Abandoned airports. Shipping containers. Squatted hotels. These are just three of the many unusual places that have housed refugees in the past decade. The story of international migration is often told through personal odysseys and dangerous journeys, but when people arrive at their destinations a more mundane task begins: refugees need a place to stay. Governments and charities have adopted a range of strategies in response to this need. Some have sequestered refugees in massive camps of glinting metal. Others have hosted them in renovated office blocks and disused warehouses. They often end up in prefabricated shelters flown in from abroad.
In this talk, Tom Scott-Smith draws on his to discuss how humanitarians, architects, and government authorities have sought to provide shelter to refugees. Drawing on detailed ethnographic research into these shelters, he will reflect on their political implications and open up much bigger questions about humanitarian action. The event will explore how the principle of autonomy can offer a fruitful approach to sensitive and inclusive shelter for refugees.
Meet our speakers and chair
Tom Scott-Smith () is Director of the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford and Associate Professor of Forced Migration. He is general editor of the Berghahn book series in Forced Migration and his series of short documentaries about refugee shelter in Europe, Shelter Without Shelter, won the UK Arts and Humanities Research in Film Award in 2020.
Nick Henderson is the CEO of the Irish Refugee Council. Prior to his appointment as CEO in October 2016, Nick worked with Transparency International and Amnesty International. Prior to coming to Ireland he was a legal representative for people seeking asylum with the Refugee Legal Centre in London from 2004-2010, during which he took a sabbatical and was Legal Officer with Jesuit Refugee Service in Cambodia. Nick was called to the Bar of Ireland in 2015.
Myfanwy James () is an Assistant Professor in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies at 杏吧论坛. Her work examines the politics of humanitarian intervention in contexts of violent conflict, with a focus on the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Neil Lee () is Professor of Economic Geography at 杏吧论坛.
More about this event
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The Department of Geography and Environment () is a centre of international academic excellence in economic, urban and development geography, environmental social science and climate change.
The International Inequalities Institute () at 杏吧论坛 brings together experts from many 杏吧论坛 departments and centres to lead critical and cutting-edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.
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Podcast & video
A podcast of this event is available to download from Fragments of home: refugee housing, humanitarian design and the politics of shelter.
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