Upcoming webinar: Through a Legal Lens - Internal Displacement, Citizenship and Statelessness

WEBINAR 

'Through a Legal Lens: Internal Displacement, Citizenship and Statelessness’
Middle East Research Network on Internal Displacement (MERNID)

Tuesday 4 May, 2-3pm UK / 4-5pm Syria / 6.30-7.30 Afghanistan

Internally displaced persons (IDPs) are usually assumed to be citizens of their country who, in principle, can rely on the legal protection of their own government. Yet the enormous IDP crises of the past decade in the Middle East call these assumptions sharply into question. What role does law play protecting IDPs caught up in conflictive and unstable contexts as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan? What does this mean for legal concepts of citizenship – and statelessness – in this region?

The new Middle East Research Network on Internal Displacement (MERNID) begins a conversation on the issue through three local case-studies. MERNID works to address the gaps in research on internal displacement in this region by building a robust community of researchers and practitioners around this challenge. The webinar will be chaired by MERNID director, Dr Hana Asfour.

• “IDPs and Crisis Management in Afghanistan: Analysis of Legal Framework and Social Protection Policies” - Dr Heda Siddiqi, Director of the Department of Research and Training Need Assessment, Afghanistan Civil Service Institute, Afghanistan 
• “Legal Perspectives on IDPs in Syria” - Zahra Al-Barazi,  lawyer and independent consultant on statelessnsss, Syria 
• “Born of ISIS Genocide: Risk of Statelessness and Stigmatised Nationality Acquisition for Children of Displaced Yezidi Survivors” - Thomas McGee, Researcher, Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, University of Melbourne, Australia 
   

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/95867462750?pwd=MGk4SmlkNHhWRWltb00yN3o3WDJjZz09  

Zoom Meeting ID: 958 6746 2750. Passcode: 956786

The webinar will be English.   

Photo credit: UNHCR/Vivian Tou’meh