2025 CARFMS EC E-Vote

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Position: Secretary (1 position, 1 candidate)

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Position: Communications Officer (1 position, 3 candidates)

Candidate #1: Shayne Wong (Manitoba)

Gender: Female

Biography: Shayne is a doctoral candidate in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Manitoba. Her research interests are in gender, forced displacement, and peace and security in Canada and Southeast Asia. Shayne has been a research assistant at the University of Winnipeg, the University of Manitoba, and most recently at the Canadian Mennonite University. She is a current research assistant for
Hearts of Freedom. She has served on several boards, including the Rohingya Human Rights Network and the Canadian Coalition for Youth, Peace & Security (CCYPS).

Candidate’s statement: Over the past term, I have greatly valued engaging as the Communications Officer with a dynamic community of scholars, researchers, and practitioners dedicated to the study and advocacy of forced displacement. I am committed to supporting the association’s outreach by strengthening its social media presence and enhancing communication strategies that connect members and broader audiences on digital platforms. Building on the work I’ve already begun in this role, I look forward to further advancing CARFMS’s visibility and impact.

Candidate #2: Abdullahi Mire (Kenya)

Gender: Male

Abdullahi Dahir Mire, CEO/Founder, Global Nansen Award Laureate | Refugee Youth Education Hub
Abdullahi Mire, the founder of Refugee Youth Education Hub was named the 2023 Nansen Global Laureate, UNHCR’s highest honor in recognition of his work with RYEH. Mr. Mire dedicated the award to his mother, and to “every child who was scooped up in someone’s arms as they ran. Because anywhere was safer than here.” Refugee Youth Education Hub (RYEH) is a refugee-led organization empowering young people to be outspoken, self-reliant, and dedicated to community service. Founded by Abdullahi Mire, a former refugee and a group of dedicated refugee youth in Kenya, RYEH champions the voices, actions, and ambitions of refugees themselves so they can take a leadership role in humanitarian action in Kenya.

Candidate’s statement: As someone who grew up and a living example of displacement I would like to apply this to bring my experience on board.

 

Candidate #3: Shilan Saadi (Iran/Canada)

Gender: Female

A passionate filmmaker and photographer with roots in Mahabad, a Kurdish city in Iran. Drawing inspiration from the culture, people, and natural beauty of my hometown, I specialize in storytelling through visual media. My work focuses on capturing and immortalizing the unique narratives of individuals, highlighting their daily struggles and preserving the essence of forgotten cultures. Committed to using cinema as a medium for cultural expression and social awareness.

Personal experience of forced migration: Since 2024, through my feature-length documentary, Night and Fog in Kurdistan, I’ve gained firsthand experience with the issue of forced migration. My characters, survivors of the ISIS attack on Shingal in Iraq, were attempting to overcome the trauma of war and the loss of loved ones. I’ve spent years following them and their struggle for survival,and this experience is deeply personal and far from abstract to me.

Candidate’s statement: Given my years of experience in documentary filmmaking, which relies heavily on research and building relationships with people, I feel this position would be a compelling opportunity for me. Establishing and managing these relationships effectively is a critical aspect of a director’s role during the production process

 

Position: Treasurer (1 position, 1 candidate)

Candidate: Anna Purkey (Ontario)

Gender: Female

Biography: Anna Purkey (DCL) is a lawyer, an associate professor and the Director of the Human Rights Program at United University College at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Purkey’s research employs an inter-disciplinary approach to examine international and domestic refugee law and policy, with a special emphasis on protracted refugee situations and touching upon themes of human capabilities, legal empowerment, vulnerability, human dignity and governance. She is a member of the board of directions of Action Réfugiés Montréal and has previously worked as legal Counsel at the Department of Justice and as an Evaluation measurement Officer at the IRB.

Candidate’s statement: I am putting my name forward again as a candidate for the position of treasurer on the CARFMS executive because I truly believe in the work that the Association does to create a vibrant academic community in Canada and to support and encourage new scholars in the field of refugee and forced migration studies. The very first conference at which I ever presented was CARFMS’s 2nd annual conference in 2009 where I was on a panel with James Milner who, six years later, was the external assessor of my doctorate and advocate for the publication of my research. This is just one example of how the connections built through CARFMS can have a truly important impact on the lives of aspiring academics. Over the years, I have been involved with various refugee-related organizations in Canada (CARL, CCR, WUSC) and I have come to realize how fortunate we are to have such a wealth of knowledge and experience in this country. I believe that there are great opportunities for CARFMS to help increase the impact of our collective work by fostering greater collaboration among researchers and between the academic and non-academic communities, including (perhaps most importantly) migrant communities themselves. Having received much support in my own career and intellectual journey, I hope now to be able to act in the service others by serving on the Executive of CARFMS.

