SAFE & SECURE: HOW DO REFUGEES EXPERIENCE EUROPE'S BORDERS?

Modern Challenges to Protection and the 1951 Refugee Convention

 

 

Join JRS Europe in celebrating the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Refugee Convention!

 

8 December 2011

10:00 - 13:00, Résidence Palace, "Passage Room"

155 rue de la Loi, 1040 Brussels, Belgium (Metro: Schuman)

 

 

60 years ago, world leaders signed a refugee 'bill of rights' (above, © UN Archives); Today, refugees struggle to hold onto their rights in the face of tougher EU borders (right, © UNHCR/A. Rodriguez)

 

 

Amidst the debate on Europe's borders and access to refugee protection, those who are the most affected are the least heard: the refugees themselves. This half-day public conference is intended to provide them with a space to be heard. Refugees who have come face-to-face with Europe's closed borders will speak about their experiences, and provide testimonies that underline the need for better refugee protection standards.

 

Programme:

• Welcome by Professor Philippe De Bruycker, Université Libre du Bruxelles (conference chair)

• Introduction by Professor Guy S. Goodwin-Gill, University of Oxford

• Experiences with the Dublin Regulation, Mr Ibrahim Mohammed Banaytu, refugee

• Experiences with European return policies, Mr Abdi Mohammed Jabir, refugee

• Experiences with border controls on the high seas, Mr Mohammed Idris, refugee

• With responses by:

  - Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, Secretary Emeritus, Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People

  - Ms Barbara Lochbihler, MEP, chair of the European Parliament Human Rights Subcommittee

  - Ms Andrea Vonkeman, Senior Policy Officer, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Europe Bureau

  - Mr Stefan Kessler, Senior Policy Officer, JRS Europe

When the Refugee Convention was signed 60 years ago, it was hailed as a landmark achievement for the human rights of refugees. The European Union has repeated its solemn commitment to the Convention, enshrining its status in EU law.

In recent times, however, EU refugee and migration policies have become more rigid. Closed borders have made it very difficult for refugees to cross the EU’s frontiers. And it is now more difficult for refugees to get the protection they need once they find themselves in a EU country.

Does the reality at the EU’s external borders meet the standards set by the Refugee Convention? Does the EU uphold the rights that refugees are entitled to by this Convention?

More importantly, how do refugees themselves experience these realities?

 

 

 

For further information and to registration, please contact:

 

Stefan Kessler, JRS Europe

Email: europe.senioradvocacy@jrs.net

General telephone: +32 2 250 32 20

Fax: +32 2 250 32 29

 

Participation in the conference is free of charge.