On behalf of the President of Yarmouk University, the Vice President for Administrative Affairs, Prof. Anis Khasawneh, patronized the opening of the scientific workshop, “What are the solutions to the problem of protracted displacement?”, which was organized by the university in cooperation with the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) and the Michelin Institute (CMI). This event was held as part of the project: "Transnational Figurations of Displacement (TRAFIG)", which is one of the 2020 Horizon projects funded by the European Union.
Prof. Khasawneh emphasized Yarmouk's pride in being a representative of Jordan in participating in this project, which aims at illuminating policymakers by providing them with recent information on the quality of life of the displaced and how to enhance their capacity for self-reliance. He also stated that this project is one of the innovation projects that started in 2019 and will end in 2021 with the participation of 12 organizations and institutions from Europe, Africa, and Asia. Khasawneh then emphasized how the project views local and cross-border networks as sources that benefit the displaced in their daily lives. Moreover, Khasawneh stressed Yarmouk’s long experience in dealing with asylum and displacement issues through its Center for Refugees, Displaced Persons, and Forced Migration. The university’s strategy, he declared, is concerned with conducting specialized studies and scientific research in this field in cooperation with various international organizations and local institutions.
In turn, Dr. Fawaz Al-Momani, the project coordinator at the university, explained that this workshop presents the results of the initial research for the TRAFIG project. It also analyzes these results through the participants who are activists in the field of development/ humanitarian work, international organizations, representatives of Jordanian national institutions, and academics. Dr. Fawaz shed some light on how TRAFIG seeks to improve refugee protection and resilience and aims at enhancing confidence and cooperation between refugees and their host communities through investigating four research areas: ruling regimes, living in harsh conditions, tracking the network of relationships, and building alliances. Then he mentioned that the research team for the project includes Dr. Rashid Al-Jarrah, Dr. Tamara Yaqoub, Dr. Raghda Al-Faouri, Dr. Ali Audat, Dr. Rasha Al-Hosban, Woroud Awad, Rola Masad, Ahmed Shdaifat and Khaled Al-Momani.
In turn, Marion Nowak of the International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) praised the efforts of the research team from Yarmouk University, noting that this project will be the beginning of long-term cooperation relations with Yarmouk University. Noteworthy here that the workshop included a presentation of the project objectives made by Dr. Benjamin Etzold and Marion Nowak, and it also incorporated a discussion of the results of the preliminary research presented by Dr. Sarah Tobin, Dr. Ari John Knudsen, and Dr. Fawaz Momani.