This event was recorded as part of a live webinar on 26 March.
This public webinar will explore the new report launched by the Commission on the Integration of Refugees on 20th March 2024. The Commission on the Integration of Refugees is an independent commission that aims to improve the integration of refugees. The commission agrees that the UK refugee and asylum system is not fit for purpose and its work looks to find common ground on how to fix the broken system with practical solutions.
A week after the launch of the new report, we’ll be discussing the key findings and policy recommendations with our expert panel of academics, community representatives and people with lived experience. How can we better support the integration of refugees in the UK? What benefits could this bring to the economy? And, what other ways could British society benefit from supporting refugee integration?
This is the final episode in our series ‘Voices from a broken system: Rethinking refugee integration in the UK’ in partnership with the Commission on the Integration of Refugees and the Woolf Institute. Our webinar series has explored different components of the asylum and refugee experience including Shared Stories, Safe Passage and Public Consent.
Moderator:
Martine Dennis – Martine is the Host and Executive Producer of the AfricaHere&NOW podcast. She went to Keele University and earned a BA(Hons) in English and American Studies (1979-82). After completing her training at Independent Radio News, London, Martine went to New York where she covered the United Nations for BBC World Service Radio. She returned to London in 1987 to present the BBC World Service flagship Africa news programme, Focus on Africa. Martine joined Sky News TV in 1989, where she produced, reported and then became a news anchor. She anchored BBC World News TV from 1995 until 2014 when she went to Al Jazeera in Doha where she was Principal Presenter until 2020.
On the Panel:
Dr Edward Kessler MBE – Ed is Founder President of the Woolf Institute and a leading thinker in interfaith relations, primarily, Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations, as well as Convenor of the Commission on the Integration of Refugees. He founded the Woolf Institute, originally called the Centre for Jewish-Christian Relations, 1998 and was elected Fellow of St Edmund’s College in 2002; in 2007, Dr Kessler was described by The Times Higher Education Supplement (London) as ‘probably the most prolific interfaith figure in British academia’ and in 2011 was awarded an MBE for services to interfaith relations. He has written or edited 12 books, including An Introduction to Jewish-Christian Relations (Cambridge, 2010), Jews, Christians and Muslims in Encounter (SCM, 2013) and Jesus (The History Press, 2016). His Documentary History of Jewish-Christian Relations is due to be published by Cambridge in 2024.
Dr Magdalena Walbaum -Magdalena is a Research Officer in Social Care at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), based in the Care Policy and Evaluation Centre in the Department of Health Policy. Magdalena works as a researcher in health and social care economics and has a background in public health, policy planning and health economics. Her research is centred around economic evaluations for interventions in social care, mental health, dementia and other non-communicable diseases to inform policy and influence practice.
Adam Yasir – Adam is a passionate advocate for human rights and a dedicated social entrepreneur. He founded Rosa Parked Community Café with London South Bank University, providing paid training and employment to refugees. Driven by his commitment to social causes, Adam secured 34 university scholarship places for marginalised individuals across four UK universities, including refugees and care leavers. Adam is a lived experience refugee from Sudan and a former care-leaver from a UASC background. He is currently the Chairperson of the Croydon Refugees and New Communities Forum, leading impactful efforts to amplify refugee and migrant voices, advocate for justice, and foster integration within Croydon community and beyond.