Call for Presenters – Identifying and Analyzing Gaps in Protection for Asylum Seekers from the Middle East: Recent Research and Findings  

29 January 2016, 12:00pm – 2:00pm

Seminar Room, Centre for Ethics, Trinity College, University of Toronto

Sponsored by the Canadian Association of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies and the Centre for Ethics

The ongoing humanitarian crises in the Middle East are provoking large-scale refugee movements out of the region. Existing legal and policy frameworks are proving incapable of securing safety and protection for the asylum seekers in either neighbouring states or during transit to more farflung locations. Reform is needed, and any structural or local-level proposals should take into account the voices of refugees as well as firsthand reports from the field in this important search for durable solutions.

This postgraduate panel aims to contribute productively to the conversation. The primary objectives are (i) to offer cutting-edge insights into the human impacts of faltering refugee policies and laws in neighbouring Middle East states and in states along the periphery of the European Union; and (ii) to foster a dialogue on these topics amongst researchers across different disciplines and universities in Toronto. A secondary objective is to discuss conducting, analyzing, and disseminating research from volatile regions.

To that end, we particularly encourage submissions from students who have conducted fieldwork in ‘countries of first asylum’ such as Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, and in ‘transit states’ such as Greece and Italy. Presentations will be 15 minutes each, and faculty will provide discussion notes.

Interested parties should send an abstract of 250 words and a short biography to panel convener Alizee Bodson by 13 December 2015 at alizee.z.m.b@gmail.com. Alizee is also available to answer any questions or concerns.