Refugee Week Update - April 2010

Welcome to the Refugee Week Update for April. This month we’ve got a few questions for you to answer in the Simple Acts of the Month, and a reminder to get involved with our Schools Competition! Also included are details of a great conference coming up and a new report by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation…

News Bulletin

Refugee Week Update - April 2010

Welcome to the Refugee Week Update for April. This month we’ve got a few questions for you to answer in the Simple Acts of the Month, and a reminder to get involved with our Schools Competition! Also included are details of a great conference coming up and a new report by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation…

Simple Acts of the Month - Do a quiz on refugees

Q: Is a quiz a great way to learn about refugees?
A: Yes.

Quizzes are great ‘cos they can surprise you, challenge your perceptions and let you feel smug when you know the answers!

So we’ve put together a whole bunch of brain-teasers to try your hand at. Once you’re confident enough with the facts why not turn quiz master and quiz your friends and colleagues?

Eyes down. Visit the Simple Act of the Month page to begin!

Simple Acts School Competition

We are inviting schools to take part in our national Simple Acts competition for schools. We are looking for a picture of the UK’s best pro-refugee banner. With this banner we are inviting students to tell us how they would like to make refugees more welcome.

If you’re a teacher, this is a great opportunity to raise the profile of your school and engage students actively in thinking about a very pressing issue that is all around us. The deadline for entries is 20 May 2010.

For more information on how to take part, please visit http://www.refugeeweek.org.uk/simple-acts/schools

Conference: Multiple Belongings: Diaspora and Transnational

Friday 21 May at the British Library Conference Centre, London

The Histories of Home Subject Specialist Network’s Second Annual Conference, Multiple Belongings: Diaspora and Transnational Homes is an exciting opportunity to explore the meanings associated with the material culture of transnational homes from the late eighteenth-century to the present, with a particular emphasis on contemporary homes. Papers will focus on material aspects of setting up home in another country, such as room layouts, furnishings and other possessions and how these are adapted, integrated or negotiated between host nation and place of origin. Wider meanings of home will be explored through concepts of belonging and questions around what and where home is, where and when people “feel at home”.

The conference programme reflects both the interdisciplinary nature of the SSN and the international scope of the theme with a wide range of backgrounds and methodologies represented including religious studies, geography, cultural and architectural history, material culture, ethnology and museology.

Delegate fees are £70/£45 (full-time students), including a light lunch and refreshments.

Programme details and a booking form are attached, or can be downloaded here.

For further information please contact SSN Co-ordinator Krisztina Lackoi on klackoi@geffrye-museum.org.uk

Report: Young Undocumented Migrants report published

An extensive report into the social and economic lives of young undocumented migrants in Britain, commissioned by the PHF Social Justice programme, is now available to download from the Foundation website.

'No right to dream' is a piece of research led by Alice Bloch (Department of Sociology, City University London) and Nando Sigona and Roger Zetter (Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford) and contains the results of large-scale qualitative research into the social worlds and economic livelihoods of British-based young undocumented migrants from China, Turkey (Kurds), Brazil, Zimbabwe and Ukraine.

In keeping with the PHF Social Justice Programme's longstanding commitment to supporting those on the margins of society build better lives for themselves, the report seeks to explore and understand the lives of undocumented migrants and the ways in which their undocumented status impacts on their life choices.

This work also addresses the Social Justice Programme's particular concern with those who experience prejudice and harm early in their lives and struggle to realise their potential as a result. It is hoped that, in drawing attention to the situation of young undocumented migrants, this research will stimulate debate on how we as a society should respond, and encourage a wide range of other organisations to explore ways of helping them as a result.

The study was based on in-depth interviews and testimonies with 75 young people in London, the North West and the Midlands, conducted in late 2008.

You can download the report at http://www.phf.org.uk/news.asp?id=645&year=2009&pageno=

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