Perry World House Conference Examines Migration and Human Rights
Perry World House’s (PWH) fourth and final conference of the academic year—this one on human rights and global justice—kicked off on Wednesday, April 16.
PWH Executive Director Marie Harf opened the conference by noting that “the world is experiencing unprecedented levels of displacement driven by conflict, economic insecurity and instability, and the impacts of climate change.” This, she said, has led to an increase in already divisive discourse about the role of migrants in society, both in the United States and around the world.
Following Harf’s welcome, keynote speaker Amy Pope, director-general of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and a PWH distinguished visiting fellow, took the stage for the conference’s opening keynote session. In a conversation with PWH’s Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, DG Pope spoke about the interplay between migration, human rights, and asylum policies. “We cannot talk about human civilization without talking about migration and whether it’s people who are fleeing conflict, people who are looking for better opportunities, people who are fleeing persecution. This is the story of human civilization and every single one of in this room—every single one of us on this planet—has the story somewhere in their background.”
Day two of the conference featured a series of panel discussions focusing on the international landscape of migration. Speakers noted, in many cases, the shifting landscape of migrants and asylum seekers, who are moving further from borderlands. This, in turn, affects perceptions of migrants in their host communities. The challenges around returning migrants to their home countries were also discussed, including the protecting human rights in cases of both voluntary and involuntary return.
The interplay between academic work and the work of policymakers was always at the forefront of the discussion, including how these groups can collaborate more effectively. Day three of the conference was organized by Penn’s Beth Simmons and her Borders and Boundaries project. The conversations on this day continued and deepened the discussions started on day two, keeping the political aspects of border policy and labor exploitation top of mind. And at the final session of the day and the conference, the University of Pennsylvania’s Development Research Initiative (PDRI/DevLab@Penn) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) launched a new project aimed at leveraging technology and data to better understand the dynamics of migration and inform more effective solutions. You can read more about this new project here.
International Organization for Migration Director General Amy Pope speaking on a panel on human rights risks as migrants approach increasingly hardened borders.
Lord Marvin Rees, former Mayor of Bristol and Perry World House Distinguished Visiting Fellow, discussing the relationship between migrants and the cities where they are present.
Beth Simmons, Andrea Mitchell University Professor of Law and Political Science delivering opening remarks for the second workshop day of the conference.
Perry World House Distinguished Visiting Fellow Tarek Zeidan discussing how cities innovate and prepare their social and physical infrastructure to accommodate new arrivals in a just and humane way.
Perry World House Lightning Scholar Lama Mourad discussing human rights risks as migrants approach borders.
Koko Warner and Erik Wibbels launching the joint project between the International Organization for Migration and DevLab @ Penn.
