Forced migration
Catherine Henderson writes about a recent conference
There were signs of spring in the gardens at the Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre with the conference on ‘Forced migration: how can Quakers respond?’ took place over the first weekend of February. Inside, the image of a bare wintry tree gradually became clothed with leaves, as Friends recorded their work and engagement with those seeking sanctuary, their hopes and reflections. Images of growth and renewal kept surfacing over the weekend, a counter to the bleak political landscape we find ourselves in at the beginning of 2017.
People came from Meetings across the UK, including Scotland and Wales, from Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. Many are actively engaged with supporting forced migrants, both practically and through advocacy for change, and others were keen to find out what they and their Local Meetings might do. We looked at the root causes of forced migration - which are complex and varied, and hard to fit into the post-war definition of a refugee – and we reflected on the long history of Quaker involvement with refugees, and the grounding of this work in our faith and testimonies.
The conference was hosted by the Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network (QARN), the Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA), Quaker Peace and Social Witness (QPSW), and the Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre. Laurel Townhead and Catherine Baker from QUNO joined us from Geneva. Kate McNally from QCEA spoke about work being done by Friends across Europe and how we hope to develop a supportive network. Kate has set up the Quaker Refugee Hub on Facebook as a space for discussion and sharing ideas.
Our first keynote speaker was Andrew Lane, also from QCEA, who spoke about the gender violence and racism underlying forced migration, the impact of migration on European politics, militarisation, and ‘externalisation’, where European governments work with other countries to ‘stem migration flows’ in various ways. It is important, he said, for Quakers to stick to integrity in a ‘post-truth world’.
Andrew was followed by Gina Clayton, author, activist and immigration lawyer, who looked at UK immigration and asylum law, its structural problems and inherent illogicality. Gina pointed out that claiming asylum is a lawful act, but many of those claiming it have first had to break the law in order to reach this country. Some sections of the media seem to ‘demonise’ economic migration, but the British economy is built on it. People’s lives are complex, and such definitions can be inadequate and misleading. To refer to a ‘refugee crisis’ is misleading too. This is a crisis of inequality, and of politics.
Gina also spoke about the UK government’s policy of deliberately creating a ‘hostile environment’ for refused asylum seekers – a hostility that has spilled over into an attitude towards refugees and other migrants, perceived by some to be legitimised by the Brexit vote and by what is going on in the United States. Several workshops explored this, including one given by Bridget Obi, who spoke of her experiences as an asylum seeker and how she and her young daughter had been moved from place to place, school to school, at one point becoming homeless.
Other workshops looked at detention (30,000 people a year are detained in the UK, the majority of them in centres run for profit by private companies), rethinking security, safeguarding children and vulnerable people, climate change, working with trauma, the City of Sanctuary movement, and Active Hope.
On Saturday afternoon Journeymen Theatre performed The Bundle, which is based on the true story of a Chechen asylum seeker. Many of us were deeply affected by this and hope to arrange for it to be performed in Meeting houses and other venues.
Tim Gee, QPSW forced migration programme developer, spoke about his work and helped Sheila Mosley put together a minute. The workshop sheets, leaves and conversations will all inform his scoping exercise towards a QPSW forced migration programme.
London Quakers are holding a one-day conference on 1 April at Friends House. It can be booked on the Eventbrite website. Refugee Week this year will be 19-25 June.
Further information:
www.quaker.org.uk/our-work/social-justice/migration
http://bit.ly/QuakerRefugeeHub
http://bit.ly/LondonQuakersConference
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