Announcements
- MIGS is pleased to announce the appointment of Fannie Lafontaine as a Fellow. Fannie Lafontaine is a lawyer specializing in international criminal law and human rights, a professor at the Law Faculty of Laval University, and a lawyer and a Regular Member of the Institut Québécois des Hautes Etudes Internationales, where she also acts as researcher for the International Peace and Security Program. She is the Founder and Director of the International Criminal and Humanitarian Law Clinic.
- MIGS was chosen by the international humanitarian NGO Action Against Hunger to be its partner on a global project on humanitarian action. Last week, MIGS facilitated a workshop for Action Against Hunger’s senior staff at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, Italy.
Upcoming Events
September 13
- From 11:00 am to 11:45 am, MIGS Executive Director Kyle Matthews and Digital Fellow Anne Speckhard will participate in a Twitter Chat titled "Dissecting De-radicalization: What works when it comes to countering extremist ideology?" organized by OpenCanada.org. Other participants include journalist Stefan Labbe, Eric Rosand (Brookings/Obama administration) and Renée Black (PeaceGeeks). Follow @OpenCanada and the hashtag #cve on Twitter.
October 16
- MIGS will be hosting Eirliani Abdul Rahman, Executive Director of YAKIN (Youth, Adult survivors & Kin In Need) in India, Program Director at the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation US, former Singaporian diplomat, and member of the BMW Foundation’s Responsible Leaders Network. Miss Rahman will talk about her work and latest book “Survivors: Breaking the Silence on Child Sexual Abuse.” The talk will feature a survivor from Germany who will read excerpts from his chapter in the book. Registration for the event is mandatory.
Recent Events
July 22-15
- MIGS Project Coordinator Marie Lamensch represented MIGS at the IPSA conference in Brisbane, Australia, discussing the issue of borders, nationalism, genocide and ethnic cleansing. She also met with MIGS's Australian partners at the Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect to discuss current and future projects.
August 2
- MIGS Distinguished Senior Fellow Lieutenant-General the Honorable Roméo A. Dallaire spoke at the annual North American Interfaith Network conference.
Advocacy
August 7
- MIGS Executive Director Kyle Matthews and MIGS Research Director Frank Chalk signed a petition supporting Guatemala’s Historical Archive of the National Police currently facing government crackdown.
August 9
- Following the arrest of several female activists in Saudi Arabia, MIGS joined the Nobel Women’s Initiative and another 25 organizations in signing a joint statement expressing support for the government of Canada’s recent position on their detention and urging urging Saudi Arabia to release women’s rights activists Samar Badawi and Nassima al-Sada.
August 31
- MIGS, alongside Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, signed a joint letter to the Astana Working Group on Detentions and Abductions in the Syrian Conflict, expressing concern about the failure of the Syrian regime to disclose more information about the deaths of arbitrarily detained and disappeared dozens of activists, human rights defenders, journalists, doctors, and humanitarian aid workers.
In the media
July 23
- MIGS Executive Director Kyle Matthews gave an interview to CTV News Montreal regarding Syria’s White Helmets.
August 7
- In an article titled “L’Arabie Saoudite hausse encore le ton” published in Le Devoir, MIGS Executive Director Kyle Matthews spoke about the growing diplomatic rift between Canada and Saudi Arabia.
- MIGS Executive Director Kyle Matthews was interviewed by Danielle Smith on the Global News Radio about Canada’s push on Saudi Arabia to release human rights activists.
August 8
- MIGS Digital Fellow Phil Gurski released a new book titled “An End to the War on Terrorism”, which looks at a variety of approaches and responses to international Islamist extremism, and why we are still “at war” with terror.
- In an interview for Grandin Media, Roméo A. Dallaire says faith answers need for peace and serenity in our troubled world.
- MIGS Executive Director Kyle Matthews appeared on Breakfast Television to discuss the diplomatic spat between Canada and Saudi Arabia.
August 10
- MIGS Digital Fellow Phil Gurski spoke to Global News about the Fredericton shooting.
August 13
- MIGS Digital Fellow Phil Gurski wrote an article for The Hill Times titled “Canada should do the right thing and bring Afghan interpreters to safety”
August 22
- MIGS Digital Fellow Phil Gurski was featured on CTV News Winnipeg, speaking about terrorism in Canada
August 25
- MIGS Project Coordinator Marie Lamensch was quoted in La Presse an article written by Agnès Gruda regarding the Rohingya crisis and a recent report published by Fortify Rights.
August 27
- MIGS Digital Fellow Phil Gurski wrote an article for The Hill Times titled “CSIS should also help block foreign meddling in our elections.”
- Marie Lamensch spoke to CBC Homerun about a new United Nations report on violence committed against ethnic minorities in Myanmar.
August 30
- MIGS Project Coordinator Marie Lamensch was quoted by Agnès Gruda in an article published in La Presse regarding Aung San Suu Kyi’s silence about the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar.
September 4
- MIGS Youth Fellow Rutvi Ajmera conducted an interview with author Shirish Thorat, an expert of terrorism in the Middle East and terrorist networks around the globe, on ISIS, extremism, and radicalization. The interview was re-published by the Maldives Times.
September 6
- Canadian Global Affairs Institute published a policy paper written by MIGS Executive Director Kyle Matthews titled “Justice for the Victims: How Canada Should Manage Returning “Foreign Fighters”.”