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About this talk

Promises that sovereignty would be regained, immigration and asylum controlled, and national identity reasserted were central to the Brexit referendum campaign of 2016 and the ultimate decision to leave the EU. In debates on EU membership, protection, labour, and other forms of migration were frequently conflated and portrayed as being ‘out of control’. Post-Brexit, these issues remain at the centre of political debate and legal change, both in the UK and in European states. In this seminar, we trace pre- and post-Brexit legal developments in UK and EU asylum and migration law, mapping change and analysing developments.

About the speakers

Catherine Barnard (Trinity College, Cambridge); Cathryn Costello (University College Dublin); Fiona Costello (St Edmund’s College, Cambridge); Steve Peers (University of London)

Chair: Catherine Briddick (St Antony’s College, Oxford)

Annual Elizabeth Colson Lecture

The Annual Elizabeth Colson Lecture is held in Trinity term. It is named after Professor Elizabeth Colson, a renowned anthropologist.

Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture

The Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture is named in honour of Dr Barbara Harrell-Bond, the founding Director of the Refugee Studies Centre. It is held each year in Michaelmas term.

Public Seminar Series

Each term the RSC holds a series of public seminars, held on Wednesday evenings at Queen Elizabeth House. Click here for details of forthcoming seminars.

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Forthcoming events

A short history of the Gaza Strip

Wednesday, 15 October 2025, 5pm to 6pm @ Seminar Room 1, Oxford Department of International Development, 3 Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TB

Displacement, solidarity, counter-government

Wednesday, 22 October 2025, 5pm to 6pm @ Seminar Room 1, Oxford Department of International Development, 3 Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TB

Human rights elites at the United Nations: Felix Ermacora and the first human rights fact finding missions (1967-1993)

Wednesday, 29 October 2025, 5pm to 6pm @ Seminar Room 1, Oxford Department of International Development, 3 Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TB

Migration and displacement: My grandmother, Lausanne, and some lessons for the present

Wednesday, 05 November 2025, 5.15pm to 6.15pm @ Mary Ogilvie Lecture Theatre, St Anne's College, 56 Woodstock Rd, Oxford OX2 6HS

Cities of refuge in an age of displacements

Wednesday, 12 November 2025, 5pm to 6pm @ Seminar Room 1, Oxford Department of International Development, 3 Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TB

Attacking health: Understanding the dynamics and broader impacts of violence against healthcare

Wednesday, 19 November 2025, 5pm to 6pm @ Seminar Room 1, Oxford Department of International Development, 3 Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TB