Summary of my experience at the “Seeking Refuge: Faith –Based Approaches to Forced Migration” conference BK Meredith Porte As I walked across the street from my hotel to the Princeton University campus where the Conference was being held, I saw a sign in front of a church. It said, “We welcome all refugees.” I immediately felt that this sign was a precursor to what I would experience at the Conference.

OPENING PROGRAM The program began with an exploration of the question “Who is a refugee and Therefore Who Am I?” Joel Charny, Norwegian Refugee Council- USA, told the conference participants that being a refugee is at the heart of many people’s stories in America. It is usually a devastating experience for those who are forced 1

to flee their country, and be at the mercy of strangers . He added that the natural tendency of people is not to welcome strangers. His own family had fled the pogroms in Russia. Dan-El Padilla Peralta who teaches classical literature at Princeton University well knows how devastating the refugee experience can be. He and his family were undocumented immigrants from the Dominican Republic who fled their country when he was a child. They were homeless and living in a shelter in New York City after their father couldn’t cope , and left them. Dan-El said that it was his mother’s daily prayers and faith that gave them strength to go on. There was also a church in Harlem that helped them, giving a sense of community Other themes that came up at the opening program were that even if we are not working directly with refugee resettlement, we can all contribute. Small but meaningful gestures including respect , friendship, hiring and assisting refugees in need can be done.

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Yet another theme that emerged involved the teachings of different faiths. Reverend Seth Kaper-Dale, Reformed church of Highland Park, said that God’s preference for refugees is at the heart of Judeo-Christian teachings. We must “break down barriers, to welcome the stranger and love them as ourselves.” (from The Book of Leviticus) We all had the opportunity to participate in two roundtable discussions at the conference. ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION- “Root Cause of Refugees” The discussion explored the refugee crisis and what prompts people to flee. Madeline Rose, Mercy Corps, told the group that violence in the world is the main driver of the refugee crisis today. 80% of people are fleeing because of oppression. They have lost their basic rights of having a home , food, water, and safety. This is radically different from the past when people were fleeing because of drought, floods, and other environmental disasters. She also said that conflict is now the basic driver of refugees. As complicated and difficult as this refugee crisis is, the discussion also included dramatically stepping up practices that could help victims cope. Inspiring refugees to become more resilient by helping them work through financial, emotional, medical and other problems was one approach. Another approach is to work for a cease fire in Syria and other countries, and commit to peace building. Another area to be explored is to teach tolerance in countries undergoing conflict, and move towards creating a “culture of peace” that serves to prevent such refugee crises before they become huge.

THE MEDIA AND MIGRATION: A WORKSHOP Moderated by Deb Amos, NPR Correspondent

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This workshop that I attended moderated by NPR Correspondent Deb Amos was on “The Media and Migration.” One main theme was on the rising phenomenon of hate speech . She stated that journalists need to understand that words really do matter. Some of the ways to improve this : 1. the need for more diversity in the newsroom 2. journalists need a safe space where they can come to terms with their own vices, i.e. intolerance 3. the need to include more voices of refugees in stories 4. journalists need to link their stories to human rights

Another area of discussion centered on ways to cover stories where people become more sensitive to the plight of refugees. For example, people are moved much more by one woman being murdered than hearing the statistic of 1000 women murdered. Deb Amos brought up a few other important points including “Should we cover refugees as being victims, or as resilient people?” She also mentioned that perhaps we need more normal or home town refugee stories, not hero stories. 4

IN SUMMARY I felt that this conference brought together a deeply committed and caring group of people from many disciplines including religion, human rights, academia, media and more. Together, we were able to gain more insights and ideas about the worldwide refugee crisis. I personally left feeling that we can all do something, whether it is through activism, understanding, reaching out to or even befriending refugees in our own communities. We need to see refugees as not one massive group of people fleeing their countries, but as human beings who need what we all require in life…. food , water, shelter, work, friendship, love, spirituality. community…. Creating a culture of peace is paramount in which we become part of bringing true transformation to the world that is beneficial to all.

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