BORDERS OF FEAR aims to shed light on wrongdoing in the context of migration by investigating the reasons and practice of rising borders and walls, leading to cultural and physical violence, persecution and human rights violations. The conference focuses on the discourse of borders both at a concrete level, and as a strategy of cultural violence on the part of right-wing propaganda. On the one hand, the conference analyses the closure of frontiers, creation of refugee camps, escalation of security; on the other hand, it investigates how border policing and the datafication of society are affecting the narrative around migrants and refugees in Europe and the west.

BORDERS OF FEAR brings together journalists, activists, media experts, lawyers, researchers and critical thinkers to unveil persecution, control, and cultural violence in relation to refugees and to people with a migration background. Furthermore, we want to hear directly the voice of the migrants and refugees themselves, to reflect collectively on forms of social justice in search for a deeper political awareness.

PROGRAMME

Friday, November 27 · 2020
16:00 · OPENING
16:10—16:30 · SHORT FILM: Best of Luck with the Wall + TALK
Short Film by Josh Begley (Artist & Filmmaker, Intercept / Field of Vision, US) & Talk by Renata Avila (Lawyer, Author & Advocate, GTM).

16:30—18:00 · PANEL
Sally Hayden (Freelance Investigative Journalist and Photographer, IE), Philipp Schönberger (Coordinator, Refugee Law Clinic Berlin on Samos, ihaverights.eu, DE), Franziska Schmidt (Coordinator, Refugee Law Clinic Berlin on Samos, ihaverights.eu, DE). Moderated by Roberto Perez-Rocha (Director for the International Anti-Corruption Conference Series at Transparency International, MEX/DE).

18:00—18:45 · BREAK

18:45—20:15 · PANEL
Hanaa Hakiki (Legal Advisor, ECCHR Migration Program, DE), Dimitra Andritsou (Forensic Architecture Borders Programme, GR/DE), Nicole Vögele (Filmmaker and Reporter, CH). Moderated by Likhita Banerji (Human Rights & Technology Researcher, Amnesty International, IN/DE)

Saturday, November 28 · 2020
16:00—16:10 · INTRO
16:10—16:30 · INVESTIGATION
Nello Scavo (Investigative Journalist, IT)

16:30—17:30 · CONVERSATION
Yoseph Zemichael Afeworki (ERI/ETH/LUX), Ambre Schulz (Project Officer, Passerell, LUX). Moderated by Sally Hayden (Freelance Investigative Journalist and Photographer, IE)

17:30—18:15 · BREAK
18:15—19:45 · PANEL
Gaia Giuliani (Permanent Researcher, Centro de Estudos Socias /CES, University of Coimbra, IT/PT), Claudia Aradau (Professor of International Politics, Department of War Studies, King’s College London, UK), Joana Varon (Founder at Coding Rights, Tech and Human Rights Fellow at Harvard Carr Center, BR). Moderated by Walid El-Houri (Researcher, Journalist & Filmmaker, Lead Editor at openDemocracy, LBN/DE).

19:45—20:00 · CLOSING

Sunday, November 29 · 2020
16:00—17:30 · COMMUNITY PANEL
Regina Catrambone (Co-founder and Director of MOAS – Migrant Offshore Aid Station, IT/MLT), Thomas Kalunge (Strategy advisor/Agile Project Manager, Migrant Media Network / r0g_agency, KE/DE) and Mattea Weihe (Cultural Mediator, Sea-Watch e.V., DE). Moderated by Michael Ruf (Writer & Director, Mittelmeer-Monologe, DE).

Photo Courtesy of the organisation