STATEMENT ON THE REFUGEES’ SITUATION
It is not the first time Europe is witnessing forced migration and displacement of whole
communities. Fuelled by devastating wars, forced migration has always caused human suffering. It
has also always invoked European societies’ compassion and action aimed at relieving displaced
people’s lives. The armed conflicts of the 21st century in Syria, Eritrea and other countries have,
once again, left millions of people homeless and fearful of torture and death.
The challenge to us, social work educators, is twofold – on the one hand to use our experience,
knowledge and skills in order to contribute to the collective efforts for refugees’ needs to be
fully met, and on the other hand to appeal to local, national and international communities for
solidarity in order to challenge the structural reasons behind forced displacement. So far, across
Europe, dozens of initiatives, humanitarian projects and grassroots activities involve social work
educators and students.
EASSW invites social work educators and students across Europe to use their knowledge, creativity
and determination in order to work’s towards defending the right to human dignity, through the
promotion of social work values. In unity, we ought to resist the thinking that the refugee crisis
creates security, economic, religious or cultural problems. Instead, we should support actions that
unconditionally emphasise on the worth of the people and empower communities to resist those
challenges.
EASSW
www.eassw.org
