The first seminar will be held on Monday 7 October in Linköping and will describe the work of the Asylum Commission. This is a collaboration between researchers from, among others, LiU and the Swedish Network of Refugee Support Groups, FARR. The commission consists of researchers from several universities, representatives of civil society, people with personal experiences of the asylum process, and representatives from several professional groups who work with asylum issues.
Anna LundbergPresenting the seminar are LiU researchers Anna Lundberg, professor of welfare law in the Department of Social and Welfare Studies, and Sabine Gruber, senior lecturer in the same department. They are both members of the Asylum Commission and will describe the background to the commission and the investigative work it carries out.
“At the Asylum Commission we plan to investigate such matters as changes in the law and their consequences, deficiencies in asylum reception, the displacement of responsibility, age adjustments, and legal practice”, says Anna Lundberg.
The seminar aims to connect public health, children’s rights, and violence, centred on international research and with an eye to the future. The starting point is to bring out and strengthen the voices of children in vulnerable situations, and to support the perspective of children also when establishing preventive measures.
Several LiU researchers will participate at seminars that deal with such topics as the rights of children, asylum issues, the mental health of young people, and the treatment of women subject to violence.
Professor Anna Lundberg will also participate at the forum, and is a member of a round-table discussion that poses the question “By whom are children protected?”. Two of the questions to be raised concern the definition of children, and how children are to be protected, related to their age.
“Children have special rights and needs, simply because they are children. But they often end up in situations in which they cannot enjoy the protection of the rights that are fundamentally theirs”, says Anna Lundberg.
The Asylum Commission
“At the Asylum Commission we plan to investigate such matters as changes in the law and their consequences, deficiencies in asylum reception, the displacement of responsibility, age adjustments, and legal practice”, says Anna Lundberg.
Children’s rights
The rights of children to participation and the status of children in Swedish society is the topic of the second seminar, to be held on 16 October and arranged by Barnafrid, a national knowledge centre in violence against children based at LiU. The way in which children and young people are met in society reflects how we see, interpret and position the group “children”. Based on the rights of children, the seminar will emphasise their rights to participation in research, and in questions that concern the individual child in which it is important to adopt the child’s perspective.The seminar aims to connect public health, children’s rights, and violence, centred on international research and with an eye to the future. The starting point is to bring out and strengthen the voices of children in vulnerable situations, and to support the perspective of children also when establishing preventive measures.
Citizenship
The third seminar will be held on 29 October in Linköping with the title: “Citizenship, migration and promoting diversity”. Political scientists Khalid Khayati and Karin Skill, both researchers in the Department of Management and Engineering, will talk about, among other things, power relationships and politics as a basis for understanding discrimination and inclusion.The right to health
The Swedish Forum for Human Rights is an annual event held in Sweden for the past 19 years, this year in Linköping on 14-16 November. The theme this year is the right to health.Several LiU researchers will participate at seminars that deal with such topics as the rights of children, asylum issues, the mental health of young people, and the treatment of women subject to violence.
Professor Anna Lundberg will also participate at the forum, and is a member of a round-table discussion that poses the question “By whom are children protected?”. Two of the questions to be raised concern the definition of children, and how children are to be protected, related to their age.
“Children have special rights and needs, simply because they are children. But they often end up in situations in which they cannot enjoy the protection of the rights that are fundamentally theirs”, says Anna Lundberg.
A gathering of expertise
Principal organiser of the Swedish Forum for Human Rights (MR) is Ordfront, while Linköping Municipality, Linköping University, the County Administrative Board in Östergötland, Region Östergötland and the Church of Sweden are also involved.
“Considerable research in the field of human rights is already conducted at LiU. Through our involvement in the forum, we will collect our expertise and we are hoping that questions related to human rights will now receive a breadth and greater focus at LiU”, says Peter Hult, coordinator of LiU’s involvement in the forum.
The seminars will be held in Swedish.
Translated by George Farrants