Alexander Aleinikoff: The Responsibility to Solve

Alexander Aleinikoff

Abstract
The Dadaab refugee camp in north-eastern Kenya is the largest in the world, hosting more than 450,000 refugees. It is the third largest city in Kenya. The vast majority of refugees in Dadaab are Somalis who have fled years of conflict and drought. This year Dadaab turns twenty. It is worth marking two decades of Kenyan generosity and its (largely) open borders to refugees—as well as the many years of support from donor states who have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars for the care of refugees in Dadaab. But one must also note—in addition to troubling issues of security at the camp—that Dadaab now counts among its residents 10,000 children born to refugees who themselves were born in Dadaab.

Speaker Bio
At the UNHCR, Mr Aleinikoff works on behalf of 34 million refugees and displaced persons worldwide. He has served on inter-governmental bodies on migration and human rights issues in managerial and advisory capacities, as well as working as a senior official in the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). He was formerly Executive Vice President of Georgetown University and Dean of the Georgetown University Law Centre. At Georgetown, Mr Aleinikoff also co-chaired the Immigration Policy Review Team for President Obama's transition.

Organiser: SOAS Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies

Contact email: rg32@soas.ac.uk