Egypt: The Refugee and Migration Crisis in the Euro-Mediterranean Space: Context, Policies, and Human Consequences (May 29 – June 2 , 2016)

Course Description

The course analyzes the current migration crisis in the Euro-Mediterranean region both as the expression of the political turmoil affecting the region and as the result of the policies deployed by states to manage migration across the geopolitical fault-line the Mediterranean has become. As such the course situates the current volatile migration patterns within the regional political context, and addresses the policy response to them, seeking to enable students to understand their rationale and effectiveness. A particular attention will be granted to the policies of bordering and (non) assistance across the sea and their consequences for the well being of migrants. The course is useful for those working in international, national, and non-governmental organizations that engage with migration and asylum issues, particularly those working in the Euro-Mediterranean region, and to post-graduate students in migration and refugee studies, Middle East and Euro-Mediterranean studies, as well as in related fields.

Through lectures, case studies, and discussions, this one-week intensive course provides a rigorous critical overview of the current migration and refugee crisis and its short and long-term regional implications. Questions explored include: What are the political, economic, environmental, social, and cultural drivers of the current migration? Issues considered include conflict, governance, human rights, underdevelopment, inequality, demography, labor markets, climate change, desertification, drought, religious and ethnic discrimination, and xenophobia. What are the projected trends in these areas? What is the extent of the phenomenon in terms of the number of people seeking to cross the sea and of those dying in the process? How have border and rescue policies at the sea evolved over the course of the last two years and how have they affected the well-being of the migrants? To what extent such policies are bound together with the corresponding policies on land by the EU's migration regime? How effective are the policies in the origin, transit and destination countries, and to what extent do they need to be rethought? What are the short and long terms implications of the ongoing crisis? These questions are explored through regional case studies, including migration from Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen; migration from the Horn of Africa and the Sahel transiting through North Africa and the Middle East towards Europe; intersection with ongoing migration from the Balkans and Eastern Europe; and responses in transit and destination states in North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

About the Instructors:

Ibrahim Awad is Professor of Global Affairs and Director of the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies at the American University in Cairo. He has worked for the League of Arab States, the United Nations, and the International Labour Organization, holding positions of Secretary of the Commission, UN-ESCWA; Director, ILO Sub-regional Office for North Africa; and Director, ILO International Migration Programme. Dr Awad is a political scientist and political economist and his research interests and publications encompass international migration, employment, human and labour rights, development, politics and political transitions in the Middle East and North Africa, international relations, global governance and European integration.

Charles Heller is a visiting postdoc Research Fellow at the Centre for Migration and Refugee Studies, American University, Cairo and the Centre d’Etudes et de Documentation Economiques, Juridiques et Sociales, Cairo, with the support of the Swiss National Fund (SNF). Prior to this, he completed a Ph.D. in 2015 in Research Architecture at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he continues to be affiliated as a Research Fellow. Together with Lorenzo Pezzani, since 2011, he co-founded the WatchTheMed platform and has been working on Forensic Oceanography, a project that critically investigates the militarized border regime and the politics of migration in the Mediterranean Sea.

1.Eligibility for all courses:

Requirements: These courses are offered for undergraduate and postgraduate students, and researchers as well as practitioners working with migrants and refugees. A minimum knowledge of displacement and migration terminologies and context is a requirement for participation in any of the three courses.

All courses are conducted in English and no translation facilities are provided. Participants should have a very good command of the English language. Each course will run from 9 am till 5pm for five days.

Interested applicants can apply for one course or for all the three courses.

Number of Participants: minimum of 12 in each course

NB: Non- Egyptian applicants are strongly encouraged to apply early in order to have enough time to obtain their visa.

2.Dates and Location: CMRS courses will take place between Sunday 22^nd of May and 9^th of June at the AUC Tahrir Campus in Downtown Cairo. The exact location and room numbers will be forwarded to accepted participants before the start of the courses.

Application Information:

To apply for the courses:

1. Fill out the application form. The form is available on CMRS website: http://www.aucegypt.edu/GAPP/cmrs/outreach/Pages/ShortCourses.aspx

2. Send the application form to cmrscourses@aucegypt.edu with your most recent C.V; Att. Ms. Naseem Hashim

Applicants may apply to and be accepted in more than one course. Please do not hesitate to contact cmrscourses@aucegypt.edu if you have any difficulty with the application process.
Applicants accepted for the course will be notified by email within a week after the deadline for submitting the application.