privacy; and, minimizing harm. The discussion will then turn to reflections on power relations and an ethics of care.

10:15 - 10:45

Health Break

10:45 - 12:15

Kenya Jade: Filming forced migration: How to use audio-visuals for Advocacy

Blending a background in human rights and refugee law with a practice as a documentary photographer and filmmaker, National Geographic explorer Kenya-Jade Pinto will share her experience working with people on the move. Supported by over a decade of on-the-ground personal and professional experience, Kenya-Jade will guide participants through the creation of her own personal and professional ethical framework for making images of people on the move, and include resources and a foundation for participants to begin to build their own.

12:15 - 13:00

Lunch

13:00 - 14:30

Azadeh Tamjeedi (UNHCR): Policy making in refugee protection

14:30 - 15:00

Health Break

15:00 - 16:30

Julie Lassonde: Arts/Storytelling in displacement

This workshop will introduce participants to one technique that will allow them to use art to address justice issues, such as displacement. The facilitator will create a safe environment where participants will learn basic principles of Augusto Boal’s image theatre and engage in practical physical work. Participants will be invited to use their bodies and non-verbal language to produce images of displacement, to work on such images during the week and present them at the end of the week. No prior artistic knowledge is required.

16:30 - 17:30

Interactive workshops: Group work assigned

8:15 - 8:45

Coffee

8:45 - 10:15

Sean Rehaag and Petra Molnar: Data, technology and forced migration

This presentation builds on the work of the Refugee Law Laboratory, which is co-hosted at York University’s Centre for Refugee Studies and Osgoode Hall Law School. Petra Molnar, RLL Associate Director, will begin the presentation by applying a critical human rights lens to examine the growing use of technology by government and commercial actors in the migration space. Increasingly, tools such as drones, biometric identification, and automated AI decision-making are being developed and deployed to regulate the movement of people across borders. Petra will explore human rights risks posed by this technology – including risks related to privacy, bias, and non-transparent decision-making. Sean Rehaag, RLL Director, will then identify one of the key problems in the development of technology in the migration field: tech is being developed asymmetrically by for-profit corporations using proprietary and non-transparent data and technologies, mostly for the benefit governments with deep pockets, rather than for the benefit of people on the move. He will identify alternative models for the development of technology in the migration field – including the Refugee Law Lab’s efforts to build human rights enhancing technologies in non-profit partnerships between access to justice organizations and academics, using transparent open access and open source platforms.

10:15 - 10:45

Health Break

10:45 - 12:15

Amar Bhatia: Settler colonialism/ Indigenous issues and forced migration

This lecture will examine some issues of migration (forced and coerced) and their relationship to ongoing settler colonialism in Toronto, where Indigenous nations and laws remain strongly in place. In addition to the imperial and state harms layered at this convergence of peoples and places, this talk will also raise some questions about attempts to repair these harms and how they might work together.

12:15 - 13:00

Lunch

13:00 - 14:30

Christopher Kyriakides and Gemechu Abeshu: The racisms of refuge

This lecture will elaborate on the state of knowledge (theoretical and empirical) on refugeeness and racisms. It begins by acknowledging that whereas Refugee Studies scholars have long been concerned to address what has been referred to as ‘refugeeness’— conditions of existence in which persons deemed legally eligible for refugee status are subject to social, political, economic, and cultural processes, and practices of reception which can divest them of a historical and agentive identity, scholarship emanating from Ethnic and Racial Studies draws attention to the racist targeting of refugees. The lecture will underline the need to systematically merge understandings of refugeeness and racisms by considering the targeting of different racialized groups historically and in various global contexts.

14:30 - 15:00

Health Break

15:00 - 16:30

Panel Discussion: Lessons from responses to refugees displaced by conflict: Afghanistan, Syria, Ethiopia & Ukraine (Wajma Attayi, Nergis Canefe, Izabella Main & Biftu Yousuf)

