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UNHCR/Rasheed Hussein Rasheed
The Protecting Refugee Rights initiative, led by Associate Professor Catherine Briddick, brings together leading scholars, policymakers, and practitioners from around the world to generate new, authoritative research on refugee rights. Working in partnership with UNHCR, the project responds to growing global pressures on refugee protection systems and contributes to urgent legal and policy debates.
At the heart of this collaboration is an international research workshop hosted at the Refugee Studies Centre in September 2026, convening experts in refugee law and UNHCR specialists. Their research will address key issues and core principles, including the right to asylum and to meaningful participation, protection from expulsion and from penalisation, and on the rights of women, children, persons with disabilities, and LGBTIQ+ persons. The resulting papers will be published in UNHCR’s Legal and Protection Policy Research Series, a globally influential platform shaping refugee law and practice.
The keynote event in this initiative is the Annual Harrell-Bond Lecture which will be given by UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Barham Salih, on Monday 26 October 2026.
The Harrell-Bond Lecture and a series of public seminars will extend the project’s reach beyond academia. Beginning in Trinity Term with Sir Tim Eicke K.C. (former judge of the European Court of Human Rights and barrister practising from Essex Court Chambers) and Professor Peter Gatrell, the series continues in Michaelmas Term with lectures from leading scholars examining the Convention and its contribution to refugee protection from a range of disciplinary and regional perspectives. Confirmed speakers include Professors Tamirace Fakhoury (Tufts), Sarah Singer (RLI, SAS), Omar Hammoud-Gallego (Durham), Jay Sarkar (Glasgow), Sarah Fine (Cambridge), and Victor Kattan (Nottingham).
By combining rigorous academic research with policy engagement and public outreach, Protecting Refugee Rights will celebrate the Refugee Convention, deepen understanding of international legal frameworks, and inform debates on refugee protection in the UK and beyond.