Refugee Week 2006

Monday 19 June 2006

Sunday 25 June 2006

12 pm

5 pm

Wellington Park Hotel

£20 Statutory- £10 Voluntary & Community Sector

Conference

A New Home: Building an integrated society

Refugee Week is a UK wide festival, co-ordinated in Northern Ireland by the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities (NICEM) that aims to raise awareness about asylum seekers and refugees in the UK and celebrate the contributions they make to our society. As part of the week , a keynote Seminar will be held on 21 June.

This seminar will establish the UK policy framework within which people seek asylum in the UK and within Northern Ireland. Against this backdrop, participants will hear from professionals working in the area of refugee integration and race equality from both the public and voluntary sectors.

Refugee Week runs from 19th June to 25th June. For more information on the week, check out this Adobe PDF Timetable of Events (1.09MB)

The seminar will give people an opportunity to explore ways to address relevant issues, exploring the link between the Media and political coverage of refugees and asylum seekers and community relations. Participants will be challenged to address perceptions by thinking critically about the images of refugees presented to them. They will also be invited to hear asylum seekers living in Northern Ireland tell their own stories through dramatic performance.

There will be an opportunity to ask questions and participate in discussion.

SEMINAR PROGRAMME*

12:00 – 1:00 Registration and Buffet Lunch

1:00 – 1:15 Introduction– NICEM

1:15 – 1:45 Overview of UK Policy on Refugee Integration (Speaker to be confirmed)

1:45 –2:05 Building an Integrated Future: A Racial Strategy for Northern Ireland
Ken Fraser, Racial Equality Unit, Northern Ireland

2:05 – 2:20 Refugee Orientation Project, Jennifer Dunlop, Red Cross

2:20 – 3:00 Challenging Racism Through Media Education: The Impact of Media and Political Images of Refugees and Asylum Seekers on Community Relations.
Dr. Roger Grimshaw, Research Director, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, School of Law, King's College, University of London

3:00 – 3:15 Tea Break

3:15 – 3:45 Capacity Building for Refugee Community Organisations

Dick Williams, Refugee Council, London

3:45 – 4:15 Barriers to Integration: Refugees living in Northern Ireland tell their own Narratives, Drama Presentation with Tinderbox Theatre Co.

4:15 -5:00 Question and Answer Period

Who Should Attend?

The conference will be of interest to anyone working with asylum seekers and refugees as it will provide an insight into the experiences of these people and how their experiences have impacted on their lives. It will be of interest to those working in the voluntary sector, public sector employees, academics, political parties and to any person interested in building an integrated future for Northern Ireland through acknowledging the contribution already being made by people seeking asylum here and through opening up new pathways forward which ensure that just and equal politics are in place into the future. It will also be of interest to people who wish to identify UK policies affecting the lives of refugees and asylum seekers and explore ways forward in order to improve their situation.

Organisations who wish to display information about their services at the Seminar can contact Jean Walsh before June 14 on 028 9023 8645 for more information.