The Queen Mary Centre for European Research is hosting the following event: The Right to Rescue: A Human Rights Defender Framework, on March 25, 2019, 18:30-20:00 at Arts One Lecture Theatre, Queen Mary University of London.

"The so-called migration crisis that Europe has witnessed in the past years has generated much political turmoil across the continent. While a great number of refugees lose their lives on sea routes or suffer due to inhumane circumstances awaiting them along the Schengen borders, European decision-makers seem to focus increasingly on defending the Union’s frontier and less on protecting the lives of those arriving from abroad. Should the EU have a different approach putting the lives and dignity of individuals in the focus of its attention during policy making? Is the protection of human rights and the provision of security to European citizens necessarily a zero-sum game?"

Keynote Speaker: Dr Violeta Moreno-Lax, Centre for European Research, Queen Mary University of London

Discussant: Pia Oberoi, Advisor on Migration and Human Rights, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Chair: Dr Sarah Wolff, Director of the Centre for European Research, Queen Mary University of London 

In partnership with the Cultural Service of the French Embassy in Canada and Hart House, the Art Museum is one of the first Canadian institutions to take part in this French-initiated global, all-night event happening simultaneously in more than 50 cities. The Night of Idea's Event is taking place at the Hart House of University of Toronto on Feb 2, 2019.

One of the topics covered will be Migration and Frontiers, specifically zones of detention and dislocation. 

Speakers include:

• Syed Hussan, No One is Illegal-Toronto activist, writer, Migrant Workers Alliance
• Hanna Gros, Refugee and Immigration Advocate, UofT International Human Rights Program
• Moderator: Alison Mountz, Canada Research Chair in Global Migration (Wilfred Laurier University). 

The event is free and will run from 7 pm till 2 am.
#NightOfIdeasTO

"On Saturday, a Saudi teenager fleeing domestic abuse was offered protection in Canada. However, why was Rahaf’s case prioritized over the other precarious-status or non-status women searching for a new Canadian life free from abuse?"

An article in the Toronto Star by Dr. Stephanie J. Silverman sheds light on how there are thousands of women and children who become undocumented or non-status in Canada after escaping domestic violence. Around 20,000 to 200,000 people in Canada do not have legal immigration papers and many of them in the same situation as Rahaf's. 

"The government is, at best, ignoring the claims and calls for protection for these women and their dependants and, at worst, potentially pushing them back to their abusers."

There is an upcoming learning event on undocumented Torontonians planned for Friday, February 15th (10am-12:30pm) at City Hall. The session is designed for City and community agency staff, health practitioners, and students interested in learning more about the vulnerabilities facing undocumented Torontonians. Registration is now open. 
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The "Open Dialogue on Vulnerability" event is collaboratively planned by the City's Specialized Program for Interdivisional Enhanced Response to Vulnerability (SPIDER), the Toronto Newcomer Office, and Toronto Public Health; the SPIDER team hosts these events monthly (more information on the series here).

We’re seeking support in organizing a National Day of Action for Healthcare for Migrants on Tuesday, February 12th at 12pm. As active members of Canada’s health community, we intend to hold our government accountable to the 180-day period designated by the UN to review national legislation, stop the denial of care to people based on immigration status, and provide justice to Nell Toussaint!

At this stage, we are looking to identify people in cities across the country who could help liaise with us in organizing an action. We will provide the materials and logistical support required for hosting the event, but need people on the ground to identify a location and spread the word. Please email healthcareformigrants@gmail.com if you or anyone you know in your city would be interested in working with us to support this action. 

So far, we’ve been blown away by the incredible national response from the health community to our open letter, with over 1500 individual and 80 organizational signatories in just two weeks and more pouring in! The campaign has also received widespread media coverage, including through CBC News, Toronto Star, Radio Canada International, and the Medical Post.  Now we need your support of our upcoming Cross-Canada Action to keep this momentum going.

-Health Care for Migrants

The Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford is offering their International Summer School in Forced Migration from July 7 - July 19, 2019. The course offers an "interdisciplinary and participative approach to the study of forced migration. It enables people working with refugees and other forced migrants to reflect critically on the forces and institutions that dominate the world of the displaced."

The deadline for bursary applications is February 22, 2019 and for all other application is April 30, 2019.

Patti Tamara Lenard from the University of Ottawa will be delivering a talk on the ethics of citizen selection of refugees for settlement at the Centre for Ethics, University of Toronto, on January 16, 2019, from 12:30-2pm.

"In this talk, I consider the ethics of one particular way of selecting refugees for resettlement, that is, by giving citizens the driver’s seat in selecting refugees for admission to resettlement. I ask whether it is morally acceptable to permit citizens to name specific refugees for resettlement, under the condition that they are willing to support – financially and emotionally – those whom they name. I argue, ultimately, that there are moral goods that derive from permitting citizens to select refugees for admission, but that they do not outweigh the importance of offering scarce resettlement spots to those who are most in need. Therefore, any refugee admission scheme that permits citizens to select refugees must constrain those who can be named for admission to those who are most in need. I conclude with some proposals for how this can be achieved." - Patti Tamara Lenard 

Registration for the event is now open. 

The final report of the Trans Latinas Rompiendo Barreras (TLRB) project is now available.

​The TLRB project was a collaboration between members of the trans Latina community in Toronto, practitioners at the Centre for the Spanish Speaking Peoples (CSSP), students and researchers from the Global Migration and Health Initiative (GloMHI) and the University of Toronto. 

Given the radical forms of exclusion experienced by trans Latina individuals in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), this program represents a collective search for community resilience through meaningful learning, the promotion of supportive relationships, increased access to resources, and practices of self-care. The project was made up of two main activities, a series of twelve bi-weekly workshops and a monthly self-care and peer advocacy (SPA) drop-in group organized by workshop graduates.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) recently issued a landmark decision condemning Canada for denying access to essential health care on the basis of immigration status based on the case of Ms. Nell Toussaint. The UNHRC has called on Canada to review its national legislation in order “to ensure that irregular migrants have access to essential healthcare to prevent a reasonably foreseeable risk that can result in loss of life”. A number of members of Canada’s health community are signing an open letter, addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ministers Ginette Taylor and Ahmed Hussen, calling for federal government action around this issue.

Please consider signing the open letter.

Individual and organizational signatures are being collected until Friday, December 14th, 2018, with a plan for wide media release on International Migrants Day (December 18th). Please also share this among your colleagues, but do not share this directly with media, until the final letter with signatories has been released.

If you have any questions, please contact the team leading this initiative.