Borders, Refugees, Solidarity, Resistance
Thursday 21 November 2019
5:00 PM – 6:30 PM
Murray Learning Centre, LG21, University of Birmingham
Migrants and refugees are increasingly victimised by a political class desperate to find scapegoats. The violent nature of the current border system encroaches ever further into people’s lives. Even educational institutions are required to operate as an arm
of the Home Office and facilitate Hostile Environment policies.
Instead of being treated as valuable members of our community, migrants and refugees are subject to surveillance and monitoring by schools, universities, local authorities and the Home Office. Refugees fleeing violence, danger and poverty face an asylum process
that is lengthy, unfit for purpose and which systematically leaves people in dangerous conditions. Detention centres, mostly located in remote areas, are routinely used to imprison people without any judicial process. And the Conservative Government, with
their pursuit of Brexit and anti-migrant narratives, continues to make matters worse, exposing ever more individuals to border violence.
In relation to the university setting, international students and staff are routinely held to different standards, with their visas placing them in positions of dependence, upon either their employers or upon regular attendance in classes.
This workshop aims to bridge the gap between academia and activism in relation to these questions of borders, refugees, solidarity, and resistance. It brings together researchers, practitioners and activists around a shared goal of both highlighting, and resisting,
the damaging effect of Britain’s ever-worsening border regime.
Itinerary
5.00 Introduction and welcome
5.05 Speakers