June 2013 Summer School on Human Rights, Migration and Globalization at NUI Galway

The Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI Galway will host its inaugural Summer School on ‘Human Rights, Migration and Globalization’ from 8-12 July. This year’s focus is ‘Defining and Promoting Human Rights of Migrants in an Era of Globalization’.

The five days of intensive sessions will be led by experts including Professor Francois Crépeau, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants.

Open to those interested in the contemporary challenges of migration and human rights protection, including practitioners, journalists, NGO representatives, government officials and students, the Summer School will familiarise participants with the sources of migrants’ rights and the available protection mechanisms. It will provide participants with an understanding of the major tensions underlying the issue of the protection of migrants’ rights and of how globalization shapes these tensions. The programme will include social activities that will allow participants to network with each other and the panel of experts in a relaxed environment.

According to Dr Ekaterina Yahyaoui, Director of the Summer School and Lecturer at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway: “Migration is an integral part of humanity’s history. However, it becomes increasingly more complex and multifaceted today. No country can avoid dealing with migration. Ireland is no exception. And perhaps challenges Ireland is facing are more pressing because within the Irish political and social landscape immigration is often regarded as a new and unfamiliar issue. The Summer School aims at filling this gap.”

Speakers for this inaugural year’s summer school include:

• Professor Francois Crépeau, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants
• Professor Tomoya Obokata, Professor of International Law and Human Rights, School of Law, Keele University
• Professor Michael O'Flaherty, Co-director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights and Chief Commissioner at the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
• Mariette Grange, Senior Researcher at the Global Detention Project of the Program for the Study of Global Migration at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva
• Helen Lowry, Director of the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland
• Maria Stavropoulou, Director of the Greek Asylum Services
• Dr Ekaterina Yahyaoui, Lecturer and LLM Director, Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway
• Dr Noelle Higgins, Lecturer, Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway
• Peter Fitzmaurice, Visiting Lecturer, Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway

For more information, including details on how to register visit http://www.conference.ie/Conferences/index.asp?Conference=222. For additional queries, email hrandmigrationsummerschool@gmail.com.

-ENDS-