Refugees, Displaced Persons and Forced Migration Studies Center issued its first electronic newsletter in English, which is considered a continuation of the same issue that was issued in Arabic at the end of last June.  The newsletter introduces the center's activities and achievements.

The issue included an opening article by the University President, Dr. Islam Massad, in which he addressed a set of ideas that talk about the role of Yarmouk University conducting research and implement activities related to the refugee crisis. He adds that through the center's research and national roles in its field of work, it follows the royal vision in building a safe environment for refugees in Jordan.

Massad added that the university is committed to its national and academic role towards refugees, such as its interest in various national and humanitarian issues. The center, through its long years of work, played an integral role in conducting important research along with other national roles related to its field of work. It has also provided thought and has taken serious action to serve refugee issues and achieve the Hashemite vision in building a safe environment for refugees in this great Arab house, Jordan, under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah bin Al-Hussein.

He also stressed the university's keenness to develop the structure and work of the "refugee center" to simulate global experiences, and to strengthen partnerships with national and international partners capable of achieving the center's vision and activities.

In her speech, the Director of the Center, Prof. Reem Al-Kharouf, said that refugees and those who suffer from the effects and consequences of asylum were the center’s top priorities and constant focus of its various programs; we got feedback from them about their expectations of the center’s roles and what the center and its partners can do for them.

She added that we are still working under the slogan “Together We Can” to serve our beloved country, Jordan, our university, and the center that carries a profound humanitarian and scientific message.

Al-Kharouf invited all those interested in the issues of asylum, displacement and forced migration to work with the center as a team to achieve common goals.

The issue included what the center accomplished during the first half of this year: partnerships with many national and international bodies, the most prominent research and studies, and future activities to be implemented during the second half of this year and introducing the experiences of some university professors who are members of the center’s research network. In addition, the newsletter allocates a special space for volunteer students to express their opinions and highlight their activities and achievements.

The electronic version of this newsletter can be viewed through this link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ETbZDElqeFyJCSkDqWPpCd3EDE3R9TLn/view?usp=sharing

The Refugees, Displaced Persons and Forced Migration Studies Center at Yarmouk University and the Academy of Refugee Studies concluded the intensive training diploma program for refugee studies by graduating more than three hundred participants of various nationalities.

The program was created in the light of the memorandum of understanding between the Center for Refugee Studies and the Academy of Refugee Studies, to address the issue of asylum around the world in its various aspects.

The free program was also implemented intensively over eight weeks via video communication, with a total of sixteen hours of study included several topics. The most notably topics are a general introduction to the issue of asylum in the world, international and regional organizations and their role in serving refugees, the impact of asylum socially, culturally, economically and psychologically. The program also talked about the rights of refugees in international law, international asylum conventions, in addition to the topics of the refugee between integration and preservation of identity under social media, migration and asylum:  The Middle East is a model.

The Director of the Center, Dr. Reem Al-Kharouf, said that this program came as a result of the partnership between the Refugees, Displaced Persons and Forced Migration Studies Center and the Academy of Refugee Studies. It is one of the executed projects of a series of future projects to be implemented.

Al-Kharouf added that the Center, based on its strategic plan, and in line with the mission of the University and the objectives of the Center in serving the local community, we are working to spread awareness in the issues of asylum, displacement and forced migration among refugees and members of the host community. The Center aims to highlight the most prominent issues in those areas as a national and regional reference for research that supports decision makers and researchers in them.

Yarmouk University participated in the scientific conference via the Center for Refugee, Displaced and Forced Migration Studies. The conference is organized by the University of Jordan as a part of the U.S.-Jordanian University Cooperation Network under the PULSE project which is launched in the second base of its 2022 program that entitled “New Orientations in Cooperation between American and Jordanian Universities for Sustainable Development”.

       The participation of Yarmouk University in the session of asylum, displacement and forced migration issues is included at the contribution axis of the “Refugee Center” in providing social integration services for refugees.

     The director of the center, Prof. Reem Al Kharouf presented a detailed presentation on the specialized projects and studies which the center is working on. Thus, this contributes in raising the efficiency and skills of refugees, supporting the decision-maker in developing comprehensive strategies and policies. This leads to reaching treatments and solutions based on the analysis and the careful link between the reality of the situation and the pace towards the future. Also, this  supports the strategic plans of governments so that the refugee is transformed from a dependent person to an efficient person and then to be a contributor to the production and development. 

The conference, which lasted over two days, discussed a number of topics which are related to future trends in cooperation between American and Jordanian universities and other topics such as innovation in university education, agriculture, technology and artificial intelligence. Also, other topics related to sustainable development goals are discussed, such as asylum, energy, climate change and the challenges that face the achieving these goals.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Almamlaka Channel, Ali Al-Ayed sponsored the launch ceremony of the research network of the Refugees, Displaced Persons and Forced Migration Studies Center at Yarmouk University, and the symposium "Media and Art and their Roles in Shaping Human and Social Values". These events are organized by the Refugees, Displaced Persons and Forced Migration Studies center, and the ALECSO Chair for Asylum, Displacement, Migration and Forced Migration. They were done on the occasion of World Humanitarian Day and the World Day against Human Trafficking, in the presence of the Assistant President of the University Dr. Ziad Al-Zureikat.

The symposium was attended by the Chairman of the National Steering Committee, Media and Culture in the House of Representatives, MP Yasar Khasawneh, the Editor-in-Chief of Al-Rai newspaper, Dr. Khalid Al-Shaqran, the artist Shaish Al-Nuaimi, and the founder of the “Fragrance of Color” Initiative, the visual artist Suhail Beka'in.

