The US is preparing for a fight from afar in Afghanistan

As the withdrawal of the American troops from Afghanistan is underway, questions remain about how the United States will reorganize its counterterrorism capabilities in the region. Recent contacts between US officials and Uzbek, Tajik, and Kazakh authorities suggest that the US military is seeking to reposition some of its troops in Central Asia. It would not be the first time that the countries in this region are hosting US troops : facing big security concerns ever since the Taliban appeared on their doorstep, the Kyrgyz, Tajik, and Uzbek governments allowed the US into their territory after 9/11. Considering the devastating consequences of American troops’ withdrawal from Iraq, some observers doubt whether a fight from afar will be sufficient to contain the terrorist threat.
Fanny Voélin

EU als Vermittlerin in Georgien zahlt Kaution für inhaftierten Oppositionsführer

Die Europäische Union stellte die Kaution in Höhe von umgerechnet 9,500€ zur Freilassung des seit Februar inhaftierten georgischen Oppositionsführer Niki Melia bereit. Damit sollen die Spannungen abgebaut werden, welche auf die umstrittenen Parlamentswahlen im Oktober letzten Jahres zurückzuführen sind. Damals wurde der Regierungspartei 'Georgischer Traum' Wahlmanipulation vorgeworfen. Die EU vermittelt seit April zwischen der Regierungspartei und mehreren Oppositionsparteien wie der Vereinten Nationalen Bewegung (UNM), welcher Melia vorsitzt. Die UNM weigerte sich bisher, das Abkommen zur Beilegung der Krise zu unterzeichnen, bis ihr Parteichef aus der Haft entlassen werde. Der im Exil lebende, ehemalige Präsident und UNM-Gründer Micheil Saakaschwili bestärkte nun die UNM, das Abkommen für weitreichende Wahl- und Justizreformen zu unterzeichnen.
Marika Pechr

12 May : The Geopolitics of Vaccines
Eric Degila & Suerie Moon

After more than a year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has just begun to put in place an effective global response based on a concerted vaccination policy. However, the most conservative forecasts point to a global production of 9 billion doses of vaccine with proven efficacy in 2021.

While vaccine access has become a major geopolitical issue, a “holy grail” quest for many developing countries, the debate on local production emerges as an ethical response, a sort of moral injunction to rebalance the divide between the North and the South, already well-marked before this health cataclysm.

In unmasking the geopolitics of this vaccine, what realities are lurking underneath this fragmented world where national interests are making a comeback?
Wednesday, 12 May, 12:30 - 13:30 CET

The Global Migration Centre is pleased to take part in the 70th anniversary celebrations of the Refugee Convention and UNHCR, in collaboration with the UNHCR Office for Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

This online event is part of a series of academic events throughout Switzerland to celebrate the 70th anniversary of HCR and the 1951 Convention for Refugees. The scope of these discussions with leading experts in the field of international refugee law is to seize the opportunity to discuss, reflect upon and question the current refugee protection regime.