Fleeing Homophobia – Conference in Amsterdam 5-6 September 2011 – Registrations Now Open

Fleeing Homophobia
Conference 5-6 September, 2011
VU University Amsterdam

VU University Amsterdam and COC Netherlands now welcome registrations for the academic conference on LGBTI asylum seekers in Europe Fleeing Homophobia.  During the conference Sabine Jansen (COC) and Thomas Spijkerboer (VU University) will present their comparative study into the manner in which applications of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex asylum seekers are examined by immigration authorities  through-out Europe.  Key note addresses will be given by Jenni Millbank (University of Technology, Sydney) and Nicole LaViolette (University of Ottawa).

The two-day conference will host a series of speeches and workshops during which the consequences of the research for policy makers, decision makers, judges, lawyers, NGO¹s and activists will be discussed. In addition, scholars and people in the field will present their papers on a wide-range of issues relating to the thousands of LGBTI refugees seeking protection in Europe annually.

Papers will be presented by Hemme Battjes, VU University Amsterdam; Jan Beddeleem, WISH, Belgium; Michael Bell, Refugee Support, UK; Laurie Berg, University of Technology, Sidney, Australia; Viachaslau Bortnik, Belarus; Paul Canning, LGBTI Asylum News, UK; S Chelvan, Barrister, London, UK; Tim Cowen; Equality Network Scotland, UK; Michael Dreyer, Jena University, Germany and Jonathan Gibs, Queeramnesty, Zurich, Switzerland; Amanda Gray, UNHCR, London, UK; Cara Hughes, ORAM, San Fransisco, USA; Søren Laursen, LGBT Denmark, Denmark; Louis Middelkoop, VU University, Amsterdam; Olivia Mocanasu, Directorate of Immigration, Norway; Quantin Montello, African Centre for Migration Studies/WITS, South Africa; Petra Sussner, University of Vienna, Austria.

To view the full conference schedule and for registration, please visit our web site.

Organization: Fleeing Homophobia is a project of COC Netherlands and VU University Amsterdam, in cooperation with the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Avvocatura per i diritti LGBT/ Rete Lenford, and the European Council on Refugees and Exiles.  Fleeing Homophobia is funded by the European Refugee Fund, the Dutch Ministry of Justice, and the participating organisations.