DCL Seminar: Mauricio Gaona

DCL candidate J. Mauricio Gaona will be giving a doctoral seminar on the subject of "Outsourcing Humanity: A 21st-Century Response on Refugees" Supervisor: Professor François Crépeau.

Abstract

As the world’s refugee population grows every year (30 million and counting), more governments appear increasingly reluctant to host — much less integrate — refugees and asylum seekers in their countries. Instead, outsourcing the reception of these migrants to poor and developing countries — including those in state of conflict or war— in exchange for financial support is used as a more ‘efficient’ option. Comparing different refugee crises across the planet showing dissimilar responses to the often-cited “refugee threat,” this seminar uncovers the ramifications of a similar yet inherently contradictory outcome. Drawing from the evolution of refugee protection, the seminar further explores the events informing the arguably ineluctable choice between protecting refugees or protecting host-countries’ security, culture and identity, along with corollary premises (“too dangerous,” “too many,” “too different”) and neglected threats (technology, inequality, exclusion).

About the speaker

J. Mauricio Gaona is a doctoral candidate at McGill's Faculty of Law. He is an O'Brien Graduate Fellow at the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, and a Vanier Scholar (Social Sciences, Humanities and Research Council of Canada).