Experts in the News

Will climate change exacerbate the refugee crisis by displacing millions of people? Kelsey Norman, director of the Women's Rights, Human Rights and Refugees Program, joined Houston Matters to discuss the role Houston could play in a climate refugee crisis. (Starts at the nine-minute mark.)

In the American Political Science Association's newsletter on Middle East and North African (MENA) politics, Kelsey Norman, the director of the Women's Rights, Human Rights and Refugees Program at the Baker Institute, reflected on her own experience conducting qualitative, interview-based research with migrants and refugees in the MENA region as a way to explore some of the ethical questions surrounding this type of work.

"Part of the reason that we're seeing this increase in irregular migration, so people coming here, trying to cross the southern border irregularly, is that there aren't opportunities to get here via any regular routes,” said Kelsey Norman, the director of Women's Rights, Human Rights and Refugees Program.

Although it is too early to talk about resettlement, the U.S. could consider offering easier visa access to Ukrainians who might have family members in the U.S., said Middle East fellow Kelsey Norman.

As countries like Canada and the UK take steps to ease entry requirements for Ukrainian refugees, most Ukrainians can’t come to the U.S. without a visa. “I think if the U.S. doesn’t do something further, it would be very out of pace with what most Western nations are doing right now to help support Ukrainians," says Middle East fellow Kelsey Norman, director of the Women's Rights, Human Rights and Refugees Program.