Webinar on Realising the Socio-Economic Rights of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Africa [27 July 2023]

While important strides have been made at international law, towards the realisation of the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, the recognition of the socio-economic rights of refugees and asylum seekers remains a great challenge at the national level in Africa. Refugees and asylum seekers continue to face discriminatory practices and are deprived of their socio-economic rights by host states. Several factors account for this, including non-domestication of international norms and standards on the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, lack of appropriate legislation to address the needs of refugees and asylum seekers, hostility and xenophobic tendencies and lack of political will by host states to implement existing standards on the rights of refugees and asylum seekers. The situation is compounded by the outbreak of Covid-19, which has pushed refugees and asylum seekers to the margins of society and rendered them more vulnerable to the negative consequences of the pandemic. In the post-COVID-19 era, refugees and asylum seekers have continued to face challenges regarding their socio-economic rights.

Against this backdrop, this webinar seeks to discuss the various barriers to the realisation of socio-economic rights of refugees and asylum seekers, and opportunities that exist to overcome these barriers.

Moderator: Gladys Mirugi-Mukundi (Dullah Omar Institute, University of the Western Cape)

Panellists:

• Dr. Bright Nkrumah (Florida Gulf Coast University)
• Prof. Emma Charlene Lubaale (Faculty of Law, Rhodes University)
• Dr. Callixte Kavuro (Postdoctoral research fellow, Stellenbosch University)
• Ms. Julie Lugulu (Kabarak University, Kenya)

Question & Answer Session

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