Michigan Daily covers “The refugee crisis: Who makes it to safety?”

January 13, 2015

“Award-winning journalist discusses Afghan refugees,” a January 12 article by Michigan Daily writer Joel Goldstein, highlights the policy talk with Luke Mogelson, New York Times Magazine author of “The Dream Boat.” Mogelson’s award-winning article describes the plight of Middle Eastern refugees seeking asylum in Australia.

Mogelson participated in the January 12 panel discussion with Joel Lovell, his former editor at the magazine; Professor Susan Waltz, a scholar and practitioner in the field of human rights; and Assistant Professor John Ciorciari, co-director of the Ford School’s International Policy Center. More than 100 guests attended the event (another two-dozen watched the livestream), which was co-sponsored with The Livingston Awards for Young Journalists and the Knight Foundation.

“Much of the talk featured Mogelson discussing his 2013 New York Times Magazine article, “The Dream Boat,” which examines his journey across the Indian Ocean with Middle Eastern refugees in search of asylum in Australia,” writes Goldstein. “Like refugees, the journalists flew to Indonesia and took a small boat from Jakarta, Indonesia, to Australia.” Ciorciari and Waltz provided context on the anemic international legal and human rights frameworks that allow nations to shape their own policies regarding the detention and treatment of asylum seekers.

“The refugee crisis: Who makes it to safety” was the first Policy Talks @ the Ford School event of 2015.