Influencing the public
The Association for Integration and Migration works intensely with the Czech public with the purpose of cultivating tolerance and fighting xenophobia and racism. Association staff does this through media, public discussions, seminars and conferences on the subject. We greatly value cooperation with various (not only human rights) organisations, by means of which we can present the migration issue. Thus, we participate in various music festivals and other cultural events. The most popular form of promotion is the presentation of ethnic music and the sale of handicrafts made by refugees, along with the sampling of ethnic food.
We give lectures at elementary schools, high schools and universities, and try to familiarize young people with the theme of refugees: who are refugees, what made them leave their homeland, what the situation in the Czech Republic is upon their arrival, how do they spend their time here and what are their long term prospects.
The main focus is placed on the presentation of this topic in the media. We have recently succeeded in establishing cooperation with state and commercial media outlets. If a topic connected with the question of refugees (persons seeking international protection) appears in the news, specialists from AIM are invited to express their point of view on the issue. It is important to address as much of the social spectrum as possible, because refugees meet people from various groups in everyday life. Such people can make the life of refugees more or less pleasant or difficult – for this reason it is necessary that the general public learns as much as possible about the situation of refugees and finds a way of approaching this issue.
