The plight of Arab refugee scientists in the diaspora

Researchers fleeing conflict see their careers perish as countries and science institutions fail to give support.

[开罗 /安曼 /巴格达]许多难民科学家和研究人员逃离冲突Middle East and North Africahave been lost in the diaspora — neither continuing their研究，也不受到强迫流放国家的欢迎。

‟Some countries do not give the right of permanent residence to those competent researchers,” says Taher al-Bakka, a former minister of higher education and scientific research in Iraq. He says these are mainly Arab, Muslim-majority and Asian countries.

“然后，他们（研究人员）转向担任建筑工人或尘土飞扬的人，面临任何时刻被驱逐的威胁，这迫使他们生活在忧虑和不稳定中。”

一种会议为了讨论三个国际机构：世界科学院（TWAS），意大利国家海洋学与实验地球物理学和欧洲 - 密西西比州欧元中期欧洲的斯洛文尼亚大学，三个国际机构（TWAS），三个国际机构（TWAS）在意大利进行了共同组织。

More than 50 participants from 12 countries attended the meeting, including policymakers, representatives of scientific and educational institutions, refugee agencies, and some refugee scientists, particularly from Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya.

The participants stressed that refugee scientists do not get to use their skills while being unemployed, deprived of opportunities that match their qualifications, or working in low-skilled jobs that are either temporary or low-paid.

Recommendations to manage this “massive crisis”, as participants put it, were issued ina report去年五月下旬。他们呼吁采取倡议，例如创建教育和工作的计划，以支持难民科学家的社会和专业融合。

“阿拉伯世界并不关心难民科学家，即使有些人找到工作，工资也不足以满足他们的需求。”

Mahmoud al-Abbasi

Mohamed Hassan, interim executive director of the World Academy of Sciences, hopes the meeting’s recommendations will generate a new impetus for networking to create a support system for refugee researchers.

这次会议在出现几年后发生的事实可以看作是散居侨民中的难民科学家如何被忽视的标志。它是由联系欧洲和发展中国家的机构（尤其是中东和北非的机构）组织的，有些人也认为这是有问题的。

Some of the participants saw it as a failure of the host countries to recognise the scientists’ value, while others saw larger forces at play. According to the report: ‟The movement of scientists, driven by conflict and war, cannot be treated as a temporary or emergency phenomenon. Rather, it is a permanent feature of globalisation and geopolitical instability.”

根据世界科学学院科学外交/政策计划协调员彼得·麦格拉思（Peter McGrath）的说法，“由于其众多的复杂方面，没有一个政府，组织或机构可以解决危机。”

要找到的宝藏

为了找到解决方案，麦格拉思认为迫切需要收集数据 - 首先是确定难民科学家和研究人员是谁，他们的身份以及他们拥有什么专业知识。他说，还必须确定可以继续工作的东道国和机构。

麦格拉思告诉scidev.net。“我们需要在互联网上可用的资源，这些资源可以被难民科学家记录他们的数据，以及在东道国的研究机构有机会和赠款来接待这些科学家。”

一种bdelhamid Zuhairi, chairman of the Euro-Mediterranean University, said: ‟We should consider those scientists a treasure. … [They] are a wealth of resources, and investing in them can pay off. This is a fact that host countries should realise.”

Stephen Wordsworth, executive director of the Council for At-Risk Academics (CARA), one of the initiatives working on this challenge, said: ‟We should also realise a very significant fact: that some of the refugee scientists intend to return to their country of origin whenever possible.”

Because of this, Wordsworth believes that initiatives that offer support to asylum-seekers or refugees can be a problem in themselves, when they force them onto a specific path they may not wish to take. ‟They should not be pressed and pushed to a path. Their knowledge and skills will be necessary when they return to their home countries,” he said.

Wordsworth also pointed out that many asylum seekers come from countries where the quality of academic systems and research methodologies is low. Their English skills may also be poor, and sometimes non-existent, compared to many of their counterparts in the international academic community.

‟Those scientists need programmes and initiatives that reflect on their usefulness and value to their home countries in the future, and thus offer opportunities to continue what they have achieved, besides developing their skills and building the networks they will need when they return to their home countries for reconstruction," Wordsworth toldSciDev.net。

Pooling resources

麦格拉思同意，看到迫切需要超越“精彩”个人计划，成为更具包容性和更好资助的东西。他说，这可以通过结合联合国难民机构（难民署），学术机构和科学资助机构之间的工作来实现。

On this point, Hayyan Dukhan, a Syrian refugee and visiting researcher at the School of International Relations at St Andrews University in Scotland, made a proposal in an interview with SciDev.Net. He suggested allocating a budget for refugee researchers to carry out scientific studies related to their countries of origin, with attention on how they can make use of those studies after the war. He also recommended that research is carried out on how to integrate refugees into the labour market in the host country.

But Mahmoud Al-Abbasi, an Iraqi refugee to Jordan who holds a doctorate in Semitic languages from the Sorbonne University in Paris, France, believes there are significant obstacles to making this work in an Arab country: ‟The Arab world does not care about refugee scientists, and even if some get jobs, the pay will not be enough [to cover their needs].”

这是叙利亚儿科医生和约旦难民Riad al-Mustafa的现实，他正在努力养活一个九口之家。

Stalled careers and suffering

叙利亚医生不允许执业医学。”住在约旦首都东部地区Russayfah的Al-Mustafa说。

一种l-Mustafa works for a medical association in the al-Zaatari refugee camp. There he sees a large number of patients, which leaves no time to participate in or keep abreast of research, except through his own initiative, for example by reading scientific papers.

‟The dreams of developing and advancing my career are fading, with my mind now focused on continuing work to ensure a small income that meets the needs of my family,” said Al-Mustafa.

他认为，应该创建一个尸体来拥抱饱受战争war的国家的阿拉伯科学家，以帮助发展他们的技能并接待他们。

Faleh Abdul-Jabbar, a professor of political sociology at the University of London, UK, believes the only real solution is to resolve the conflict. “But this can take up to the lifetime of a whole generation,” he says. “So, it is possible to put present and medium-term programmes in place, to accommodate at-risk scientists and academics in the internationally financed programmes of neighbouring countries.”

这些国家可以包括United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, and even Lebanon, says Abdul-Jabbar. "Hosting at risk scientists in these countries’ institutions may be a better alternative than immigration to the West," he added.

苏格兰圣安德鲁斯大学的杜肯（Dukhan）谈到了成为难民科学家的心理损失。

"The biggest problem we face on the personal level is a psychological one, since following news about the war brings depression and sadness, as well as the guilt and helplessness of not being able to help our people who are caught in the middle of the war,” he said. "This is in addition to the looks of sympathy I get for being a refugee."

杜肯指出，大多数英国大学为难民研究人员提供道德和物质支持。但是，他们没有基础设施来支持来自战争和冲突地区的人们。他建议，东道国应为难民研究人员制定社会心理支持计划。

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Middle East & North Africa desk.