International Women's Day: Accelerate Action for Detained Refugee Women

Join René Cassin to learn about the significance of welcoming refugee women into society for their and the communities' well-being.

In the 1940s, tens of thousands of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Europe were classified as enemy aliens and placed into internment camps in the UK, including those who had been found by a tribunal to be ‘genuine refugees’ fleeing persecution. Approximately 3,500 of those refugees were women and children.

Similarly to the past, today, immigration detention is extremely harmful to refugees, especially women and children, seeking safety, impacting their physical and mental wellbeing. There is no time limit on immigration detention in the UK, meaning refugees are often locked up for weeks and months on end, with no idea when they will be released. The majority of women seeking asylum are survivors of rape and other forms of gender-based violence. Many women experience anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidal ideation.

This event, hosted by René Cassin, features Reem Assil from Freedom from Torture's One Strong Voice Coaliton. Reem is a British Syrian who holds an MSc in Biotechnology. She worked as a University Lecturer in immunology at the University of Damascus from 2007 to 2010. 

Reem worked on her PhD degree in Immunology at the Université Montpellier II/France from 2009 to 2012. She worked as a Chief Biomedical Technician in the Cardiovascular Department at the University of Cambridge before embarking on her second PhD in identity studies and peacebuilding at the University of Winchester between 2016 and 2019. She worked as a Programmes Director and Development Director at Common Purpose between 2018 and 2023.

She holds a certificate in Business and Social Justice from the University of Cambridge/ Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), a certificate in Embodied Conflict Resolution, a certificate in Working With Somatic Wounds, a certificate in Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy and a certificate in Mind-Body Coaching.