Eastern Michigan University’s chapter of Students Organize for Syria and the United Nations Association will hold a lecture, Syrian Refugees in Southeast Michigan, at 6 p.m., Oct. 19, in the Student Center, room 330.
A representative from the United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants's Detroit office will give a general overview on the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Southeast Michigan and answer questions from the audience.
“The purpose of the event is to present the EMU community with more information and news about the Syrian refugees,” Ahnas Alzahabi, founder and president of SOS, said. “Particularly the ones who are recently arriving to the United States [and] resettling in the Southeast Michigan area.”
USCRI is a national, nonprofit, refugee resettlement and advocacy group.
Alzahabi said students will gain a greater understanding of the Syrian crisis by attending the lecture.
“They will be able to observe how conflict has a profound affect on the lives of people [which will] encourage empathy [and] action to help the less fortunate and to seek more information,” Alzahabi said.
He said with the refugees settling locally, the lecture will give EMU students the tools they need in order to be involved in the community.
“The topic of the Syrian refugees has been quite popular in recent weeks,” Alzahabi said. “People are really interested in knowing more. I feel mainstream media falls short of [answering] peoples' inquiries. Some outlets even distort the image of the refugees for political reasons, too, [like Fox News]. This is what has compelled us to hold the event.”
The lecture kicks off UNA’s “United Nations Week,” which starts Oct. 19 and leads up to United Nations Day, Oct. 24.
SOS is a national, student-led initiative focused on educating the student body on the current crises in Syria, as well as its culture, history and people.
For more information on SOS, email Alzahabi at aalzahab@emich.edu.