Position: Policy Partnership Officer (1 position, 1 candidate)

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Position: Practitioner and Advocacy Officer (1 position, 2 candidates)

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Position: Director at Large (2 positions, 3 candidates)

Candidate #1: Lori Wilkinson (Manitoba)

Gender: Female

Biography:  Lori Wilkinson is a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Manitoba. She holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Migration Futures. Her applied research in migration and refugee resettlement has instigated policy changes in Canada that have facilitated the successful resettlement of thousands of refugees. Her work on youth migration catalyzed policy reform that continues to influence how Canadian and international governments assist refugees. She is an active volunteer working with several local and national settlement and resettlement organizations in the migration sector. In 2024, she was elected to the Royal Society of Canada.

Candidate’s statement:  My academic program focuses on the aspects of successful refugee resettlement to Canada. I have professional and volunteer experience working directly with Syrian and Afghan refugees (most recently) and refugees from around the world during my over quarter century in the field. Beyond my academic interests, I would like to contribute more to CARFMS. I have been extremely busy in the past five years, but have followed the organization closely. I was thrilled to learn they are hosting the 2027 conference here in Winnipeg! I cannot wait to assist with the organization of the event and to welcome everyone to my wonderful city and university campus! I would also like to contribute to the operations of CARFMS in terms of getting the word out and attracting new members, especially those who are new to the study of forced migration and all that it entails.

Candidate #2: Mohammad Azizur Rahman

Gender: Male

Biography: Aziz Rahman is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow of the Centre to Counter Trafficking (CCHT) at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU), Laredo, Texas, USA. Prior to this, he was a postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Migration and Integration Program at Toronto Metropolitan University. He completed a Ph.D. in Peace and Conflict
Studies (PACS) at the University of Manitoba, following an honors degree in sociology (Bangladesh) and three master’s degrees: Sociology (Bangladesh), Regional Development Planning (Germany and the Philippines), and Criminology (Canada). Drawing on interdisciplinary scholarship and perspectives, Aziz’s research and publications have focused on sociological and criminological issues, including refugee integration, public views of policing, ethnic violence, colonialism, terrorism, and gig work. Aziz is the recipient of a number of scholarships, including the SSHRC Joseph Bombardier Doctoral Scholarship and the SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship. His PhD thesis explored refugee economic integration in Canada. Aziz’s SSHRC-funded postdoctoral research focus is on refugee entrepreneurship in Canada.

Candidate’s statement: I joined CARFMS in 2016. I served on its board as Student Director for two terms. Later, I have been on the Board as Partnership Officer. I wish to continue this for another term, given my extended networks and interests in advancing the CARFMS agenda in the next term and for the next CARFMS conference.

Candidate #3: Adèle Garnier (Quebec)

Gender: Female

Biography: Adèle Garnier is an Associate Professor and Undergraduate Prorgam Director at the Department of Geography, Université Laval and the Director of the Centre de recherche Cultures-Arts-Sociétés (CELAT). She holds a PhD in Political Science from Macquarie University (Australia) and the University of Leipzig (Germany). She has done postdoctoral research at Université de Montréal and Université Libre de Bruxelles and was a Lecturer then Senior Lecturer at Macquarie University (Australia) before joining Université Laval in 2020. She has been a co-editor of Refuge: Canada’s journal on Refugees since 2022. Her research has been published in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Refuge, Global Policy, Hommes et Migrations, la Revue Canadienne de Sociologie and she is the coeditor, with L. L. Jubilut and K. B. Sandvik, of the volume Refugee Resettlement: Power, Politics of Humanitarian
Governance (Berghahn Books, 2018); with Karine Côté-Boucher, Luna Vives and Mireille Paquet of a special issue of the journal Criminologie on Frontières (2024) and with Christina Clark-Kazak and Sarah Dubuc of the open-access book La migration forcée au Canada (McGill-Queen’s University Press, forthcoming 2025).

