York Professor Nergis Canefe’s art on display at McLaughlin College
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York University celebrated Refugee Rights Day in Canada on April 4 with a series of events at McLaughlin College.
The day included welcome remarks delivered by Sean Kheraj, associate dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, on behalf of Interim Dean JJ McMurtry; an opening commentary and greetings from Professor James C. Simeon, head of McLaughlin College; and a panel that was chaired by Department of Psychology Professor Michaela Hynie and the Centre for Refugee Studies.
Guests attending Refugee Rights Day events at McLaughlin College had an opportunity to view works of art by York Professor Nergis Canefe
The work and conclusion of York University’s Syrian Response & Refugee Initiative was also celebrated. The initiative co-ordinated the private sponsorship, by a number of different units at York University, of several Syrian families. (The Syrian Response & Refugee Initiative was based at the Centre for Refugee Studies and Osgoode Hall Law School.)
A large mixed media canvas depicts the peril many refugees face when crossing the Mediterranean
Immediately after the Refugee Rights Day in Canada ceremonies, there was the official opening of York political science Professor Nergis Canefe’s art exhibit in the McLaughlin College Art Gallery and Screening Room, 001 McLaughlin College. The art exhibit features a multimedia collection of Canefe’s most recent work. The title of her exhibition is The Road Less Travelled and it includes sketches and line drawings that she created in response to the widely circulated images of the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean following events of the Arab Spring.
“The canvasses are prepared by using mixed media and the ephemeral quality of many of the images is deliberate and is intended to depict the unfinished nature of refugee life stories,” said Canefe. “Refugees are oftentimes invisible as they undertake their courageous long journeys to unknown destinations.”
A watercolour depicts the grief and trauma experienced by a refugee family
“McLaughlin College is delighted to be putting Professor Canefe’s amazing art exhibit on display in our gallery, which was inspired by the escalating refugee crises in the world today,” said Simeon. “Professor Canefe is not only an accomplished academic but, equally, an accomplished artist.
This large mixed media canvas commands significant attention
“In addition, Professor Canefe also happens to be one of our distinguished Fellows at McLaughlin College. So, it is doubly important for us to have her work displayed in the college’s art gallery to help recognize not only Refugee Rights Day, but also Refugee Rights Month in Canada.”
The exhibition is free and open to the public. Canefe’s work will be on display until the end of April.
To learn more about the exhibit, hours and the individual works of art, email Canefe at ncanefe@yorku.ca.
York University marks Refugee Rights Day, April 4
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York University will host a celebration of Refugee Rights Day in Canada on Thursday, April 4 from 12 to 2:30 p.m. in Room 014 (McLaughlin College Junior Common Room), McLaughlin College Building, Keele Campus. The event includes a panel discussion, reception and the launch of an art exhibit.
The panel, which will lead off the event will feature speakers discussing the origins and contemporary relevance of Refugee Rights Day and refugee policy in Canada. As part of their comments, they will reflect on their engagement in refugee activism while at York University. The panel will feature:
Human Rights and Refugee Lawyer Geraldine Sadoway,
John Carlaw, project lead, York University Syria Response and Refugee Initiative (SRRI) and a Graduate Fellow at the Centre for Refugee Studies,
Humaima Ashfaque, student ambassador, SRRI, and the Refugee Initiative & Student Refugee Program Coordinator, World University Service Canada (WUSC) Keele Campus Committee,
Edwar Dommar, a member of Amnesty International at York, WUSC Keele and a Ryerson University Lifeline Syria Challenge Volunteer.
The panel will be chaired by Michaela Hynie, professor in the Faculty of Health and the Centre for Refugee Studies.
Members of the panel. From left, John Carlaw, Edward Dommar, Humaima Ashfaque and Michaela Hynie (Chair)
The day holds special significance for the two York undergraduate student panellists who have been heavily engaged in refugee support and human rights advocacy.
“Refugee Rights Day is an extremely important event to me because, I am a newcomer to Canada who arrived two years ago and I know how difficult it could be for refugees to integrate into a new country, adapt to a new culture and to have their rights and opinions respected,” says Dommar. “This day is also very special as it allows me to reflect on all my experiences and my contributions to the (SRRI) project.”
“As a Student Refugee Program Coordinator at WUSC Keele Committee, it is important for the community to provide safe space for refugee youth on campus, as it makes the refugee youth feel safe and welcomed,” says Ashfaque. “Working with the Refugees Welcome Here! Campaign, it clearly sends the message that we are supporting refugees and working strongly alongside them,” she adds. “The campaign advocates for welcoming communities through fighting fiction with facts and publicly advocating for fairness for refugees.”
The event also marks the formal launch at 2 p.m. of the mixed media exhibition The Road Less Travelled. The launch will begin with remarks from Nergis Canefe, a professor of political science in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. Canefe is also affiliated with the Centre for Refugee Studies. The Road Less Travelled will be displayed in the McLaughlin College Art Gallery (001 McLaughlin College) throughout the month of April.
