Iraqi Refugee Crisis: Present-day Challenges and Opportunities for Lasting Solutions
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
American University Washington College of Law
4801 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20016
Room 603
Sponsored by the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law and the WCL International Human Rights Clinic
8:30am: Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:00am: Welcome
Dean Claudio Grossman, Raymond Geraldson Scholar for International and Humanitarian Law, American University Washington College of Law
9:10am: Overview
Michele Pistone, Visiting Professor of Law 2008-2009, American University Washington College of Law; Professor of Law, Villanova University School of Law
9:25am: Update on Iraqi Refugee Crisis
Bill Frelick, Program Director, Refugee Policy, Human Rights Watch
Michel Gabaudan, Regional representative for the U.S. & Caribbean, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Kirk Johnson, Founder and Director, The List Project
Adberrahim Sabir, former Human Rights Officer for the UN Assistance Mission on Iraq (UNAMI)
Barbara Stack, Chief, Refugee Affairs Division, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Moderator: Meetali Jain, Practitioner-in-Residence, American University, Washington College of Law
10:45am: Break
11:00am: A Conversation with a Refugee
Ahlam Mahmood, Iraqi refugee, former member of the Baghdad city council, activist in Iraq and Syria (pictured above, right)
11:15: A Conversation with Ambassadors from the Region (pictured above, middle)
H.E. Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein, Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the US
H.E. Imad Moustapha, Ambassador of Syria to the US
H.E. Samir Sumaida'ie, Ambassador of Iraq to the US
Moderator: Deborah Amos, Foreign Correspondent, National Public Radio
12:30pm: Lunch Keynote Speech
US Representative Alcee L. Hastings (picture above, left)
2:00pm: The Crisis Facing Palestinians from Iraq
Elizabeth Campbell, Ph.D., Director, Refugee Council USA
Sarnata Reynolds, Policy Director, Refugee and Migrant Rights, Amnesty International
Adam Shapiro, Documentary filmmaker, human rights activist
Moderator: Chris Nugent, Senior Counsel, Holland & Knight LLP
3:15pm: Break
3:30pm: A Conversation about the Iraqi Student Project
Introduction: Emily Brooks and Ellen Erichsen, Student Attorneys, International Human Rights Law Clinic, JD Candidates '09
Hussam Harb Hamid AlMukhtar, Sophomore, Canisuis College, Buffalo, NY
Ed Murray, Director, Iraqi Student Project
4:00pm: Dr. Thomas Barnett Lecture
Introduction: Jayesh Rathod, Practitioner-in-Residence, American University Washington College of Law
Dr. Thomas Barnett, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Pentagon's New Map: War and Peace in the 21st Century and Great Powers: America and the World After Bush
4:55pm: Closing Remarks and Wrap-up
5:00pm: Reception and Booksigning with Dr. Thomas Barnett