UNSW Kaldor Centre

In a world fractured by fear and misinformation, how do we rebuild trust and advance refugee protection? Hugh de Kretser delivers a powerful closing keynote on bridging divides, through truth, empathy, and collective action. This is a call to move beyond rhetoric and create systems that work for refugees and communities alike. Closing keynote address recorded at the 2025 Kaldor Centre Conference, Building bridges: Advancing refugee protection in a divided world. Speaker Hugh de Kretser, President, Australian Human Rights Commission Why Listen *Learn why human rights frameworks remain essential for refugee protection in polarized times *Discover strategies to counter fear-driven narratives and misinformation about refugees *See how collaboration across sectors and communities can rebuild trust and deliver solutions *Be inspired by a vision for inclusive, rights-based systems that unite rather than divide

With governments stepping back, can civil society, businesses, academics—and refugees themselves—fill the protection gap? This session reveals “whole-of-society” strategies driving real change. The panel session was recorded at the 2025 Kaldor Centre Conference, Building bridges: Advancing refugee protection in a divided world. Speakers Chair: Daniel Ghezelbash, Professor of Law & Director, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law Dr Jeff Crisp, Visiting Research Fellow, Oxford; former UNHCR & global policy leader James Jegasothy, Deputy CEO, Multicultural NSW Professor Kate Ogg, ARC Fellow & Professor, Australian National University Hafsar Tameesuddin, Co-Secretary General, Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network Why Listen *Discover cross-sector coalitions stepping into protection deficits *Understand how legal advocacy and strategic litigation influence policy *Learn the power of grassroots and refugee-led networks in crisis responses *See what success can look like when refugees and civil society lead together

Too often, refugee participation is symbolic. This panel flips that script—showcasing real-world leadership by refugees and how inclusive policies make systems stronger. This panel session was recorded at the 2025 Kaldor Centre Conference, Building bridges: Advancing refugee protection in a divided world. Speakers Chair: Frances Voon, Executive Manager, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law Dor Akech Achiek, Interim CEO, Western Sydney Migrant Resource Centre Dr Renee Dixson, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Forcibly Displaced People Network Dr Tristan Harley, Senior Research Associate, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law Najeeba Wazefadost, Executive Director, Asia Pacific Network of Refugees Why Listen *Learn how refugees are moving from surface-level consultation to genuine collaboration *See how LGBTIQA+ voices and refugee-led networks strengthen inclusion *Explore practical models for shared decision-making in policy development *Witness innovative frameworks built by refugees, for refugees

In an era of misinformation, echo chambers, and rising polarisation, how can we bring people together for honest and respectful dialogue on refugee and migration issues? This session shines a light on proven strategies that cut through fear and foster unity, grounded in research, policy, and real-world practice. Recorded at the the 2025 Kaldor Centre Conference, Building Bridges: Advancing refugee protection in a divided world Speakers Chair: Professor Jane McAdam AO, Scientia Professor of Law, Founder & Director of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law Basma Alawee, Deputy Executive Director, Community Sponsorship Hub Dr Sukhmani Khorana, Scientia Associate Professor, UNSW School of Arts & Media Kylea Tink, Former MP (North Sydney), seasoned leader and social advocate Saul Wodak, Behavioural Insights Advisor at BIT Sydney, expert in countering misinformation Why You Should Watch *Learn evidence-based techniques to bridge divides on contentious topics *Hear how communities have amplified refugee voices and built common ground *Discover ways to challenge misinformation and break through algorithmic biases

Join us for the keynote address from the 2025 Kaldor Centre Conference, 'Building bridges: Advancing refugee protection in a divided world' held on 23 October 2025 at UNSW Sydney. Speakers Daniel Ghezelbash, Professor of Law & Director, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Sydney Mohammed Naeem, Senior Director for Advocacy Strategy, Refugees International Timestamp 00:00 Opening remarks, Daniel Ghezelbash, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, 13:40 Daniel Ghezelbash introduces Mohammed Naeem 15:19 Keynote address, Mohammed Naeem, Refugees International 32:48 Audience Q&A with Mohammed Naeem and Daniel Ghezelbash in conversation during question time Why Listen *Understand why the Refugee Convention remains vital and why implementation, not the law itself, is failing. *Learn how polarization and misinformation threaten refugee protection and what works to rebuild trust. *Discover why imagination and community-driven solutions are key to designing inclusive, lasting systems. *Hear a powerful call to elevate refugee leadership and show that caring isn’t just moral, it works. Transcripts Daniel Ghezelbash opening remarks: https://www.unsw.edu.au/news/2025/11/the-refugee-convention-is-under-threat--but-it-is-not-the-proble Mohammed Naeem keynote address: https://www.unsw.edu.au/news/2025/11/mohammed-naeem-gives-keynote-address-at-the-2025-kaldor-centre-c

