Barbara Harrell-Bond (DPhil, Oxford University) is an anthropologist of law with many years of research experience in West Africa prior to her founding the Refugee Studies Programme (now the Refugee Studies Centre – RSC) at the University of Oxford. She directed the Centre from 1982-96. After her retirement from Oxford she has been involved in establishing similar academic programmes in Uganda (Makerere University, Kampala) and Egypt (American University in Cairo) where she has also established legal aid projects for refugees. In 2004, Barbara Harrell-Bond was elected as an Honorary Fellow at Lady Margaret Oxford College Hall for her contribution to the field of refugee studies. In 2005, she was listed on the Queen Elizabeth’s Honours list as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her services to refugee and forced migration studies.

"The raison d’etre of the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford was not only to establish refugee studies as an academic field, but to stimulate the development of similar academic programmes in other countries that were the hosts of refugees and with significant success. Today the list of countries where refugee studies has been established is extensive, but there are no such programmes in Central and Eastern Europe and only a few in the non-industrialized ’south‘… I strongly support the Refugee and Forced Migration Study Programme initiated in the Czech Republic and I indicate my sincere interest in providing any assistance in seeing it through to its fruition."

Richard Wilson is a tenured Professor of Law and Director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at American University’s Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C. Richard Wilson has been a law school teacher for more than 20 years, and has directed the Clinic, one of the oldest in the United States dealing with human rights issues, since its founding in 1990. The clinic, which is one of the largest human rights law firms in the United States, provides pro bono legal services in a wide range of human rights and refugee issues. A significant portion of the case docket, since the clinic was created, has been in the area of direct legal services to refugees seeking asylum in the United States. In addition to his work in the law school, Richard has spent significant time as an academic consultant in the promotion of clinical legal education, particularly in refugee and asylum issues, in other parts of the world. He has consulted widely in the Central and Eastern European region, and has discussed doctrinal and practical issues on forced migration and refugee issues with a wide range of academics and practitioners.

 "I was privileged enough to obtain a solid educational as well as practical experience in the field of international and refugee law, and at the same time meet people who were committed to the professional development of young academics and practitioners. I have noticed that combining advanced higher education with high-level practical training can bring changes. By setting up Forced Migration and Refugee Studies in Prague I hope I can honour the debt."

 Daniela Raiman (MA, Comenius University, Bratislava) became involved with the refugee problematic in 1999, through managing the Asylum Judges Support Project, a joint Slovak Association of Judges/ IARLJ/UNHCR programme aimed at capacity building of Central and Eastern European judges in the matters of asylum. Daniela left in summer 2002 for Egypt where she directed the Refugee Legal Aid Project in Cairo (now AMERA) until February 2004. She then jointed UNHCR and became responsible for training activities of its office in Cairo and continued to Chad on a protection post and then focusing on refugee and IDP registration and documentation issues. She has recently moved to Dakar, Senegal, to work as UNHCR Regional Resettlement Officer covering West and Central Africa, while simultaneously pursuing her LLM studies at the University of London.

"Human and refugee rights advocacy in our times cannot be successfully pursued without supporting it with a strong backbone of international and national law and jurisprudence. Conversely, practical experience in developing countries of origin or first countries of asylum and direct exposure to the realities of those deprived of their rights sharpens the arguments and provides a human perspective to the often dry legal provisions. A programme where both components form an integral part of the curriculum is the best preparation for young professionals from a variety of disciplines to make a meaningful contribution and I am looking forward to participating in their efforts."

Blanka Hanèilová (PhD, Charles University, M.A. Fletcher School, Tufts University). After finishing her MA studies at the Fletcher School, Blanka joined for almost five years the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. She worked in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and in Armenia, where she focused in her capacity of the Democratization Programme manager on migration. In 2007, Blanka joined the Apreco Consulting Group, where she consults for the International Labour Organization, International Organization for Migration, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Centre for Migration Policy Development, the OSCE and others mainly on issues related to labour and migration. In summer 2008, she researched migration at the Center on Migration, Policy and Society at the Oxford University, UK.

Eftichia Voutira