Nazi Persecution: Britain’s Gift (CARA Lecture)

The Council for Assisting Refugee Academics (CARA) and the Friends of Imperial College invite you to:

Nazi Persecution: Britain’s Gift

A lecture by Dr Ralph Kohn FRS FMedSci, FRAM

Introduced by the Rector of Imperial College, Sir Roy Anderson FRS

Dr Ralph Kohn arrived in Britain as a very young refugee during World War II from Germany and Holland. During the course of the years he had close contacts and working relationships with many who subsequently enriched this country in many areas of human endeavour. Dr Kohn will describe the persecution of scientists in Nazi Germany during the 1930s and illustrate the ‘unique and dedicated work of extraordinary British subjects’ to help persecuted academics find a safe haven for their work and life in the UK.

Tuesday 3rd November 2009, 6.00pm, followed by a reception.

Lecture Theatre G16, Sir Alexander Fleming Building, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, SW7 2AZ.

Space is limited. Please RSVP to cara.development@lsbu.ac.uk

Recent Conferences and Talks Attended

Over the last few weeks, I have attended the following conferences and talks related to the field of both Archvies and Refugee Studies.  Further details are as follows:

Friday 1 May

`Recovering Stolen Generations, Land & Culture: Indigenous Rights & Transitional Justice’ conference held at the Institute for Commonwealth Studies.

http://www.sas.ac.uk/events/list/icws_events

Tuesday 28 April

`Researching Poverty: Definitions, measurements and experiences.’ A half-day workshop jointly hosted by The National Archives and The British Library.  To be held at the British Library Conference Centre.

Monday 27 April

`I was dismissed from University and Forced to Flee for my Life: The Rt Hon David Lammy, Minister for Higher Education and Intellectual Property, ‘in conversation with persecuted academics from Iraq, Sudan and Zimbabwe.’’  To be held on Monday 27th April 2009, 6.00pm at the  Khalili Lecture Theatre, School of Oriental and African Studies, (SOAS).  Held in conjunction with The Council for Assisting Refugee Academics, (CARA), and The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS).  CARA – http://www.academic-refugees.org/

Monday 6 April

`Archives and the Heritage Lottery Fund: Working with Young People.’  A training event organised by the Society of Archivists and to be held at the British Library.  Further details: http://www.archives.org.uk/events.asp?id=236

Revised Saturday Openings (New Date in April)

Since my earlier posting regarding Saturday openings for the Refugee Archive during Semester B 2009, I am now able to confirm that the Archive will now be open on a Saturday in April to tie-in with The 6th Annual Forced Migration Student Conference**.

I hope these dates will be fixed now but if the need arises for any alterations then these will be advertised well in advance.

The Archive will therefore be open on the following Saturdays during the times listed:

• Saturday 7 March: 10am-5pm
• Saturday 28 March: 10am-5pm
• Saturday 25 April: 10am-5pm**.
• Saturday 9 May: 10am-5pm
• Saturday 16 May: 10am-5pm
  

These dates are also available on our web site at:

http://www.uel.ac.uk/rca/using-rca.htm#saturday

If you have any comments, then please let us know my leaving a reply to this posting or by contacting us at: library-archives@uel.ac.uk.

** Further details on The 6th Annual Firced Migration Student Conference can be found be clicking on the following link:

http://www.uel.ac.uk/ssmcs/programmes/postgraduate/refugeestudies/FMSC09.htm

Posted in: Refugee Studies.

6th Annual Forced Migration Student Conference Call for Papers Call for Papers. “Refugees: Lives Pushed to the Margins?”

The 6th Annual Forced Migration Student Conference organised by postgraduates and hosted by the Refugee Research Centre at the University of East London on Saturday the 25^th and Sunday the 26^th of April.

