Past Events
2024
18 March: Legal identity under insurgencies and unrecognised states (MLS Faculty Research Seminar)
Andrea Marilyn Pragashini Immanuel, Marika Sosnowski, Marnie Lloyd, Thomas McGee
12 March: Statelessness as a Consequence of Unequal Citizenship Laws in the Gulf
Zeineb Alsabeehg
22 February: Syria's Changing Statelessness Landscape: Protracted Situations and “ticking time bombs” (MLS Graduate Researcher Colloquium)
Thomas McGee
2023
14 November: The Production of Status-lessness: Governmental-Institutional Work in Dealing with Stateless Persons in Austria (Seminar co-hosted with the MLS Human Rights Program)
Victoria Reitter
27 October: Beyond the State Approaches to Statelessness in International Law (MLS Graduate Researcher Colloquium)
Jade Roberts
18 October: Capitalism, (im)mobility and (re)production of childhood statelessness: experiences of 2nd generation Shan youth in northern Thailand (Refugees, Citizenship & Statelessness: Asia in Focus Seminar Series)
Dr Janepicha Cheva-Isarakul
22 August: Race, Refugees and Reconciliation in Post-Genocide Rwanda (Seminar in collaboration with the Institute for International Law and the Humanities (IILAH) and the MLS Human Rights Community)
Dr Nicola Palmer, Prof. Phil Clark
1 August: Statelessness, ethnicity and registration in Kenya (Roundtable)
Dr Samantha Balaton-Chrimes
13 July: Can statelessness be eradicated? Some thoughts in the context of Polish law (Roundtable)
Dr Dorota Pudzianowska
27 June: The Ethics of Care in Nepali Citizenship-Equality Activism (Refugees, Citizenship & Statelessness: Asia in Focus Seminar Series)
Deirdre Brennan View event recording
8 June: Launch of "Redefining Ceasefires: Wartime Order & Statebuilding in Syria" by Marika Sosnowski
Dr Marika Sosnowski, Prof. Michelle Foster, Dr Sarah Phillips, Dr Marnie Lloyd, Rifaie Tammas
1 June: Citizens and Migrants in Assam: Law, Bureaucracy and Indirect Discrimination against Women (Refugees, Citizenship & Statelessness: Asia in Focus Seminar Series)
Saika Sabir
11 May: Launch of "Cruel Care: A History of Children At Our Borders" by Jordana Silverstein. Event Co-hosted by Melbourne University Publishing. (Event held at Brunswick Bound Books)
Dr Jordana Silverstein, Prof. Michelle Foster & Joan Nestle
4 May: Registration without recognition: implications of biometric registration on stateless refugees (Refugees, Citizenship & Statelessness: Asia in Focus Seminar Series)
Dr Ashraful Azad
27 April: Launch of Getting My Dignity Back: A Report into Behind the Wire
Authors Sarah Strauven, Jordana Silverstein and Karen Block, with Behind the Wire's Michael Green & Andre Dao. View event recording
21 April: Displacement and Protection: Global Challenges' Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees speaks at Melbourne Law School
Filippo Grandi with Erika Feller AO (moderator) View event recording
4 April: (Un)Credible Citizen: Citizenship Dispossession and the Politics of the Rule of Law in India (Refugees, Citizenship & Statelessness: Asia in Focus Seminar Series)
Dr Mohsin Alam Bhat View event recording
2022
22 November: Refugee Markets (Refugees, Citizenship & Statelessness: Asia in Focus Seminar Series)
Prof. Neha Jain View event recording
17 October: Living Stateless: In Conversation with Fadi Chalouhy (The inaugural Hiam Chalouhy ‘Living Stateless’ lecture)
Fadi Chalouhy, Katie Robertson
25 August: Mass Atrocities and Statelessness: Under-explored Connections? (Refugees, Citizenship & Statelessness: Asia in Focus Seminar Series)
Dr Priya Pillai View event recording
4 August: Technological Approaches to Identity Preservation of the Stateless (Refugees, Citizenship & Statelessness: Asia in Focus Seminar Series)
Saqib Sheikh View event recording
30 June: On the Political Economy of Ethnic Violence and Statelessness (Refugees, Citizenship & Statelessness: Asia in Focus Seminar Series)
Prof. Mohammed Shahabuddin View event recording
6 June: The Future of Nationality in the Pacific Launch Event
Launched by the Pacific Resilience Partnership Technical Working Group on Human Mobility, featuring PMCS Director Prof. Michelle Foster; Prof. Jane McAdam AO (Kaldor Centre, UNSW) and Prof. Helene Lambert on the expert panel. View event recording
11 May: The Struggle for Identity in Exile: Refugee Protection Challenges in India (Refugees, Citizenship & Statelessness: Asia in Focus Seminar Series)
Roshni Shanker
2021
17 October: Perpetual Strangerhood: Experiences of Highly Skilled African-Australian Professionals in the Workplace
Dr Kathomi Gatwiri (View event recording)
16 September: 60 years on - The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness
Co-hosted by the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness and the UNHCR. (View event recording)
9 September: The Role of Multicultural and Settlement Services in Supporting Women Experiencing Violence
A/Prof Cathy Vaughan and Dr Adele Murdolo (View event recording)
26 August: Citizenship Constellations in Syria
Dr Marika Sosnowski (View event recording)
24 Jun: ‘We don’t want to give away how you hack the system’: An Emotional History of the Department of Immigration and Child Refugees
Dr Jordy Silverstein (View event recording)
27 May: Seeking Refuge in Fortress Europe: Zoe Holman in Conversation with Michelle Foster
