June 17, 2009

NEW YORK – Jessica Eby, Protection Officer of humanitarian agency Church World Service, will speak at The Advocates for Human Rights' seventh annual Human Rights Law and Policy Conference on Monday, June 22, 2009 in Minneapolis , Minn. at the law firm of Dorsey & Whitney, LLP. The conference, Refugee Protection around the World: Durable Solutions or Durable Suffering?, will bring together international, national and local experts and advocates to examine the current refugee protection system, its shortcomings, and possible long-term solutions. Beginning at 8:30a.m. and ending at 5:00p.m., morning plenary sessions and a panel of experts will address topics such as international refugee law, the refugee experience from a personal perspective, internally displaced persons, the outsourcing of refugee protection, refugee "warehousing," local integration, forced repatriation, and refugee resettlement in the United States.

Drawing from several contexts – including the situations of refugees from Afghanistan, Burma, and Colombia – Eby will share case studies from Church World Service work to illustrate opportunities for and challenges to accomplishing the durable solutions of integration, voluntary repatriation or resettlement for refugees.

Eby's presentation also will include discussion around protracted refugee situations and refugee "warehousing."

The afternoon plenary sessions will include the topics of Darfur and Sudanese refugees, as well as international refugee protection mechanisms. These discussions will lay the framework for afternoon working sessions that will focus on two refugee case studies (Sudan and Liberia), in which participants will brainstorm viable alternatives to improve the refugee protection system and ideas to mobilize for change.

Other conference speakers include: Mamadee Sesay; Michael Barringer-Mills, Field Support Manager at American Refugee Committee; Mark Hetfield, Senior Vice President for Policy and Programs at the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society; Ellen Kennedy, Interim Director at the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies; Bradley H. Lehrman, Attorney at Lommen, Abdo, Cole, King & Stageberg, P.A.; Dr. Sima Samar, Chairperson of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Sudan; and Colleen Beebe, Michele Garnett McKenzie, Jennifer Prestholdt, and Laura Young of The Advocates for Human Rights.

Along with The Advocates for Human Rights and Dorsey & Whitney, LLP, seventeen national and local organizations are sponsoring the conference, including the American Refugee Committee, Aronson & Associates, P.A., Catholic Charities, the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Church World Service, Fredrikson & Byron, P.A., the Genocide Intervention Network-Minnesota, The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), the Human Rights Center, the Human Rights Program and the Office of International Programs of the University of Minnesota, the International Institute of Minnesota, Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, the Midwest Coalition for Human Rights, the Minnesota Interfaith Darfur Coalition, and World Relief Minnesota.

Church World Service is the relief, development and refugee assistance agency supported by 35 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican denominations in the United States. CWS' Immigration and Refugee Program resettles about 8,000 refugees and entrants in the United States each year and also helps meet the needs of people in protracted refugee situations and refugees returning home.

The Advocates for Human Rights is a non-governmental, 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the promotion and protection of internationally recognized human rights. With the help of over 600 volunteers, The Advocates investigates and expose s human rights violations; represents immigrants and refugees in our community who are victims of human rights abuses, trains and assists groups that protect human rights; and works through education and advocacy in Minnesota to engage the public, policy makers and children about human rights and cultural understanding. The Advocates for Human Rights holds Special Consultative Status with the United Nations.

Church World Service