Living a life in the margins or a marginalised life is a recurrent trope in the field of forced migration studies. Throughout the whole refugee experience from persecution and flight to settlement and integration, refugees find themselves pushed to the margins and often excluded. The marginalisation of various categories of forced migrants brings into question the effectiveness of protection regimes. Livelihood strategies of forced migrants are formulated at the very margins of society, some of whom are compelled to do so ‘outside’ the law. How do refugees negotiate identities that help them to combat social exclusion? Adopting a reflexive gaze, as researchers and aspiring academics we must ask ourselves how considerable and pertinent are the dialogues of practitioners and academics? Is academia to be confined to the sidelines or can it be more engaged with forced migrants? In which ways can the study of forced migration be related to wider global issues?

The conference invites papers that fit within the broad theme of the conference and forced migration more generally. We solicit papers that converge on the following sub-themes of the conference:

1)    Conversations and interdisciplinary dialogues (scholarly, policy, practitioners, NGOs)

2)    Sites of liminality and change (state; regional; local, trans-national; familial; individual)

3)    Conversations in issue-areas (development; human rights; migration; security; post-conflict)

4)    Sites of experience (gender; flight; re-settlement; camps; exclusion)

Postgraduate students (Masters/MPhil/PhD) are invited to submit abstracts for papers (no more than 250 words) and a personal profile (no more than 100 words). They should be sent, with full contact details, by 4pm on 26th January 2009 to: fmconference2009@googlemail.com

Posted in:  Refugee Studies and Conferences & Events.

InFluxEvent@UniversityofEastLondon

In Flux Event @

University of East London

The Refugee Research Centre/UEL invite you to IN FLUX, the culmination of artist Marie Ange Bordas’ Leverhulme Residency at UEL.

During her time at UEL, the artist has developed work around displacement and belonging through informal encounters with students and use of the Refugee Archive resources. She has also collaborated with Anita Fábos on her MA and undergraduate refugee modules, with the aim of stimulating students to challenge their assumptions about the research process and to encourage them to find new approaches to interact with people and explore concepts.

The event will open on December 10th at 17:00 in Matrix East when Marie Ange will show part of the artwork she produced, along with students’ creative projects, and Anita Fábos will address the learning and teaching possibilities of this kind of collaboration for university programmes.

Throughout the week - 11th to the 17th of December- the creative projects produced by Anthropology of Refugees and Cultures of Exile students will be on display in the Library Foyer and the Refugee Archive, (from the 15th).

And on December 15th, Anita Fábos will give the lecture “Refugees as Actors” and, together with John Nassari, host a roundtable discussion on approaches to refugee-centred representation in the Main Lecture Theatre at Business School.

For more information see flyer – [JPEG format] or [PDF format].  These details are also on the Refugee Council Archive web site at:  http://www.uel.ac.uk/rca/news.htm#influx

Contact: influx.uel@gmail.com

Marie Ange Bordas – http://www.displacements.info/

Posted in: Refugee Studies and Conferences & Events.

Promoting the Integration of Vulnerable Migrant Groups

On Monday 24 November I attended a seminar arranged by the Institute for Public Policy Research, (IPPR), entitled “Promoting the Integration of Vulnerable Migrant Groups: irregular migrants, transient labour migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees.” This formed part of a series of seminars arranged by the IPPR and supported by the Joeseph Rowntree Foundation, (web).

The main emphasis of this event was focused on the important topics of migrant integration and social cohesion.  Special consideration throughout the afternoon seminar was given to presentations and discussions of how best to approach the integation of the most vulnerable migrant groups, especially in terms of how best to transfer into policy recommendations, recommendations from the most recent research on both integration and social inclusion and to consider the impact of recent policy decisions upon these migrant groups.  Papers were presented by a number of speakers, including Jill Rutter and Danny Sriskandarajah, both of IPPR, and a number of interesting and thought-provoking external speakers.  Outlines of the papers can be found on the IPPR website.

The seminar also witnessed the launch of a new report, written by Jill Rutter … [et al.], and entitled, “Moving Up Together: Promoting Equality and Integration among the UK’s Diverse Communities.” This research focuses on four case study communities of people born in Bangladesh, Iran, Nigeria and Somalia who are now living in the UK.  The report considers to what degree these groups have “integrated” and considers the reasons why some migrant/minority groups are falling behind in their progress towards equality.  The report then considers what policy measures can be utilised to promote greater equality and integration.

