Pamela DeLargy, former Senior Advisor to the U.N. Special Representative for Migration, discusses African migrants and refugees and the "refugee crisis" in Europe.
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
1:00 PM - 2:15 PM
10383 Bunche Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Conflict, rights violations, unemployment and poverty drive the movement of millions in Africa to neighbouring countries and, sometimes, onward to other regions or continents. Although most African migrants and refugees remain on the continent, recent movements across the Mediterranean have been seen as part of the "refugee crisis" in Europe, leading to various strategies to control the flow of arrivals. These have ranged from shifts in asylum policies to outright abrogation of humanitarian response standards, all of which undermine access to international protection for those who need it. Recent EU agreements with African origin and transit countries were designed both to encourage people to stay home and also to strengthen reinforcement of border security but, in fact, have often fueled smuggling and trafficking. As journeys become more perilous, deaths continue to mount. What strategies would actually be effective for protecting refugees and migrants while also preventing the need for people to leave their communities?
Pam DeLargy has spent twenty years engaged in humanitarian response within the UN system, with particular attention to the needs of women and adolescents in conflict settings. She has served in Africa and the Middle East and for ten years also led the global humanitarian program for UNFPA. Most recently, she was Senior Advisor to the U.N. Special Representative for Migration, focusing on policy responses to the cross Mediterranean migration to Europe. Her graduate training was in political science, demography and public health and she is a specialist on the Horn of Africa, having spent many years living and working in Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Sudan.
Cost : Free and open to the public; pay-by-space and all-day ($12) parking available in lot 3.
UCLA African Studies Center310-825-3686
africa@international.ucla.edu http://www.international.ucla.edu/africa
Sponsor(s): African Studies Center