I Summer School on Refugee Law was held on August 28-30. It was organized by the UNHCR in Belarus to attract interest of law students to the protection of refugee rights, as well as to educate young specialists who are going to work with human rights and humanitarian issues in future.
Jean-Yves Bouchardy, the UNHCR Representative in Belarus delivered a welcoming speech and opened the event.
Mr. Bouchardy drew attention to the urgency of the refugee problem and the need to solve it. This is due to the fact that only during the first half year of 2018, Belarus welcomed 457 asylum-seekers. The Republic of Belarus also hosts over 6,000 stateless persons. The UNHCR Representative in Belarus hoped that the information received within the framework of the I Summer School would be useful for the further professional development of the participants and wished them a very productive time.
The training consisted of lectures and simulation games.
The Executive Director of «Evolutio» Andrey Selivanov plunged the participants into the historical roots of forced migration.
The UNHCR in Belarus officers – Timofey Solodkov, Associate Protection Officer, Zoya Golovneva, Protection Associate, and Aleksander Yatsenko, National RSD Specialist reported on the main issues of I Summer School.
Besides, Natalia Sokolovskaya, Deputy Head of the Office for Refugees and Asylum of the Department of Citizenship and Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, and Anna Bystrova, Head of Legal Unit of the Public Association "Belarusian Movement of Medical Workers" (Refugee Counseling Service) shared their useful experience with the participants.
During I Summer School on Refugee Law the participants from all over Belarus discussed the most important aspects of refugee law in the context of international law, studied the basic tools to protect the persons of UNHCR concern, and received information about the national asylum system in the Republic of Belarus. After that, students were invited to participate in Moot Court to consolidate their knowledge in practice. All of them received souvenirs and certificates of participation in the event.