#twogather

Two calls for comments on UNHCR Protection Guidelines

UNHCR's Division of International Protection has issued two calls for comments on the following draft protection guidelines: Applicability of Article 1D of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees to Palestinian Refugees, and The Meaning of the Phrase "Former Habitual Residence" in Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees as Regards Family Members of Stateless Refugees Born in the Country of Asylum. Comments for both should be submitted by 9 January 2015. More information is available here.

  Requests for upcoming IASFM Newsletter

Michele Millard, International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) Coordinator, has requested several inputs for the upcoming IASFM Newsletter. First, she requests any available photos from the IASFM conference in Bogota. Second, she would appreciate information on any upcoming workshops, summer courses, conferences, calls for papers, new publications (books, articles, other kinds of outputs, etc.), that could be announced in the newsletter. As the newsletter will likely be issued in early January, any events should take place after January 2015.

  Request for brief submission on seaborne migrants

The Emerging Scholars and Practitioners on Migration Issues (ESPMI) Network is currently working toward publishing its second peer-reviewed e-journal, Refugee Review. They request last minute submissions of approximately 500 words from emerging scholars or practitioners (or established scholars interested in ESPMI) on the following question: ‘How is the situation of seaborne migrants and asylum seekers re-conceptualising refugees and forced migration in the 21st century?’ Those interested are requested to contact to Brittany Wheeler, Co-coordinator of the ESPMI Network, as soon as possible.

  Request for refugee musician contacts

Julien Harrell-Bond seeks Europe-based refugee musicians for collaboration with French non-profit organisation TwoGather, which is comprised of film creators, musicians and events managers. The aim is to spread a message of sharing and unity through art—without paying attention to the origins or backgrounds of those artists who participate.

TwoGather has staged three events called ‘Come To Gather’ to promote diversity. We work as partners with Les soirées de l’instant (Chambéry, Annecy, Lyon, Paris), Instinct’taf (Chambéry, Massif de la Chartreuse, Morocco, Senegal) and Le Pretexte (Cultural agenda in Chambéry). Our sponsors include Crédit mutuel and Région Rhônes-Alpes.

One of our projects is to create music videos combining the work of many musicians throughout the world. Our mobile studio will be going around Europe recording and filming musicians. Perhaps the nearest approximation of what we are aiming to accomplish is the work of Playing For Change (see Songs around the World). This was our original inspiration, but we are incorporating more musical styles from other parts of the world—and that’s where refugees come in.

As noted, our team’s first trip will be around Europe to record musicians. We will be updating our blog every week. In this first project, we want to show how bringing different nationalities together can promote diversity and integration and counter the frightening trend towards nationalism, racism and Islamophobia in Europe today. Since financial constraints do not allow us initially to move beyond Europe and we would like to incorporate ‘the World,’ we think that the best way is to meet refugee musicians in all the European countries that we visit. We would like to invite the readers of this Newsletter to put us in touch with the refugee musicians that you are assisting.