2019 International Workshop on Responsibility, Legitimacy and Accountability

International Workshop on Responsibility, Legitimacy and Accountability, 14 June 2019, Prato, Italy

The world is currently experiencing refugee movement on an unprecedented scale. In an attempt to prevent refugees from reaching their territory, many wealthy Western states adopt externalisation policies. These policies exploit power asymmetries to transfer state and regional obligations and responsibility for asylums seekers and refugees to neighbouring states. At their most destructive, externalisation policies can prevent refugees from reaching safety, and breach their human rights.

This international workshop will bring together academics, NGOs and former refugees to investigate the impact and effects of externalisation of asylum policies in two regions: Australia’s activities in Southeast Asia and the Pacific; and the European Union and its member states’ activities in North Africa.

This workshop will examine the various forms of externalisation, including interception at sea, detention, third country interceptions and border policing and discuss the impact these policies have on refugees' access to safety. The sessions will further explore the effect that externalisation has on notions of responsibility, legitimacy and accountability. As border controls are shifted beyond the frontiers of the state, these issues are more important than ever.

Download the CONREP workshop program (840kb pdf)

Attendance at the CONREP workshop is free but space is limited.

  • WORKSHOP