Attend: “Which “Crisis”? Understanding and Addressing Migration” (16 December: Athens)

You are welcome to attend New-Med Conference: "Which ‘Crisis’? Understanding and Addressing Migration", hosted by the European Commission in Athens on 16 December 2016.

The conference seeks to elucidate the different meanings of the abused notion of “crisis” in a migration context, aiming to connect perceptions of the phenomenon to its local manifestations and symptoms to the root causes.

Information and program: http://www.iai.it/sites/default/files/newmed-athens-161216.pdf
Contact: n.champion@iai.it

Program
10:20 Introductory Remarks
• Thanos Dokos, Eliamep, Athens
• Lorenzo Kamel, Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) / Universität Freiburg
• Massimo Carnelos, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Rome

10:40 Keynote
• Pierre Vimont, CEIP, Brussels

11:00 Session I - Understanding the Migration and Refugee Crisis
Media and policy makers have stigmatized ongoing flows of refugees and migrants as the “migration and refugee crisis”. Yet, which crisis they have most on their mind often remains an elusive question. Is Europe in a crisis as a result of strained reception systems, lack of solidarity, and public concerns about integration, or should attention rather focus on the hotspots of conflict across the Mediterranean region, where the vast majority of the displaced people currently reside? And is the Syrian civil war THE crisis the international community should concentrate on to tackle the phenomenon, or should the focus be much broader, addressing governance failures and developmental challenges stretching from the Middle East to sub-Saharan Africa and posing challenges for the long term? The session will elucidate the different meanings of the abused notion of “crisis” in a migration context, aiming to connect perceptions of the phenomenon to its local manifestations and symptoms to the root causes.
Chair: Dia Anagnostou, Panteion University, Athens
Panelists:
• Hassan Hakimian, SOAS, London
• Efrat Ben Ze’ev, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Angeliki Dimitriadi, Eliamep, Athens
• Musa Shteiwi, University of Jordan, Amman

14:00-15:30 Session II – Solutions to the Migration Governance Crisis
What is presented as the refugee and migration crisis is certainly also, if not mainly, a migration governance crisis which has exposed the shortcomings of the humanitarian response, the limits of solidarity, and the inadequacy of existing refugee assistance schemes and migration management systems. Governance challenges are felt on many levels, from the local to the national, from the regional to the international, forcing a review of main available tools and resources, from border management to integration policy. The session will analyse different policy responses in the Mediterranean region and in Europe, discussing whether different perceptions and experiences of the “crises” can nonetheless coalesce around new common approaches and convergent objectives, transforming the current challenge into an opportunity to mobilize cooperation on a scale yet not seen.
Chair: Panagiotis Tsakonas, University of the Aegean, Athens
Panelists
• Emiliano Alessandri, OSCE, Vienna
• Roderick Parkes, EUISS, Paris
• Angelos Syrigos, Panteion University, Athens
• Rosa Balfour, GMF, Brussels

15:30 Concluding Remarks
• Michelle Pace, Roskilde University (RUC), Denmark
• Teresa Albano, OSCE, Vienna

15:50 Final Greetings and Upcoming Steps
Thanos Dokos, Eliamep, Athens
Lorenzo Kamel, Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) / Universität Freiburg

Source: Lorenzo Kamel