James Simeon
“We commemorate Refugee Rights Day in Canada each year to reflect on the significance and importance of ‘everyone’s’ most fundamental human rights as found in Section 7 of our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which states that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person,” says McLaughlin College Head and Professor James Simeon, who will deliver welcoming and opening remarks along with Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies Interim Dean JJ McMurtry.
“This meant ‘everyone’ who is on Canadian soil, that is, all persons were protected by the Charter, including, refugees,” adds Simeon.
Jennifer Hyndman
“Given the asylum seekers currently walking across the US-Canada border to make a claim (not at ports of entry), the importance of the Singh decision and its protections 35 years on is key,” adds Centre for Refugee Studies Director Jennifer Hyndman.
As part of his remarks, Carlaw will speak about evolving policies surrounding refugee resettlement in Canada and the project’s work in partnership with the Ryerson University Lifeline Syria Challenge through which 10 York groups have sponsored Syrian refugees to come to Canada.
“Though there remains a tremendous amount still to be done in a world where the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates there are a record 68.5 million people displaced globally, and there are few spots for resettlement, it’s an honour and it is important to mark the contributions our sponsor groups have made, as well as the Keele and Glendon WUSC committees whose work will continue,” says Carlaw. “It’s especially important to thank and recognize the many student groups and leaders who are positively leading the way and will be doing so for years to come.”
York’s event is also part of a series events organized by the Toronto Refugee Rights Month Planning Committee, a group organizing and highlighting a month-long series of events. At the coalition’s request, the City of Toronto has agreed to recognize April as Refugee Rights Month.
Sixth annual student-led Refugee Awareness Week runs Jan. 28 to Feb. 1 at the Keele Campus
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This year marks the sixth year that the student-led Refugee Awareness Week at York University’s Keele Campus will take place. Refugee Awareness Week will take place Jan. 28 to Feb. 1 and will feature keynote talks, a film screening and refugee advocacy training with leading experts in refugee and human rights.
The coalition of participating groups includes Amnesty International at York, the Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS) and its Syria Response & Refugee Initiative (SRRI), Islamic Relief at York University, RefugeAid, the Student Council of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (SCOLAPS), UNICEF at York and the World University Services of Canada (WUSC) Keele Campus committee.
Above: From left, Amnesty at York Members Cassandra DeFreitas, Shaelen Macpherson, Humaima Ashfaque and Edwar Dommar
Established in January 2014, Refugee Awareness Week grew out of an educational activity led by RefugeAid that drew interest and solidarity from several other student groups and departments from across campus. As current club President Zohra Shafiqi notes, the week “is close to our hearts at our club because it was started up by the same people who founded RefugeAid. We love that it’s an opportunity to collaborate with other clubs on campus that exist for a similar cause so that we can pool our energies and resources into one beautiful week of educational events and activities.”
Justin Mohammed, who is the human rights law and policy campaigner at Amnesty International Canada, believes the week “builds on a tradition for which students at York University – particularly those affiliated with the participating organizations – should be very proud.
“The powerful combination of education with advocacy and activism makes for a compelling program that will tackle some of the most vexing issues with respect to refugees, right here in Canada and around the world,” adds Mohammed, who will be a guest speaker and facilitator at the week’s Friday “Refugees 101 and Advocacy Training” event.
Above: SCOLAPS members Amanat Khullar and Aqsa Khalil
His assessment is echoed by the participating groups, as is the importance of recognizing refugees’ agency in difficult circumstances. Vice-Chair of SCOLAPS Amanat Khullar shares that her group “is proud to be a part of a week that recognizes the strength of refugees all around the world and sheds important light on the ongoing refugee crisis.”
Calling the number of student groups on campus engaged in refugee issues “unprecedented,” Professor Jennifer Hyndman, director of the Centre for Refugee Studies, offers one potential explanation for the high level of student engagement: “York is perhaps the most cosmopolitan campus in the world, if student status as ‘foreign-born’ or ‘child of immigrants/refugees’ is taken into consideration. We have more than 175 nationalities represented on campus, many of them with diasporic connections to the world’s war zones, past and present.”
Awareness & Engagement Fair
Monday, Jan. 28
The week begins on Monday with an Awareness & Engagement Fair in Vari Hall featuring representatives from all the coalition member groups. The fair, taking place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., provides an opportunity for York University students and community members to get involved and discuss how they can become engaged in refugee supporting work.
“We always aim to use our platform or any given opportunities to raise awareness and funds for children who are impacted by the ongoing refugee crisis across the globe,” says UNICEF at York President Tashin Rodoshi. “It is so important to advocate and engage in insightful conversation with student bodies across campus.”
Panels on Human Rights in Turkey, Yemen and the Plight of Rohingya Refugees
Jan. 29 and 30
Amnesty International at York will focus its Tuesday efforts on human rights in Turkey. The panel will take place from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in 280N York Lanes. The panel speaker event is aimed at raising awareness of human rights violations in the country and will serve as a forum for rights defenders and refugee experts.
