(NEWS) UNIGE and WMU Partner on Migration by Sea Symposium

February

2016

UNIGE and WMU Partner on Migration by Sea Symposium

The World Maritime University and the University of Genoa (Università degli Studi di Genova - UNIGE) are partnering to deliver the WMU Migration by Sea Symposium that will take place in Malmö, Sweden on 26-27 April 2016.

For 2015, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees recorded over a million arrivals by sea in the Mediterranean region alone. Of that number, 3,771 were reported dead or missing. In 2016, the number of sea arrivals has already reached 62,397, with 344 recorded dead or missing (as at 2 February 2016).

Italy continues to see a high number of migrants arriving by sea. According to the Italian Ministry of Interior, there were 323,942 sea arrivals at different parts of the coast in the last two years.

The crisis is global. In Southeast Asia, the UN Refugee Agency has estimated an overall 94,000 maritime departures since 2014, with some 1,100 persons accounted dead or missing (as at 2 October 2015).

The WMU Symposium on Migration by Sea will provide an international forum for an exchange of information and for advancing knowledge on migration and, in particular, on migration by sea, with a view to exploring the complex issues and challenges that arise, and the lessons learnt.

Topics covered by the Symposium will range from trends and data connected with migratory flows, through to the legal and operational inadequacies which are allowing tragedies to unfold at sea. Human rights, maritime safety and security, organized crime, and private maritime law liabilities and insurance will be addressed.

The Symposium programme includes several key officials and experts on the subject matter from around the world. UNIGE’s contribution is significant, as it will provide the Symposium with key speakers from Italy including the Italian Coast Guard, the judiciary, as well as lawyers and academics.

On 18 December 2015, UNIGE and WMU signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Academic Cooperation. The partnering of the two Universities in delivering the Symposium is one of the first steps taken for the implementation of the agreement.

EVENT DETAILS

26-27 April 2016
World Maritime University (WMU)
Fiskehamnsgatan 1
Malmö, Sweden

www.wmu.se/migrationbysea
#migrationbysea

Interested journalists will be approved to cover the symposium provided they have a specific commission for coverage of the event (and not just of speakers or others attending). A media pass entitles entrance to the symposium and associated events. Members of the press are responsible for their own travel and accommodation costs. If interested in attending as a member of the press, please contact WMU Communications Officer, Maia Brindley Nilsson, mbn@wmu.se.

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