ONLINE COURSE: Refugee Protection and Forced Migration
Wars, conflicts, borders, walls, persecution, human rights violations, asylum and more... the issue of forced migration is highly relevant today. Now, more than ever, it is important to analyze how refugees, internally displaced persons and stateless persons are protected by legal norms, institutions, and procedures – and even to question their efficiency!
Course period | July 19, 2021 - Aug. 13, 2021 Session II ![]() | |
Category | Law & Economics | |
Course levels | Bachelor | |
Language | English | |
Class size | max. 15 participants in class | |
Credits and certificate | Participants will receive 5 ECTS credit points after successful completion of the online course. Additionally, six weeks after the end of the online course a Transcript of Records will be issued by Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. | |
Application deadline | May 15, 2021, or when participant quota is reached | |
Course fee | 650.00 Euro | (excl. program fee and discounts) Online Course Fee |
Description | This course examines the protection regime pertaining to refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and stateless persons. It gives special attention to the evolving set of legal norms, institutions, and procedures that have emerged from the international community’s resolve to protect refugees and other forced migrants. The course adopts two complementary methodologies: seminars and case studies combined with presentations by the students. The seminars begin with an introduction to the international human rights and the asylum regimes, and with a review of the relevant concepts and definitions. It then continues with a historical perspective of the pre-United Nations initiatives to protect refugees and introduces the normative ethics and politics of refugee protection. That is followed by an analysis of both the legal and institutional pillars of the refugee regime, i.e. of the refugee definitions captured in various international instruments and of the protection granted by the UNHCR, respectively. The last subjects to be covered by the seminars are the normative and institutional arrangements put in place for the protection of IDPs and stateless persons. The seminars are complemented by a ‘hands-on’ methodology, namely a major case study and presentations by the students both on the state of refugee protection in their countries of origin/residence and on current significant situations (i.a. Myanmar, Syria, Venezuela, European asylum crisis, Mediterranean situation). |
Syllabus | will be available soon |
Course structure |
The course content is equivalent to an on-site course offering 45 contact hours. The study time includes:
Track C Weekly schedule of virtual class room sessions:
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Language skills | English: B2 |
Motivation Letter | about one page in English |
Student Profile | Advanced undergraduate law students and students with an academic background that qualifies them to participate in the course. This course is taught in English, including readings in English. For the understanding of the texts and the discussions in class a language level B2 (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) is required. Participating students need to be at least 18 years old. |
Dr. José H. Fischel de Andrade read Law (LLB), International Law (LLM), International Relations (MSt) and History of International Relations (PhD) at the universities of Brasília, São Paulo, and Cambridge and is a former Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The Graduate Institute (HEID) in Geneva.
He teaches part-time at the Humboldt University in Berlin and enjoys implementing the fruits of his teaching and research in challenging areas: he has been serving in the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in various positions since 1995.
Coordinator | Pierre Steuer/ Carmen Opolski/ Sanja Müssig |
Contact details | International Department
Unter den Linden 6 10999 Berlin Germany huwisu@hu-berlin.de |
This course can be combined with: