Action day addresses refugees

Student Action for Refugees (STAR) took part in the annual national Student Action Day last Thursday with a film showing and a panel discussion.

The highlight of the day was a panel discussion about refugees’ right to work. The speakers were Bhopinder Basi, the Chief executive of Coventry Refugee Centre, Emma Williams, the Chief Executive of STAR National, Nikki Sinclair of the Independence Party and Andrew O’Brien from Warwick Conservatives. Sunday Okellor of the UK Refugee Council was also in the audience.

The discussion began with short introductory speeches and then was opened to the floor for questions.

Basi told audience of about twenty students that they are “self-governing scholars” whose “minds are not closed…but willing to learn.”

He then carried swiftly on to “mythbusting,” explaining that the UK has never been swamped with immigrants. Basi said he “[raises] a voice that…has not been raised with dignity…the voice of many asylum seekers in this country.” One of his key points was the relationship between immigration, racism and ethnicity.

The other speakers, all of whom had particular viewpoints and experiences, soon got involved in the discussion as Tamara Last of Warwick STAR started putting forward questions which had been submitted earlier from members of the audience.

The speakers quickly became animated and the discussion took off on this topic which has been featured in the media lately. As has the recession, another key issue the panelists spoke about. They pointed out that during hard times job shortages becomes an issue for the wider population, not just asylum seekers. Basi said he felt that blame falls upon refugees in some cases.

How much space the UK actually had was brought up initially by Sinclair who claimed that the current rate of immigration amounted to “a population the size of Birmingham every five years.” O’Brien added, “we don’t have infinite space.”

The first event of the day was a showing of George Clooney’s documentary “A Journey to Darfur.” The 30 minute film showed Clooney and his father’s trip to Darfur through which they hoped to raise awareness of the issue. The viewers saw not only scenes from refugee camps on the Chad border but also Clooney speaking at the United Nations.

Some students thought the movie was “too Hollywood” and focussed too much on Clooney. However, most if not all there felt the impact of the images of the Sudan genocide. Shanaz Akhter, one of the organisers, said that some people had written in asking if Clooney would actually be there.

Akhter said that the Student Action Day was one of the best attended STAR events. “[The day] went really well,” she added. “Its great to see so much awareness raised.”