Roundtable on International Migrations and Persons of Undetermined Nationality

On December 19, 2015, STL and the Beijing office of The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) co-hosted a Roundtable on “International Migrations and Persons of Undetermined Nationality.” The full-day Roundtable, held at the Sheraton Hotel in the Futian District of Shenzhen, brought together representatives from UNHCR and students and faculty from STL to discuss topics such as the UNHCR Mandate on Stateless Persons, nationality-related and migration research issues and China exit and entry administration, and the role of clinical legal education and pro bono legal service in addressing migration law and immigration law issues.

The timing of the Roundtable coincided with a December 18, 2015 news report from the United Nations that the number of forcibly displaced persons in 2015 “is likely to exceed all previous records, for the first time topping 60 million, meaning that one out of every 122 persons on Earth has been forced to flee their home.” Roundtable participants discussed UNCHR’s role in leading and coordinating international action to protect these people and to resolve refugee problems worldwide.

The Roundtable featured presentations by Francis Teoh, the senior protection officer from UNHCR, who presented on the work of UNHCR and provided a basic framework for the division of responsibility within the organization. He pointed out that lawyering and advocacy are essential aspects of UNHCR’s efforts to fulfill its mandate to help refugees and stateless persons. STL alumna Zhou Yu (class of 2014), who works as the protection associate of UNHCR’s Beijing office, described her work on behalf of the organization and the opportunities she had as an STL student to study and research issues around refugee law.

Roundtable participants also heard from Professor Luo Gang from Yunnan University School of Law, who presented on immigration in China from the perspective of the Yunnan frontier area, which has one of the largest concentrations of immigrants in China; Professor Wang Yi, a scholar with the Institute of Overseas Chinese History Studies at Tsinghua University School of Social Science; and STL alumna Ma Huilian (class of 2012), a Shenzhen-based lawyer, who talked about public interest law programs and clinical opportunities at STL, and the important contribution of STL in promoting public interest advocacy for disadvantaged groups.

The Roundtable concluded with a very active Q&A session. The 30-plus STL students in attendance asked about issues such as the relationship between migrants and statelessness, the difference between refugees and migrants, the nature and interest of the “sanfei” problem (issue of illegal migration, illegal residence and illegal employment), and administration of nationality for international migrations.

STL looks forward to continued collaboration with UNHCR.