The Invisible Borders : Forced migrant destitution in Europe

The Jesuit Refugee Services is co-organsing a conference with EPHA and other civil society actors on the situation of forced migants in the EU.  There will also be a workshop on health.  At the bottom of this page, you will find the conference programme and an invitation.

Throughout Europe there are forced migrants who cannot meet their basic needs and fundamental rights to food, shelter, medicine, work and education.  These persons are left destitute as a consequence of state laws and policies.  Their exclusion from society leads to new, invisible, borders that divide local communities, regions and countries.

Jesuit Refugee Service-Europe invites you to network with experts and practitioners from a variety of fields - migration, asylum, health, employment, education, social welfare, housing - to find concrete solutions for a pan-European problem.

For the last five years JRS-Europe has investigated the lives of destitute forced migrants and the policies that have led to their situation.  Its 2010 report, Living in Limbo, presents the reality of destitution from 13 countries.  Together with several partners, JRS-Europe aims to build on this work by creating a forum for networking and dialogue among persons from a broad spectrum of expertise and experience.  In bringing these stakeholders together, JRS-Europe hopes to take practical and shared steps towards breaking down our invisible borders and alleviating the situation of forced migrant destitution in Europe.

The Public Conference will take place on 29 March 2011, 10:00 - 18:00 at Les Ateliers des Tanneurs rue des Tanneurs 58-62, 1000 Brussels]

Please register by 15 March 2011 with Stefan Kessler :
+32 2 250 32 21 europe.senioradvocacy@jrs.net

Programme
10:00 Introduction by the conference chair Ms Gabriele Erpenbeck, Commissioner for Migration, Lower Saxony (Germany)

Premiere of short film, Someone Among Us

Keynote speech Ms Jean Lambert, MEP (UK S&D)

A pan-European problem : Forced migrant destitution in six EU member states

A panel of JRS representatives from Germany, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Romania and the United Kingdom discuss the major factors of destitution in their countries, and the steps they have taken to address it.

The next steps : Where is change urgent, and where is it possible ? A panel discussion on the implications of today's challenges for tomorrow's policy initiatives

The conference is organised by JRS-Europe in partnership with : Caritas Europa - Cei Migra - European Federation of National Organisations Working With The Homeless - European Network for Homeless and Mentally Ill People - European Public Health Alliance - European Trade Union Confederation - JRS Germany - JRS Italy/Centro Astalli - JRS Malta - JRS Portugal - JRS Romania - JRS Ukraine - JRS United Kingdom - Médecins du Monde - Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Bureau for Europe.



 Conference details