RSC Public Seminar Series, Michaelmas term 2023
Series convenor: Tom Scott-Smith

About the seminar:
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is an increasingly influential actor in the global governance of migration and refugeehood. The panel explores IOM major, under-examined roles in relation to refugees and internal displacement, from facilitating refugee resettlement and humanitarian aid to internally displaced persons (IDPs) to managing camps, collecting data, organizing the purportedly voluntary return of rejected asylum seekers, and providing services in detention centres that form part of the global containment system.

This panel presents key arguments and findings from a new open access book on IOM, edited by Megan Bradley, Angela Sherwood and Cathryn Costello, entitled “IOM Unbound? Obligations and Accountability of the International Organization for Migration in an Era of Expansion” (CUP 2023).

Bringing together leading experts in international law and international relations, the collection examines the dynamics and implications of IOM’s expansion in a new way. Analyzing IOM as an international organization (IO), the book illuminates the practices, obligations and accountability of this powerful but controversial actor, advancing understanding of IOM itself and broader struggles for IO accountability. Featuring presentations of chapters focused on IOM’s work with refugees and forced migrants, this panel deepens understanding of IOM’s contested roles in recognizing, failing to recognise and containing refugees and other displaced populations.

SPEAKERS:
Dr Angela Sherwood (Queen Mary University) and Professor Cathryn Costello (University College Dublin and Hertie School Berlin): IOM Unbound? Introducing the Edited Collection

Dr Ben Hudson (University of Exeter) and Dr Brid Ní Ghráinne (Maynooth University): IOM’s Engagement with the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement

Dr Anne Koch (German Institute for International and Security Affairs): The International Organization for Migration as a Data Entrepreneur: The Displacement Tracking Matrix and Data Responsibility Deficits

Chair: Professor Cathryn Costello (University College Dublin and Hertie School Berlin)

This seminar is part of a series of events to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Refugee Studies Centre (RSC). It is the third event in the Recognising Refugees Online Series hosted by the RefMig project at the Centre for Fundamental Rights, Hertie School in cooperation with the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford, the Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin, and the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, University of New South Wales.