Upcoming Events
Afternoon event: Breaking the Chains: Strategies to improve the prospects of Albanian children making successful protection claims – 1 June 2018 (London)
This free event taking place on Friday, 1 June 2018 aims to bring together specialist barristers and solicitors to consider how legal professionals and others who support young Albanians in the UK can ensure that children from Albania are granted meaningful protection against the risks of return to abuse in their country of origin or further exploitation in the UK. The event proper starts at 2.15-5pm (with soft reception and light lunch from 1.15pm) at the Houses of Parliament (Portcullis House) and is jointly organised by MiCLU and Shpresa Programme, and sponsored by the Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP. Young people will be present to speak about their experiences and answer questions, and expert speakers will talk on the following topics: Blood feud cases and challenging the country guidance Representing trafficking victims and strategic litigation considerations Child-centred case work and how to work with young people Review of country of origin literature and addressing the gaps in research For more information about the challenges working with unaccompanied Albanian asylum-seeking children read here. For the event programme click here. To register click here.
Previous Events
Conference: Walking a Tightrope: The Hidden Protection Needs of Albanian UASC – 6 June 2017 (London)
This event seeks to increase understanding of the lives, circumstances and protection needs of Albanian young people . It will bring together practitioners, legal specialists, policy makers and academics working in the field together with Albanian young people. It will combine input from expert speakers with action-planning workshops around key issues such as blood feuds and the impact of ‘Kanun,’ domestic violence (including forced marriages and honour killings), factors affecting the lives of LGBT young people, and human trafficking. For more details and to register click here.
Evening Event: Changing Our Heads: Failing to recognise the human rights violations of children and women from Albania – 31 January 2017 (London)
This free evening event at the Houses of Parliament, sponsored by the Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP, aims to gather and give voice to practitioners across a range of disciplines who provide care, support and legal representation to Albanian children, young people and women, along with experts working in the field of anti-trafficking and international protection, to help understand the lives and circumstances of this forgotten group and fundamental issues of culture, and to help dispel the myths that perpetuate and act as a barrier to achieving protection and durable solutions for vulnerable members of this community. For the event programme click here. To register click here. Please contact Luljeta Nuzi at shpresaprogramme@yahoo.co.uk for registration questions.
Workshop: Trauma, Memory and Evidence in Assessing the Claims of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children in the UK – 7 December 2016 (Glasgow)
A free afternoon workshop for lawyers and mental health and other professionals working with unaccompanied asylum seeking children in Scotland, organised by the Migrant and Refugee Children’s Legal Unit (MiCLU) at Islington Law Centre, with the Centre for the Study of Emotion and Law (CSEL) and the Legal Services Agency (LSA). Hosted by the Legal Services Agency in Glasgow. For more information click here. Spaces are limited, so please register early by contacting Jennifer Ang at jennifera@islingtonlaw.org.uk or 079 6005 2141.
Conference: Supporting young asylum-seekers in a hostile environment: How rights have changed after the 2014 & 2016 Immigration Acts – 24 November 2016 (Canterbury)
This free, one-day conference, jointly sponsored by Kent Law Clinic and MiCLU and hosted by the University of Kent, will explore challenges facing practitioners in providing care, support and legal representation to young asylum seekers following the 2014 and 2016 Immigration Acts. The conference aims to bring together social workers and social care practitioners, legal representatives, advocacy workers, health and mental health practitioners, and professionals working in education, local and national government and in law enforcement, both in Kent and across the UK, to examine the shifting landscape in the provision of care and support, to learn more about the legal rights of young asylum seekers and recent legal challenges, and to identify opportunities to improve standards of care and achieve best practice in our respective fields. For more details and to register: Child Refugees Welcome? Working together to meet the challenges of the Immigration Acts 2014 & 2016 If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Ang at jennifera@islingtonlaw.org.uk, Richard Warren at r.l.warren@kent.ac.uk, or Sheona York at s.f.york@kent.ac.uk.
Conference: Exploring the Causes and Consequences of Modern Child Slavery – 3 October 2016 (London)
This one-day conference is for front line practitioners (police; social workers; lawyers, health workers), policy officers and academics interested in better understanding the causes and consequences of trafficking for children and young people. The conference will aim to explore the development of holistic integrated interdisciplinary approaches to finding durable solutions for trafficked young people, increasing their protection in the present and for the future. It is being organised by the Baobab Centre for Young Survivors in Exile, the Children’s Society, ECPAT UK and the Helen Bamber Foundation, together with MiCLU. For more details and to register: Exploring the Causes and Consequences of Modern Child Slavery
Conference: Precarious Citizenship: Young People who are Undocumented, Separated and Settled in the UK – 1 June 2016 (London)
This free, one-day conference, jointly organised with Birkbeck, University of London, aims to bring together young activists, academics and practitioners to share empirical and theoretical knowledge and tactics to understand how to advocate and organise around justice for young immigrants. Participants will have an opportunity to engage with the issue of precarious citizenship, which affects significant numbers of young people settled in the UK (some 120,000) who do not have British citizenship, and to work collaboratively and creatively to link advocacy around justice for young im/migrants to anti-racist and other progressive movements in the UK and elsewhere.
Conference: The Child Refugee – Exploring the welfare needs of unaccompanied asylum seeking children – 25 May 2016 (London)
This one-day conference, organised with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health is for anyone with an interest in the subject of unaccompanied, asylum-seeking children. It is a knowledge-sharing, discussion-based event bringing together professionals from the health sector, education; social care; the legal system; the public sector; the voluntary sector, and other government agencies, to encourage integrated working. The summit will bring a wide range of delegates together to ask vital questions, such as: How do we work together to respond? What are the most effective ways to implement existing policies, standards and guidance in the real world? Who else is out there for help and support? For further details and to register: Child Refugee Conference
Day Seminar: A Brave New World: Making 26 Weeks Work – 29 April 2016 (Manchester)
This one-day seminar, organised by Child Concern, aimed to consider a range of current issues in public law proceedings with particular focus on what is achievable in the 26 weeks timetable. A multidisciplinary panel of speakers, including lawyers, judges, psychologists and psychiatrists, contributed to the discussion. Further details: Brave New World Seminar
Lecture: LSE Centre for the Study of Human Rights Public Lecture – 15 March 2016 (London)
An evening public lecture hosted by the LSE Centre for the Study of Human Rights on the rights of refugee and migrant children, jointly delivered by Kathryn Cronin (Garden Court Chambers) and Baljeet Sandhu of MiCLU. Further details here: LSE Child Rights Lecture Listen to the podcast here: LSE Lecture Podcast