- University News Archive - 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock /news-archive/tag/refugees/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Thu, 12 Jul 2018 15:05:24 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock students investigate migrant crisis in Europe /news-archive/2018/07/12/study-abroad-migrant-crisis-europe/ Thu, 12 Jul 2018 15:05:24 +0000 /news/?p=71079 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock students investigate migrant crisis in Europe]]> A group of University of Arkansas at Little Rock students saw firsthand how the growing migrant crisis has changed Europe in recent years.聽 Dr. Rebecca Glazier and Dr. Christopher Williams, professors in the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock School of Public Affairs, led 10 students to Europe June 4-20, where they visited London, Paris, and Berlin to learn more about the challenges Europe faces in light of the migrant crisis. The students who attended the study abroad trip, 鈥淚dentity, Migration, and a Changing Europe,鈥 include political science majors Charlana Benefield, Jorge Gonzalez, Julie O鈥橦ara, Leon Kockaya, Elizabeth Ray, Madison Rodgers, Paige Topping, and Allie Woodville, as well as Colin Davies, a criminal justice major, and Abigail Resendiz, a business major. 鈥In recent years, Europe has seen massive increases in both intra-European migration and migration from Middle Eastern and North African countries. This has forced many Europeans to grapple more deeply with questions of national identity and with deep societal prejudices,鈥 Glazier said. 鈥淭he course was designed to provide students with firsthand experience to develop a deeper understanding of the effects that nationalism and large-scale immigration have on societies.鈥 The group first traveled to London, where they shared a Ramadan meal at the Central Mosque of London and attended a play about the crisis in the refugee camp in Calais, France. In Paris, they visited the famed Louvre museum, visited le Grande Mosqu茅e du Paris, spoke with recent immigrants, and met with French National Assembly member Pac么me Rupin. In Berlin, the group visited experts in human trafficking and migration and toured the as well as the WWII-era concentration camp and the remains of the Berlin Wall. They also took in the World Cup match between Mexico and Germany. 鈥淭he refugees that occupied this camp originated from countries all over the world, ranging from Syria and Afghanistan to Iran, Iraq, and Moldova,鈥 said Topping, a senior political science major. 鈥淩eports of the experiences of refugees around the world have been and continue to be profoundly compelling. However, seeing their experiences and living conditions face-to-face truly triggers unparalleled human emotions and responses.鈥 Asylum seekers in Germany are allowed to stay in the country if they are granted political asylum, refugee status, subsidiary protection, or if the agency declares a deportation prohibition. Refugees in Germany can apply for four different kinds of protection from the German government, including asylum protection, subsidiary protection, refugee protection, and protection from persecution if they can provide evidence that they are being persecuted in their homeland.
The study abroad students visit the Grand Mosque of Paris. The group (L to R) includes Back Row: Julie O'Hara, Elizabeth Ray, Dr. Rebecca Glazier, Madison Ray, Abigail Resendiz, Colin Davies, Leon Kockaya. Front row: Allie Woodville, Jorge Gonzalez, Charlana Benefield, and Paige Topping.

The study abroad students visit the Grand Mosque of Paris. The group (L to R) includes Back Row: Julie O’Hara, Elizabeth Ray, Dr. Rebecca Glazier, Madison Ray, Abigail Resendiz, Colin Davies, and Leon Kockaya. Front row: Allie Woodville, Jorge Gonzalez, Charlana Benefield, and Paige Topping.

