#3 Public Panels 2025
“No one is illegal!”
Building Blocks for Peace-Theologies of MIGRATION
19th February 2025: Refugees – In research, experienced, advocated for
Description
Migration is a human phenomenon. People have migrated in all of history.
So, listening to dominant political voices in Europe, why is migration portrayed as a threat to peace in society? – Differentiation is needed!
First, for migrants themselves, a lot depends on the reasons for their movements. Is it a forced migration, are they fleeing from war, economic pressure, human rights violations, or have they decided to look for a new “home” because they have been invited to obtain a great job in another place? Was moving a choice of multiple options?
Second, for the receiving community, a lot depends on their situation as well. Is it a prosperous society that views arriving migrants as a great contribution to the economic, cultural, and religious diversity that their prosperity is actually built on?
Or, in opposition, do they view migrants first of all as a burden, people that need “our” help, or who eventually will exploit “our” economic resource, a threat to societal cohesion?
In many European countries, the political discourse seems to be poisoned by stereotyping, scapegoating, and “othering” the migrants / refugees – in general. They have become an easy target group for populist campaigns and discrimination.
Theology – the reflection of societal phenomena from a faith-perspective, that views every human “being created in the image and likeness of God” – needs to add critical knowledge to and engage in that larger interdisciplinary discourse, if peace and justice are considered core values of (different) faith(s)
In this public panel, we want to learn from various perspectives experts who research migration from different disciplinary perspectives;
All of these voices, in a larger conversation with each other, we aim to collect as building blocks for necessary „peace-theologies of migration“.
About the panelists
Jille Belisario
Academic Dean of School of Integrated Human Rights at Foundation Academy of Amsterdam. Experienced in community organizing, leading transnational campaigns on migration, development, and human rights, contributed to UN dialogues and policy development. Combines advocacy with mentoring and academic program design.
Anas Samman
An academic researcher, has a Master’s degree in Islamic-Christian relations from University of Saint Joseph “USJ” in Beirut. He is researching the image of the other in the Abrahamic religions and its impact on social integration among immigrants and refugees and the formation of public opinion.
Roos Ykema
The founder and director of MiGreat, an organization that fights for the demolition of borders. She organizes campaigns and direct actions against migration policies, and in solidarity with undocumented migrants.