Participants in the international NECE Lab visited the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) office in Zagreb to gain a closer understanding of the situation on the ground and hear migrants’ personal experiences. The meeting focused on questions about people who move to other countries for work: who they are, what brought them here, and how they experience a new beginning far from home. Alongside statistics and public debates about migration, the visit created space to meet people who had left their homes in search of safety, dignity and new opportunities in life.
NECE Lab is conceived as an international laboratory for learning, dialogue and the exchange of experience on migration, integration and social divisions connected with labour migration in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. It brings together experts from different fields: representatives of civil society organisations working with migrants and local communities, researchers and university experts, representatives of public institutions and city administrations, and employers.
The Zagreb meeting took place from September 29 to October 1. Participants considered how societies are responding to the growing number of labour migrants from third countries, what public debates are taking place on the subject, and how to build dialogue and inclusive communities. Since they had come from different countries, the visit to the local JRS office gave them an opportunity to connect these themes with the situation on the ground. Staff also presented their work to them.
Afterwards, six people of migrant origin from India, the Philippines, Russia and Bangladesh shared their experiences. They spoke about arriving in Croatia, work and becoming part of society. Their personal accounts also covered the specific challenges they face and what concretely helps them overcome them.
“All human efforts to make this world a better place must begin with listening,” JRS says in its report on the meeting. It connects listening with one of its roles: accompanying migrants at different moments in their lives in their new home.
JRS also describes its mediating role as creating a space where people who want to improve the living conditions of foreigners in a new country can meet and get to know the people they are trying to help. Such a meeting makes it possible to hear about their experiences first-hand, and participants in NECE Lab had precisely this opportunity at the Zagreb office.
