黑料视频

December 20, 2024
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Bonzani Lecture discusses refugee-protection challenges

Refugees International president and Binghamton alumnus returns to campus

Eric Schwartz '79, LLD '14, delivers the third annual John and Lawrence Bonzani Memorial Law Lecture on Sept. 18. Schwartz served as dean of the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota before becoming president of Refugees International in 2017. Eric Schwartz '79, LLD '14, delivers the third annual John and Lawrence Bonzani Memorial Law Lecture on Sept. 18. Schwartz served as dean of the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota before becoming president of Refugees International in 2017.
Eric Schwartz '79, LLD '14, delivers the third annual John and Lawrence Bonzani Memorial Law Lecture on Sept. 18. Schwartz served as dean of the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota before becoming president of Refugees International in 2017. Image Credit: Evan Henderson.

For Refugees International President Eric Schwartz 鈥79, LLD 鈥14, there are encouraging signs in the challenge to ensure basic protections for asylum seekers and internally displaced people.

鈥淪tudents like those here at 黑料视频 remain committed to using their education and skills to sustain efforts and create prospects for a brighter future for hundreds of millions of people around the world,鈥 he said.

Schwartz, who has had a three-decade career focused on human rights and humanitarian issues, delivered the third annual John and Lawrence Bonzani Memorial Law Lecture on Sept. 18. He discussed 鈥淧rotecting the Human Rights of Refugees and Other Forced Migrants鈥 with students and faculty gathered at Casadesus Hall in the Fine Arts Building.

As president of Refugees International since June 2017, Schwartz leads an organization that 鈥渟eeks to promote humanitarian assistance and protection for refugees and other forced migrants through first-hand reporting and through advocacy,鈥 he told the audience.

According to the latest study from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more than 70 million people have fled their homes around the world due to persecution, violence and violation of human rights. More than 25 million of those people are outside their country of origin, making them refugees. Millions more are displaced each year by natural disasters impacted by climate change.

鈥淚t might seem impossible to feel empathy and connectedness to 70 million people forced to leave their homes,鈥 said Schwartz, who served as U.S. assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration from 2009-11. 鈥淭he statistics are so overwhelming. Addressing the needs of millions can be daunting.鈥

But there is a simple reason why the world should care about those 70 million people.

鈥淥ur common humanity demands that we care,鈥 Schwartz said. 鈥淭he principle of humanity means that the suffering of one person is no less significant or worthy of compassion and response than if the suffering (person) was (family).鈥

The notion of common humanity also can serve as an inspiration to help, Schwartz said.

鈥淭his seems especially important in a country where the majority of citizens have forbearers who fled countries of origin to find refuge here,鈥 he said.

The United States has been 鈥渨ell served鈥 by immigration in the past, Schwartz added, and has successfully promoted and funded the security of refugees.

鈥淯nbridled hostility toward migrants makes little sense for the United States,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 impossible to imagine that the U.S. could鈥檝e become the leading economic and political power it is today without the contributions made by significant and substantial levels of immigration.鈥

Governments around the world are now rejecting the 鈥渨elcome the stranger鈥 mentality, Schwartz said. This is especially true in the United States, where a 鈥減arade of horribles鈥 has taken place, he said.

鈥淭hese include unprecedented reductions in the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and efforts to completely end asylum for vulnerable Central Americans,鈥 said Schwartz, adding that President Trump also has proposed cuts to humanitarian aid.

Schwartz noted that there has always been a 鈥渇ragile鈥 consensus in the United States and around the world when it comes to the principles of inclusion.

鈥淧erhaps most disturbing has been the hateful, evidence-free rhetoric and the demonization of forced migrants and asylum seekers by political leadership in the United States,鈥 he said.

鈥淎t key points in our history, we have relied on leadership to promote principles of inclusion in circumstances where public opinion was contested.鈥

For Schwartz, the challenge must be confronted with a sense of perspective and an emphasis on perseverance and engagement.

鈥淭here have always been loud voices of intolerance, appealing to our fears rather than our hopes,鈥 he said.

The current signs of encouragement that Schwartz sees include U.S. aid to places such as Syria and South Sudan; a global compact on migration; governments in Uganda, Jordan, Turkey, Ethiopia and Colombia working to improve refugee conditions; and lawyers continuing to serve on the 鈥渇ront lines鈥 of protections.

鈥淔rom Syria to Somalia to Bangladesh, Burma and Burkina Faso to the southern border of the United States,鈥 Schwartz said, 鈥渨e seek to ensure that the voices of vulnerable populations are heard in the halls of political power.鈥

Posted in: In the World, Harpur