The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in collaboration with the Department of Law of AIUB organized a two-day workshop on the Basics of International Protection of Refugees and Others of Concern to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from 3 to 4 August 2021. The workshop took place virtually. 25 students of the Department of Law got the opportunity to participate in the workshop through a rigorous selection process.
The workshop began with the welcome speech of Prof. Dr. Taslima Monsoor, Advisor of the Department of Law, AIUB. In her speech, she emphasised the importance of the knowledge of refugee law and mandate of UNHCR in the protection of displaced persons and expressed her commitment to organize similar programmes in future. In his opening speech, Mr. Shubhash Wostey, Senior Protection Officer of UNHCR stated that UNHCR considers students participating in this workshop as potential future “protection actors” who will benefit from these interactions and in the long run will contribute to Bangladesh and beyond, to ensure and improve the protection of asylum-seekers, refugees, forcibly displaced and stateless people.
Mr. Saleh Mohammad Shafi, Assistant Protection Officer of UNHCR facilitated the first session. In that session, he discussed the overview of UNHCR, the mandate of UNHCR and international protection in an interactive method. Ms. Kelly Koo, Protection Officer facilitated the second session. In that session, she discussed the role of international protection actors in a refugee crisis and the operations of the UNHCR in Bangladesh. Mr. Quazi Omar Foysal, Lecturer of Law, AIUB and also the Coordinator of the Workshop recapped both sessions were.
The concluding session was adorned by Prof. Tazul Islam, Dean of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, AIUB. He appreciated this initiative and encouraged the students to take part in similar programmes in future. In his concluding speech, Mr. Shubhash Wostey said that UNHCR will be glad to organize similar workshops in the future, hopefully on the physical atmosphere.
The workshop ended with the reflections of the participants on the workshop. Ms. Fatima Karim Suzana (6th Semester), Farzana Sultana Lima (10th Semester), Ashiqul Islam Saimum (10th Semester) and Istiaque Hossain Ninad (12th Semester) expressed their reflections.
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