Fellow's Tea with Itty Abraham

Refugee: The Highest Stage of Displacement

In this conversation A/P Abraham will illustrate how the identity of refugees and the states’ politics in their regards evolved across time. He intends to discuss: How do we make sense of these changes and transformations, and most important, what doesn't change about the international refugee regime? Answers to these questions reinforce the conclusion that international “humanitarianism” is a political issue, not a moral or ethical concern.

A/P Itty Abraham is head of the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at NUS. His research areas include critical international relations and science and technology studies. His most recent book is, "How India Became Territorial: Foreign Policy, Diaspora, Geopolitics." He is beginning a new project on informal humanitarianism -- asylum and hospitality -- in Southeast Asia.