Event: The Future of International Solidarity in Global Refugee Protection

Topic: The Future of International Solidarity in Global Refugee Protection

 Speaker: Professor Obiora Okafor, UN Independent Expert on Human Rights and International Solidarity

Date/time: 14 February 2019, 6pm-7.30pm.

Venue: 124 Jolimont Rd, East Melbourne VIC 3002, Australia

Registration: https://aiiavic.tidyhq.com/public/schedule/events/22022-the-future-of-international-solidarity-in-global-refugee-protection

The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights failed to enshrine the right to asylum, speaking only of a right to seek and to enjoy asylum.

A 1957 draft of a Declaration on Territorial Asylum subsequently proposed that the responsibility for granting asylum lie with the international community, as represented by the United Nations “in the spirit of international solidarity”.

The term “international solidarity” has since been invoked regularly, but more in theory than in practice, and the concept is harnessed to serve both the human rights of those fleeing persecution on the one hand, and the sovereignty of nation-states on the other.

To what extent have attempts to mobilise the idea of international solidarity in international law-making been successful, particularly regarding refugees and asylum seekers? What is the role of the UNHCR and its recent work on the Global Compact on Refugees?

AIIA Victoria in conjunction with the International Legal Studies Research Group of La Trobe Law School invites you to join Professor Obiora Okafor for his analysis of international solidarity in the context of global refugee protection.

This event is co-hosted by the International Legal Studies Research Group of La Trobe Law School and the Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) Victoria.

Professor Obiora Chinedu Okafor is the UN Independent Expert on Human Rights and International Solidarity and a former Chairperson of the United Nations Human Rights Council Advisory Committee. He has also served as an expert panelist for the United Nations Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee and United Nations Working Group on People of African Descent. In addition to consulting for several international organisations, government agencies, parliaments and law firms, Professor Okafor has published extensively in the fields of international human rights law and immigration/refugee law, as well as general public international law (with especial regard to third world approaches to international law). 

To download the pdf flyer, please click here