Top UN official to give asylum lecture

A senior United Nations official will give a lecture on asylum issues in Dublin today as thousands of migrants continue to try to enter the European Union.

Figures have revealed more than 6,000 people have been intercepted trying to cross the Mediterranean to enter the EU since January.

UN Assistant High Commissioner, Erika Feller, who has more than 33 years of experience in international human rights and refugee law, will discuss a variety of aspects of asylum during the event in Dublin.

Ms Feller managed the UN High Commissioner for Refugee’s Global Consultations in 2001, which set the international protection agenda for the start of the new century. She has also published works in many major refugee and international law journals.

The lecture on asylum issues comes in the aftermath of the seven-day stand-off involving Afghan asylum seekers on hunger strike in St Patrick’s Cathedral in May.

The event at the Institute of European Affairs will be chaired by Nora Owen, former Justice Minister and chair of the Institute’s Justice Group.

The UN is due to host a major international dialogue on migration in New York next September.