The refugee crisis that has gripped the world for months will be explored as part of the University of Victoria’s Ideafest today.
The panel for The Refugee Crisis: How has the World Responded?, set for 6 p.m. in the Hickman Building, will take a broad look at the flow of Middle Eastern refugees, about half of whom are Syrian, said Oliver Schmidtke, director of UVic’s Centre for Global Studies and a professor of both history and political science.
“We’ll try to cover most of the angles in terms of the regional conflict, the sources in the Middle East and Syria in particular,” he said. “So we get a sense of how this originated, what the state is, the forces that pushed people out of Syria.”
Panellists include researchers in the university’s departments of history and political science, who will discuss the European response to the situation and how divisive it has been. “Certain countries are champions of bringing them in — Germany, Sweden,” Schmidtke said. “Others are building fences and trying to keep them out.”
Canada’s role will be examined by UVic history professor Penny Bryden, including the priorities of the new federal government.
Schmidtke noted that the response in the local area includes many initiatives on the UVic campus. Presenters will look at challenges and long-term prospects for refugees and what lies beyond the current crisis, Schmidtke said.
Ideafest, which began Monday, is UVic’s annual festival of research, showcasing the work of researchers at 50 free events until Saturday.
