Overview

The current refugee crisis in Europe has highlighted how ill-equipped the international community is to deal with a large influx of refugees and internally displaced peoples fleeing the conflict in Syria. While armed conflicts and generalized violence have generated a large body of both categories across the globe, this is not the only cause of refugee and internally displaced flows and displacement. Large development projects and severe weather events have also given rise to mass displacement (both internal and across borders) and there is consensus that climate change will also give rise to mass displacement of people (as it already has for those in outlying islands). In fact, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recognized in their very first report that the greatest single impact of climate change may be on patterns of human migration. The projected estimates put this number between 20 million to 200 million by 2050. Such a large number of displaced people, whether internally or internationally, could likely to threaten international peace and security.

The current refugee crisis has also highlighted the massive human suffering experienced by the displaced populations. Images of families torn apart, children dying and people living under appalling conditions will haunt the international community for decades. At a time when the international community boasts of unprecedented technological advances, such scenes are an affront to human dignity when large numbers of people are forced to flee situations of violence leaving behind everything and are forced to live in appalling conditions.

Sub-Themes

This project looks at migration broadly and its impact on human rights from an interdisciplinary perspective. It will look at sub-themes of:

• gender (vulnerabilities) conflict and violence,
• climate change,
• development projects, and
• immigration and asylum.

Scholars Affiliated with the Project

We have identified a diverse group of scholars across the University whose existing or emergent research projects overlap with or are centered on questions of migration. This group includes:

• Sumudu Atapattu (Law School/Nelson Institute, climate change and human rights)
• Alexandra Huneeus (Law School, human rights law in Latin America)
• Heinz Klug (Law School)
• Helen Kinsella (Political Science, Laws of War)
• Sara Mackinnon (Communication Arts, asylum)
• Lisa Martin (Political Science, climate change)
• Scott Straus (Political Science, mass violence in Africa)
• Aili Tripp (Political Science, Gender Studies, mass violence)
• Lori DiPrete Brown (Global Health, women, displacement)
• Karen Solheim (Nursing, global health, migration)