The Iraqi Refugee Crisis: Lessons for Syria and Beyond

About

Two million people per year flee across international borders due to conflict and violence, presenting one of the biggest human rights issues of our time. Despite the existence of international law designed to protect people fleeing persecution, the international community's response to population displacement varies greatly, with some people given access to resettlement in the West while others are summarily returned to their countries of origin.

What explains variation in the international community's response to cases of population displacement? In this seminar, Dr. Goldenziel will explain how the political and security interests of the United States determines if, when, and how the United Nations will call mass population displacement a refugee crisis and provide those displaced with humanitarian assistance. To make this argument, Dr. Goldenziel will draw on her extensive fieldwork on the post-2003 Iraqi refugee crisis, which she conducted in Jordan, Syria, and Egypt and at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Headquarters in Geneva. The seminar will conclude with implications for policymakers and humanitarians seeking to assist the 2.8 million people already displaced by the Syrian civil war.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.