Al-Ayed said that Yarmouk University is a great Jordanian academic edifice that constitutes for all Jordanians a precious national value. It is not only the second university in terms of establishment. It is one of the Jordanian scientific institutions that graduated tens of thousands of young people and knights of our homeland who are working in positions of responsibility and national work in various sectors.

He continued: I am here with you today to share together and to launch a national research nucleus concerned with geopolitical issues, most notably: asylum and migration. He pointed out that this network provides a nucleus of renewed original research for decision-makers at the national and international levels. It contributes to the development and improvement of work, and to rational decision-making based on knowledge, information and social research.

Al-Ayed praised the efforts of Yarmouk University, which initiated the establishment of the Refugee Center. It is the leader in the establishment of the Department of Fine Arts and the Department of Journalism and Media. He pointed out that the topic of today's symposium answers a key question about the roles that art and media can play towards human and social values.

He stressed that Jordan today is in dire need of emphasizing the balanced values that are maintained by our society. Especially since our wise Hashemite leadership has made the human being the title of the Jordanian tender process. So, Jordan's doors were opened to all those whose livelihoods have narrowed in their homeland. The dignity of the human being was the basis in dealing with everyone who chose Jordan as a place to live, seeking life, security and safety regardless of their nationality, color or race.

Al-Ayed pointed out that we are celebrating World Humanitarian Day and the World Day against Human Trafficking, which gives us opportunities to recall the great effort exerted by our armed forces, security agencies and various institutions of the homeland. It is also an opportunity to highly appreciate Nishama and Nashmiyat (male and female Jordanian) who carry the royal directives in their eyes in study, research and work.

He pointed out that our national media has provided and still provides everything it can to serve our humanitarian and societal causes because the media, arts, culture, and social studies, in their various forms, are the title of society and the face of its truth, which are two sides of the same coin and indivisible one.

The Director of the Center, Dr. Reem Al-Kharouf, welcomed the participants in the activities of the celebration of World Humanitarian Day and the World Day against Human Trafficking which comes under the title "Media and art and their roles in shaping our human and social values”, in addition to the launch of the research network at the Center, and how scientific research can advance this humanitarian role not only towards refugees but towards everyone who needs humanitarian and social support.

Al-Kharouf pointed out that the idea of the research network was a real solution to the lack of qualitative scientific production in the field of asylum and migration, the lack of a peer-reviewed scientific journal in this field, and the weak marketing of these qualitative scientific competencies among those who are interested in this type of research. So that, they turn into real partnerships which we build through it the research needed by the local and international decision-maker to understand the reality and issues of asylum and how to deal with it.

Al-Kharouf continued: This network was one of several steps related to the strategic plan at the Center for Refugee Studies. the center identified the objectives and then the research priorities, the partners in this field and other step that all contributed to the birth of this network. She pointed out that the network today embraces about a hundred researchers from various disciplines of the university, where it began to carry out research, surveys and assess the need of research in the light of research priorities and reading the reality of society.

She stressed the interest of Yarmouk University in supporting the media and art sectors, hence the title of the seminar. It brings together a real elite of the people of the homeland who have a distinctive role in this field to exchange opinion and specialized knowledge, and to convey a message that we believe in and trust in its importance, which is that the media is the voice of values and the arts are its image.

 Dr. Ali Shehadeh delivered a speech on behalf of the research network members. He stressed that this network strives to generate and mobilize knowledge among academics, decision makers and asylum policy makers to provide the best services and support to those who have been forcibly displaced.

He pointed out that its aim is to build an integrated network to strengthen links in all areas of refugee and forced migration studies, including facilitating interactions between academic sectors, decision makers and stakeholders who are funded locally, regionally and globally, and creating spaces to showcase and disseminate experiences and provide consultations within common interests.  All these should be used to support refugees and their causes at all levels and areas.

Shehadeh stressed the need for unified efforts from different disciplines to be able together to achieve better results and to promote best practices and their application at the research, field, policy-making and strategic plans level, especially in the planning, implementation, management and monitoring of projects and the mobilization of the required external support in line with the Center's strategic plans and national priorities with regard to asylum issues.

The activities of the symposium included a session moderated by the Head of the Studies and Research Department at the Center, Dr. Tarek Al-Nasser, and attended by members of the research network, a number of faculty members, and a group of university students

In the framework of the memorandum of understanding signed with the Shenandoah University, USA, Yarmouk University represented by the Refugees, Displaced Persons and Forced Migration Studies Center signed a statement of action with Shenandoah University regarding a research project related to the second goal of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The goal is related to eliminating hunger, providing food security and improved nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture, especially for refugees and the most vulnerable.

Signing this statement came during the visit of the Shenandoah University delegation, which included the Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Amy Sarch, and the Director of the Barzinji Institute for Global Virtual Learning, Dr. Younus Mirza, to the Refugees Center at Yarmouk University and meeting with the director of the Center, Prof. Reem Al-Kharouf, and the center's staff.

During the visit, Al-Kharouf gave a full explanation about the establishment of the Center, its objectives, and activities. She pointed out that this project represents the Center's strategic plan, which stems from the university's mission in serving the local community and its interest in asylum issues. Al-Kharouf pointed out that the research project, which will be implemented in stages during the academic years (2022-2024), will include the establishment of a database, composing research papers, holding joint meetings, and exchanging visits between the Center and the partners in this research project.

Sarch praised the importance of having a center specialized in issues of asylum, displacement and forced migration, explaining that its research studies contribute to providing services to this category of people.