Legal responses to forced mass migration: regional approaches and perspectives

Background and the theme of the conference

Since 2015, the European Union has been facing significant flows of migrants and refugees, which resulted in what many denote a migration crisis. This has raised questions concerning the EU´s asylum and migration policy, as well as relevant EU response mechanisms and their legal underpinnings. Globally however, Europe is just one of the regions of the world facing mass migration. The conference therefore aims at exploring legal responses to forced mass migrations from a European and African perspective, as well as from the perspective of other regions.

The conference will address and investigate the following major issues:

• responding through law: mass influx of forced migrants as a legal challenge at the regional and national level;
• the problem of mass influx in various regions of the world and the specificities of applicable legal frameworks with a particular focus on African and European (including Central European) issues/developments;
• definition of basic international legal concepts and frameworks applicable in the context of mass migration.

Administrative arrangements

The conference will be held at Palacký University in Olomouc, Faculty of Law, Olomouc (Czech Republic) from 21 to 22 October 2016.

Accommodation for speakers will be arranged. All other conference participants are kindly invited to make travel and accommodation arrangements on their own. The conference website provides further information on recommended accommodation and travel directions. Foreign visitors to the Czech Republic may have to apply for a visa at the appropriate Embassy or Consulate of the Czech Republic.

More details, including registration form is available at: www.massmigration.upol.cz

On behalf of the organizing committee,

dr. Martin Faix (Palacký University Olomouc, Dpt. of International and European Law)
prof. Hennie A. Strydom (University of Johannesburg, SA Research Chair in International Law)
dr. Věra Honusková (Odysseus Network)