The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, the School of Law, SOAS University of London, the SOAS Centre of African Studies and Cambridge University Press, cordially invite you to the virtual launch of the Journal of African Law (JAL) Special Issue on Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons (edited by Romola Adeola, Lutz Oette, Olivia Lwabukuna and Frans Viljoen).

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Virtual Launch: Journal of African Law (JAL) - Special Issue on Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons

Thursday 29 July 2021
09:00 GMT / 10:00 WAT / 10:00 BST / 11:00 SAST / 11:00 CET / 12:00 EAT
All participants are required to register on Zoom.
The event will be live-streamed on Facebook and YouTube.

Register on Zoom

Chair 

• Romola Adeola (Co-editor / Author) 

Introductory comments

• Lutz Oette, School of Law, Centre for Human Rights Law, SOAS University of London (Co-editor)
• Frans Viljoen, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria (Co-editor / Author) 

Panel discussion 

• Sara Palacios Arapiles, School of Law, University of Nottingham (Author)
• Cecile Sackeyfio, School of Education, University of Cape Town (Author) 
• Olivia Lwabukuna, School of Law, SOAS University of London (Co-editor / Author)  
• Tresor Makunya, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria (Author) 

Q & A Session 

Concluding Remarks 

Background

The African Union (AU) declared 2019 the Year of Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: Towards Durable Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa. This was an apt choice, as it provided an opportunity to commemorate two anniversaries: the adoption of the 1969 Organization of African Unity (OAU) Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugees in Africa (OAU Refugee Convention) 50 years ago and of the 2009 AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention) 10 years ago.

Arising from a conference held at the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, this special issue reflects on the state of refugee and IDP protection in, and across, Africa. The contributing authors analyse and engage with historical developments as well as contemporary challenges and prospects in the field of both refugee law and IDP law in Africa. They also examine the role of Africa’s human rights treaties, namely the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, in the context of forced migration.

Refugee law and IDP law are fitting subjects for examination at a time characterized by (the desire for) mobility and forced displacement across Africa and beyond, occasioned by local, regional and global developments. Our contributors have woven together a rich tapestry of the state of law in Africa in a field of growing importance, ranging from the conceptual foundations of regional refugee law and IDP law, legal developments and practices, to evolving challenges and responses.

Overall, this special issue advances critical insights into these instruments, opening space for further discussions on the protection of forcibly displaced populations in Africa beyond the rhetorical celebration of these important 50 and 10-year milestones.

Contacts

For more information, please contact:

Yolanda Booyzen
Communcations and Advocacy Manager
Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria
[email protected] 
www.chr.up.ac.za