UAB Study Abroad Working Sessions, dedicated to refuge and migration

These sessions, inspired by the Refuge Programme (#UABrefugi: Autònoma shelters), counted with 156 applicants and bring international students closer to the reality of those who feel forced to leaving their countries of origin to look for political asylum.

13/03/2019

On Friday 8 March, first edition of Working Sessions was celebrated under the title “Learning from Migrants and Refugees”, organized by UAB’s Study Abroad programme.

Richard Turner, UAB Study Abroad’s director, started his opening speech by emphasizing that while they were there in those sessions, 6000 people were being forced to leave their homes and seek refuge.

The event then continued with two parallel sessions: on the one hand, NGOs professionals (FICAT and ISGlobal) and UAB professionals (Fundació Autònoma Solidària) explained the social, legal and lawful difficulties that migrants and refugees face when they arrive to our country; on the other hand, they delved into research needed in the refugee camps in Calais and the South Border (UAB Study Abroad and Fotomovimiento).

The event, which also had first-person valuable testimonies coming from Siria, Sierra Leone, Palestin and El Salvador, ended with a round table moderated by Anna Zelno (SIETAR Spain), where they exposed different ways of collaborating in the integration of migrants, from helping them in accessing jobs and accommodation (FICAT) to undertaking (melting point).

Furthermore, artist Sebastien Waknine was present. He will contribute with a giant from-seven-to-three-metres painting on the migratory experience. His pictorial work will be up for exhibition behind Casa Convalescència until the end of March.