Beginning at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, both Islamic Relief and RefugeAid will host concurrent panels highlighting the humanitarian crises facing the Rohingya and Yemen’s populations respectively.
“This horrific conflict has resulted in an ongoing humanitarian crisis that has reached an unspeakable height and the suffering of those trapped in Yemen continues without bound,” said Aisha Saleem, vice-president of Islamic Relief at York University. The Islamic Relief panel will be held in the Senate Chamber, N940 Ross Building. Participants will discuss the ongoing humanitarian efforts and struggles of the Yemeni diaspora in Canada. “Panellists will also speak on how we can make our presence matter and do all that we can to alleviate the suffering of the 18 million people who have been left to fend for themselves,” said Saleem.
The Rohingya Refugee Crisis Panel will take place in 280N York Lanes. RefugeAid is inviting the community to learn about STAND Canada’s work on Rohingya refugees and their plight.
Centre for Refugee Studies Seminar and WUSC Keele Film Night
Jan. 31
On Thursday, Jan. 31, the Centre for Refugee Studies will host a talk by Geography Department Professor Ranu Basu. The talk, which begins at 2:30 p.m. in 280N York Lanes, is titled “Subalterity in Education within the Context of Displacement: From Ideology to Practice.” The paper Basu will present includes the argument that education and the role of schools in such a context needs to be an empowering mode of resettlement and “suggests a need for more radical interventions that move away from imperialist, neocolonial and neoliberal-reformist norms of education.”
“Awareness and education is the key to real change, which is why we will be hosting a film night,” said Areeg Bhalli, events director of the WUSC Keele Campus committee. They will screen documentaries of refugee experiences at 6 p.m. in 280N York Lanes. WUSC’s work includes providing refugee youth access to post-secondary education in Canada through private sponsorship and resettlement to Canadian university communities.
Refugees 101 and Advocacy Training event with FCJ Refugee Centre and Amnesty International Canada
Feb. 1
WUSC Keele Campus members with clothing they collected for refugee families during the Fall/Winter Clothing Drive
In part to share his gratitude for the support of York students of his centre’s efforts, including the past three years of winter clothing drives, FCJ Refugee Centre Co-Director Francisco Rico-Martinez will be one of the keynote speakers for the event titled “Refugees 101 and Advocacy Training.” The event will be held in the Senate Chamber, N940 Ross Building, starting at 2:30 p.m. Participants are asked to RSVP in advance for the session, organized by Amnesty International at York and the Centre for Refugee Studies’ Syria Response & Refugee Initiative (SRRI).
“As part of our Advocacy 101 series, the workshop will help students learn about key public policy issues and obstacles to the promotion and protection of refugees’ human rights in Canada and opportunities to work for better public policies to address them,” said Amnesty at York President Cassandra DeFreitas.
Rico-Martinez, whose own legacy includes being the first refugee to become president of the Canadian Council for Refugees, is “very pleased to participate in this important and timely session, particularly as the SRRI project at the CRS and York students have been so supportive of our centre’s work.
Francisco Rico-Martinez
Our centre’s workload has grown tremendously in the last couple of years, but so has student engagement with our centre. Without the volunteer efforts of dedicated students, especially those from York and Osgoode, we would not be able to manage the caseloads we are currently witnessing, which have nearly doubled in the last year,” adds Rico-Martinez.
He will join Amnesty Canada’s Mohammed, SRRI project lead John Carlaw, and student ambassador Humaima Ashfaque and DeFreitas in leading the session. He is “excited to share our centre’s approach to social justice and advocacy, something that our centre and the many York students that volunteer with us have discovered together.
“Our priorities emerge from the work we and the students do every day walking with uprooted people,” he added. “It is from this work we discover the systemic issues that we need to address, such as access to health care and housing, and the need for refugee system funding and reforms.”
John Carlaw
As the SRRI project lead, Carlaw, who has supported the groups organizing the week, will deliver the “Refugees 101” part of the event to familiarize students with some of the basic policy context around refugee protection in Canada. He said he is honoured to have been involved in supporting the week on behalf of the Centre for Refugee Studies though SRRI, which is supported by the Office of the Provost & Vice-President Academic.
“It has been incredibly rewarding to work alongside these outstanding student leaders for the last four years. They have made Refugee Awareness Week truly one of the highlights of the university calendar in this field. It really shows what our students are capable of,” said Carlaw.
“We, at the Centre for Refugee Studies and all of the student groups, are thrilled to be welcoming such amazing speakers and resource persons to campus throughout the week,” he adds.
The full calendar of Refugee Awareness Week events can be seen on the event page.
Year in Review 2018: Top headlines for York University, July to September
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Year in Review 2018
As a new year emerges, YFile takes a look back on 2018 to share with readers a snapshot of the year’s highlights. “Year in Review” will run as a four-part series, and will feature a random selection of top news stories published in YFile. Here are the stories and highlights for July to September 2018, as chosen by YFile editors.