Abstract on Afghanistan (Dr Wajma Attayi) Reception House (RH) Waterloo Region is a resettlement agency, mandated to ensure Government Assisted Refugees (GARs) are provided with health care support among other mandates. In early 2008, RH was in crisis due to a large influx of Karen and Rohingya GAR refugees and no systemic processes and funding in place to support their health care needs. As a result, RH reached out to the Centre for Family Medicine Family Health Team (CFFM) to support the health care needs of this vulnerable population, eventually leading to a partnership that developed the Refugee Health Clinic (RHC). RHC offers culturally sensitive, patient centred care, integrated, multidisciplinary primary care. Its staff consists of a physician, nurse practitioners, registered and practical nurses, and outreach worker. RH, although not mandated to provide healthcare services, provides adjunct supports to the clinic: case workers who navigate the health care system with patients; coordinating intakes, arranging medical appointments, referrals to specialists, arranging diagnostics tests among and coordinating interpretation. Upcoming Challenges: Waterloo Region is a resettlement community, with approximately 300 refugees arriving as GARs every year. Canada recently committed to resettling 40,000 Afghan refugees between 2021-2023. This is a 3-fold increase than what we can normally accommodate The war in Ukraine will also lead to an increased number of refugees arriving in the community, at least through privately sponsored and claimant streams. With the inability to transition RHC patients to permanent primary care, and the added challenges of the pandemic Challenges with regional access to interpretation services Complexity of patient needs is increasing. This discussion will offer a local and operational view, on global impacts translated into on the ground planning. This discussion will offer a lens on how local organizations are trying to better support refugees/newcomers. Abstract on Syria (Prof Nergis Canefe) As the Syrian refugee crisis approaches a decade, the international community increasingly recognizes the importance of a long-term approach. Acute refugee crises are traditionally managed with a focus on short-term needs and prevention and containment. However, the long-term nature of the Syrian conflict, as a significant chronic overload and with implications for regional political, social and cultural instability demand a new approach. This presentation will highlight regional innovative programs, which seek to address health, economic survival, social cohesion and political stability, in order to stimulate discussion on a new approach to the address of contemporary forms of mass displacement. Abstract on Ukraine (Prof Izabella Main) After the Russian aggression in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, a few million Ukrainians crossed the border to neighboring Poland and other European countries. Polish society welcomed more than 3 million Ukrainians who are hosted in temporary accommodation centers and private homes. Positive response of the Polish right-wing government which granted temporary protection and other privileges to Ukrainians displaced by war reflects the on-going division of those seeking safe haven into people deserving and undeserving international protection. First, I will describe the legal status of Ukrainian refugees in Poland, and, then, discuss both governmental and societal responses and assistance to arriving Ukrainians. Abstract on Ethiopia (Biftu Yousuf) Ethiopia has faced several humanitarian crises over the last 50 years due to environmental, political, and socio-economic instability. Intensifying conflicts and violence in the country have led to new displacements of people, both internally and across national borders. In November 2020, military conflict began in the Tigray region of Ethiopia and expanded to the Afar, Amhara, and Oromia regions and beyond. A joint investigation led by local and international human rights organizations reported that the Tigray conflict was marked by ‘extreme brutality’, and that the violations committed may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Mass killings, hunger, sexual violence, and widespread displacement are some of the devastating consequences of this conflict. UNHCR reported that 60,000 refugees from Ethiopia had fled to Sudan since the conflict began in Tigray, while an estimated 2.1 million people became displaced across northern Ethiopia, according to IMO. As the dynamics of conflict and violence shifted, Ethiopia reached 5.1 million new displacements in 2021, setting a new world record for any country in a single year. Conditions of drought and famine in Ethiopia have deepened the humanitarian and displacement crisis. In light of these stark realities, this presentation will offer remarks on what we can learn from responses to the Ethiopian refugee crisis.

16:30 - 17:30

Interactive workshops: Group discussions

8:15 - 8:45

Coffee

8:45 - 10:15

Aderomola Adeola: Internally Displaced Persons

This session examines the regime on the protection of internally displaced persons in international law. This session will significantly provide insights into the definition, normative frameworks and institutional regimes for the protection of internally displaced persons.

10:15 - 10:45

Health Break

10:45 - 12:15

Simon Wallace: Detention, crimmigration and migration policies

Increasingly criminal law principles, ideas, and images are used to understand migrants and migration. In countries around the world, legislators and governmental officials draw on ideas related to security and danger to form responses to the act of migration. Crossing borders or staying in a country without status is seen as a quasi-criminal act, warranting a criminal law-like response. From this perspective, migrants are not seen as “citizens in waiting” but as risks and people who ought to be feared. One effect, is to see the rise of “crimmigration:” a form of law that keeps the criminal law’s focus on danger and deviancy but that sheds its interest in procedural and substantive protections for an accused. This talk, an introduction of the scholarly literature on the subject, explores the origins “crimmigration” and considers some scholarly critiques of the concept.

12:15 - 13:00

Lunch

13:00 - 14:30

Hilary Evans Cameron: Refugee Status determination and the limits of memory

Refugee status decision makers typically have unreasonable expectations of what and how people remember. Many assume that our minds record all aspects of the events that we experience, and that these memories are stored in our brains and remain unchanged over time. Decades of psychological research has demonstrated, however, that our memories are neither so complete nor so stable, even setting aside the effects on memory of trauma and stress. Whole categories of information are difficult to recall accurately, if at all: temporal information, such as dates, frequency, duration and sequence; the appearance of common objects; discrete instances of repeated events; peripheral information; proper names; and the verbatim wording of verbal exchanges. In addition, our autobiographical memories change over time, and may change significantly. As a result, while gaps or inconsistencies in a claimant’s testimony may in some cases properly lead to a negative credibility finding, such aspects are often misleading and should never be used mechanically, and the bar must be set much lower. Many decision makers must fundamentally readjust their thinking about claimants’ memories if they are to avoid making findings that are as unsound as they are unjust.

