Conflict, statelessness and state succession: reflections from South Asia and Africa

The 1947 Partition of India engendered the biggest migration in recorded history, as more than 14 million people were displaced amidst large-scale violence. While this rightly receives considerable scholarly attention, there is little understanding of the 1971 War which ‘completed’ the Partition by severing West and East Pakistan (thereafter Bangladesh). By illuminating this history, this event will not only address the gap in refugee history but also provide important context to contemporary conversations about citizenship, borders, denationalisation, and national identity which continue to dominate much of the political discourse in South Asia today. The impact of state secession on citizenship and statelessness will be further explored through an examination of the independence and secession movements of a range of countries in Africa, and the profound consequences of these processes for the nationality rights of those affected.  

Professor Philip Murphy, Director of History and Policy, we will be the Chair of the event.

This seminar will be jointly hosted by the Refugee Law Initiative, Refugee History and History and Policy.  

This session is part of the 15th International Refugee Law Seminar Series: Moments in Refugee History and the Development of the Modern Refugee Regime: Understanding refugee law and policy today

This seminar series probes key thematic issues relating to the law and policy of refugee protection today, using important – and often less-recognised – moments in refugee history to further our understandings of developments in these fields. 

By providing a forum for scholars of history and contemporary refugee law and policy to engage, the cross-disciplinary series will explore the enduring legacies of key geo-political events and processes such as nationalism, colonialism, and capitalism, in the evolution of the today’s refugee regime. 

This series is convened by the Refugee Law Initiative in collaboration with Refugee History.