#DialogueWithRefugees #DR_in_Boston College in Sogang University #DRreview
📌Wednesday, July 17 📌Sogang University, Seoul Campus
The
Shall we look at, one by one, what was talked about?
💭Meshak likes Korea, a country and history with a democratization experience similar to that of his own country. Introducing Nami Island in its romantic winter, he talked about his experience attending a local Korean high school. The students were amazed that Meshak had attended a local Korean high school. He was also deeply impressed that Korea is geographically close to his home country and that the two countries share a historical common ground of a history of military dictatorship, and he spoke about the spirit of Korean democracy, which resisted the oppression of military dictatorship without ceasing.
💭Majun spoke in general terms about “human rights and democracy.” He explained the historical background that military dictatorships were born together with the independence of Asian and Arab countries that had been ruled by powers such as Britain, Italy and Japan after the Second World War. He said that he came to Korea to escape the dictatorship of his home country, Egypt, which suppressed 6,000 political activists. But he mentioned the reality of the unreasonable refugee recognition procedure in Korea and the refugee recognition rate of 1%.
💭In response to the question “How does Korean media shape the image of refugees?”, Freddy introduced the Jeju Yemeni refugee situation. Mentioning the term “fake refugees,” which starkly reveals the negative perception of refugees held by public opinion, he spoke about the “vicious cycle of perception” that exists in the public mind. He said he was upset that when a Korean who knows nothing about Yemen searches the word “Yemen,” the first results that appear are all negative. He highlighted the seriousness of hatred of refugees fueled by the media.
Students’ reflections 🧑🏫: “I recently read a book called ‘Runner’ on the theme of European refugees. But I could see that the European refugees who are the protagonists of the book and refugees in Asian society live different lives. It was a great honor to be able to attend the class while comparing the commonalities and differences in their lives.” #DRReza #DRMeshak #DRFreddy #DRMajun #student #refugee #BostonCollege #BostonCollege #SogangUniversity #MAP #humanrights