14:30 - 15:00

Health Break

15:00 - 17;30

Site visit (in person)/Film (virtual participants)

8:15 - 8:45

Coffee

8:45 - 10:15

Michaela Hynie: Mental health and forced migrants

People who have experienced forced migration have been found to have somewhat elevated rates of psychological distress, relative to the general population. Nonetheless, research suggests that despite the difficult migration pathway, most people who have experienced forced migration do not suffer from serious mental health problems or PTSD provided they find permanent status. Rather, the mental health issues that emerge in the early years of settlement are more likely to be related to the conditions of life in their new home, with mental health deteriorating over time for those who experience ongoing exclusion and barriers to social and economic integration. For those who do need mental health services however, there are a number of barriers to appropriate care. This presentation will focus primarily on post-migration stressors experienced by people who have experienced forced migration, and some of the challenges in accessing appropriate care, with examples drawn from our own research across several provinces in Canada.

10:15 - 10:45

Health Break

10:45 - 12:15

Panel discussion: (Rachel Silver, Don Dippo, HaEun Kim, Mirco Stella and Kassahun Hiticha) Access to education in a digital age for forcibly displaced children and youth

Over the last decade, York University (through the Borderless Higher Education for Refugees Project) has provided higher education in situ to refugee and local teachers in Dadaab, Kenya, one of the world’s largest and long-standing refugee camps. Amidst Dadaab’s harsh environmental conditions, scarce resources, and securitization, York developed a learning model that relies on blended delivery and innovative program structures for undergraduate and graduate students to earn degrees within the camps. This past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated insecurity and marginalization in Dadaab with profound effects on the infrastructure of education, testing the university’s capacity to continue offering equitable and quality education. This panel will explore innovative responses to complex challenges encountered amidst COVID-19 and unpack the limits and potential of distance education in Dadaab. Furthermore, the panel will raise critical questions about the significance and implications of pursuing SDG4 in fragile and unprecedented contexts.

12:15 - 13:00

Lunch

13:00 - 14:00

Genevieve Minville: Disasters/Climate change/and displacement

While the focus of the literature on climate migration and displacement has been focused on climate refugees who cross borders, internal migration in Canada is something that is already taking place. Many saw the destruction of Lytton, B.C., by wildfires in July 2021 as an example of what our future holds if serious action is not taken to reduce the impacts of climate change. As the frequency and intensity of disasters increase, the idea of moving to escape the consequences of climate change feels more real. And for some it is already happening. For Canadians who may want to move proactively, the environmental policy and sustainability of their new home will be an important factor. An Angus Reid Institute survey conducted on Aug. 16, 2021 with a representative sample of 1,511 Canadians, found that 76 per cent of Canadians say environmental policy and sustainability are a priority when considering where to live, with 45 per cent considering it an essential or high priority. This presentation takes stock of the literature on climate migration in Canada.

14:00 - 15:00

Final Presentations (Group Assignments)

15:00 - 16:30

James Hathaway: The Global Cop-Out on Refugees: Why the World Needs a Bold Plan to Save Refugee Protection

Persisting with the status quo ad hoc, State-by-State approach to implementing refugee protection obligations is not an option. Too often, refugees are forced to risk their lives in order to save their lives, with increasingly sophisticated barriers to access forcing them to undertake risky voyages and to rely on smugglers and even traffickers to reach safety. The safety on offer is in any event too often illusory. While long-term detention in camps is less common than in the past, it is still the reality for roughly a third of the world’s refugees, with most others left to struggle in urban slums with no real access to the rights that the Refugee Convention in principle requires. Worse still, more than 13 million refugees – two-thirds of the total number of refugees – have been waiting an average of two decades for a durable solution, with none in sight. Of these, fewer than one per cent are resettled in any given year. In the result, just 10 – mostly very poor – countries now host more than 60 per cent of the world’s refugees,12 with the entire developed world taking in only 15 per cent of those in need of asylum. And yet those same rich countries spend at least US$20 billion each year to fund their refugee reception efforts, more than four times the amount the United Nations (UN) refugee agency has available to meet the needs of the 85 per cent of refugees in poor countries. The result is a protection regime that is risky, chaotic, and debilitating, with resources grossly misallocated relative to needs, and which does not provide durable solutions for most refugees. If ever there were a case for a dramatic and fundamental reform, it is surely the current mess of a global refugee system.

16:30 - 17:30

Closing Reception