As much as the Greek state tries to present the fire and misery that unfolded as an unpredictable event and a state of emergency, this disaster was preventable, foreseeable and, therefore, foretold and avoidable. It is the outcome of a series of inadequate and patchy political decisions as well as the largely exclusionary, discriminatory and deterrent policies that have been implemented within and beyond the EU’s borders.
What now for the 1951 Convention?
From our perspective, the most important development which the Global Compact on Refugees constitutes as regards the 1951 Convention is the alignment of refugee rights with human rights. The GCR commitments link together refugee protection and human rights in a UN instrument which, while not legally binding, sets out the common will of the international community.
PROTECT partner presentations: The Toronto Metropolitan University
The Ryerson team is led by Associate Professor Idil Atak, joining her are the early career Ph.D. fellows, Zainab Abu Alrob, and Jona Zyfi. Together, they will drive the Canadian-oriented research of PROTECT, involving fieldwork among migrants and refugees in Canadian cities and co-leading PROTECT’s dissemination and engagement work.