St Andrews students welcomed debate on the issue of migration

Speakers wanted to inform people on the situation in Europe


St Andrews Foreign Affairs Conference was held this Saturday discussing the issue of Migration and Displaced Peoples.

The itinerary was packed with speakers from both within and outside the University. Despite last minute cancellations of key speakers, the event was a success with over 92 tickets sold.

Natasha Saunders, a PHD student in International Relations at the University, opened with an informative talk on Europe’s political system in regard to migrants and refugees. Saunders claimed the discourse surrounding refugees in the news offered a distorted view of the crisis. She helpfully outlined the terminology to paint a clearer picture of the complexities of the migrant situation.

The director of the conference, Erika Naegeli, said: “We really want people to come away informed about what is happening in Europe at the moment. I hope this conference will start a conversation and inspire new ideas as a catalyst for action”

There was concern that the conference would not reflect the broad array of political beliefs within the University. Erika commented that whilst they could not control the bias of each speaker, they hoped that the factual basis of the talks and the variety of speakers offered a broad view of the migration crisis which would encompass all opinions.

This aim was obtained with the use of Speakup, an app which allows audience members to pose questions to the speaker during their talk.

One audience member praised the use of the app: “Usually in conferences like this people have a fear of putting their hand up and asking a question. It can get a bit awkward when that happens, so Speakup was a great idea.”

The open discussions were a highlight of the event raising controversial issues, prompting a lively debate. One of the most controversial assertions came from Nissa Finney, a reader in Human Geography at the University, who argued that migration was inevitable and we need to stop considering it as an issue.

This sparked a debate as to whether this would only exacerbate the issue and whether we have the capacity to handle mass migration.

Another gripping speaker was Eva Horelova, who had outlined her concerns on Europe’s inability to handle the growing number of migrants coming into Europe. She stressed the significance of such a conference, commenting that: “I think the most important thing to take away from this event is an informed view of a situation which completely contrasts to how we live our daily lives.”

The idea that we are somewhat detached from the reality was central to Ms Horelova’s speech. This concept continued with a presentation from three students who had recently volunteered in the refugee camps in Calais and Dunkirk. Their first -hand experience of the refugee crisis was not only incredibly moving but was a success in showing how we as students could offer our help. Speaking with an audience member after the conference they told me they had been inspired by the talk to visit the camps themselves over the coming break.

Two of the volunteers, Bonnie Groves and Katie Sharratt, agreed that they wanted to promote a healthy criticism of what we hear in the media. In their talk they related the story of a refugee, deported from England after living for 10 years in London and not much older than themselves.

They said: “He had been in living in London for longer than us, he could have easily have been a friend. Instead he was living in a tent covered in mud.”

Their experiences in the camps offered a new perspective on migration. They shocked the audience by relating that people from across Europe send joke aid to the camps. When they need scarves and gloves, high heels and large glittery pink ball gowns were instead being delivered. Using this as an example they also told me they wanted people to recognise the human side of the crisis. That these people are not dissimilar to us, with the only exception being they have escaped mass persecution and are now threatened with tear gas daily.

The conference did not solely focus on the refugee crisis as the final two talks exhibited from David McCollum, a lecturer, and Hebe Nicholson, a Masters student. Instead they discussed environmental migration, which refers to people who have been forced to leave their country due to climate change. They highlighted this should be an issue given equal consideration and proposed that both refugees either fleeing war or climate change deserve equal rights to live in safety.

Overall, I was greatly impressed by the quality of the speakers. Despite the last minute glitch of cancellation due to a medical emergency, the conference was a great success. Hopefully their aim will be achieved and the foundations a dialogue about migration that can be exhibited at similar conferences in the future.