NEW DIRECTIONS SOUGHT ON REFUGEE POLICY

An international conference to mark the 50th anniversary of the United Nations refugee convention will be staged next week at the University of New South Wales.

Hosted by UNSW's Centre for Refugee Research, the conference will bring together international law experts, policy makers, activists and others working in the area of refugees to develop new models for the protection and treatment of refugees both in Australia and internationally.

Centre Director, Eileen Pittaway, said the major objective of the conference would be to examine the effectiveness of the United Nations Convention on the Status of Refugees in 2001 and to clarify Australia's obligations as a member of the international community.

"It is now 50 years since the Refugee Convention was signed by 140 nations of the world and it is failing to address the problems of unprecedented forced migration and people movement There are over 22 million refugees in the world today and an additional 25 million internally displaced people - the majority of these are women and children," she said.

According to Ms Pittaway, governments have been reacting to the problem with increasingly punitive measures. "The ways in which the current convention is interpreted and applied is clearly failing. We have to explore new and more effective ways to provide protection for these people," she said.

"Australia had a proud international record on refugee and human rights issues, but our current policy and law have severely eroded that reputation," Ms Pittaway said. "The United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees has expressed concern over Australia's treatment of asylum seekers, and nations who receive many thousands of asylum seekers and refugees a year view the draconian measures taken by Australia to contain the few thousands who reach our shores, with wry amusement and disbelief."

The conference will explore the root causes of refugee generation, such as the arms trade, the negative effects of globalisation and structural racism. It will also examine the impact of inter- and intra-country conflicts, severe poverty, people trafficking, people smuggling, and the dislocation of millions of lives. It will examine the gaps between what is needed and the way services are provided, and the political and legal issues involved in the refugee phenomenon.

"This conference will put these issues on the table and provide a forum for vigorous discussion debate and the generation of proposals for a new direction," Ms Pittaway said.

Speakers at this international conference include Chris Lamb, Head, Humanitarian Advocacy Department, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Geneva; Michel Gabauden, Regional Representative, UNHCR and Nelia Sancho, Asian Women Human Rights Council as well as Chris Sidoti, The Human Rights Council of Australia; and Dr William Maley, School of Politics, University College, Australian Defence Force Academy.

"The Refugee Convention - where to from here?" begins at the UNSW on 6 December, and the outcomes will go directly to a major United Nations meeting on the Refugee Convention.

CONTACT DETAILS: Sarah Martin, tel. 9385 3192, mobile 0408 113 407, email s.martin@unsw.edu.au for more media information or a full conference program.