Book Forum hosted by
the International Human Rights Program and the
David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights
Erin Simpson (JD 2013)
IHRP alumna, founding partner of Landings LLP, practicing refugee and immigration law in Toronto
Professor Yin-Yuan Chen (MSW 2005, JD 2010, SJD 2020)
University of Ottawa Faculty of Law (Common Law section), researching refugees’ access to health care
Professor Ghizaal Haress
Visiting Scholar and Scholar-at-Risk, University of Toronto Faculty of Law and Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy
Fen Hampson (attending virtually)
Chancellor’s Professor & Professor of International Affairs, Carleton University
President, World Refugee and Migration Council
Ninette Kelley is a former senior officer in UNHCR. Her last assignment was the writing of People Forced to Flee: History, Change and Challenge. Prior to that she served in several senior management positions in Geneva, Beirut, and New York. In Canada she served eight years on the Immigration and Refugee Board and held various policy roles with international humanitarian agencies focusing on development, immigration and refugee issues. She is the author of The Making of the Mosaic: The History of Canadian Immigration Policy, with Michael Trebilcock, and they are currently writing a book on contemporary Canadian immigration policy. Kelley ‘s other publications are in the areas of human rights law, citizenship, refugee protection, gender related persecution, and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. She is a lawyer by training.
Erin Simpson is a Toronto-based lawyer, specializing in refugee and immigration law; administrative law; international human rights; and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. She attended the University of Toronto law school, where she graduated with honours and earned the class prize in Evidence. She went on to clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada for Justice Fish and Justice Karakatsanis. Erin is called to the Bar of Ontario, and a member in good standing of the Law Society of Upper Canada. Erin sits on the National Executive of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (CARL), and is Chair of CARL’s Litigation Committee. She currently acts as counsel to Amnesty International, the Canadian Council for Refugees and the Canadian Council of Churches in a legal challenge to the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA).
Y.Y. Brandon Chen (SJD, JD, MSW) is an assistant professor at University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law, Common Law Section, with expertise in health law, constitutional law, and immigration and refugee law. Trained as a lawyer and a social worker, his research leverages socio-legal studies, action research, and community engagement to critically examine health inequities facing noncitizens and racialized minorities. His published work has touched on such topics as migrant health care, the right to health, social determinants of health, medical tourism, and HIV/AIDS.
Ghizaal Haress is a Visiting Scholar and Scholar at Risk, Faculty of Law and Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy. She is a constitutional law expert, and served as the first Ombudsperson of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from August 2019 to May 2021. She was the first woman to ever lead a law enforcement institution within the legal sector in Afghanistan. She was tasked with investigating allegations of corruption within the top levels of the Afghan government. Haress was formerly the only female member of the Afghanistan Independent Commission for Overseeing the Implementation of the Afghan Constitution.
Haress has taught at the American University of Afghanistan as an Assistant Professor of Law for 10 years. She holds a Master of Laws (LLM) from School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London, and a Bachelor of Law (LLB) from Kabul University.
Fen Osler Hampson is the President of the World Refugee & Migration Council. He is a former Director of the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) (2000-2012), and is currently Chancellor’s Professor and Professor of International Affairs in the School. Professor Hampson served as Director of the Global Commission on Internet Governance (GCIG) and Professor Hampson holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University where he also received his A.M. degree. He also holds an MSc. (Econ.) degree (with distinction) from the London School of Economics and a B.A. (Hon.) from the University of Toronto. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, he is the author or co-author of 15 books and editor or co-editor of 32 other volumes. In addition, he has written more than 100 articles and book chapters on international affairs. His most recent books are The Two Michaels: Innocent Canadian Captives and High Stakes Espionage in the US-China Cyber War, Braver Canada: Shaping Our Destiny in a Precarious World and Diplomacy and the Future of World Order.
He is the recipient of several major awards, including the 2018 Distinguished Peace Scholar Award from the International Studies Association, the 2022 Distinguished Scholar Award of the Canada section of the International Studies Association (which is awarded every two years), a research and writing award from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and a Jennings Randolph Peace Fellowship from the United States Institute of Peace.
He is a frequent commentator and contributor in the national and international media. His articles have appeared in The Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, Foreign Policy Magazine, Foreign Affairs, the National Post, iPolitics and elsewhere. He is a frequent commentator on the BBC, CBC, CTV, and Global news networks.
