Event Details

This Online Study Event features expert speakers on the refugee experience, from historical perspectives to personal stories. Pre-recorded videos made available in advance and live Q&A session set for Saturday 19 June 2-3.30 Information on how to access materials given to all those who register.

The issue of refugees, persons displaced from their homes by war, political conflict or economic disaster, is an all too common feature of newspaper headlines. Yet this is no modern phenomenon: the North West has a long tradition of taking in refugees, and integrating them into local communities. From people fleeing invasion and extermination during the first and second world wars to the economic migrants of recent years, refugees are a distinctive part of today’s society. In this Study Event, brought to you in collaboration with RHC partners Global Link, we hear from Dr Sunita Abraham (Dept of Politics, Philosophy and Religion), one of the co-conveners of the Lancaster University Sanctuary Network, which aids and supports refugees. We also hear first-hand experiences from Violet Hejazi and Steven Shyaka, now settled in the United Kingdom and working to help other refugees and asylum seekers. Dr Rob David recounts his family’s turbulent history, drawing on a journal written by his father while in an internment camp and then separately also discusses his recent book A County of Refuge: Refugees in Cumbria 1933-41 to explore the welcome refugees found in Cumbria during the 1930s and 40s

You can watch these pre-recorded videos at a time of your own choosing, on our dedicated online space, in the days leading up to the live element on Saturday 19 June. That afternoon will be a chance to discuss themes and ask questions of our speakers in our live Q&A element, held online from 1400-1530. We also hope to be joined by other refugees living in the North West as part of our audience.Nearer the date we will be sending out full information on how to access the videos (which will remain available for some time after the event) as well as how to join the Q&A session to everyone who registers.

Presentations include:

· Dr Sunita Abraham (Lancaster University Sanctuary Network)

· Dr Rob David, independent scholar and author

· Steven Shyaka, Rwandan human rights lawyer now working for Global Link in Lancaster

· Violet Hejazi, Syrian interpreter for refugees and asylum seekers now settled in Glasgow

This event is supported by the Martha David Fund. Online only in line with Covid-19 regulations.