鈥淲hile most refugees are thankful to Germany for taking them in, they are all, for the most part, anxiously awaiting for their homelands to become safe enough to return to,鈥 Topping said. 鈥淲hile Germany is extremely accepting of refugees and provides housing, food, recreational sports areas, playgrounds, and German classes for children and adults alike in areas such as Templehof, it does not take away from the very grim reality that most of the refugees living at Templehof had to leave their professions, homes and families behind in order to pursue a life in Germany safe from persecution鈥 In the final leg of the journey, the group returned for a few more days in London, where they toured Parliament, Palace of Westminster, and met with political leaders in the United Kingdom. Although the students read two dozen academic readings and testimonials about what it is like to be a migrant in Europe, none of that compared to the actual experience of meeting migrants and hearing their stories. 鈥淲e went to Iftar with a group of Turkish refugees living in Berlin,鈥 said O鈥橦ara, a 21-year-old senior from Little Rock. 鈥Before dinner, we sat with them in small groups and they told us their stories. The first person I spoke to had been a civil engineer when he was working in Turkey. This man has five children, all still in Turkey, and his youngest was born shortly after he fled oppression. He is able to see her and talk to her through the phone, but he has never been able to hold her in his own hands. As far as he knows, he may never meet her in person. If he had stayed in Turkey he risked becoming a political prisoner, where he would not have been allowed to meet or see his family. He said to me, 鈥楢t least in Berlin I have hope.鈥欌 O鈥橦ara heard many more memorable accounts from the migrants, and she realized that, despite talks by European countries of coming up with a solution to the migrant crisis, it is not something that will be easily solved. Meanwhile, millions of people are left struggling while the political debate continues. 鈥The refugee crisis in Europe is too deep to be coated with band-aid solutions and left to fester. Europe will change drastically in the coming years because of this migration,鈥 O鈥橦ara said. 鈥Watching them talk about their fears for the future and seeing the heartbreak they faced day in and day out because of circumstances so far beyond their control is something that I will never forget, but, beyond that, the strength and unwavering hope they showed is something that will stick with me forever.鈥 Students learned about the efforts to sustain migrant populations by the United Kingdom and European Union organizations, as well as the living conditions of displaced migrants and asylum seekers. Students also discussed migration issues and policy possibilities for alleviating tensions between residents in Europe. Throughout their busy schedules, students were asked to consider political and social policies that are currently enacted as well as their own solutions to Europe鈥檚 migrant crisis. 鈥淚 think the conversations that the students had with immigrants and refugees are experiences that will stay with them. We thought critically about migration policy, how to best integrate immigrants, and about what societies might owe to refugees fleeing violence,鈥 Glazier said. 鈥淚 don’t think we came to any easy answers, but I do think the students gained both substantive knowledge and empathy.鈥 The professors and students kept a travel blog of their journeys that can be viewed online. In the upper right photo,聽the study abroad group met with a member of the Scotland Nationalist Party, Alison Thewliss, while touring Parliament.]]> 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock professor investigates Syrians鈥 pursuit of peace and justice in the midst of war /news-archive/2018/06/12/syrian-civil-war/ Tue, 12 Jun 2018 14:53:53 +0000 /news/?p=70742 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock professor investigates Syrians鈥 pursuit of peace and justice in the midst of war]]> A University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor visited Syrian refugees and activists in Turkey and Lebanon in May in the last of four trips to war-affected countries by an 18-member international research team investigating how peace can be achieved in societies emerging from conflict.聽 Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm, assistant professor in the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, traveled to the region as part of the. Due to the unresolved state of war in some areas of Syria, the group was unable to meet in Syria as they originally hoped. Before the Syrian Civil War began in 2011, the country had an estimated prewar population of 22 million. The United Nations Human Rights Council estimates that 5.6 million Syrians are now living as refugees in foreign countries. The countries that house the most refugees are Turkey with more than 3.5 million refugees and Lebanon with nearly 1 million refugees. 鈥淭he goal of this trip was to meet with Syrian refugees and activists as well as other people working with the United Nations and non-government organizations,鈥 Wiebelhaus-Brahm said. 鈥淲e sought to examine how the world can hold people accountable for mass atrocities while simultaneously building peace and providing justice for victims who have suffered as a result of the war. Circumstances on the ground make this especially challenging. There are some parts of the country where there is peace because Assad鈥檚 government has imposed order. Elsewhere, there are many communities in rebel-held territory where local councils have been set up to provide order because the state doesn鈥檛 exist.