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January 27, 2004

BRITA SYDHOFF is Head of the Department of International Law and Refugees at the Swedish Red Cross. Ms. Sydhoff's work is both national and international and ranges from policy to advocacy to operations. She deals with the dissemination of international humanitarian law and human rights, refugee policy and legal advice on asylum, reception of asylum seekers, resettlement of refugees, tracing and family reunification, integration of immigrants and coordinating five Centers for treatment of victims of torture.

Previously, Ms. Sydhoff headed the Global Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Project by the Norwegian Refugee Council in Geneva. Prior to that she was Program Coordinator at the International Council of Voluntary Agencies in Geneva. In 1993, she initiated a series of research and reports on Transit Migratory Movements in Eastern Europe. Additionally, Brita worked as implementing partner to UNHCR during the Bosnian war as Head of the Danish Refugee Council Programs in the Balkans. She held posts in the Swedish Government and was a teacher at the Middle East Technical University.

Brita Sydhoff took the initiative on the UNHCR book Protecting Refugees, a Guide to NGOs in the Field, which led to the current Geneva based Project "Protection Reach Out". She sits on the Board of the Swedish NGO Foundation on Human Rights.

MODERATOR

JOANNE VAN SELM is a Senior Policy Analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, focusing on refugee protection, international humanitarian response, and migration management. She is also a Senior Researcher at the University of Amsterdam's Institute of Ethnic and Migration Studies and Co-Editor of the Journal of Refugee Studies. Additionally, Dr. van Selm is a member of the Executive Board of the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM), for which she developed and chaired the Program of the 7th bi-annual Conference in January 2001. During 2000-2001, she co-directed a project on Security and Refugees for the United Nations University, and served as a member of the Executive Committee of the International Studies Association's section on Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Migration. She has also published widely on temporary protection, European asylum policy, and other refugee and migration related topics.