TRAFIG final Conference
03 May 2022
Belgium
For the past three years, the Transnational Figurations of Displacement (TRAFIG) project has investigated long-lasting displacement situations in Africa, Asia and Europe and analysed options to improve displaced peoples’ lives by enhancing their chances of building sustainable futures. Undertaking more than 2,700 interviews with displaced people, policymakers and practitioners in 11 countries, TRAFIG has studied the reasons why people end up in protracted displacement situations and what coping strategies they use, identifying possible courses of action for policymakers and solutions that are better tailored to the needs and capacities of displaced persons. The project focused on long-lasting displacement, but its findings also provide important lessons for preventing new displacement from becoming protracted. At this final conference, TRAFIG researchers will share what they learned, and representatives from refugee communities, academia, the policy world, and practitioners will contribute their insights on how more displaced people can access more and better solutions. Speakers will also discuss the war in Ukraine and what lessons from TRAFIG can be applied to address displacement in this context.
Registration
https://trafig.eu/events/trafig-final-conference
Agenda
Introductory Session | 9:30 – 10:30 CEST
The promise of mobility and networks for overcoming protracted displacement
The conference will kick-off with a session highlighting TRAFIG’s key research findings and pinpointing their implications for policy and practice. It will critically re-examine the question: What could solutions for protracted displacement look like?
Benjamin Etzold, Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC), Germany
Albert Kraler, Danube University Krems, Austria
Laura Morosanu, Sussex University, United Kingdom
Anila Noor, Global Refugee-Led Network, The Netherlands
Panel 1 | 11:00 – 12:30 CEST
Moving forward: Improving responses to protracted displacement in major host countries
Panellists will discuss key trends regarding strategies displaced people are using to regain their footing, including local networking and mobility, drawn from TRAFIG work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Jordan, Pakistan, and Tanzania. They will also identify ways that the European Union and its Member States can scale up support for major refugee-receiving countries strategies to improve access to solutions in neighbouring and third countries.
Mudassar M. Javed, Society for Human Rights & Prisoners’ Aid (SHARP), Pakistan
Fawwaz Ayoub Momani, Yarmouk University, Jordan
Carolien Jacobs, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Panel 2 | 13:30 – 15:00 CEST
A new day on the horizon? Options for strengthening policies on forced displacement in the EU
This last panel will explore how protracted displacement manifests in Europe, drawing on TRAFIG research conducted in Germany, Greece, and Italy. Speakers will share how forced migrants are attempting to find their own solutions and how they can be further supported by policies and programmes. They will also shine a spotlight on more recent displacement from Ukraine and what this may mean for the future of asylum in Europe.
Panos Hatziprokopiou, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Ferruccio Pastore, International and European Forum on Migration Research (FIERI), Italy
Benjamin Etzold, Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC), Germany
Martin Wagner, International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), Austria
More speakers will be added soon.