A free copy of this report, along with additional supportive materials from both the IPPR and the Jospeh Rowntree Foundation, were included in the seminar pack, and these will be added to the Archive in due course.

Further information can also be found from the following links:

IPPR Migration Section -http://www.ippr.org.uk/research/themes/?id=3093

Joseph Rowntree Foundation (immigration & inclusion) -http://www.jrf.org.uk/research-and-policy/immigration-and-inclusion/

The Barrow Cadbury Trust -http://www.bctrust.org.uk/

Metropolitan Housing Trust -http://www.mht.co.uk/

Framing Muslims Seminar: ‘Islam and Civic Responsibility: the City Circle experience’ by Dr Usama Hasan AND ‘Resisting Blackness: Transnational Sudanese Women and Islamic Cultural Space in the Diaspora’ by Dr Anita Fabos

SOAS/UEL Framing Muslims Seminar Series

Framing Muslims: Representation in Culture and Society Post 9/11 – Seminar

Date: Thursday, 27 November 2008
Venue: Room EB.G.18 (University of East London, Docklands Campus)
Time: 5:30-7:00pm

Dr Usama Hasan
‘Islam and Civic Responsibility: the City Circle experience’

Dr Usama Hasan is Senior Lecturer in Engineering & Information Sciences at Middlesex University, an imam at Tawhid Mosque in Leyton and Director of the City Circle, a London-based network of Muslim professionals that has been at the forefront of forging an authentic Muslim identity in Britain for the last decade.

Dr Anita Fabos
‘Resisting Blackness: Transnational Sudanese Women and Islamic Cultural Space in the Diaspora’

Dr Anita Fabos researches in the areas of ethnicity and race, gender, refugees in urban settings, immigration and naturalization policy, Arab nationalism, and Islam at UEL. She was formerly the Director of the Program in Forced Migration and Refugee Studies and Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the American University in Cairo. She has conducted ethnographic research among Muslim Arab Sudanese forced migrants in Cairo, published as ‘Brothers’ or Others? Gender and Propriety for Muslim Arab Sudanese in Egypt (Berghahn Books). Her current research interests include transnational strategies of women and men in the Sudanese diaspora, livelihoods of urban refugees, and refugee narratives.

Abstract:

This presentation explores the embodied strategies of Arab Muslim Sudanese in Egypt and the United Kingdom within a framework of a ‘Muslim diaspora’. It compares discourses of belonging in two distinct socio-legal contexts whereby key elements of Muslim Arab Sudanese identity are performed according to local conditions, taking on different meanings. Egypt and Britain are both familiar to Sudanese through colonial relationships of domination and occupation, and later as locations for study, recreation and exile, but the contemporary legal, political and socio-cultural environments in Britain and Egypt have shaped Sudanese identity in the diaspora in distinctive ways. In Egypt, a Muslim nation with a long history of entanglement with the Muslim Arab people of  northern Sudan, Sudanese immigrants and exiles have asserted their superior performance of the shared value of propriety, claimed by both as fundamental to a ‘Muslim’ and ‘Arab’ identity. In the UK Sudanese similarly present themselves in morally superior terms, joining other voices in the Muslim diaspora and finding solidarity within an Arab cultural framework. I analyse a number of bodily practices that promote a Sudanese identity abroad, tying the use of beautification procedures, and skin-lightening creams in particular, to Sudanese assertions of Arab ethnicity and Muslim belonging within a racial hierarchy that derives primary meaning from Sudan¹s own history and racial categories.

All are Welcome.  Booking is not required.
For further information contact: Peter Morey on p.g.morey@uel.ac.uk

Posted in: Refugee Studies / Conferences & Events.

Conferences and Events

New events from ODI: A long road home Thursday, 13 November, 17.00 – 18.30 Palace of Westminster, Committee Room 12, St. Steven’s entrance

Speakers Include: Sara Pantuliano, Margie Buchanan-Smith and Paul Murphy.