July
Can dementia be reversed? York U researchers say there may be a way
Researchers in York University’s Faculty of Health found that just 30 minutes of visually guided movements per week can slow and even reverse the progress of dementia. Those in the early stages of dementia who were exposed for 30 minutes a week to a cognitive-motor training game – which used rules to make visually guided movements – were able to slow down the progress of dementia and, for some, even reverse their cognitive function to healthy status.
York University PhD students Susan Chiblow, Leigha Comer, Rivka Green, Natasha Henry and Hannah Rackow have been awarded prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships
York University celebrates recipients of prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship
PhD students Susan Chiblow, Leigha Comer, Rivka Green, Natasha Henry and Hannah Rackow were awarded prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships, receiving $50,000 annually for up to three years to support their research projects. Vanier Scholars demonstrate leadership skills and a high standard of scholarly achievement in graduate studies in the social sciences and/or humanities, natural sciences and/or engineering and health.
The Economist ranks Kellogg-Schulich EMBA No. 1 in Canada, No. 8 in the world The Economist magazine ranked the Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA eighth in the world and No. 1 in Canada in its EMBA ranking. The Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA program in the Schulich School of Business at York University has consistently rated among the top 10 in the world by The Economist in each of the three EMBA rankings it has conducted.
York researchers partner in $3.5-million refugee study
Four executive committee members of York University’s Centre for Refugee Studies were successful co-applicants and collaborators in the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Partnership Grant titled “Civil society and the global refugee regime: Understanding and enhancing impact through the implementation of global refugee policy.”The project’s total budget is $3.5 million, with the SSHRC contributing almost $2.5 million.
August
York University launches the President’s Ambassador Program
Designed to provide York students with a unique perspective on the University community, the President’s Ambassador Program offers opportunities for current students to serve as representatives of the University and to share their experiences as York students with fellow students, staff, faculty and alumni. Students selected for the program will attend a number of institutional and community events, including alumni receptions and government announcements.
Professors Jennifer Steele, Gabrielle Slowey and Joan Judge
Three York University professors earn York-Massey appointments
York University Professors Jennifer Steele, Gabrielle Slowey and Joan Judge earned Massey College appointments for the 2018-19 academic year. Steele, of the Faculty of Health, was awarded a York-Massey Fellowship, while York-Massey Visiting Scholarships were awarded to Slowey and Judge, both of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. The fellowship provides the selected faculty member with prime office space in the college for the academic year and the status of a full senior resident of the college, with all privileges enjoyed by senior Fellows. The title “York Fellow of Massey College” remains for life or while mutually agreeable.
York University announces 2018 Sport Hall of Fame inductees
York University Athletics & Recreation and the School of Kinesiology & Health Science welcomed four student-athletes, one coach and, for the first time in school history, a team as inductees into the York University Sport Hall of Fame’s class of 2018. This year’s inductees were: basketball player Mark Bellai, track and field athlete Craig Cavanagh, field hockey player Tammy Holt, rugby player Cheryl Phillips and tennis coach Eric Bojesen. The 1969-70 men’s hockey team will also enter the Sport Hall of Fame as the inaugural team inductee.
Allan Carswell
Stellar $3M endowment will help York students, community reach for the stars
With a galactic $3-million investment, made in partnership with York University Professor Emeritus Allan Carswell and the Carswell Family Foundation, York University will share the wonders of the universe with students, youth in the community and the public through the creation of a new Chair. The Allan I. Carswell Chair for the Public Understanding of Astronomy in the Faculty of Science, thought to be the first of its kind in North America, will be dedicated to science engagement and outreach. It will benefit students and the public through education and activities, involving telescopes at the Allan I. Carswell Observatory, as well as novel technologies such as virtual reality. The endowment will also support the York Science Communicator in Residence program to enhance student learning opportunities in science communications.
September
York Research Chairs Program expanding with competition this fall
Launched in 2014, the York Research Chairs Program (YRC) was developed as York University’s internal counterpart to the national Canada Research Chairs Program. The YRC recognizes outstanding researchers at York and is designed to build, support and intensify the world-renowned scholarship, research and creative activities at the University. The program expanded with seven centrally supported Chairs available and there will also be up to two additional Chairs linked to the Vision: Science to Applications Canada First Research Excellence Fund program.
Five York University professors elected to the Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada (RSC) elected four York University professors to its ranks as Fellows and one professor as a member of the RSC’s College of New Scholars, Artists & Scientists. The University’s newest members of the RSC are Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies Professors Wenona Giles and Joan Judge of the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design, and Professor Paul Sych, as well as Osgoode Hall Law School Professor David Vaver. Lassonde School of Engineering Professor John Moores has been named a member of the RSC’s College of New Scholars, Artists & Scientists.
