Foreign policy bears directly on refugee policy. Today both policy agendas are feeling the twin pressures of nationalism and globalisation, and the long-prevailing rulesbased order is now contested. What does this mean for people seeking protection? What does it mean for the international legal regime that has governed refugee movements since the Second World War, finding solutions for millions of displaced people, even as millions more now face an uncertain future in protracted situations? Can international dialogue promote better cooperation and accountability for protecting the world’s displaced? How do international legal norms inform, and become shaped through, diplomatic negotiations? What are the prospects for protecting displaced people in the Asia-Pacific region, and what role does and can Australia play in this endeavour?
The Kaldor Centre Annual Conference on 23 November 2018 will bring Australian, regional and global thinkers to Sydney to explore the place of ‘refugee diplomacy’ in today’s turbulent world, and the interdependence of foreign and domestic policy agendas that impact refugees, asylum seekers and other forced migrants.
See the full conference program.
The year in review [Download speech]
Professor Jane McAdam, Director, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Sydney
Opening keynote address
The rise and fall of US diplomacy on refugees and migrants: Inside recent history [Download speech]
Anne C Richard, former US Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration
Chaired by Andrew Kaldor AM, Founder, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Sydney
Panel 1 - Negotiating protection on the international stage
Cooperation, compromise and commitments: The Global Compact on Refugees
Professor Guy S Goodwin-Gill, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Sydney
The link between safety and orderly migration
Marianne Dickie, Visiting Fellow, Australian National University College of Law
Refugee rights at risk: Evolving barriers to asylum, eroding protections
Bill Frelick, Director, Refugee Rights Program, Human Rights Watch
Chaired by Thomas Albrecht, UNHCR's Regional Representative for Refugees for Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific and member of the Kaldor Centre Advisory Committee
Panel 2 - Displacement and diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific
Second track diplomacy on displacement in the region: The Asia Dialogue on Forced Migration
Travers McLeod, Chief Executive Officer, Centre for Policy Development
'Refugee diplomacy' in turbulent times: Perspectives on the role of civil society in the Asia-Pacific
Tamara Domicelj, Regional Refugee Protection Advisor, Act for Peace
Responsibility-sharing and the Asia-Pacific
Professor Penelope Mathew, Dean of Law, Griffith University
Chaired by Renata Kaldor AO, Founder, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Sydney
Panel 3 - Q&A - Behind the scenes of refugee diplomacy
David Wilden, First Assistant Secretary, International Policy Division, Department of Home Affairs
Apajok Biar, Multicultural Youth Ambassador, Multicultural Youth of Australia Network NSW
Professor Erika Feller, Vice Chancellor's Fellow, University of Melbourne
John Quinn, former Australian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Conference on Disarmament in Geneva
Chaired by Leanne Smith, Associate Director, Whitlam Institute, Western Sydney University and member of the Kaldor Centre Advisory Committee
Vote of thanks
Professor George Williams AO, Dean of Law, UNSW Sydney
The Kaldor Centre would like to thank:
for their support enabling community organisations to participate in the Kaldor Centre Annual Conference 2018.
Anne C Richard served as US Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration in the Obama Administration (2012-17). In this role she led US diplomacy on refugee and humanitarian issues, and negotiated with Australia regarding resettlement of refugees from Manus Island and Nauru. She is currently a Centennial Fellow at the Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University and is affiliated with its Institute for the Study of International Migration. Previously, she held senior roles at the International Rescue Committee (2004-12), the US State Department, Peace Corps and the US Office of Management and Budget. Ms Richard is a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and has a Master's degree in Public Policy Studies from the University of Chicago.
