In Memory of Gil Loescher

Source: NBC26.com

I was very sad to learn that Prof. Gil Loescher had passed away in Oxford on 28 April 2020. He was a prominent figure in the refugee studies field, as a teacher, scholar, policy advisor and much more. In 2003, Prof. Loescher was gravely injured in the devastating Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad, when he and his colleague Arthur Helton were meeting with UN officials as part of an openDemocracy project. The attack claimed 22 lives, including Helton and Sergio Vieira de Mello, and wounded many others. His daughter later made a documentary film called "Pulled from the Rubble" about his experience.

Prof. Loescher was a prolific writer and editor and produced numerous works throughout his academic life, among them studies of UNHCR, protracted refugee situations, and refugee policy and governance. My first introduction to him was through the very useful resource, The Global Refugee Crisis: A Reference Handbook. His most recent book, Refugees: A Very Short Introduction, is expected next year.

Tributes have been posted by the Refugee Studies Centre, the Kaldor Centre, LERRN at Carleton Univ., UNHCR and the Univ. of Notre Dame. I will link to more as they become available. In addition, a web site has been set up in his memory.