International Solidarity and Palestinian Refugees: Lessons for the Future Directions of Refugee Law
Discussions of international solidarity by refugee law scholars disregard the Palestinian refugee experience. In this presentation, Dr Ogg addresses this lacuna by exploring how the concept is understood by Palestinian refugees, their supporters and scholars of Palestinian solidarity movements. Leading refugee law academics define international solidarity as states sharing responsibility for refugees. However, in the Palestinian context it encompasses individuals’ and organisations’ empathetic support for refugees’ struggles and a political commitment to end displacement. Examining this divergent conceptualisation of international solidarity not only provides a more comprehensive picture of the meaning of international solidarity for refugees, it also furnishes lessons for refugee law’s future directions. In particular, the presentation considers how the Palestinian approach to international solidarity may inform the Global Compact on Refugees.
Speaker Bio
Kate is a Senior Lecturer at the Australian National University’s School of Law. She is the co-editor of The Future of Feminist Engagement with International Law (Edward Elgar, 2019) and has published a number of influential book chapters and journal articles on refugee law, human rights law, transitional justice and feminist legal theory. Kate has given evidence on international law to the Australian Federal Parliament and is regularly invited to provide commentary on developments in refugee law and policy in domestic and international media outlets. Kate’s current projects focus on the role of litigation in refugee journeys, international solidarity for Palestinian refugees and the efficacy of community sponsorship programs. Kate is currently a Visiting Research Fellow at the RSC.
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The Refugee and Migration Law Discussion Group also welcomes offers to present papers or other work-in-progress to the group or to lead discussion. Please do contact one of the convenors if you are interested in talking to the group or if you have an idea for an informal discussion.
The group’s co-convenors are Maayan Ravid (maayan.ravid@lincoln.ox.ac.uk), Emilie McDonnell (emilie.mcdonnell@law.ox.ac.uk), Stacy Topouzova (stacy.topouzova@law.ox.ac.uk) and Poonam Sandhu (poonam.sandhu@sant.ox.ac.uk). Our Senior Member is Professor Cathryn Costello.
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