York leads experiential education pilot program in Ontario high schools
York University’s Faculty of Education is leading an experiential education pilot project in high schools across Ontario that aims to build students’ capacity for civic action. The Youth in Politics (#YiP) Project, led by Nombuso Dlamini and co-led by Uzo Anucha, both associate professors at York University, hypothesizes that student-facilitated and student-structured civic activities encourage parental election interest. The project supports and builds the civic capacity of students to engage parents in local governance issues, using the school board trustees election as a case study.
Jean-Michel Lemieux, senior vice-president of engineering at Shopify, with Rhonda L. Lenton, president and vice-chancellor of York University
Shopify and Lassonde School of Engineering partner to offer innovative computer science degree program
A new partnership that reflects the future of experiential learning brings an innovative model of education to York University. York University’s Lassonde School of Engineering has partnered with Canadian commerce company Shopify to bring a visionary education opportunity called Dev Degree to the Greater Toronto Area for the first time. The unique program embeds students directly into development teams at Shopify through a paid internship that culminates with a unique honours bachelor of computer science degree. Shopify also pays the students’ tuition for the full four-year program.
Check back in the next edition of YFile for Year in Review: Top headlines at York University, October to December 2018.
Prof. Ali Asgary publishes book on complexity of population displacement
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A new book edited by York University Professor Ali Asgary examines the complexity of population displacement.
According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the total number of people forcibly displaced due to wars and conflicts, disasters and climate change worldwide exceeded 66 million in 2016. Many of these displaced populations may never be able to go back and rebuild their houses, communities and businesses.
“Imagine a population of people as big as France, Italy or Canada displaced by conflicts, disaster events and climate change,” said Asgary, in the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies (LA&PS). “Many of them with young children and seniors living in highly vulnerable and insecure conditions are deprived from basic human rights. This book highlights some of these challenges and examines policies, interventions and actions taken by various stakeholders to address these challenges.”
This text brings together recovery and reconstruction professionals, researchers and policy-makers to examine how displaced populations can rebuild their lives in new locations and recover from disasters that have impacted their livelihoods and communities.
It highlights:
that the increasing number of displaced populations and refugees are among the key global challenges of the 21st century;
that more than 65-million people are currently displaced, and this number is larger than the population of countries such as France, Italy, Greece, Canada and Australia;
that displaced populations and refugees face many challenges in their daily lives, including meeting their basic human rights on a daily basis; and
the challenges that different types of displaced populations and refugees are facing, including the vulnerability of the displaced populations and refugees, sheltering and design of living spaces, access to employment and resources, and host countries’ policies.
The book, said Asgary, has a very specific focus on Syrian refugees, including an interesting chapter called “Resettling Syrian Refugees in Canada: Challenges Faced by Nongovernmental Service Providers.”
Centre for Refugee Studies workshop issues ‘Humane Mobility: A manifesto for change’
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CRS workshop participants pose with some of the posters created to illustrate the key concepts, solutions and innovations arising out of their collaboration
On June 5 and 6, a workshop funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) was convened to reimagine refugee protection.
CRS workshop participants pose with some of the posters created to illustrate the key concepts, solutions and innovations arising out of their collaboration
The workshop, “Alternative Solutions to Refugee Protection,” was organized by Jennifer Hyndman, director of the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University, a professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies and a staff member, and York PhD candidate Johanna Reynolds. Innovative thinkers from across the globe were invited to present creative approaches, local and regional practices, and interventions at scales finer and greater than the nation-state, which currently frames “solutions” in the international refugee regime. Speakers came from Singapore, India, South Africa, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. The group included human rights defenders, postcolonial thinkers, representatives from civil society organizations and scholars who find the current UN Global Compact consultations too state-focused.
Jennifer Hyndman
“We have many parts of the world represented and many different ways into unsettling the salient discourse of refugee protection,” says Hyndman. “From concrete strategies that work to create safe space for people on the move to research that shows how de facto protection in cities is possible without de jure permanent status; from government approaches that provide protection without the UN or international legal conventions to informal humanitarianism and civil society efforts to create protection; from critiques of the status quo that promote self-reliance (and containment) through a neo-liberal development regime to new paradigms that challenge us to think beyond the narrow definition of refugee and examine human rights for migrants writ large.”
One of the outcomes of the workshop is the “Humane Mobility: A manifesto for change,” a document that urges the global community to engage beyond the Global Compact. The manifesto’s opening paragraph states: “A deep reimagining of migration is urgently needed. We are profoundly concerned about responses to human mobility, including the Global Compact on Refugees and the artificial separation from wider migration issues. It emerges from exclusionary drafting and decision-making processes that ignore the lived realities of the people and spaces most affected by displacement. It privileges state sovereignty over human beings. It reinforces unequal power relations and waters down existing commitments to human rights and dignity.”
To view “Humane Mobility: A manifesto for change” and to endorse the recommendations made in document, visit humanemobility.net.