Candidate’s statement: As a Director at Large, I am keen to contribute to strengthening our community of forced migration scholars and practitioners in Canada at a critical time, and to contribute to developing our international and local networks. I am particularly interested in bringing a Francophone and Quebec-based perspective to this mandate. I hope to make CARFMS benefit from my networks in Quebec as I am a member of several provincial scholarly networks focusing on knowledge dissemination such as the Equipe de recherche sur l’immigration au Québec et ailleurs (ERIQA). I am also keen to support Francophone scholarship in Canada and elsewhere, and to the dissemination of Canadian scholarship
French, as I have done for several years as part of the bilingual Refuge editorial team, and among other projects through collaborative work with Christina Clark-Kazak, Sarah Dubuc and Lyse Hebert on the edited volume La migration forcée au Canada.

Position: Student Director (1 position, 2 candidates)

Candidate #1: Bereket Daniel (Ethiopia)

Gender: Male

Biography: Bereket Daniel is a passionate human rights advocate and a dedicated student of international law and migration studies. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Law and Governance Studies from Bahir Dar University and a diploma in International Organizational Management from the University of Geneva. Bereket has been actively involved in human rights and student-focused initiatives through his role at the
Ethiopian Human Rights Council, where he currently serves as a Project and Communication Officer.
As a student member of several regional and global networks focused on refugee rights, climate justice, and youth leadership, Bereket has continually worked to amplify student voices in policy and advocacy spaces. He recently participated in the International Civic Forum 2024 in Johannesburg and the 8th East Africa Human Rights Program. Bereket is committed to promoting greater student participation in CARFMS activities and fostering inclusive dialogue among emerging scholars across disciplines. He brings both leadership experience and a collaborative spirit to the role of Student Affairs Officer.

Personal experience of forced migration: While I have not personally experienced forced migration, I have had the opportunity to engage directly with displaced communities through my professional work. As part of my role at the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, I have traveled to various regions of Ethiopia
to monitor and investigate the conditions of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). These field missions have given me firsthand insight into the challenges faced by individuals and families affected by conflict, climate change, and other displacement drivers. Through interviews, documentation, and community engagement, I have witnessed the profound human impact of forced migration, particularly in relation to housing, access to education, healthcare, and legal protection. These experiences have deepened my
understanding of the importance of rights-based responses and strengthened my commitment to advocating for displaced populations at both national and international levels.

Candidate’s statement: I am excited to express my interest in serving as the Student Affairs Officer on the CARFMS Executive Committee. As a committed human rights advocate and active participant in academic and civic spaces, I am passionate about ensuring that students are meaningfully included in the work of the Association. Having worked closely with youth groups and student-led initiatives throughout my academic and professional journey, I believe that students bring fresh perspectives, critical questions, and innovative ideas to the field of refugee and forced migration studies. My experience working with displaced communities in Ethiopia and my involvement in international human rights forums has inspired me to help bridge the gap between student engagement and practical advocacy. If selected, I will prioritize fostering stronger connections among student members, supporting the activities of the CARFMS Student Caucus, and promoting opportunities for students to contribute to research, policy, and community-based initiatives. I believe my communication, advocacy, and organizing background will enable me to support and elevate the voices of student members within the Association.

Candidate #2: Natasha Sofia Martinez (Ontario)

Biography: Natasha Sofia Martinez is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Politics at York University, with a specialization in International Relations and Women and Politics. She is also a Research Associate with the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC). Natasha is a critical scholar whose work bridges political science and digital migration studies. Her research uses digital ethnography to investigate transit migration in Latin America, with a unique focus on Migrant TikTok. She is interested in understanding how migrants share their stories and challenge borders, utilizing testimonio as a method.

Candidate’s statement: I’m really interested in the role of Student Director because I’ve always been passionate about creating spaces where students feel included, heard, and empowered to participate. During my time as Chair of the CERLAC Student Caucus (2021 to 2022), I focused on building meaningful connections between students and researchers from both Canada and abroad. I also launched CERLAC’s first digital newsletter as a way to highlight student work and share opportunities. One of the things I’m most proud of is receiving the CERLAC President’s Award for a project proposal that aimed to connect students and communities through capacity building initiatives. In addition, I was actively involved with York University’s Centre for Refugee Studies and helped support the joint CRS and CERLAC student conference in 2020 and 2021. These experiences have really shaped my approach to leadership which is focused on collaboration, inclusivity, and is student-centred. I’d love the chance to bring that same energy and experience to this role and help grow the Association’s engagement with students even further.