Marking one year since President Donald Trump instilled his travel ban, humanitarian organizations joined forces on Monday to hold a panel at District Hall as a symbol of solidarity with refugees suffering across the world.
The purpose of the panel was to both reflect on the past year, from President Trump’s first travel ban and its later iterations to limiting refugee resettlement programs, and to take a look at the year ahead, according to Emily Bhatti, a senior corporate and brand press officer for Oxfam America. The panel was organized by Oxfam America, Amnesty International and the International Institute of New England.
Bhatti said with over 22 million refugees in the world now, this is the largest global displacement crisis since World War II.
“Unfortunately, while we’re in the face of this massive crisis, the Trump administration has decided to severely curtail America’s policies of being a welcoming community to refugees,” Bhatti said in an interview. “For many years, we’ve welcomed refugees who have resettled in America … now we’re really seeing this administration taking dangerous steps to slam the doors on refugees and turn our backs on America’s proud legacy of being a welcoming nation.”
Cynthia Gabriel Walsh, the senior director of the Organizing and Activism unit for Amnesty International, and one of the panelists, wrote in an email prior to the discussion that in the face of this serious crisis, it is the United States’ responsibility to restore its position as a humanitarian leader.
“The policies that have come out of this administration have increased hate, fear, and bigotry and are rooted in xenophobia,” Walsh wrote. “People who become displaced, forced to leave their homes and their countries continue to suffer and be exposed to trauma that no one should have to endure.”
Several people who attended the panel shared this same frustration. Keegan Krick, 23, of Cambridge, said the hostile social climate refugees must endure is not fair.
“We all live on this Earth, so it seems ridiculous to me that people have to continue to feel isolated and unwelcome,” Krick said.
The discussion began with panelists’ reflections on their personal experiences with the first travel ban a year ago.
Isra Chaker, a refugee campaign advisor for Oxfam America, said the travel ban only added to other hardships her Syrian family was going through.
“I remember getting the news and immediately, my first thought when I heard ‘Syria’ was my heart just stopped, because my family’s already been suffering through this crisis and the Syrian [Civil] War since 2011,” Chaker said during the discussion. “And I haven’t seen my family since 2011 because of this war.”
During the panel, Susan Cohen, the chair of the Mintz Levin Immigration Practice, said the first week following the first travel ban was hectic, as people around the world rushed to change their travel plans and she and other lawyers worked to reverse the executive order. However, she also said she found comfort in the amateur way in which the order was written.
“It was pretty clear to us that a lawyer hadn’t been involved in writing [the first travel ban],” Cohen said. “And that made us really happy, because we could challenge it on so many levels.”
Jeffrey Thielman, president of the International Institute of New England, concluded the panel by speaking about the numerous ways for the community to engage with the issue of the refugee crisis.
“[Some ways to help are] staying engaged in the issue, educating yourself about the issue, coming to forums like this, volunteering your time, your talent, your treasure, getting on our website and other organizations’ websites, signing up to get information on a regular basis,” Thielman said. “Those are ways to dip your toe in the water and get involved in this issue.”
Lauren Schmidt, 26, of Cambridge, said that while refugees may not be welcome in other places, she is grateful to live in Boston, a city with the capacity to help people in need.
“I’m super proud to be here in this place that can have this capacity, that can actually make a difference and help people who, maybe at this point, don’t quite know what to do next,” Schmidt said.
Chaker noted during the panel one of the best ways to make refugees feel welcome, and to change the national rhetoric and mindset concerning refugees, is to remember that they are human beings and treat them as such.
“It’s really important for us to amplify [refugees’] voices,” Chaker said. “We want to help advocate, we want to change policy, we want to influence policymakers on this and we also want to change the public narrative that is being spewed across media, across politicians, that is so dangerous and harmful to these vulnerable communities that have fled the worst circumstances.”
In response to the negative way refugees are targeted, it is important to address the refugee crisis so civilians are educated and refugees know they have support, said Joanna Compitiello, 25, of Quincy.
“I’m a public school teacher, so I have a lot of kids that come from refugee countries, and there’s just a lot of questions and fear and insecurity,” Compitiello said. “That’s part of the reason why I’m here, to further educate myself in how to best support them.”