A poster showing the workshop wrap up and next steps
The document was drafted by Ottawa University Professor Christina Clark-Kazak with input from other workshop participants. It has been translated from English into Swahili, Arabic, Dari, Pashtu, Sgaw, Spanish, Portuguese and French, and has already been endorsed by academics and leaders in the field. The manifesto marked its official launch on July 25 at the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) Conference in Greece.
More people are displaced now than any time since the Second World War. The UN’s refugee agency, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), provides material humanitarian assistance and basic protection against forced return where possible. UNHCR’s three “durable solutions” currently fail to deliver much protection for refugees. Voluntary repatriation is at a 30-year low, local integration into a nearby host country is not an option with 90 per cent of refugees living in global south and Middle Eastern regions, and refugee resettlement to countries like Canada is modest, affecting about one per cent of refugees worldwide. In 2016, the UN released the New York Declaration and a commitment to the Global Compacts on which all UN member countries were unanimous in agreeing that change is needed. Refugee protection needs are largely unmet and are unfairly shouldered by poorer countries in the global south and Middle East. While this process has not yet concluded, its focus is on states, more than people, who are forced to move.
The workshop was sponsored by the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation; the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies; the Centre for Refugee Studies; the Department of Social Science; and the Sociology Research Committee. It also received support from the Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (CARFMS) and from Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees.
York researchers launch Syrian refugee archive for scholarly use
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syrian refugee archive
A team of researchers at York University has developed a web-based archive on Syrian refugee settlement. It is the first web archive at York that is publicly accessible and permanently protected within the library system.
Nergis Canefe
The development of Syrian Refugee Settlement in Canada was led by Professor Nergis Canefe with support from the York University Libraries, the Centre for Refugee Studies and York University Vice-Provost Academic Alice Pitt.
The project, which was funded by a research grant from the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies (LA&PS), also served as a pilot for faculty Scalar training for the creation of similar archives with scholarly use. The research and development team included Faida Abu-Ghazaleh, archive specialist, Centre for Refugee Studies librarian, York University; and Robyn LeLacheur, former student of Canefe.
The digital, open-source scholarly archive is organized into five topics, including: the Syrian Refugee Crisis in Context; Political Debates in Canada; The History of Private Sponsorship and Private-Public Partnership Programs for Resettlement; Drawbacks of Hybrid/Blended Refugee Resettlement Schemes; and Back to the Future. It features an analytically organized display of important policy and legal documents.
Canefe says since the 1980s, humanitarianism, multiculturalism and system-wide adherence to administrative due process in immigration have been officially presented as trademark features of Canada’s immigration policy framework. While this trilogy informs the formally stated direction of the Canadian state in immigration-related matters, since the early 1990s other factors such as economic imperatives and divided public opinion led to a far more selective approach to immigration, prioritizing Canada’s immediate economic and political interests over humanitarian needs of vulnerable populations.
In light of the projected demand to increase annual newcomer intake from 250,000 to over 400,000 by 2030, issues of immigration policy are likely to remain at the forefront of both political and policy-related debates and the Canadian public will have to make some challenging decisions.
“The global trend in the exponential increase of displaced populations and forced migration indeed requires us not just to engage in new ways of thinking regarding resettlement and new technologies for streamlining admissions but also fortification of the political will to address the institutional fragmentation that currently frames refugee acceptance,” said Canefe. “Concerning the Syrian case, the Canadian model of private sponsorship has opened up the possibility of leveraging government resources with significant investments of time and money by private-sector partners and individual citizens.”
This model of “shared economy” platform to support the admission and integration of immigrants and refugees is worthy of critical note. Public and policy debates predating the official endorsement of this model are also of particular importance as they shed light on the conflicting agendas and future directives that currently dominate Canadian administrative and legal discourses.
“In this broader context, this web archive strives to offer a documented commentary on the most recent addition to the Canadian resettlement scheme, the Blended Visa Office-Referred (BVOR) program,”said Canefe.
The BVOR program was introduced in 2013 as a calculated mixture of private sponsorship and government-assisted resettlement and constitutes a modified version of private sponsorship of refugee and immigrant applicants. While the program was met with significant criticism and skepticism indicating that the government was practically offloading its resettlement responsibilities to private sponsors, there is also the counter argument that without the program, the Syrian crisis significantly impacting the Canadian resettlement landscape could not have been addressed, she says.
In this regard, BVOR has to be examined in relation to both private and government resettlement schemes, and in comparison to the historical use of private sponsorship for Indochinese refugees. The documents presented to the reader in this web archive allow for an examination of the background debates that led to the institutionalization of the BVOR program, the challenges BVOR is intended to address, public and political debates concerning the proposed division of public and private responsibility, and the links made between this particular model and the public acceptance of the en masse resettlement of select Syrian refugees in Canada.
“These debates are essential for assessing the direction of Canada’s future resettlement and refugee policies,” said Canefe.
