Changing Nature of Forced Migration: Vulnerabilities and Responsibilities in South and Southeast Asia

Venue: Asian University for Women

Dates: 22, 23, 24 September 2011

Protracted conflicts, restrictive asylum policies, unequal burden sharing, climate change and natural disasters, along with shifting policies regarding immigration, asylum, work, development, and globalization are not only changing the nature of forced displacements but also blurring the line between forced migration and economic migration. These situations create vulnerable “people on the move”: refugees, internally displaced peoples, trafficked peoples and migrant workers for whom leaving their home becomes the only viable solution. Although they fall under different jurisdictions in domestic and international laws, their vulnerability is often similar as a result of being considered “temporary”, “illegal”, or “illegitimate” and the processes that produce peoples on the move tend to be linked and interconnected. Moreover, this kind of mobility tends to challenge the legal and normative notions about state responsibility, citizenship and identity.

The conference will examine the following:
• the intersections and specificities of causes and consequences of vulnerabilities of these groups of people;
• the coping mechanisms utilized by them;
• the implications of these commonalities and particularities for the distribution of responsibilities and action for domestic and international policies for nation-states, the international community, as well as local and regional actors.

The conference will focus on specific issues concerning South and Southeast Asian regions (including Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines).

http://www.asian-university.org/newsAndEvents/events/documents/CallforPapers.pdf