In a world choked by violence, conflict, and disaster, more people are now displaced than at any time in recorded history. According to the UNHCR, more than 65 million people have fled their homes seeking safety wherever they can find it—in neighboring communities, nearby countries, and often on new continents. Among them are more than 22.5 million refugees, many of whom are desperate to escape fighting in places like Myanmar, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. In Canada, we are witnessing many people are seeking refugee status by crossing our border with the United States of America.

The first of its kind at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN), Global Refugee Narratives 2020 is an international symposium aimed at facilitating conversations and tangible solutions to the global refugee discourse.
Hosted by the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) chapter at MUN, this one day symposium will bring former refugees’ voices to the forefront in order to better understand the plight of refugees worldwide, in Canada, and in Newfoundland. In conjunction with discussions with various professionals providing services to newcomers, this event aims to conceptualize achievable solutions that encompasses the intersectionality of this pressing and proliferating matter.

This conference will bring together students, staff, faculty, researchers, government officials, settlement workers and individuals with lived experiences as refugees to name a few.