As the keynote speaker, H.E. Norwegian Ambassador Arne Sannes Bjørnstad held a lecture on Norway’s Fridtjof Nansen, the first High Commissioner for Refugees for the League of Nations, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922.
Nansen recognised that one of the main problems refugees faced was their lack of internationally recognised identification papers, which in turn complicated their asylum requests.
The Norwegian visionary introduced the so-called “Nansen passport”, which was the first legal instrument used for the international protection of refugees.
The Norwegian Ambassador also discussed what we can learn from Nansen’s experience and how it can be applied to today’s refugees and migrant crisis.
