UAB Study Abroad Working Sessions, dedicated to refuge and migration

13/03/2019

The first edition of the UAB Study Abroad Working Sessions took place on Friday 8th March. The seminar’s title was “Learning from Migrants and Refugees” and was inspired by the Programa Refugi [Refuge Programme] (#UABRefugi: L’Autònoma Acull - #UABRefuge: The Autònoma Welcomes). 156 people registered for the event, which exposed international students to the everyday lives of those who are forced to leave their countries of origin and seek political asylum.

UAB Study Abroad Director, Richard Turner, opened the day with a welcome address in which he pointed out that, during the time it would take to complete the event, 6,000 people would be forced to leave their homes and seek refuge. The morning then continued with two parallel sessions: on the one hand, professionals working at NGOs (FICAT and IS Global) and at the UAB (Fundació Autònoma Solidària) explained the social and legal issues which migrants and refugees face when they arrive in our country; on the other hand, experts working at UAB Study Abroad and Fotomovimiento explored how life in refugee camps at Calais and la Frontera Sur has been documented.

The seminar included the invaluable first-hand accounts of refugees from Siria, Sierra Leone, Palestine and El Salvador. It concluded with a round table, moderated by Anna Zelno (SIETAR Spain), which focused on different ways to cooperate with migrants in order to enable their integration, from helping them seek work and housing (FICAT) to entrepreneuship ventures (melting pot).

It should be noted that the artist Sebastien Waknine, who attended the event, will be contributing a seven metre by three metre painting about the migrant experience. Everybody is welcome to visit his canvas, which is installed in the patio at the rear of Casa Convalescència, until the end of March.