A recent gathering of alumni at the John Carroll weekend was the locus of several sessions led by Georgetown faculty and other experts concerning events in the world today.
One of the most meaningful to me was a briefing on the migration of millions of refugees and migrants from Africa and the Middle East to Europe, seeking a better life.
The panel consisted of experts from a variety of institutions attempting to serve the needs of the displaced people and to discern and address the underlying causes of their movement from their homes.
The session began with a video portraying the treacherous passage across the Mediterranean to Europe, the meeting of their boats by officials, medical examinations given to them, the administrative processing of refugees, and their entry into camps for temporary (or longer) stays. The images of children with fear on their faces were the most poignant.
Ironically, the session was occurring at the same time as Pope Francis was visiting the island of Lesbos, to meet with refugees and listen to their stories.
The discussion at the session focused on public reaction to the refugees stimulated by the Paris and Brussels events. The linkage in the minds of many between the immigration and the destruction and deaths that occurred has led to widespread fear of the immigrants. No one knows, we hear in the media, how many of the refugees might want to harm those in Europe. Given the ignorance, all are feared.
There was some discussion of the camps in the Middle East where now children are being born to adults who themselves were born in the camps. The camps are clearly not temporary phenomena. For those small countries, the additional refugees from Syria posed more fundamental problems.
The dominant belief among the panelists was that the numbers of immigrants did not themselves pose a “crisis” for Europe. Some panelists asserted that the events did, however, require of leaders active management and coordination of services. This, in their opinion, was currently inadequate.
At the end of the panel presentations, the first question from the audience, from a European alumna, was “What can I do as an individual, to help?”
The first answer was to do everything possible to meet the people enduring the refugee experience. Turn the phenomenon away from an abstraction of masses of unknowns seeking entry into one’s country, to real people facing intolerable situations in their homes and fleeing for safety and welfare. Know them as people, learn their stories. Through that, the panelist was arguing, the natural tendency of welcoming can emerge as a balance to uncertainty and fear about terrorism.
After that, several other European alumni noted that they themselves were meeting with refugees, to help in any way their station in life permitted. It had allowed them to see the refugees as individuals, each with their own dignity.
It was notable, I thought, that as the panel was meeting, Pope Francis was preparing to bring into his protection and care a set of refugees on Lesbos.
It started me wondering about what I could do, what we could do, at Georgetown to be helpful to the world at this moment of massive displacement of people.
Interesting and important discussion. Having just returned from Italy and John Carroll it was very interesting to talk with the Italians. Eg cab drivers etc. they all pointed out how the refugees were n their opinion overwhelming the country. Their economy is so poor even Italians can’t find work. How do they and we balance the refugees needs on a humanitarian basis with the current economic problems existent in many European countries? A difficult but important discussion. Which Georgetown should be at the forefront Much thought needed and action taken too.
Hi Dr. Groves,
Thanks so much for sharing your reflection on the briefing with GU alumni on the topic of migration of refugees and migrants from the MENA region and Africa. Indeed, there are many ways that we as a community can be engaged – from awareness raising to taking action within our respective fields. There are many humanitarian needs, but also many opportunities for educators, engineers, medical professionals, tech, business and logistic professionals to be involved. One small scale way that some of the students from the Masters of Arts in Arab Studies program have been involved is through Georgetown Refugee Action group. Perhaps it would be a logical next step to bring together the different aspects of the GU community (students and alumni) for a roundtable of how GU can help address this issue.
Again, many thanks for drawing attention to this important issue.