"The forty years' crisis: Refugees in Europe 1919-1959" to be held at Birkbeck College on 14-16 September 2010 (360G-Wellcome-092938_Z_10_Z)

This conference takes stock of the 'short' twentieth century of European refugees and refugee policy which the United Nations' first World Refugee Year in 1959 supposedly brought to a close. It offers a uniquely comprehensive perspective on European refugees and responses to refugee crises within their international and global context. The conference aims to bring together the latest research on the management of refugees in twentieth-century Europe, with particular reference to the work conducted by the United Nations, its precursor organisations and other international bodies. The conference charts the formation of international solutions to tackle refugee problems, and considers resulting legislation and international conventions. In the European context these refugee crises were always conceived of as a temporary problem with various piecemeal, largely technical and ad hoc solutions. The conference re-assesses the development of national and increasingly international responses to the problem of refugees- medical, political, social and economic - and examines the parameters, consequences and implications of policies, from the First World War until 1959/1960. It is a particular concern of the conference to identify medical responses to refugee crises and to examine them within their wider historical context. The recurring threat of mass displacement and refugee crises provided major incentives to international collaboration on public health matters, but also shaped national responsibilities for public health. By appraising the impact of population upheavals and international responses it will revise and enhance our understanding of current approaches to migration and asylum.