Migration seminar series

The years 2015 and 2016 have seen an unprecedented global refugee crisis. Or rather: a series of interrelated political, protection and displacement crises have unfolded, concerning how to handle the many people on the move. The large majority of the around 60 million refugees and internally displaced people are concentrated in developing countries, yet the topic of refugees and migration has become a top political priority in Europe and the EU. Challenges are many. In the light of the war in Syria and the tragedy across the Mediterranean Sea, there is a growing recognition that humanitarian interventions and increasingly restrictive border control are no longer adequate or sufficient responses. But then what?

In this DIIS migration seminar series, we take stock on the refugee situation and shed light on the challenges and the implications. Through six seminars we examine and question how the crises are perceived, handled and negotiated, with topics ranging from human smuggling to the world’s first UN-summit on refugees and migration, from the securitization of migration to possible development responses, and from insights in refugee camps in Greece to the role of hope and uncertainty in African migration.

All the seminars will be announced here. Below you will find an overview of all the seminars.

23 September 2016
The global forced displacement crisis and the need for a development response - Launch of joint World Bank Group and UNCHR report

Speakers: Xavier Devictor, advisor, The World Bank; Steve Corliss, director of UNHCR’s Division of Programme Support and Management; Thomas Thomsen, chief consultant, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark; Ninna Nyberg Sørensen, research coordinator and senior researcher, DIIS

27 September 2016
FN-topmødet om flygtninge og migration – en ny dagsorden?
Speakers: Carsten Staur, Danmarks FN-ambassadør i Genève og formand for UNHCRs Executivkommite (EXcom); Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen, forskningsdirektør for Raoul Wallenberg Instituttet; Nauja Kleist, seniorforsker, DIIS

10 November 2016
Europe and the Refugee Situation – Understanding the ’crisis’ in migration management
Speakers: Henriette Johansen, anthropologist, photographer and consultant; Ninna Nyberg Sørensen, research coordinator and senior researcher, DIIS. More information will follow.

23 November 2016
Europe and the Refugee Situation – Security, Politics and Human Consequences
Jean-Pierre Cassarino, Institute on the Contemporary Maghreb, Tunis; Roderick Parkes, senior analyst, European Union Institute for Security Studies; Ninna Nyberg Sørensen, research coordinator and senior researcher, DIIS; Hans Lucht, senior researcher, DIIS; Nauja Kleist, senior researcher, DIIS.More information will follow.

6 December 2016
Counter-narratives of Human smuggling, Trafficking and Irregular Border Crossings – perspectives from the EU and US
Speakers: Gabriella Sanchez,Assistant Professor of Human Security, University of Texas at El Paso; Sine Plambech, postdoc, DIIS; Ninna Nyberg Sørensen, research coordinator and senior researcher, DIIS.More information will follow.

Date pending
Book launch: Hope and Uncertainty in Contemporary African Migration
Speakers: Nauja Kleist, senior researcher, DIIS; Ida Marie Vammen, PhD candidate, DIIS and University of Copenhagen; Hans Lucht, senior researcher, DIIS; other speakers to be announced.More information will follow.