The 1951 Refugee Convention helped people displaced by World War II find a safe haven.<\/p>\n
But today, that same treaty fails to live up to its purpose, according to British academic Alexander Betts.<\/p>\n
Betts, the Leopold Muller Professor of Forced Migration and International Affairs at the University of Oxford, will be the speaker for the University of La\u00a0Verne\u2019s Benazir Bhutto and Ahmed Ispahani International Lectureship on April 18. His talk, \u201cTransforming a Broken Refugee System,\u201d will be from noon to 1 p.m. in Campus Center Ballroom A, followed by a book signing in the Presidents Dining Room at 2:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn theory, refugees have a right to seek asylum. In practice, our immigration policies block the path to safety,\u201d Betts said. \u201cIn theory, refugees have a right to a pathway to integration, or return to the country they\u2019ve come from. But in practice, they get stuck in almost indefinite limbo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Betts, who is also the director for his university\u2019s Refugee Studies Centre and a senior research fellow, focuses on the politics and economics of refugee assistance in his work.<\/p>\n
He has written books including \u201cMobilising the Diaspora: How Refugees Challenge Authoritarianism,\u201d \u201cGlobal Migration Governance,\u201d and \u201cProtection by Persuasion.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlexander Betts\u2019 work on refugees is important because it reframes the debate on the global refugee crisis,\u201d said Associate Professor of Political Science Dr. Gitty Amini, who is organizing the talk. \u201cWhile most people would agree that it is an issue of ethical responsibility, Betts reminds us that it is also an economic and development opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lecture series was established by alumnus and Trustee Paul Moseley in 2007 and features renowned speakers with expertise in international issues. It honors the legacy, leadership, and courage of Benazir Bhutto, the 11th<\/sup>\u00a0prime minister of Pakistan, and her cousin, Dr. Ahmed Ispahani, professor of business administration and economics at the University of La\u00a0Verne.<\/p>\n The 1951 Refugee Convention helped people displaced by WWII find a safe haven, but Alexander Betts says the same treaty fails to live up to its purpose now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7281,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1549,4814],"tags":[885,219],"class_list":["post-7280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-events","category-laverne-edu-news-university-campus-life","tag-benazir-bhutto-and-ahmed-ispahani-international-lectureship","tag-cas"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEvent Details<\/h2>\n
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