Which Crisis? Understanding and Addressing Migration

Abstract:

This report summarizes the proceedings of an international conference convened in the framework of the New-Med Research Network in Athens on 16 December 2016. Organized by the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), the event was hosted at the offices of the Representation of the European Commission in Greece and involved the participation of invited experts from a variety of backgrounds to discuss a number of migration-related issues.

Approaching them from different Mediterranean perspectives, experts debated various definitions of the “migrant and refugee crisis,” examined the hardships and psychological traumas affecting migrants attempting to reach Europe and the European Union’s uneven response to the crisis. Structured around a keynote speech and two panel sessions, the conference benefited from the input and support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna, the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) and the Compagnia di San Paolo of Turin.