10 Years of the Nansen Initiative Protection Agenda (NIPA +10): Reflections from the frontlines of the Envoy of the Chair of the Platform on Disaster Displacement In October 2015, 109 states endorsed the Agenda for the Protection of Cross-Border Displaced Persons in the Context of Disasters and Climate Change ('Nansen Agenda'), providing a toolbox of concrete policy options and proposing a series of recommendations for future work. The agenda was the result of the Nansen Initiative, a state-led process to address the protection needs of people displaced across borders due to disasters and climate change. The Platform on Disaster Displacement (PDD) was established in 2016 to carry on the work of the Nansen Initiative and help put its recommendations into practice. In this podcast, Envoy of the Chair of the Platform on Disaster Displacement, Professor Walter Kälin, who was formerly Envoy of the Nansen Initiative, chats with Professor Jane McAdam AO about the major advances, and enduring challenges, in protection for people displaced in the context of disasters and climate change. Learn more: https://disasterdisplacement.org/the-platform/the-context/ https://www.unsw.edu.au/kaldor-centre

Governments are increasingly turning to digital technologies such as GPS ankle monitors and tracking apps as so-called “alternatives to detention.” But a new report from UNSW Sydney’s Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, the International Detention Coalition and the Refugee Law Lab shows these tools too often replicate detention in digital form, restricting liberty, undermining dignity and causing real harm for people on the move. This is a recording from a launch event held on 16 September 2025, to present the findings of a global study and introduce 10 Guiding Principles for ensuring technology reduces, rather than expands, detention. Listen to explore how governments, civil society and technologists can move towards genuine rights-based alternatives that promote freedom, dignity and community integration. With thanks to the Global Migration Centre at the Graduate Institute of Geneva for kindly hosting this event, and to Robert Bosch Stiftung for its generous support for this project. Read the report: Download: 'From Surveillance to Empowerment: Advancing the Responsible Use of Technology in Alternatives to Detention' [https://www.unsw.edu.au/content/dam/pdfs/law/kaldor/2025-09-technology-in-alternatives-to-detention.pdf]

A recording of an online seminar held on 12 June 2025, hosted by UNSW's Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law and Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, and the Australian Institute of Administrative Law (NSW). In the November 2023 case of NZYQ v Minister for Immigration, the High Court unanimously held that non-citizens could not be held in immigration detention when there was ‘no real prospect of removal from Australia becoming practicable in the reasonably foreseeable future’. Since NZYQ, numerous cases have tested and refined the limits of this principle, including: ASF17 v Commonwealth; YBFZ v Minister for Immigration; and CZA19 v Commonwealth. This online seminar will explore these developments and the limits of administrative detention. Speakers Kate Bones is a Barrister at Banco Chambers with specialist expertise in public and administrative law. Kate appeared for the Human Rights Law Centre and the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law as amicus curiae in NZYQ v the Minister for Immigration and for the plaintiff in YBFZ v Minister for Immigration. Sanmati Verma is a Legal Director (Principal) of the Human Rights Law Centre. She has specialised in migration law for over 10 years and has represented a number of clients in immigration detention. The Human Rights Law Centre intervened as amicus curiae in NZYQ v the Minister for Immigration and on behalf of AZC20 in ASF17 v Commonwealth. Douglas McDonald-Norman is a PhD candidate at UNSW Law + Justice, a Barrister at Eight Selborne Chambers, and as of July 2025 will be a Lecturer at UTS Faculty of Law. Douglas specialises in administrative law, migration law and refugee law. Chair: Anna Talbot is the Coordinator of the Strategic Litigation Network at the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law and a PhD candidate at UNSW Law & Justice.

In 2027, governments are expected to adopt the world’s first-ever global treaty on the Protection of Persons in the event of Disasters — a landmark step toward strengthening international responses in a time of intensifying climate risks. Yet, the current draft of the treaty barely mentions displacement at all. Our latest Policy Brief explains why that must change — and how. Here, co-authors UNSW Kaldor Centre's Scientia Professor Jane McAdam AO and Dr Thomas Mulder discuss 'Foregrounding displacement and evacuations in the proposed treaty on the protection of persons in the event of disasters'. Recorded 20 May 2025 Read Policy Brief 17: Foregrounding Displacement and Evacuations in the Proposed Treaty on the Protection of Persons in the event of Disasters https://www.unsw.edu.au/content/dam/pdfs/law/kaldor/2025-05-policy-brief-foregrounding-displacement-treaty.pdf

A recording of a speed briefing held on Tuesday, 11 March 2025, to learn more about how misinformation works and what to do about it. For those who want a truthful discussion, yet may sometimes struggle to respond to false claims, a new report is designed to help you know what to do and when: Countering misinformation about refugees and migrants: An evidence-based framework, find it here: https://www.unsw.edu.au/kaldor-centre/our-resources/legal-and-policy-resources/countering-misinformation With an easy-to-follow decision tree and how-to examples, this report can equip you to respond across a range of situations— and lays the groundwork for you to create responses aligned with your own aims. Co-authors Professor Daniel Ghezelbash (UNSW Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law) and Saul Wodak (Behavioural Insights Team) step through the framework, empowering you to create stronger, fact-based conversations.