The 6th Summer Institute in International Law and Human Rights: “Migration and Human Rights”

Bali, 12 August 2013 — The Human Rights Resource Centre, together with its partners, today opened the 6th Annual Summer Institute in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights in Bali, Indonesia. This year’s Summer Institute centers on the theme “Migration and Human Rights” and will run from the 12th to the 16th. Welcoming the distinguished participants are Mr. Marzuki Darusman, HRRC Executive Director, and Prof. Dr. dr. Ketut Suastika, Sp. PD-KEMD, Rector of Udayana University. The Governor of Bali, H.E. I Made Mangku Pastika, also honored the event and gave the opening remarks.

Scheduled to speak today are Mr. Phil Robertson, Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division; H. E. Rafendi Djamin, Indonesia’s Representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR); and Professor Yanghee Lee, former Chairperson of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Since 2008, the Summer Institute has provided human rights professionals, mostly working in Southeast Asia, with a forum for discussion about a topic of key concern to the region. This year, the Summer Institute will be an intensive program with a more decided focus. Participants are predominantly from the ASEAN Secretariat, the AICHR, the ASEAN Committee on Migrant Workers (ACMW), and the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC).

The primary purpose of this workshop will be to provide members of the key ASEAN Commissions with opportunity to engage in policy-level discussions relating to economic migration, and to consider the views of a small number of key experts working in the fields of labour law, trafficking in persons, citizenship and refugee rights, and women and child rights in migration.

This is the third time for Indonesia to host the Summer Institute. In 2009 and 2010, the programs were held in cooperation with the National Human Rights Commission of Indonesia (Komnas HAM). This year, the Summer Institute is organized by the Human Rights Resource Centre, Udayana University, East-West Center, University of Zurich, International Institute for Child Rights and Development, and the War Crimes Studies Center.

If you have any queries regarding the event, please write to I Made Budi Arsika at imadebudiarsika@yahoo.com or 6281936281062, or Rully Sandra at r.sandra@hrrca.org or 628159127075.