Canefe has spent more than 20 years doing in-depth qualitative research with displaced communities, and teaching human rights in war-torn societies globally. She is also specialized in international criminal and public law, with particular emphasis on crimes against humanity and critical approaches to transitional justice. Canefe joined York University in 2003 and has been a full-time faculty member, regularly teaching in the departments of Political Science, Social and Political Thought, Socio-Legal Studies, Public Policy, Administration and Law at both undergraduate and graduate levels.
Recent York Graduate, Mohamud Siraji, elected a Member of Parliament in Somalia
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Mohamud Siraji, 30, a recent York graduate with a Bachelor of Commerce (2014), visited Toronto this month, on break from his new role in Somalia as a Member of Parliament in the country’s federal government.
Mohamud Siraji
“It was a difficult decision to leave Toronto, but this was the right time to give back and to rebuild Somalia as a peaceful country,” said Siraji. Leaving his wife, Sarah Hassan, who holds a BSW and MSW also from York University, and new baby girl, Fowzia (10 months), has been a challenge for Siraji.
He was first elected in February 2018 as MP for Jubbaland, the district of Somalia adjacent to the Kenyan border and not far from Dadaab, a complex of refugee camps in Northeast Kenya where he spent most of his youth. As a very young boy Siraji’s parents fled Southern Somalia, as civil war displaced more than a million people in the early 1990s.
Two prominent conferences on refugee rights and newcomer youth held at Keele Campus
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From left: Jaitra Sathy, Humaima Ashfaque and Edwar Dommar, pictured at the CCR International Conference (image: Arden Maalik)
York University’s Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS) hosted and co-sponsored the International Refugee Rights Conference with the Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR). The conference took place June 5 to 9 on the Keele Campus.
CRS also co-hosted the CCR National Youth Action Gathering June 5 and 6 with York University’s local student Amnesty International and Keele Campus World University Service of Canada (WUSC) chapters. The University’s Syria Response and Refugee Initiative – a project of CRS funded by the Office of the Provost and Vice-President Academic and Osgoode Hall Law School – supported both events.
International Refugee Rights Conference, June 5 to 9
More than 650 participants attended the international conference, which opened with a welcome from Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation Chief Stacey LaForme.
The Canadian Council for Refugees Conference Plenary that was held on June 9
The conference focused on enhancing the effectiveness of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in promoting the human rights of refugees and vulnerable migrants. Advocates, academics and others met face-to-face to learn from each other and strategize across borders, with the goal of ensuring refugee rights, including the voices of refugee and other migrants, and supporting them through services, advocacy and policy.
CRS Director Jennifer Hyndman and Michele Millard, CRS coordinator, served on the international organizing committee for the conference over the last year. Millard was very pleased with the conference and its outcomes.
“Given the current global climate and troubling policy directions we are seeing in many states, it was an honour for the CRS to host more than 650 participants from 36 countries for such important conversations about promoting and protecting the rights of refugees,” she said.
The conference infographic
Conference participants included representatives from NGOs, the academy, various levels of government, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), refugees and other vulnerable migrants. Special attention was given to representation from the Global South. This was the first such international conference held in Canada in 12 years. The last, also held at York University, took place in 2006 with 470 attendees. Due to overwhelming interest in this year’s event, organizers had to close registration in advance, which was the first time this has happened in the history of the conference.
“The Canadian Council for Refugees and its member organizations are at the forefront of refugee protection in Canada and were particularly well-placed to lead the dozens of workshops and networking sessions that took place here,” said Millard.
In addition to plenaries, the conference offered a networking lunch and strategizing sessions organized by the national organization. The local conference committee organized a dinner to celebrate the 40th anniversary of CCR, a welcome reception, as well as site visits for international participants to Toronto organizations working with refugees and vulnerable migrants.
Former Canadian Council for Refugees president and FCJ Refugee Centre Co-Director, Loly Rico, chaired the national and local organizing committees. The latter also included York University students Humaima Ashfaque, Cass De Freitas, Roshni Khemraj and Shae MacPherson, as well as CRS staff members Michele Millard and John Carlaw, who collaborated with 18 other local team members from prominent refugee and immigrant-serving organizations across the city.
Rico was pleased with the impressive coordination and networking demonstrated through the conference.
“The International Refugee Rights Conference was a major success which could not have been carried out without the tremendous contributions of our many partners and volunteers who came together to pull off an exceptional event,” said Rico.
“We know that the coordination and networking is just the beginning of a new conversation. But the seed has been planted and soon we will see some flourishing in the future as happened in the previous international conference. It was particularly exciting to see the prominent participation and leadership from youth, whose contributions made a big difference.”
Hyndman echoed Rico’s enthusiasm.
“The conference workshops and meetings offered participants very engaged modes of sharing knowledge and information,” she said. “I met lawyers from the U.S. and staff from refugee-serving agencies from Vancouver to the Malaysian peninsula who were amazed by the array sessions and diversity of actors engaging issues like detention and externalization, but also resettlement and integration.”
