The 11th Edition of the Summer School on Migration and Human Rights, jointly organized by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and John Cabot University, was held from July 13 to July 17 at JCU. The Program brought together 52 students, practitioners and professionals from 29 countries across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania.
The Summer School featured the screening of the documentary Climate Refugees: A Global Challenge directed by François-Xavier Trégan. While using the term “climate refugees” provocatively, the documentary aims to shed light on the personal accounts of people in the Asia-Pacific and Latin America who have been forced to flee their homes because of climate change.
The event opened with remarks by Mary Merva, JCU Vice-President of Academics and Professor of Economics, and Cristina Nardelli, Senior Fellow at UNICRI. This was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Silvia Scarpa (Chair of the Department of Political Science and International Affairs and Professor of International Relations), featuring Fausto Pocar, (Professor Emeritus at the University of Milan and former President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Christopher Hein, (Professor of Law and Policy on Immigration and Asylum at LUISS Guido Carli University), and Nicola Colacino, (Full Professor of International Law at the Centre for Advanced Defence Studies – University School (CASD-SSU).
Discussions focused on States’ existing obligations regarding climate change, legal responsibility in cases of internal displacement, and the challenges for low-lying States. The Summer School concluded with closing remarks by JCU’s new President Antonia Maioni.
The Summer School provided participants with an interdisciplinary forum to explore the evolving relationship between migration and human rights at a time of profound geopolitical transformations. Participants’ diverse backgrounds, expertise, and enthusiasm fostered a deep exchange on migration management and mobility with experts from academia, the United Nations system, international organizations, and civil society while examining the legal, policy, humanitarian, security, and technological dimensions of one of today’s greatest global challenges.
