IASFM19 will feature as its main topic “Global Issues, Regional Approaches – contexts, challenges, dialogues and solutions”, with a view to highlight the current forced migration scenario in Latin America, as well as to allow for the drawing and building of comparisons with other regions and with the global context and of dialogues with potential to improve forced migrants’ protection in general and in particular scenarios. The dialogue between global and regional will, thus, be paramount and is proposed to (i) highlight common grounds and shared challenges in forced migration governance, (ii) allow for debates on global and on regional issues, (iii) contribute to survey strategies best tailored to create or reinforce protection, and, (iv) advance the promotion of best practices that can be translated elsewhere (regional to global or global to regional). The cornerstone of IASFM19 is the improvement of integral protection for forced migrants globally and regionally.
The relevance of regions to migration governance has been highlighted in the most recent normative instruments such as the Global Compact on Refugees that recalls the regional dimensions of displacement, and the importance of regional cooperation and solidarity in finding and implementing comprehensive responses. In regard to Latin America, this has been the case since the treaties on asylum that date back to the 1800s, and, more recently, the Cartagena Declaration on Refugees of 1984 and its revisional process documents every 10-years.
Latin America is an interesting region in terms of forced migration, once, on the one hand, it has been praised as a region adopting best practices in the protection of forced migrants, and, on the other hand, it is still a region facing massive forced displacement within its territorial scope. The study of forced migration in Brazil and in Latin America has increased in recent years, mainly due to the abovementioned scenario, and the building and expansion of an architecture of protection – in terms of normative developments, regional principles, shared challenges, and enhancement of networks – have been identified.
This scenario – focusing on the locus of IASFM19 – is one example of the relevance of regional approaches that can provide more tailored and better suited initiatives to specific displacement dynamics. However, the regional must coexist with the global, in seeking the highest levels of protection possible for forced migrants. In this regard, dialogues are key.
A focus on dialogues would allow for new, construed, and diverse perspectives on forced migration, as well as interdisciplinary interchanges that have the potential to enhance studies in the area and contribute to the expansion of integral protection to forced migrants. IASFM19, therefore, also places a relevant emphasis on dialogues in several dimensions.
IASFM19 will be guided by the need of dialogues to enhance protection and by the dual approach outlined – highlighting regional aspects of forced migration in itself and in relation to the global scenario; with emphasis on contexts, challenges, and solutions.
In this sense, the Conference is set to have sixteen (16) keynote speeches to take place in plenary sessions tackling (i) global issues (related to forced migration at the time of the conference, its challenges, and how dialogues could be built), (ii) regional contexts of forced migration (tackling existing regimes, current challenges and regional responses to them, as well as possible intra-regional, inter-regional, and regional-global dialogues), and (iii) proposing ways for increased dialogue with different stakeholders and among different areas and cultures. The keynotes are structured as follows:
Global Issues |
Current Global Challenges – Jeff Crisp and Academic with lived experience in forced migration (TBC) |
|---|---|
Regional Approaches |
Latin America – Letícia Calderon
Extra-regional forced migrant in Latin America – Amr Houdaifa Intra-regional forced migrant in Latin America – Militza Péreze Africa – Zachary Lomo Asia – Yiombi Thona Europe – Violeta Moreno-Lax Middle East – Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh North America – Jennifer Hyndman Oceania – Jane McAdam |
New Dialogues |
With Forced Migrants – Anila Noor and Najeeba Wazefadost
With NGOs – Emily Arnold-Fernandez and Lublanc Prietro With Academia – Pablo Ceriani Interdisciplinary Dialogues – João Carlos Jarochinski Silva Intercultural Dialogues – Jeffrey Lesser Inter-religious Dialogues – Representative of the Vatican (TBC) |
As diversity is key to reinforce effective and productive dialogues, representation and inclusion – in general but also taking into account the historical and power scenarios in Latin America – were taken into consideration in the organization of the keynote speeches. It is relevant to note that (i) there is gender balance between speakers, with a slight majority of women, (ii) there is also a balance between North and South lecturers, but with a predominance of representatives of the latter, (iii) there is representation of racial and ethnic diversity, and (iv) there are over 30% of speakers who have personally experienced forced displacement.
Moreover, the Call for Papers will aim to be as encompassing as possible, not only to allow for a multi and interdisciplinary conference, but also in keeping with the relevance of dialogues in forced migration studies. Furthermore, in the spirit of reinforcing dialogues, the Conference is posited to include networking spaces as well as a slot for a marketplace of good practices, where Organizations that support IASFM or initiatives by or that encompass IASFM members can be presented so as to inspire positive actions – internationally or regionally – in the protection of forced migrants.