Sudan’s peace agreement is approaching its most testing time. As up to two million displaced people attempt to re-settle in areas that are impoverished and ill-prepared, a number of colossal challenges present themselves. Action is urgently needed to address massive and rapid urbanisation, encourage civilians to disarm and provide opportunities for the sustainable use of natural resources, including land in urban areas. Infrastructure and markets need to be developed and equitable access to essential services must be put in place. This ODI meeting, hosted by the Associate Parliamentary Group on Sudan, will launch the second phase of a study by the Humanitarian Policy Group on reintegration in Southern Sudan and the Three Areas. The authors, Sara Pantuliano, Margie Buchanan-Smith and Paul Murphy, will outline the key obstacles faced by returnees and the strategies that must be put in place to support one of the world’s largest return and reintegration processes. Wendy Fenton, an independent consultant with over 20 years of experience working in Sudan, will act as a discussant at this event. Source: ODI. Further Information and to book a place, please visit: http://www.odi.org.uk/events/2008/11/11-long-road/index.html The following three events were listed on the Welcome To Your Library (WTYL) email digest. Further details of the WTYL project can be found here:

Asylum seeker and refugee seminars

(Source: IRR e-digest)

http://www.irr.org.uk/pdf/CWDC_leaflet.pdf

Tue 4 November, Coventry

Thu 27 November Sheffield

Tue 2 Dec, Southampton

The Children’s Workforce Development Council, working with Northumbria University and the National Foundation for Educational Research, have set up a series of seminars to understand the skills and knowledge of people working with refugee and asylum seeker families. The long term aim is to provide training for individuals or groups to fill skills or knowledge gaps in relation to work in this area. Anyone working in local authorities or voluntary organisations with this audience is invited to attend to share understanding and good practice. Booking form: http://www.irr.org.uk/pdf/CWDC_form.doc

Promoting integration of vulnerable migrant groups

http://www.ippr.org/events/?id=3264

24 November, ippr, London This is the third in a seminar series supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and draws on the findings of the JRF’s Immigration and Inclusion Programme. It will focus on irregular migrants, transient labour migrants and asylum-seekers and refugees. Participants will receive copies of new ippr research on the integration of Bangladeshi, Iranian, Nigerian and Somali migrants. The seminar aims to:

• translate recent research on immigrant integration and social inclusion into policy recommendations
• consider the impact of policy interventions targeted at irregular migrants, transient labour migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees
• share work and to consolidate networks between researchers and policymakers
• disseminate best practice in migrant integration and social cohesion.

More information and details of speakers at weblink above. For further information or to confirm attendance please contact Holly Andrew, Migration and Equalities Team, ippr 0207 470 6170 or h.andrew@ippr.org

Fortress Britain: is immigration working? http://www.ippr.org/ipprnorth/events/?id=3221

1 December, Urban Café, Dance City, Newcastle Professor Andrew Geddes from Sheffield University will argue that immigration frenzies in the media and politics are largely missing the point. He will explore what he believes are more relevant questions on how to effectively manage migration, past, present and future. For more information email north@ippr.org

Moroccan Memories in Britain

http://moroccanmemories.org.uk/index.html

(Source: Community Archives & Identities blog)

Wealth of resources from the project run by the Migrant and Refugee Communities Forum. The following events taken from the Institute for race relations email digest, (http://www.irr.org.uk/):

e v e n t Demo against crisis in DRC http://www.irr.org.uk/2008/november/ha000015.html 11:00am, 8 November 2008 — Demonstration in Manchester to protest against deportations to the Congo. e v e n t Lesbian and gay asylum seekers http://www.irr.org.uk/2008/november/bw000012.html 1:00pm, 28 November 2008 — Training on issues faced by lesbian and gay asylum seekers when claiming asylum in the UK.

Posted in: Refugee Studies and Conferences & Events.

Supporting disabled refugees and asylum seekers

The launch of new research into disabled refugees and asylum seekers will be held at London City Hall on Friday 14th November from 9am-1pm.  The research has been commissed by the Research and Consultancy Unit at the Metropolitan Support Trust.

The event will be by invite only and further information can be found on the Refugee Support website.  Publicity for this event can additionaly be found via the Institute for Race Relations website.

Posted in: Conferences & Events.