Amanda Cheong: What’s “Vital” About the Registration of Vital Events?

The UBC Centre for Migration Studies Speaker Series 2021-2022 presents:

What’s “Vital” About the Registration of Vital Events?

Thursday, April 7, 2022

11:30 am – 12:45 pm— Pacific Time (PT) 

Location: Liu Boardroom, Room 316

Free & open to the public. To register, fill out the RSVP form below.

Please note that although BC has lifted the mask mandate, UBC requires masks indoors until April 30, 2022. See here for further details: https://broadcastemail.ubc.ca/2022/03/10/covid-19-update-maintaining-masks-in-ubc-public-indoor-spaces/ 

[Abstract]

The United Nations has made it a target to “provide legal identity to all, including birth registration” in its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Why is the registration of births and other vital events so important for human rights? What are the social, political, and even mortal consequences of living a life that on paper does not exist? In this talk, I explore these questions by spotlighting the experiences and perspectives of undocumented and stateless families struggling to gain official recognition, and the basic documents to prove it, in Malaysia.

[Bio] 

Amanda Cheong is an assistant professor of sociology at UBC. She researches the impacts of legal status on the lives of undocumented migrants, stateless persons, and refugees. Amanda is working on a book, Omitted Lives, which investigates the causes and consequences of exclusion from civil registration systems in Malaysia.

Event Registration: 

Pre-registration for this event is now closed. You may still attend the talk but we cannot guarantee space or food for the luncheon afterwards.