Global Conversations: Frontlines during Covid-19. Refugees and migrants in the UK

How does Covid-19 effect the situation of refugees and migrants across different parts of the globe and what can we expect for the post-Covid phase? We will engage in global conversations with people at the frontlines in Europe, the Middle East and North America. After short 1-to-1 conversations, we will open the floor to the audience to ask their questions.  

This week we explore the challenges that refugees and migrants are facing in the UK.

Joining us from Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and London, will be frontline community organisations GYROS, Norwich Integration Partnership and Latin American Women’s Right Service as well as the EU Migrant Workers Project from the University of Cambridge The panelists will share experiences of supporting refugees, asylum seekers and migrant communities in the UK, particularly during Covid-19. We will also explore how stronger links between community practitioners and universities can be encouraged.

SPEAKERS:

	Inese Brencane, GYROS, is operation manager at GYROS, a culturally diverse human rights-based service working across Norfolk and Suffolk providing immigration-informed advice, which enables people to live safely and legally as equals and maximise their potential. Inese leads on working with those who have complex and multiple needs. Originally from Latvia, Inese speaks Latvian, Russian, Polish, Lithuanian and English.
	Dee Robinson and Béatrice Humarau, The Bridge Plus+, and part of the Norwich Integration Partnership are project coordinator and executive director of New Routes and Bridge Plus+ respectively. These organisations represent two of the constitutive organisation of the Norwich Integration Partnership, which supports the integration of ethnic minority communities, individuals, families, and young people to promote the benefits of ethnically diverse community engagement.
	Tbc, Latin American Women’s Rights Service is a human rights, feminist organisation run for Latin American women, and by Latin American women. Their mission is to reach out and provide tools to empower Latin American women in the UK to pursue personal and social change.
	Fiona Costello, University of Cambridge, researches the experience and perceptions of EU nationals in the UK before, during and after Brexit (https://www.eumigrantworker.law.cam.ac.uk/) as part of ‘The UK in a Changing Europe’. Fiona has significant experience in the voluntary sector specialising in working to empower and support culturally diverse communities and marginalised communities across the East of England. She is passionate about facilitating collaborations between community practitioners and academic research.