“Promoting Positive Improvements”: The Refugee Forum Open House

The Refugee Forum is a new research and advocacy program that focuses on Canadian refugee law issues that was initiated at uOttawa’s Human Rights Research and Education Centre in July 2007.  The program is funded by The Maytree Foundation.


L to R:  Professor Peter Showler, Director of the Refugee Forum, Ms. Ratna Omidvar, Executive Director of The Maytree Foundation, and Ms. Judy Broadbent, President of The Maytree Foundation

Held in the Human Rights Research and Education Centre, the open house featured a number of exhibits including “The Refugee Claim Game,” the project’s newly designed splash page, and a performance of “The Giacometti Monologues.”  The Refugee Forum Players performed  the play which is based on one of the short stories from  Prof. Peter Showler’s book, Refugee Sandwich:  Stories of Exile and Asylum (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2006). The book is a collection of short stories of both fiction and non-fiction that provides direct and intimate—often satiric--insights into the refugee claim process in Canada.  The Forum Players are students who are members of the Refugee Forum research team.

The inspiration for the title, “The Giacometti Monologues,” stems from the 1948 sculpture, "City Square," by Swiss painter and sculptor Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966).   He was a key player in the Surrealist Movement, and is best known for his emaciated sculptures.  "City Square" displays five of these emaciated figures converging upon each other yet are isolated participants in the perennially-shifting relations of existence.

"The Giacometti Monologues" were performed by the Refugee Forum Players:  Antoinette Fekete as Giovanna Chiarelli; Clare Crummey as Mr. MacDougall; Laura Griffin as Ms. Buckley; Heather Neufeld as the Interpreter; Anna Colombo as Manuel Bénitez; and Blanca Brizuela as Graciela Bénitez.  Much like the figures in the "City Square," the players were all part of a refugee hearing yet they spoke independently of one another, never interacting in a process that should be participatory.

Antoinette Fekete as Giovanna Chiarelli in "The Giacometti Monologues"

“It was rewarding to see the number and variety of guests at the open house,” states the Forum’s director, Prof. Peter Showler. “As well as several faculty colleagues and students, there were members of the private bar, government officials, the NGO community, and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.  It was a very successful evening.”

The Forum’s research and analysis focuses on identified weaknesses within Canada’s asylum system.  The ultimate objective of the Forum is to develop and promote positive improvements to Canada’s asylum system as well as to raise public awareness of refugee issues. “I am particularly encouraged by the enthusiasm and commitment of the students on the Refugee Forum team,” notes Prof. Showler.  “Their research and writing will be essential if the Refugee Forum is going to make a serous contribution to the Canadian discussion on refugee issues.”