Get the facts: 5 Kaldor Centre Podcasts for Refugee Week

Refugee Week starts conversations, and conversations work best when they begin with facts. Here are some Kaldor Centre podcasts to help you get started:

1. Podcast: Public attitudes to refugees - Session 1: What do we know?

The first in a fascinating four-session Kaldor Centre series about public attitudes, this podcast features five experts comparing international, national and Australian regional perceptions about asylum seekers and refugees as reflected in recent research.

2. Podcast: The Displacement Project: Perspectives on climate change and displacement

Many more people are forced from their homes by disasters than by conflict, and the numbers are likely to grow as the impacts of climate change are felt, in extreme weather events and slow-onset environmental events such as desertification, drought and rising sea levels. Listen to Professor Jane McAdam, world-renowned for her research on disaster displacement; Professor David Sanderson, the inaugural Judith Neilson Chair of Architecture at UNSW with 25 years’ experience working in development and disaster resilience across the world; and Dr Maryanne Loughry, Associate Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service Australia, discuss what it means for people around the world.

3. Podcast: All at sea: Comparative perspectives on turning back boats

The movement of asylum seekers and migrants by boat has seized attention across the world. In Australia and elsewhere, governments have enacted policies to intercept and turn back asylum seekers at sea. What do we know (and not know) about these policies, and what are the legal and practical implications of turning back boats? Our panel - Macquarie Law School lecturer Dr Daniel Ghezelbash, Rear Admiral James Goldrick AO, CSC RAN (Retired), Queen Mary University of London law lecturer Dr Violeta Moreno-Lax and Kaldor Centre Executive Manager Frances Voon, discuss the law, policy and practice of turning back boats in Europe, the United States and Australia. 

4. Podcast: 2016 in Review by Jane McAdam

Some critics say the 1951 Refugee Convention has passed its use-by date. It is, we are told, too old to respond adequately to the displacement challenges of the 21st century – whether because it is too restrictive in its reach, or too generous. It is at once too narrow and too broad; simultaneously blocking access and facilitating it. Listen to Kaldor Centre Director Jane McAdam explain why these are unfair criticisms, and largely miss the point.

5. Podcast: Global responses to refugees: what is the world thinking?

With the largest numbers of people displaced than at any time since the Second World War, the international community is struggling with the question of how best to respond. A series of global talks in 2016 aimed to tackle this intractable question. In this podcast, you can listen to Oxford University’s Dr Jeff Crisp, a longtime official with UNHCR, Refugees International and the Global Commission on International Migration, and the Director of the Kaldor Centre, Professor Jane McAdam, discuss the key issues at play.

Explore all our podcasts here and subscribe to the Kaldor Centre wherever you get your podcasts.