Welcome Panel: Making Sanctuary a Reality in Oxford 
at
Oxford Sanctuary Fair 2023
11 May 2023
Oxford Town Hall

This free, all-day drop-in event aimed to connect refugees, students, and the local community. The Fair was open to everyone and provided an opportunity to learn more about refugee issues and how we can all make a difference.

It included panel discussions and interactive workshops featuring students, academics, activists, politicians, community leaders, and influencers, many of whom have experienced displacement first-hand.
Stalls from community organisations gave visitors a chance to meet those who are making a difference on the front line, and to find volunteering opportunities and practical actions to support refugees and asylum seekers in Oxford and beyond.

The Sanctuary Fair 2023 was a collaborative event hosted by Asylum Welcome, the Refugee Studies Centre (University of Oxford), and Oxford City Council.

Welcome Panel (10.30 - 11.15am) 
Making Sanctuary a Reality in Oxford 
Panelists:
1. Mark Goldring (Director, Asylum Welcome) 
2. Jan Royall (Principal, Somerville College, a College of Sanctuary, and Chair of the Conference of Colleges) 
3. Juliet Van Gyseghem (Oxford STAR Group) 
4. Yaroslava Bukhta (Ukraine Graduate Scholar, President of Oxford University Ukrainian Society) 
5. Cllr Dr Hosnieh Djafari-Marbini (City Council Migrant Champion) 
Moderator: Prof. Alexander Betts (Oxford University, Refugee Studies Centre)

Further information: https://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/news/oxford-sanctuary-fair-a-great-success

Oxford Sanctuary Fair 2023 | Making Sanctuary a Reality in Oxford

RSC Seminar, 27 November 2024
RSC Public Seminar Series, Michaelmas term 2024
Speakers: Professor Dawn Chatty (Refugee Studies Centre) and Professor Annika Rabo (Stockholm University) 

This seminar presents very preliminary and partial findings from an ongoing British Academy-funded study to examine the impulses which led so many to volunteer their time and energy to welcome and make Syrians and other refugees feel ‘at home’ upon arrival in the United Kingdom and Sweden. Rather than focus on the suffering of Syrians and other displaced people seeking safety (Chatty, 2018; Rabo et al, 2021; Beck, 2021; Cantat, 2021), it turns to interrogate the motivations which drove so many citizens and residents to step forward and be generous to those in need (Chatty, 2017). In the UK there was little media sympathy for such hospitality whereas in Sweden media was generally very supportive. These two study sites offer an opportunity to study volunteering to come to the aid of Syrians in both a relatively hostile policy environment and a sympathetic one.

Anthropology of Good: Exploring Volunteerism in the 2015 European Refugee Crisis

The Refugee Studies Centre (RSC) aims to build knowledge and understanding of the causes and effects of forced migration in order to help improve the lives of some of the world's most vulnerable people.

Oxford Sanctuary Fair 2023 | Making Sanctuary a Reality in Oxford

Refugee Studies Centre

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