OxHRH Webinar: Is there a refugee crisis in Europe or just a crisis in protection?

The OxHRH along with the Oxford Martin Human Rights for Future Generations Programme, with the support of the Bertha Foundation, is pleased to continue it’s innovative webinar series with an exciting webinar from Dr Cathryn Costello (Oxford University) and Professor Guy Goodwin-Gill (Oxford University) on international refugee law and the refugee protection crisis in Europe.

Is there a refugee crisis in Europe, or a crisis of lack of refugee protection?  This webinar will examine the basic principles and rules in international refugee law, and clarify to what extent the EU and European states are living up to their obligations.  It will examine the predicament of those seeking protection in Europe and set out the basic legal position on the following issues:

• access to protection and why those seeking refuge have recourse to dangerous journeys
• whether refugees are obliged to seek asylum in the first possible country, or remain in countries where they have shelter from conflict
• recognition as a refugee, in particular for those fleeing conflict
• responsibility sharing both within Europe and with major host countries.

The webinar is unique in that it will allow academics, students, policy-makers from all over the world to participate in the OxHRH seminars. Participants will be able to listen to Professor Cathryn Costello and Professor Guy Goodwin-Gill and interact with the power-point slides. This will be a truly interactive webinar where participants will be asked throughout the seminar to provide their opinion on key aspects of international refugee law in context of the current crisis which will then be included in the seminar. Following the seminar, there will be a questions and answer session.

Participants can submit their questions via the Oxford Human Rights Hub twitter account @OxHRH using the hashtag #Refugeelaw or they can email questions to oxfordhumanrightshub@law.ox.ac.uk

The webinar will be recorded and archived on the OxHRH website, so those who are unable to participate on November 12 can still access the webinar.

For those in Oxford, please do participate as a live audience member by coming down to the Harold Lee Room at Pembroke College!