Over ninety students from more than forty countries participated in the week-long Summer School on Migration Studies held at Albertov in Prague from Sunday, 18 August. The program was organized by the Faculty of Science at Charles University in collaboration with the Czech office of the International Organization for Migration (IOM Czechia). Partners included the UN Information Centre in Prague and the Czech office of UNHCR, which provided scholarships for participants who are refugees from Ukraine and Afghanistan.

The Summer School on Migration, held annually since 2009, focused this year on the theme of refugees and integration. Among the speakers were prominent figures such as Rinus Penninx, Professor at the University of Amsterdam; Eric Opoku Ware, whose organization in Ghana raises awareness about the risks of irregular migration; and Professor Mohammad Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi from the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

“Migration has always been a natural part of the evolution of Homo sapiens. People migrate not only for work, education, and better living conditions but also to pursue their dreams and opportunities, or to reunite with loved ones. This year’s Summer School on Migration Studies focused on those for whom migration has become essential to save their lives,” said Petr Čáp, Head of IOM Czechia, who opened the summer school at Albertov on Monday.

Peter Kern, currently working as a crisis coordinator in Bangladesh, and Ivona Zakoska Todorovska from the IOM Regional Migration Data Center in Vienna also gave lectures on behalf of IOM.

Ajmal Khybari, Head of the UNHCR Czech office, and Michal Broža, Head of the UN Information Centre, discussed the challenges posed by the growing number of people forced to leave their homes.

The program, which ran until Saturday, 24 August, featured nearly twenty lectures and workshops. “The Summer School is an exceptional opportunity for us each year to meet and discuss the global phenomenon of migration with experts and students worldwide. They addressed the relationship between migration and demography, economics, development, and gender,” said Professor Dušan Drbohlav, Head of the organizing Geographical Migration Center, Geomigrace.

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For more information, please contact fstowasser@iom.int.