RSC SHORT COURSE : STATELESSNESS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW

Location

Rationale
Since Hannah Arendt famously wrote that ‘to be stripped of citizenship is to be stripped of worldliness’, millions of persons throughout the world have been born or have became stateless, and entire generations have never enjoyed the fundamental right of possessing a legal identity. At the same time, as noted by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there have been in recent times ‘some currents of fresh air blowing through the strange, sad world of the stateless’. The issue of statelessness is rising steadily on the agenda of the United Nations, regional institutions, governments and civil society in many parts of the world. There is also an increasing and more thorough body of both theoretical and empirical research looking at citizenship and lack thereof from various perspectives. It is within this context that the Refugee Studies Centre offers its second short course on statelessness and international law.

Pedagogy and curriculum
The course will run for 2.5 days, and will be facilitated by some of the leading experts on this issue. It will be participative and interactive, involving practical examples and case studies. The course will cover various thematic areas, including an overview of the problem of statelessness in today's world; the international legal framework for the prevention and reduction of statelessness, and the status of stateless persons; international relations and political aspects of state formation, national identity and citizenship; distinctions between de facto and de jure statelessness; and specific causes of statelessness such as state succession and gender inequality in nationality laws. Case studies will be drawn from current statelessness situations in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. There will be four case studies, presented in parallel sessions; each sub-group of participants will attend two case studies.
The course has been devised by RSC staff member Dr Alice Edwards, Departmental Lecturer in International Human Rights and Refugee Law, in close cooperation with the Statelessness Unit of UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva. The international legal framework will be led by Professor Guy Goodwin-Gill, Senior Research Fellow, All Soul’s College, University of Oxford.
 

Instructors
Alice Edwards Lecturer in International Refugee and Human Rights Law, Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford
Matthew Gibney Reader in Politics and Forced Migration and Elizabeth Colson Lecturer in Forced Migration, Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford
Guy Goodwin-Gill Senior Research Fellow and Professor of Public International Law, All Soul’s College, University of Oxford
Gábor Gyulai Refugee Programme Coordinator, Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Budapest
Bronwen Manby Senior Programme Adviser – Africa, Open Society Justice Initiative
Mark Manly Head, Statelessness Unit, UNHCR Geneva
Abbas Shiblak Research Associate at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford; working for several years on the issue of statelessness, in particular in the Middle East.
 

Who for?
This course is suitable for experienced practitioners, graduate researchers, parliamentarians and staff, members of the legal profession, government officials, personnel of intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, advocates and stateless persons. Personal and professional interest and commitment are the key criteria for participation.
 

Where?
St Anne’s College, University of Oxford

When?
16-18 April 2010. The course starts at 9.00am on Friday 16 April and ends at 1.00pm on Sunday 18 April.

How much?
Fee: £580 residential (3 x b&b ensuite accommodation at St Anne’s College, Oxford)
£365 non-residential (£210 full-time students. Proof of student status required)
The fee includes tuition, accommodation, food (evening meals are not included) and course materials. Participants will need to meet their own travel costs and arrange visa and other UK entry requirements.

For registration and further information, contact:
Outreach Programme Manager, Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford, 3 Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TB, UK
Tel +44 (0)1865 281728/9 Email: rsc-outreach@qeh.ox.ac.uk www.rsc.ox.ac.uk