Seeking Balanced Solutions: The Annual CARFMS Conference
On June 1-2, 2009, the Common Law Section, the Human Rights Research and Education Centre and the Refugee Forum at the University of Ottawa hosted the second annual conference of the Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (CARFMS).Aiming to explore issues of forced migration, global politics and international social justice, the conference hosted a series of interdisciplinary dialogues that brought together academics, activists, NGOs, policy makers, government representatives and forced migrants.
Professor Peter Showler, Director of the Refugee Forum at uOttawa’s Human Rights Research and Education Centre and a former Chairperson of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (1999-2002), presented the keynote address on the opening day, entitled “Imperfect Storm Warnings.” Prof. Showler addressed several troublesome areas in the Canadian refugee system relating to international protection for refugees. “Rather than looking at ways to shut the door, we really have to have a more honest and straightforward asylum system in the works. We have to be a stronger proponent of international solutions and we need an integrated approach to migration, trade and the promotion of voluntary return.”
As the international system stands now, said Prof. Showler, there are not enough integrated approaches allowing countries to work together to mutually address common problems. “We’ve all got a lot of work to do,” he said. “The current models of international protection are horribly inadequate; we need to chart and understand the forced movement people much better; we need to identify the areas of protection more precisely; and we need to formulate and advocate more rational and effective solutions.”
The second day of the conference featured a keynote address from Mr. Abraham Abraham, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative in Canada, presenting a talk entitled “Mixed Migration, Global Politics and the International Arena.” Mr. Abraham addressed the importance of differentiating asylum from migration and noted several ways in which academics can help to improve the situation. “The right to seek and enjoy asylum is a human right,” he said. “Human rights are, by definition, universal. It is easy to forget this and to allow short term fears and perceived interests to harm the preservation of long-term rights-based approaches. One role of academic research is investigating this; to step back and to examine how to balance the needs of governments and the exercise of individual rights.”
Other conference speakers included CARFMS president, Prof. Donald Galloway (University of Victoria, Faculty of Law); Prof. Catherine Dauvergne, Canada Research Chair in Migration Law (UBC, Faculty of Law); Prof. James Milner, Department of Political Science (Carleton University); Anette Sikka, Doctoral candidate (uOttawa, Faculty of Law); and Prof. Janet Cleveland from the Centre d’études et de recherches internationales (University of Montreal).
Click here to visit the conference website.