Lecture “After the Refugee Crisis and Syrian conflict: What we can learn from German Experience about acceptance of Refugees”

Date / Time / Place

Date/Time：Sat 2 Nov 2019 13:00–17:00
Place：Ito International Research Center Gallery 1, The University of Tokyo (7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyou-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan)
Access Map

Abstract

The 2015 European refugee crisis has revealed that conflicts in the Middle East are inseparable from other regions in the world including Europe. Germany was among the European states who accepted the largest number of refugees, a majority of them the Syrian migrants fleeing from the worsening conflict. Following the German chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door policy, the cooperation between the government and civil movements has strengthened and the country continues its effort in integrating refugees as source of human capital into their workforce.
On the other hand, Japan is known for its extremely strict refugee policy whose acceptance rate is less than 1%. In 2016, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had announced prior to the G7 Ise-Shima Summit that the country is accepting a total of 150 Syrian refugees over the coming 5 years. Of these, however, 100 are accepted through the framework of International Cooperation as part of a youth support initiative established by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The country still lacks the vision of accepting the refugees as part of the community for the long term.
Given such differences, what can Japan learn from Germany’s experience? For this lecture, we have invited a volunteer staff working at immigrant and refugee youth support NGO “BBZ” (Beratungs- und Betreuungszentrum) based in Trumstraße, Berlin, and their project participant from Syria. We hope this to be a valuable opportunity to hear their experience in the Syrian conflict, the process of moving to Germany to seek asylum, and to discuss the needs and ways of refugee support.

13:00　Aiko NISHIKIDA (ILCAA Joint Researcher, Keio Univeristy) Opening Remarks
13:15　Mr.Mohammad Jouni
15:00　Mr.Ayham Bakir
16:30　Discussion
17:00　Closing Remarks

Speakers

Mohammed Jouni works as a staff at Berlin based NGO “BBZ” which supports immigrant and refugee youth. He was born in Saida (Sidon) to a Palestinian family and later received German citizenship.

Ayham Bakir moved from Syria to Germany during the refugee crisis. His asylum application was accepted and has received a refugee status in Germany. Ayman now joins the project activities at BBZ.

Others

Language: English, German, and Arabic (w/ Japanese interpretation)
Admission: Free
Pre-resistration is required. The seat is limited to first 60 arrivals.
Please register from the following website.
https://kokucheese.com/event/index/581983/

Jointly sponsored by

Fund for the Promotion of Joint International Research (Fostering Joint International Research) “Interdisciplinary study of the migration and policy concerning Arab migrants-refugees in Germany” (Principal Invesitigator: Aiko NISHIKIDA (ILCAA Joint Researcher, Keio University) Project number: 16KK0050), Global Leader Program for Social Design and Management (GSDM), the University of Tokyo

For the latest information, please refer to the following link.
http://www.aa.tufs.ac.jp/en/event/upcoming