Time: 6:00 - 8:00pm Venue: Room 2.10, School of Law Queen Mary, University of London Mile End Road E1 4NS London United Kingdom
The lecture will consist of an assessment of recent developments in asylum and migration law within Europe. First, it will assess the legal and political reasons why the increase in arrivals of people seeking protection in Europe generated an all-consuming political crisis for the continent. It will then present the actual responses to the crisis, with a focus on the use of legal change to promote political objectives. It will move to consider the alternatives promoted by ECRE and others to both the status quo and to new proposals. Finally, it will reflect on the likely future scenarios for asylum in Europe and their implications for the global protection system.
Catherine Woollard took up the position of Secretary General of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles in 2016. ECRE is a pan-European alliance of 99 NGOs in 40 European countries working to defend and promote the rights of refugees and displaced persons. Its work covers litigation, research, advocacy and communications.
She has worked in the NGO sector since 2003, focusing on human rights, conflict prevention, security, and governance. From 2008 to 2015, she was Director of EPLO, the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office, a Brussels-based network working on conflict prevention and security. She has also worked for the UK civil service; as lecturer in political science, and as a consultant advising governments, international organisations and NGOs.