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Open lecture series on return migration and mobility – Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq

Publication date 16.10.2019 10.02
Press release

During the autumn of 2019, the Migration Institute of Finland and the Finnish Immigration Service will organise a four-part Studia Generalia lecture series on return migration and mobility. The lecture series is part of the AUDA project. The first three lectures of the series will cover the challenges and possibilities of return migration to Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. The fourth and final lecture will focus on mobility and the many dimensions of return migration on a more general level. Schedule for the lecture series:

Somalia: Monday 21 October at 13:00–16:00, Tieteiden talo, lecture room 104, Kirkkokatu 6, Helsinki

Afghanistan: Monday 4 November at 13:00–16:00, Tieteiden talo, lecture room 104, Kirkkokatu 6, Helsinki

Iraq: Tuesday 26 November at 13:00–16:00, Tieteiden talo, lecture room 104, Kirkkokatu 6, Helsinki

Cross-border mobility and the many dimensions of return migration: Monday 16 December at 15:00–18:00, Turku City Library, Studio, Linnankatu 2, Turku.

The first event of the series, ‘The challenges and possibilities of return migration in the context of Somalia’ on 21 October 2019, will cover the following topics:

  • What are the reasons for fleeing Somalia?
  • Who are the ones returning there? What experiences are there of returning to Somalia?
  • What is the role of diaspora in the development of Somalia?
  • What does the Country Information Service of the Finnish Immigration Service do? Experiences of fact-finding in Somalia.

At the event covering Somalia, the speakers are Abdirashid Ismail (Senior Researcher, Migration Institute of Finland), Jama Egal (Independent Consultant and Executive Director of TALO Initiatives), Marja Tiilikainen (Senior Researcher, Migration Institute of Finland) and Riku Santaharju (Researcher, Finnish Immigration Service). In addition, researcher Abdirizak Mohamed and midwife Fadumo Bulhan, who both participated in IOM’s MIDA project, will share experiences of returning to Somalia.

The programme for the three other events will be published shortly on the website of the AUDA project at www.voluntaryreturn.fi.

You can watch the lectures online. They will later be available on the website of the AUDA project.

The lectures are open for everyone, and entry is free. The main language of the events is Finnish, but some of the lectures will be given in English. Welcome!

The Migration Institute of Finland is an independent trust that documents and conducts research on migration and operates throughout Finland.

The AUDA project aims to develop the system for voluntary return in cooperation with other EU Member States and countries of return. The project is financed by European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF). The full name of the project is ‘Assisted voluntary return to Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan’.


Further information for the media:

Contact person for enquiries about the lecture series:

Marja Tiilikainen, marja.tiilikainen@utu.fi

Contact person for enquiries about the AUDA project:

Petra Töller, petra.toller@migri.fi