1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees: 70 years guarding the most vulnerable?
Academician Levan Alexidze Foundation
Hosted a Scientific Conference commemorating the World Refugee Day on 20 June 2021
1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees:
70 years guarding the most vulnerable?
To honour the World Refugee Day, commemorated by over 100 states around the globe since 2001, the Academician Levan Alexidze Foundation hosted interdisciplinary scientific conference on 20 June 2021. The celebration of this day within academic circles was turned into a tradition in Georgia with Professor Levan Alexidze’s vigorous support. As the World Refugee Day scientific conference was held under Levan Alexidze’s leadership in Georgia in June 2019 too, on 20 June 2021, the Levan Alexidze Foundation endured the tradition in cooperation with the Georgian-American University (GAU) and TSU Teaching and Research Center of International Criminal Law and International Cooperation in Criminal Matters.
Professor Marina Meskhi, the founder of the Academician Levan Alexidze Foundation, noting that Professor Levan Alexidze was a Founding Father of the Georgian International Law School, outlined Levan Alexidze’s contribution into the development of the International Legal theory worldwide and respective practice. Referring particularly to Professor Alexidze’s involvement during 1970-ies at the universal and 1990-ies to 2010-ies at the Council of Europe level in the establishment of international legal framework and practice, his role in advancing the framework of anti-discrimination and protection of migrants, including refugees was emphasised along with particularly noting the importance of these developments for Georgia.
The academic debate was concerted around the research undertaken by the students of social sciences and law at the Georgian-American University, Georgian Institute of Public Affairs and TSU, as well as Viadrina European University (Germany) with the participation of representatives of academia, policy-making and implementing Governmental bodies of Georgia as well as international organisations.
The sections of the interdisciplinary conference considered practice and future prospects of the protection of states’ sovereign interests and multiple dimensions of protection of the most vulnerable groups of people. The dedicated discussants got involved in the discourse concerted around the role of international organisations in the implementation of the 1951 Convention from the perspective of XXI century; the role of the UNHCR was particularly analysed in the light of the protection needs of those necessitating international protection. Particular attention was paid to the issues of correlation of humanitarian crisis and international forced migration. Along with considering the co-relation of International Refugee Law and International Humanitarian Law the collision of the interests of state security and of the most vulnerable asylum seekers, including women and children were also analysed. Specific emphasis was made on the protection of those who are forced to migrate internationally and the realities brought by the pandemic.
The following researchers: Irakli Leonidze and Mariam Nutsubidze for their joint research The Collision of State Security Interests and Basic Rights of those Seeking International Protection (Comparative Legal Study); Kristine Jajanidze for her research Risks of Trafficking in Human Beings when Seeking Asylum: Contemporary Challenges; as well as Konstantine Khvedelidze for the work Humanitarian Crisis and International Forced Migration: Causes and Consequences, and Nino Askilashvili for the research International Legal Standards and Challenges in the Protection of Asylum Seeker Women, qualified for the academic prizes; all the presenters of the conference were granted respective certificates.
From the beginning of 2021, the Levan Alexidze Foundation has been dedicating its events that promote human rights and democratic standards to the commemoration of the 95th jubilee of the late Levan Alexidze, a highly respected scientist, professor, public figure, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, founder of the International Law School of Georgia, Chief Adviser to the President of Georgia on International Law Issues, and Member of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences.
