BHRC is excited to announce the speakers for our panel entitled “In the middle of our own historical wrong: the plight of refugees.” Lord Alfred Dubs, actor and activist Vanessa Redgrave and the former President of the UK Upper Tribunal, Immigration and Asylum Chambers Mr Justice Bernard McCloskey. The panel will be chaired by BHRC Chair Kirsty Brimelow QC.
The panel will discuss the continuing challenges faced by child refugees of the Syrian crisis and the role of barristers in responding to this ongoing disaster. This discussion will cover everything from the Dubs Amendment in the UK to BHRC’s fact-finding mission to the Jungle camps of Calais as well as broader strategies for using international law to pursue justice for some of the world’s most vulnerable and stigmatised people.
As a child refugee fleeing persecution in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, Lord Dubs has spent his political career advocating for protections for child refugees. Lord Alfred Dubs proposed an amendment to the Immigration Bill in 2016 calling on the government to relocate and support unaccompanied refugee children from other countries in Europe.
Multiple award winning actress, including an Oscar, Vanessa Redgrave also has spent her life advocating for human rights, now focusing her determined energy on the refugee crisis in Europe. Her recent directorial debut with Sea Sorrow, documents the plight of child refugees—interviewing aid workers, politicians and citizen activists while drawing intimate first-person accounts from the refugees themselves.
Mr Justice McCloskey served as the President of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the Upper Tribunal from October 2013 to 2017. Previously, he was a High Court Judge in Northern Ireland and formerly Chairman of the Ireland Law Commission. He has presided over cases directly impacting refugees within the Calais camp. He is the author of various papers in the fields of human rights, immigration, asylum, advocacy and procedural law
BHRC Chair Kirsty Brimelow QC said:
“’The UK’s legacy of welcoming children displaced by war and terror is strong and proud’. Since I wrote this in a letter to The Times in January 2017 around 10,000 child refugees have been confirmed as having gone missing. But the reality is that no one is counting. Come and join the Bar Human Rights Committee’s seminar on child refugees and contribute to the one of the most important discussions of our time.“
The Annual Bar Conference will take place on 4 November 2017 at Westminster Park Plaza.
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