To take stock and critically reflect on the experience of the intervening 50 and 10 years, the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, will host a two-day Conference, on 6 and 7 September 2019 on the theme: “Beyond 50 and 10, beyond the rhetoric: The protection of forced migrants in Africa”. 

Date: 6 - 7 September 2019
Venue: University of Pretoria, Hatfield Campus 
Deadline for submission: 30 April 2019 

Download call for abstracts  |  Register for Conference

Aim of the Conference 

In 1969 and 2009, respectively 50 and 10 years ago, the African Union (AU) (and its predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU)) adopted two instruments on forced migration in Africa: The OAU Convention on the Specific Problems of Refugees in Africa (African Refugee Convention) and the AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (IDP or ‘Kampala’ Convention). While the aim of the African Refugee Convention is to provide guidance to states on the protection of persons who have been displaced from other states, the Kampala Convention provides guidance on the protection of persons displaced within the borders of a particular state.

Although both instruments have been recognized as ground-breaking African frameworks, the issue of forced displacement remains a daunting challenge on the continent.

To take stock and critically reflect on the experience of the intervening 50 and 10 years, the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, will host a two-day Conference, on 6 and 7 September 2019 on the theme: “Beyond 50 and 10, beyond the rhetoric: The protection of forced migrants in Africa”.

The focus of the Conference is to critically examine the extent to which these frameworks (African Refugee and IDP Conventions) meaningfully address forced migration at the regional, subregional and national level in Africa.

Papers that bring original contributions to knowledge, that move beyond superficial discussions on the nature of the forced migration crisis, and that seek to answer pertinent questions relating to the protection of forcibly populations (both from theoretical and empirical perspectives), are invited, in particular.

Call for Abstracts

The organisers invite abstracts by anyone interested in presenting a paper at the Conference. It is anticipated that an equal number of papers will eventually be presented focusing on refugees and IDPs.

• Abstracts should be between a minimum of 250 and a maximum of 350 words, and should:
• have a clear and descriptive title;
• indicate the main question(s) to be addressed;
• identify the proposed methodology; and
• set out the anticipated findings (and their implications).
• In addition, the name, educational and professional qualifications of the author(s) should be stated in a sentence or two (in the same document; not included in the word count).
• Abstracts must be submitted, on or before 30 April 2019, to:

[email protected] copying [email protected]

• The most suitable abstracts will be selected to be fully developed and presented.
• The aim is to publish the papers, reworked after their presentation, in a collection of essays (in 2020).
• A limited number of authors of selected abstracts will be supported to attend the Conference. Contributors should please indicate if financial support for travel and/or accommodation is required.

Important dates

• Abstracts should reach the organisers by 30 April 2019.
• Abstracts selected for development of a full paper and presentation will be made known by 15 May 2019.
• Fully developed papers should be submitted, for distribution among Conference participants, by 5 August 2019 (one month in advance of the Conference).

Participants

The Conference will also be open to attendees who are not presenting papers. There will be no registration fee and tea and lunches will be free for all participants.

Please note: In-coming participants will have to cover and arrange their own transport and accommodation

Registration

Click Here to Register

Application Deadline: 30 April 2019.

Please note: There is no registration fee but participants who are not presenting papers will be responsible for their own transport and accommodation.

Contact the organisers

For queries about the Conference, please contact:

Dr Romola Adeola
[email protected]
www.chr.up.ac.za

Join the conversation

This conference will be making use of the #AfricanMigrantsMatter hashtag.

Join the conversation on the following social media channels:

 @CHR_HumanRights    @CentreforHumanRights   @centreforhumanrights