Regional Amnesty Conference on Refugees
Invitation to join the Regional Amnesty Conference on Refugees on 8th October
Around the globe, 60 million people have been displaced – 19.5 million of them outside their own countries – because of war, conflict and persecution.
In September Amnesty International will launch a new global campaign, focussing on the protection of refugees during their journey and on their rights to claim asylum. While the response of world leaders, particularly from the world’s richest countries, to this unprecedented multiple refugee crises is a catastrophic failure, there are many things that local people and activists can do.
Join the East Anglia Regional Amnesty International Conference on Saturday 8th October in Cambridge to find out how you can make a difference.
Keynote speaker feminist and human rights activist Fathieh Yazdi will address the conference about her experience as a refugee from Iran and helping refugees, both through her work for charities such as the refugee council and as a volunteer, among other things last March in Greece. Other speakers are Steve Symmonds, AIUK Programme Director for Refugees and a panel of (international) experts discussing the global perspective. A network lunch as well as workshops give an opportunity to meet with other activists and explore ways to support refugees, such as the new sponsorship government scheme or the power of the personal story in lobbying and speaking to members of the public. The day will be interspersed with music, good news stories and testimonies and will finish with a joint (musical) action.
There will be many other speakers/workshop leaders etc., including refugees, a lawyer who has worked on refugee protection for a long time and is currently volunteering in Lesbos, a senior nurse from Medecins Sans Frontieres, someone from Malvern who has worked with the council to get them to accept refugee families, the Amnesty Country Coordinators for Syria, Iraq and Sudan, someone working with refugees in Calais.
It is open to all, not just Amnesty members.
Registration costs are £9 which includes lunch and refreshments. More details as well as a link to the registration page an be found here https://www.amnesty.org.uk/groups/cambridge/amnesty-international-east-anglia-regional-conference-refugees
Conference contact: Liesbeth Ten Ham
Local contact: Avril