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Ninth Annual Research and Orientation Workshop on Global Protection of Refugees and Migrants (08-14 November 2024) Concept Note Migrants are the most vulnerable communities all over the world. There are multiple reasons behind the vulnerabilities. War, natural disasters, economic bankruptcy, state policies and the recent Covid 19 pandemic are a few of them. Several policies have been drafted to improve the living conditions of the people since the end of World War II, but any concrete solution to the problem is yet to be found. New challenges have emerged with time and technological progress and complicate the whole concept of worldwide migration. Many new concepts have been incorporated into the field of migration studies in recent years. Therefore, the study on the present age of migration includes governance structures of global migration. The current governance structure is based on moulded power, humanitarianism and human rights together into a complex mesh of governmentality thus creating an order where power and responsibility share an asymmetric relationship (Ranabir Samaddar, The Postcolonial Age of Migration, 2020; p.2-8). Climate change, natural disasters, disasters due to development policies, geopolitical dynamics, socio-economic conditions, and inter and intra-state conflicts play a crucial role in this relationship. The complexity also creates several allegations related to social security, public health, inter-community relationship, gender bias, etc., against the migrants. As a result, migrants are now facing a multi-layered vulnerability within. The situation in the cities of the Global South is crucial in this context. As a centre of attraction for most of the migrant communities due to better socio-economic opportunities than the countryside, these cities witness conflicts, movements and struggles for existence. Cities of the Global South also formulate and reformulate the ideas of multiple protection mechanisms controlled by the contemporary socio-political scenario. Calcutta Research Group (CRG) has been engaged in the study of migration especially forced migration and the dignity of migrants in particular for more than 25 years. The two declarations on the protection of refugees and migrants (Kolkata Declaration & Afghanistan Declaration) adopted during the Research and Orientation Workshops in 2018 and 2021 are evidences of the possibilities for the intervention of the Research and Orientation Workshops and Conferences of CRG. The Declarations addressed the different dynamics of the contemporary global refugee crisis which is valuable for its understanding of the gravity and nuances of migration in the present period, its articulation in the South Asian milieu, its expression of solidarity with the victims of forced displacement, and its assessment of international efforts to improve the distress of such uprootedness. The declarations portrayed the lens through which CRG views migration and reinforced its identity and position as an informed interlocutor on the subject. Prepared in the wake of the Global Compacts, the matters to which the Declaration turned their attention are fundamental to CRG’s research agenda and its valued association with the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung’s project ‘Global Protection of Refugees and Migrants’ and the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM), Vienna, project ‘Refugees, Migrants and Urban Justice’. CRG’s attempt to deal with the issues through conducting media programmes, drafting policy briefs and preparing a Compendium on Mapping the Vulnerabilities of Refugees and Migrants and the Annual Workshop on the newly imposed challenges to deal with the idea of the global protection has been aimed to engage researchers, teachers, journalists and activists. The Research and Orientation Workshop is the flagship programme of this sustained study. This annual event is pivotal to CRG’s aspiration to voice the experiences, opinions and discontents of the South in global discussions on the subject, and CRG has responded vigorously to the increased vulnerabilities of forced migrants. The event, conducted with the help of Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung and the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM), Vienna, comprises a four-and half-day workshop and a two and day conference. Deliberations during the event will centre on the following seven modules: Core Modules (participants have to choose any one from the optional modules):
Module A: Issues of Protection, Punishment and Technology in Securitized State;
Module B: Law and Jurisprudence on Protection of Refugees and Migrants;
Module C: Statelessness: Contemporary Challenges and Strategies;
Module D: Gender, Race, Religion, and Other Fault Lines in Protection
Architecture;
Module E: Refugee and Migrant Labour, Precarious Forms, and Globalisation;
Module F: Ethics of Care and Protection;
Elective Workshop Modules (Optional) (participants have to choose any one from the optional modules)
Module G1 (Options): Climate, Ecology, and Displacement;
OR
Module G2 (Options): Media and Migration
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Research & Orientation
Workshop & Conference on Global Protection of
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