Displacement and Forced migration: My Rights or the State’s Sovereignty

Course description:

Force migration and refugee movements have been and continue to be social, political, legal, and historical phenomenons. In the past, immigration was primarily discussed in relation to displacement caused by war or natural disasters, or forced displacement of individuals or groups, and recipient governments accepted immigrants on the basis of humanitarianism and ethics. Today, however, forced migration has become associated with a right-based strategy and rhetoric. Humanitarianism has given way to the idea of the right to asylum, and the government's commitment to tolerance and responsibility has replaced hospitality.

The seven-week training course on Displacement and Forced migration: My Rights or the State's Sovereignty aims to provide the opportunity to comprehend the worldwide refugee movement by examining the political, social, and legal approaches to forced migration and refugees in particular. By examining the legal framework of the 1951 Convention for the Protection of Refugees and the international mechanisms related to asylum seeking, we become acquainted with the set of related international regulations, define a refugee, and review the political conditions surrounding refugee/asylum regulations. In addition, when examining the forced migration routes from the South to the North, as well as the asylum procedures and laws in northern countries, we explain the reasons and conditions for changing or revising these policies. We will conclude by analyzing the position and rights of refugees in Iran and Iranian refugees around the globe.

The course on displacement employs an interdisciplinary legal, political, and sociological approach to the issue of forced migration so that by the end of the training, participants will be familiar with definitions and basic concepts pertaining to asylum rights, social-political foundations, and approaches. In addition, students will be exposed to new advances in the field of international migration as well as case studies on refugees in Iran and Iranian refugees abroad.