Photo: Cien metros más allá by Stéphane M. Grueso (cropped)

The five-day conference series, “Routes & Rights: The current international situation of migrants and refugees” will take place between 7th April – 5th May 2016 at the University of Granada. It aims to act as a space for debate, critical analysis, and reflection on the current situation of migrants and refugees attempting to make it to Europe by land and sea. The series will encompass first-hand accounts and reports from professionals working to defend the human rights of migrants and refugees. It will involve a critical analysis of the social, political and academic spheres related to these topics, an essential step if we are to create both coherent and effective development cooperation policies and education for sustainable development policies.

Every day, media outlets throughout the world show us images of boats, packed with hundreds of people on board, sinking while they desperately attempt to reach the Greek coastline, as well as photos of families, women and men waiting for their opportunity to embark for Lesbos. They also show us images of groups of people attempting to jump over the border fences in Ceuta and Melilla. However, despite being exposed to this information on a daily basis, do we really understand the causes driving hundreds of thousands of people to risk their lives in the bid to reach Europe or the United States? The main aim of this conference series is to tackle this question.

The series will begin by examining the situation of those fleeing from the war in Syria, employing perspectives from diverse organizations and individuals working in the field. It will then explore the situation of individuals from Latin America who decide to emigrate to the United States, as well as the treatment of human beings at border crossings, especially from the perspective of gender. During the fourth conference, the main topic up for analysis will be the violation of human rights along the southern borders of Spain and migration trends in Western Africa. The conference series will close with the screening of a documentary about the Detention Centre for Migrants in Valencia.

Conference dates: 7th, 14th, 21st, 27th April and 5th May 2016

Organized by: CICODE (the UGR’s Centre for Development Cooperation Initiatives) and ASCUA (Asociación Solidaria de Cooperantes Universitarios Andaluza)

Funded by: AACID

In collaboration with: Faculty of Political Science & Sociology, the Euro-Arab Foundation, Faculty of Work Sciences

This conference series is free of charge. However, you must sign up via the following link: