“Immigration Policy and Human Rights” symposium
8 a.m. June 17
Room 460/465 University Center
404-413-6159
Georgia State University’s Center for Human Rights and Democracy will host a symposium addressing immigration policies and the protection of human rights in the United States and abroad at 8 a.m. June 17 in room 460 of the University Center.
“Immigration policy ranks atop the challenges facing many economically advanced democratic states,” said William Downs, co-director of the Center for Human Rights and Democracy. “The lowering of barriers to the free movement of peoples has host country implications for national security, employment, housing, education and health care. Governments at all levels now confront these challenges in environments of severe budgetary contraction and voter suspicion.”
More than 15 panelists will address political, economic, social and legal issues related to immigration policy, as well as promising policy alternatives. The symposium also will acknowledge the transition from the Bush to the Obama Administration and the recent 60-year anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Deepa Iyer, executive director of South Asian Americans Leading Together, will be the keynote speaker discussing “Charting a Path Forward—The Post 9/11 Backlash Against Immigrants and Human Rights Responses.” Iyer is an immigrant who moved to the United States from India when she was twelve years old. Iyer served as a trial attorney at the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice where she worked closely on initiatives to address post 9/11 backlash discrimination. She also was the executive producer of a documentary about hate crimes in the post 9/11 environment.
“The post 9/11 atmosphere in America and Europe means renewed difficulties in protecting the fundamental rights of immigrants,” Downs said. “Democracies struggle to address the intolerance that often confronts immigrants, and issues of detention, denial of legal due process, deportation and hate crimes persist.”
Adelina Nicholls, of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, and Azadeh Shahshahani, of ACLU of Georgia are among the panelists who will examine “Immigration as a Human Rights Issue.” Other panel topics during the symposium include, “Immigration and Belonging: Divergent Perspectives on Latinos and Human Rights in the United States”; “Immigration Detention”; and “Citizenship and Human Rights Challenges in Europe.”
“Immigrants and refugees seeking a better life and fleeing poverty, hunger, civil war and persecution are among society’s most vulnerable groups,” Downs said. “Research endeavors that explain immigration trends, critically evaluate alternatives for policy reform, and compare the effectiveness of efforts to defend immigrants’ human rights are both timely and necessary.”
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Monday, June 15, 2009
Symposium to examine immigration policy and human rights
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Former U.S. career diplomats offer perspectives on Obama's foreign policy
Recently retired U.S. Foreign Service officers Earle St. A. Scarlett and Barbara A.H. Scarlett, who have a combined 50-plus years of global diplomatic experience, will share their personal views on President Obama’s foreign policy plans at an event sponsored by the University of Georgia School of Law’s Dean Rusk Center in cooperation with the Department of International Affairs and the Carl Vinson Institute of Government. The March 19 joint lecture featuring the Scarletts will begin at 12:30 p.m. in the Larry Walker Room of Dean Rusk Hall located on North Campus. A question and answer session on careers in foreign affairs will follow.
The Scarletts had joint overseas diplomatic assignments in Cameroon, Brazil (twice, during the transition from military to civilian rule and subsequently), the Philippines (during the overthrow of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos), the former Yugoslavia (during its dissolution) and Ireland (implementing the Good Friday Agreement). Earle also served in Bosnia on the international diplomatic teamimplementing the Dayton Peace Accords.
Earle’s domestic assignments have included serving on the China Desk and Task Force during the Tiananmen Square incident and on the Somalia Desk. He was a U.S. State Department Dean Rusk Fellow at Georgetown University, director of political training at the Foreign Service Institute anda Foreign Service examiner.Healso served asa State Department senior adviser to the Commandant ofthe Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Ala.
Barbara is a graduate in strategic studies of the National Defense University and was aForeign Service examiner.A specialist in public diplomacy, Barbara also worked on diplomatic strategy for the Kyoto Protocol and on television and teleconference programmingon diplomatic issues in Latin America.She was policy adviser on the Middle East and desk officer for East Africa andAnglophone West Africa. In addition, in Washington, D.C., she had responsibilities for counterterrorism, infectious diseases and climate change.
Earle and Barbara both have been honored for their public service.Barbara received a Superior Honor Award for her work on the Kyoto Protocol and the Order of Chivalry from the Brazilian government for her work on U.S.-Brazil labor relations. Earle is a recipient of the Secretary's Career Achievement Award and the Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs Awardfor Excellence in Political-Military Strategy.
The Scarletts have proficiency in French, Portuguese, Spanish and Serbo-Croatian. They teach Balkans Affairs and international relations periodically at a university in Italy.
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