12
Dec
Who Are Palestinian Refugees?
A brief historical account of Israeli and Palestinian conflict The Palestinian and Israeli conflict has been ongoing since the 1800s. Initially, the migration of European Jews to Palestine did not cause conflict, but after the holocaust, more European Jews were of the opinion that they needed their own country. This caused the influx of European... Read More
4
Dec
Book Review: “The Mess We’re In – Managing the Refugee Crisis”
Andrew Bennetts, “The Mess We’re In – Managing the Refugee Crisis”, Trabagem Publishing, Camberwell 2017, 400 pages (available from Amazon and Booktopia) Moved by the suffering and policy dilemmas of the European refugee crisis of 2015, this Melbourne business analyst took a sabbatical from corporate consulting to understand the refugee issue. He felt his standard... Read More
20
Nov
Rohingya Refugee Deportation: Locating “Voluntary Repatriation” between National Security and Political Expediency
The hastiness demonstrated by the Government of India (GoI) in deporting 7 Rohingya refugees to Myanmar has once again established inherent discriminatory practices pursued by the GoI towards refugees based on religion with utter disregard to the Constitution of India, Supreme Court of India, international law, jus cogens and customary international law. Such an action... Read More
6
Nov
Can Opposing Groups Agree To Disagree?
How many migrants should we take? Is our border protection adequate? Are detention centres warranted? Australian society continues to be fragmented in attitudes towards these pressing issues. But is there a way to encourage civil discussion between opposing groups? The world is facing a migration crisis, with a record 69 million people displaced worldwide.... Read More
23
Oct
Making Connections: a mentoring program for university students with a refugee background
Many refugees and people seeking asylum are keen to study at university to enable pathways to meaningful work, but face barriers in navigating the university system. These students can be intimidated by the impersonal nature of accessing online information about their courses and prefer personal contact (Baker, Ramsay, Irwin & Miles, 2018). In response to... Read More
22
Oct
Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law Annual Conference
‘Refugee Diplomacy: Negotiating protection in a changing world’ – Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law Annual Conference, 23 Nov 2018 Foreign policy bears directly on refugee policy. Today both policy agendas are feeling the twin pressures of nationalism and globalisation, and the long-prevailing rules based order is now contested. What does this mean for... Read More
15
Oct
Psychosocial-Oncology and Adolescents and Young Adults
As a psychologist, researcher and lived experience with cancer, I am keen to develop a program of research in psychosocial-oncology and particular in the area of psychosocial interventions and cancer to support adolescents and young adults impacted by familial cancer. While my research is about adolescents and young adults (AYAs) in general, those who are... Read More
11
Oct
Researchers for Asylum Seekers Interdisciplinary Conference
Thursday 15th November, 2018 9am – 5pm Yasuko Hiraoka Myer Room, Sidney Myer Asia Centre, University of Melbourne MAP BOOK NOW Conference Spotlight: Gender, Identity and Persecution The Researchers for Asylum Seekers Interdisciplinary conference is intended to accommodate postgraduate researchers – past and present – as well as practitioners and policy makers/advisors working in the field. Call... Read More
2
Oct
Extending a Collective Human Right to Address a Global Challenge: Self-determination for Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Internally Displaced Persons
Forced human displacement is one of the signal challenges of the twenty-first century. UNHCR has reported that, in 2017, 68.5 million people were forcibly displaced by conflict or persecution. This number includes 25.4 million refugees, 40 million internally displaced people and 3.1 million people seeking asylum. In addition, an average of 22.5 million people have... Read More
19
Sep
Achieving Change in Australian Refugee Policy: A Case Study in the Limits of Law and Political Activism?
In 2015, the Human Rights Law Centre, acting pro bono on behalf of a Bangladeshi woman (Plaintiff M68),[1] brought proceedings in the High Court seeking to challenge the legal validity of the regional processing arrangements. Plaintiff M68 had been detained at sea by Australian officials in early 2014 and taken to Nauru. In August 2014,... Read More