The National Youth Action Gathering, June 5 and 6
Prior to the International Refugee Rights Conference, an engaged team of student volunteers hosted the CCR’s Youth Network’s national Youth Action Gathering (YAG) with the help of student groups Amnesty International at York (AIY), World University Service of Canada Committee on Keele Campus, and CRS. More than 100 refugee and newcomer youth from across Canada attended the event, which took place June 5 and 6.
Participants came from seven provinces across the country, and 45 members of the group stayed to participate in the concurrent international conference.
For second-year York University student Edwar Dommar – a Syrian refugee who came to Canada almost two years ago – YAG was his first experience in national youth engagement on refugee and migration issues.
“I got involved in the YAG to share my personal experience with newcomers, illustrate the importance of knowing their rights as immigrants and refugees and how they can overcome the obstacles they confront,” said Dommar. “It is also an opportunity for me to network with participants from all over the country and meet amazing people.”
From left: Jaitra Sathy, Humaima Ashfaque and Edwar Dommar, pictured at the CCR International Conference (image: Arden Maalik)
Syria Response and Refugee Initiative (SRRI) project ambassador and global health student Humaima Ashfaque, also of Amnesty International at York and the CCR Youth Network, was the lead local organizer of YAG. She helped to recruit a highly dedicated local organizing team. The members – Cory Clarkson, Cassandra DeFreitas, Dommar, Robert Hanlon, Sahar Jafrani, Roshni Khemraj, Shaelen MacPherson, Aisha Saleem and Jaitra Sathy – met regularly to plan the local logistics of the event. Partway through conference planning, Sathy was hired (based on her skills in fundraising, media relations and conference organizing) to be the local coordinator of the larger international conference, while a dozen dedicated volunteers helped to carry out the event.
The YAG organizing team with volunteers
“The annual Youth Action Gathering (YAG) is an event for youth and organized by youth to equip themselves with the necessary tools to address the challenges they have to face in their daily life as newcomer youth, young refugees, and immigrants,” said Ashfaque, whoe also co-facilitated the “Paradox of Canadian Muslim Identity” workshop.
Ashfaque said the experience helped her to have more courage in embracing her identity.
“I found the courage to face inequalities, racism and discrimination,” she said. “I have been motivated to go beyond my capabilities and do more to help newcomer youth.”
Khemraj, who just graduated from political science and completed a one-year term as president of Amnesty International at York, will begin a law degree at Osgoode Hall Law School this fall. She found YAG to be a uniquely powerful opportunity for her to help mobilize a national network where young people can find their voice, share lived experiences and develop a strong sense of self-efficacy.
“It combines my passion of furthering human rights, giving a platform to those typically left out of policy discussions and highlighting the importance of youth engagement and empowerment,” said Khemraj.
John Carlaw, who is the project lead of York University’s Syria Response and Refugee Initiative, facilitated and supported the local team in hosting the event. Carlaw came away from the experience highly impressed by the York University students and national youth network members whose efforts drove the success of the gathering.
“Hosting this national youth gathering was a major undertaking, the culmination of months of work with our national partners at the CCR,” he said. “Once again our students have proven to be an incredible group of organizers and activists of whom the university should be very proud.”
Carlaw also paid tribute to the “incredible program the national core group of the Youth Network assembled,” and was key staff organizer from the CRS side.
York researchers partner in $3.5-million refugee study
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Four executive committee members of York University’s Centre for Refugee Studies (CFR) are successful co-applicants and collaborators in the Social Science and Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Partnership Grant, titled “Civil society and the global refugee regime: Understanding and enhancing impact through the implementation of global refugee policy.” The project’s total budget is $3.5 million, with SSHRC contributing almost $2.5 million.
The York researchers include: sociology Professor Christopher Kyriakides; geography and social science Professor Jennifer Hyndman; social science, and public policy and administration Professor Dagmar Soennecken; and, psychology Professor Michaela Hynie.
Chris Kyriakides
Dagmar Soennecken
Michaela Hynie
Jennifer Hyndman
“York’s Centre for Refugee Studies has a long history not only of partnership with higher education and civil society organizations in the global east and south, but also in promoting an intersectional approach in which our key partners bring their diverse social and cultural histories to bare on exclusionary refugee reception practices and protocols,” said Kyriakides. “In this partnership, the York team is strategically placed to provide leadership in the key domains of intersectionality and civic inclusion.”
Directed by James Milner at Carleton University, the seven-year partnership will foster collaboration with higher education institutions in seven countries and civil society organizations in Canada, Jordan, Lebanon, Kenya and Tanzania. The project team will study efforts to implement global refugee policy in diverse places, identify factors that impact implementation and identify how civil society can contribute to improved outcomes for refugees.
York students will benefit from opportunities generated by the grant since the project will train 96 graduate students over seven years to work with local academics, students, NGOs and refugees. To build research and practitioner capacity, the group will host annual summer institutes in concert with the Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS) Summer Course at York and Carleton – both partner institutions in the grant – as well as train refugees and NGO workers in citizen journalism in the affected countries.