鈥 The international team investigated some of the major barriers to recovery and development in Syria, including rebuilding homes and infrastructure and educating displaced children and youth. 鈥淭o rebuild the damage that has been done to Syria will take billions of dollars for 聽infrastructure that is no longer there. When it comes to education and health, many facilities have been destroyed. In some areas, Assad鈥檚 forces purposely targeted schools and hospitals,鈥 Wiebelhaus-Brahm said. 鈥淲ith education, for example, you have thousands of children who have missed out on years of schooling. That is going to have long-term development consequences for the country. When it comes to land, there are also issues where property ownership may not be clear, where people may not have clear titles to their property.鈥 The conflict will also have major consequences for women, especially those who have become the sole providers for their families due to the loss of their husbands and other male relatives through war, imprisonment, or displacement. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more likely that it will be men who will go out to fight. It鈥檚 also the case that, when the government is trying to clamp down on opponents, it will typically be males,鈥 Wiebelhaus-Brahm said. 鈥淭here are thousands of people who are political prisoners in Syrian jails. Their absence has consequences for the families. The male is typically the breadwinner in the family, so how does that family survive?鈥 In an article titled Martin Clutterbuck of the Norwegian Refugee Council described the challenges women in Syria face in asserting their property rights. 鈥淚n Syria, as in many other countries, laws, norms and practices around ownership, inheritance and decision favour men,鈥 Clutterbuck said. 鈥淔or example, a woman鈥檚 registered legal identity in the Syrian civil registration system both prior to the conflict and today is linked to that of her husband or father, and women often relinquish their inheritance rights to a male family member.鈥
Photo of the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon, provided by Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm.

Photo of the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon, provided by Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm.

The high point of the trip for Wiebelhaus-Brahm was a trip to the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon. The refugee camp was originally set up by the International Committee of the Red Cross for Palestinian refugees in 1949. It remains home to thousands of Palestinian refugees. Since the start of the Syrian Civil War, the camp has swollen in size and become the home to thousands of Syrian refugees as well. The refugee camp is unique in that it has permanent structures because it has been around so long. However, the camp does not have water or sewer infrastructure. Electricity comes from generators. The camp, which is one square kilometer in size, houses one community center and two schools. 鈥淲e went to the Shatila refugee camp, which was an amazing experience,鈥 he said. 鈥淭here continues to be roughly 20,000 Palestinians living in the area, and there are also 20,000-25,000 Syrian refugees that have come over the past seven years. The Lebanese government hopes the refugees will return home eventually, which is why they have not created the infrastructure for the camp. That is not unique. Countries don鈥檛 want to make refugees feel too welcome because they don鈥檛 want them to stay. It鈥檚 a difficult situation.鈥 The research team met with Basmeh and Zeitooneh, a Syrian non-governmental organization working with the refugees. They provide skills training, life skills, and training in literacy, English, and how to use computers and social media, among other services. 鈥淭he Syrian refugees seemed very happy and grateful for that support, but they want to get back home,鈥 he said. Wiebelhaus-Brahm said many of the refugees were reluctant to talk to researchers because they feared that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad鈥檚 regime would eventually find out that they had spoken out against the Syrian government. 鈥淭here is this belief among Syrians that the intelligence arm of the al-Assad regime is long. If these people want to go back home, they may need to reconcile themselves to the fact the government may win the war. If they want to go back to Syria to live and work, being on record as a critic or even being suspected is dangerous.鈥 The goal of the is to understand how peace can be achieved in countries affected by conflict through the study of justice initiatives and economic development in four countries: Colombia, Sri Lanka, Syria, and Uganda. The trip to Syria was the last of four planned visits. The network visited Colombia in April 2017, Uganda in July 2017, and Sri Lanka in January 2018. The project is headed by Kirsten Ainley, director of the at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Additional members of the network include professors from around the world, government officials, and members of nonprofit and activist organizations. The project is funded by the, which awarded the network a grant in 2016 worth approximately 150,000 British pounds, largely to develop relationships that bridge academics and practitioners from developed and developing countries and to fund travel for members of the network to research the four countries. The network recently submitted a larger grant to continue its research in additional countries.]]>