Perry World House Conference Examines Migration and Human Rights

Perry World House’s (PWH) fourth and final conference of the academic year—this one on human rights and global justice—kicked off on Wednesday, April 16.  

PWH Executive Director Marie Harf opened the conference by noting that “the world is experiencing unprecedented levels of displacement driven by conflict, economic insecurity and instability, and the impacts of climate change.” This, she said, has led to an increase in already divisive discourse about the role of migrants in society, both in the United States and around the world. 

Following Harf’s welcome, keynote speaker Amy Pope, director-general of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and a PWH distinguished visiting fellow, took the stage for the conference’s opening keynote session. In a conversation with PWH’s Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, DG Pope spoke about the interplay between migration, human rights, and asylum policies. “We cannot talk about human civilization without talking about migration and whether it’s people who are fleeing conflict, people who are looking for better opportunities, people who are fleeing persecution. This is the story of human civilization and every single one of in this room—every single one of us on this planet—has the story somewhere in their background.”