Dr Zoe Holman & Professor Michelle Foster (View event recording)
25 May: Launch - Oxford Handbook on International Refugee Law
Hosted by the Refugee Studies Centre (University of Oxford); Centre for Fundamental Rights (Hertie School, Berlin); Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness (University of Melbourne), and the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law (UNSW Sydney). (View event recording)
15 April: Statelessness in Southeast Asia and the role of the AICHR in the promotion and protection of human rights
Eric Paulsen (View event recording)
25 March: Launch Event: A Place to Call Home
Co-produced by the Refugee Advice & Casework Service (RACS) and Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness (View event recording)
18 March: Narratives of Displacement
Durkhanai Ayubi
2020
16 October: Understanding Immigrants’ Diverse Employment Trajectories: The Role of Immigration Policy and Gender
Dr Rennie Lee
18 September: Accountability for the Rohingya: The Relevance and Implications of International Law
Dr Priya Pillai (View event recording)
26 August: The impact of COVID-19 on stateless persons and refugees in Australia
Featuring: Katie Robertson, Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness (Chair) ; Jeanine Hourani, Director, Road to Refuge; Sarah Dale, Principal Lawyer and Centre Director, Refugee Advice Caseworker Service (RACS); David Burke, Legal Director, Human Rights Law Centre's Asylum Seeker and Refugee Rights team; Sahar Okhovat, Senior Policy Officer, Refugee Council of Australia. (View event recording)
26 June: Field Notes from the Rohingya Emergency Response
Professor Bina D'Costa
12 March: "Nothing about us without us": the rise of refugee self-representation in global dialogue on forced displacement
Co-presented by Arash Bordbar (Chair, UNHCR Global Youth Advisory Council) and Dr Louise Olliff (University of Melbourne).
13 February: Deciding Who is a “Foreigner”: The Situation in the Indian State of Assam from a Legal Perspective
Talha Abdul Rahman
2019
5 December: Uncertain Futures: EU Citizenship in the Shadow of Brexit
Dr Ruvi Ziegler
17 October: The Global Compacts: A Missed Opportunity or a Promising Tool?
Carolina Gottardo
12 September: Banishment and the Pre-history of Legitimate Expulsion Power
Professor Matthew J Gibney
5 September: War, Nationality and Nationalism: Denied Citizenship following the Disintegration of Former Yugoslavia
Professor Aleksandar Marsavelski
29 August: Detention of asylum seekers in the UK
Sir Nicholas Blake
22 August: Institutional Disrespect: The Structural Marginalisation of Refugee Migrants in Australia
Dr Ibi Losoncz
1 August: From Muddy Boots to Business Class: To the Emergency Frontlines and Back
A/Professor Bina D'Costa
6 June: Regressive, Arbitrary Identity Documentation Policies and Practices in Myanmar
Dr Nyi Nyi Kyaw
2 May: Resettlement of Refugee Immigrants in Australia: Agency and Affordances
Dr Gerald Onsando
4 April: Minority Statelessness and Racialized Citizenship: Romani minorities and the Uneven Access to Citizenship
Julija Sardelic
2018
4 October: Statelessness and Citizenship in Kenya
Dr Samatha Balaton-Chrimes
20 September: "Applicants will need to demonstrate their integration into the Australian community": Proposed Citizenship Changes and Refugees/Stateless Persons
Dr Heli Askola
6 September: Is Mr Pham a Vietnamese National? Citizenship Deprivation and Foreign Nationality Law in Municipal Courts
Dr Raynor Thwaites
23 August: The Lived Experiences of Children of Transnational Migrants in Lombok, Indonesia
Dr Harriot Beazley
9 August: Children of ‘Cross Border Marriages’ and Nationality in Can Tho, Mekong Delta, Vietnam
Professor Susan Kneebone
26 July: A noncitizenist look at statelessness and the global compact for migration
Dr Tendayi Bloom
13-14 February: Refugee Alternative Conference 2018
Hosted by the Refugee Council of Australia & the University of Melbourne
26 March: Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness Launch
The Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness was officially launched at Melbourne Law School on Monday 26 March with over 180 attendees. It was an honour to host MLS alumnus Peter McMullin and his wife Ruth, whose generosity, vision and commitment to the issue of statelessness has enabled the establishment of the Centre. The launch featured a panel discussion led by Centre Director Professor Michelle Foster, and included virtual messages from the Secretary-General of the UN, António Guterres, and the head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi. Other expert speakers included Dr Fernand de Varennes RP, Doyen, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues; Ms Erika Feller, Professorial Fellow, Melbourne School of Government, and former Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, UNHCR; and Professor Kim Rubenstein, Australian National University. Speakers discussed the scale and scope of the global challenge of statelessness, its impact, the role of the United Nations, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in addressing the challenge, and the role of academic research in contributing to the eradication of statelessness.