EVENTS | HYBRID
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2023
The Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility is pleased to host a series of events in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. The events will focus on the Article 14 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution‘.
The day will feature a panel on the current situation regarding asylum seekers and migrants and the future of the asylum system, followed by a film screening. The evening will conclude with an address and Q&A session with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.
Panel: ‘Current Challenges to the Right to Asylum and the Future of the International Protection System’
More than 108 million people globally have been forced to flee their homes due to persecution, conflict, violence and serious human rights violations. The 1951 Refugee Convention provides the foundation of the international protection system, guaranteeing the right to claim and enjoy asylum from persecution. However, most of the world’s forcibly displaced persons remain outside the international system of refugee protection. They do not meet the Convention’s strict definition of refugee, and many remain in situations of danger, unable to seek safety elsewhere, because of a lack of resources.
Developed states have ‘fortress-like’ policies designed to deter, punish and push asylum-seekers away from their borders, and deflect responsibility for their care to other less-developed states. The burden and responsibility for the protection of more than 70% of the world’s refugees falls disproportionately on lower or middle-income countries, many close to the places of displacement. Despite statements of solidarity to the contrary, many upper-income and developed states act in contravention of the core principles of asylum and refugee protection, contained in the 1951 Refugee Convention and other human rights instruments, undermining the principles of solidarity and burden-sharing that lie at the heart of the global asylum system.
The panel will consider how the hierarchy of protection of the last 75 years needs to be reimagined to ensure safe and humane access to asylum, which is currently under threat.
Speakers:
T. Alexander Aleinikoff
Dean, The New School for Social Research
Director, Zolberg Institute on Migration and Moblity, The New School
Raza Hussain
Member, Matrix Chambers
Edafe Okporo
Writer, Activist, and Founder of Refuge America
Leah Zamore
Associate Director, Humanitarian Policy, New York University’s Center on International Cooperation
Keynote Address and Q&A with UN High Commissioner Volker Türk
The Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility is pleased to welcome United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk as he delivers a keynote address on Article 14 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.”
Following the address will be a Q&A session from the audience.
Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Mr. Türk is the current United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. He took up his official functions as High Commissioner on 17 October 2022.
He has devoted his long and distinguished career to advancing universal human rights, notably the international protection of some of the world’s most vulnerable people – refugees and stateless persons.
Prior to this, Mr. Türk was the Under-Secretary-General for Policy in the Executive Office of the United Nations Secretary-General where he coordinated global policy work. He also ensured UN system-wide coordination in the follow-up to the Secretary-General’s “Call to Action for Human Rights” and his report, Our Common Agenda, which sets out a vision to tackle the world’s interconnected challenges on foundations of trust, solidarity and human rights. He previously served as Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Coordination in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General (2019-2021).
As Assistant High Commissioner for Protection in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva (2015-2019), Mr. Türk played a key role in the development of the landmark Global Compact on Refugees.
Over the course of his career, he held a number of key positions including at UNHCR headquarters where he served as Director of the Division of International Protection (2009-2015); Director of Organizational Development and Management (2008-2009); and Chief of Section, Protection Policy and Legal Advice (2000-2004). Mr. Türk also served UNHCR around the world, including as Representative in Malaysia; Assistant Chief of Mission in Kosovo and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, respectively; Regional Protection Coordinator in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and in Kuwait.
Mr. Türk holds a doctorate in international law from the University of Vienna and a Master of Laws degree from the University of Linz, Austria. He has published widely on international refugee law and international human rights law. He is fluent in English and French and has a working knowledge of Spanish.