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Engaged methodologies for dignified inclusion and survival

An academic-engaged project focused on refugee inclusion brought various stakeholders (refugees, policymakers, HR managers, NGOs working with refugees) together to debate issues of diversity, power,
and inclusion. The most profound example of this project came from Sarah, who had come to the Netherlands as a refugee 10 years prior. When Sarah was asked to describe the moment in her life when she felt strongest, she answered, “I don’t think I have such a story”. After encouragement from the group to think about which aspects of her narrative she would consider as powerful, she remained silent. “I don’t
know”, she confusedly answered. […] After several sessions of silence, Sarah ended up telling an astonishing story of herself as a young woman fighting for her freedom, and that of other women, in an oppressive, male-ruled environment in Eritrea, eventually joining the armed fight for the freedom of her country, leaving her family, social position, and her daily certainties behind.
How can one account for such a story being forgotten? Sarah, who was invigorated by revisiting her activist past, shared that she had only heard negative responses in the Netherlands – “No, you are not good enough”. “No, your language needs to be improved”. “No, you do not have the proper papers”. Thus, she had lost not only her confidence but also her life story. In the Netherlands, she was exclusively addressed about her shortcomings and the need to improve in order to fit into society. She became someone who had ‘nothing to say’.

Author:

Halleh Ghorashi

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