NEWS

Symposium on "Why Should We Protect Refugees?" was Held

Update: July 11, 2024

On June 27, 2024, ICU's Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) hosted a symposium titled "Why Should We Protect Refugees?" at the International Conference Room of ICU's Kiyoshi Togasaki Memorial Dialogue House. The symposium was co-sponsored by the ICU Rotary Peace Center and supported by the Japan ICU Foundation (JICUF), the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, and Iwanami Shoten.

President Shoichiro Iwakiri gave opening remarks and noted that ICU has been accepting Syrian and Ukrainian students. Associate Professor Naoko Hashimoto (author of Why Should We Protect Refugees?, Iwanami Shoten) served as general chairperson of the event, which was attended by about 110 current ICU students, faculty, staff, alumni, and members of the public.

The keynote speech was delivered by Professor Matthew J. Gibney, a leading expert on asylum policy and political philosophy at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford. His talk, entitled "Why do states have a moral responsibility to protect refugees," offered thought-provoking perspectives on humanitarianism, harm, community, and the system of states.

The speech was followed by a panel discussion with Professor Ai Kihara-Hunt (University of Tokyo), Ms. Ritsu Nacken (Deputy Representative of UNHCR Japan), and Ms. Luz Maria Carreno (a Rotary Peace Fellow in Master's Course, ICU Graduate School). Assistant Professor by Special Appointment Dr. Brian Aycock (ICU) moderated the panel. The panelists actively exchanged opinions on a variety of topics, including the definition of "refugee," people with "refugee" status who have no way to escape to other countries, difficulties in resettlement, and the meaning of civil society organizations' efforts to lobby the government.

During the Q&A session, there was also a lively discussion on a variety of topics, including the questions asked by participating Diet members.

Finally, Professor Osamu Arakaki gave closing remarks as the director of the ICU Rotary Peace Center. After the symposium closed, a dialogue with Associate Professor Naoko Hashimoto was held, and a sample of her book Why Should We Protect Refugees? (in Japanese).

In an era when an increasing number of countries in the global North are reluctant to accept refugees, this was a very valuable opportunity to reexamine the refugee issue from the perspective of political philosophy.