Book Launch at UN Library

 

On January 29, the UN Library together with Webster Geneva Campus organized a public talk and book launch on the theme of “Migration and Separation: The Impact of the Global Refugee Crisis on Families.”

The talk attracted 125 participants interested in exploring the issues around migration that are particularly pertinent to current affairs. Aya M. Abdullah, undergraduate student at Webster University, delivered the opening speech. Aya told her personal story of living a refugee experience twice; first when her family fled her home country, Iraq, and once again, when they were forced to leave Syria. The current rise in populism in Europe, as well as current economic challenges, have created a negative perception of refugees and the need to change this prejudice.

Oana A. Scarlatescu and Oreste Foppiani of Webster Geneva Campus, co-editors of the volume Family, Separation, and Migration, spoke at the event, as did Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN, and Areti Sianni, UNHCR Senior Protection Adviser. Sigrun Habermann of the UN Library moderated the talk.

The numerous public asked many relevant questions to all panelists and pointed out, among other things, that probably it is time for a sort of a “Marshall Plan for Africa” as a way to improve the economic and financial conditions of this demographically explosive continent. In a few words, a way to regulate the migration fluxes towards Europe and spare the lives of hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who are ready to risk their lives to escape from their countries.