Alessandra Von Burg, associate professor of communication at Wake Forest University, has conducted research about the mobility and freedom of movement related to the current refugees crisis in Europe.

Von Burg can discuss:

Understanding the relationship between citizens and non-citizens: As more and more non-citizens/refugees die every day, the focus is on what those who have the privilege of citizenship are, or are not doing, for non-citizens.

How the viral picture of the drowned Syrian boy has resulted in a massive outcry: There has already been a shift in the numbers of refugees countries may be willing to accept (the UN is urging the EU to accept 200,000) and leaders such as UK’s PM Cameron have changed their stance on welcoming “thousand more” refugees. EU leaders will hold an emergency meeting on Sept. 14.

“Refugees drown on a bad day, or land and await asylum on a good day. Even the best-case scenarios, when they may gain protection with asylum, do not protect them from unemployment, lack of proper housing, and discrimination. There are success stories of migrants who make it, but they are few and do not address the massive failures and risks of abandonment in citizenship deserts.”

Citizenship deserts: “These are non-places where the political, social, and economic rights usually associated with a “first-class” kind of citizenship simply do not exist and are created by the abandonment of non-citizens, by citizens and their nations, as well as inter-governmental or supra-national institutions such as the European Union and the United Nations.”