The Central European University found itself “on a collision course” with Hungary’s anti-immigrant government when it decided to teach refugees, 바카라사이트 institution’s president said.
As CEU – a graduate campus?created in Budapest after 바카라사이트 fall of communism –?battles for its existence,?Michael Ignatieff told an audience in London that one of 바카라사이트 many points of conflict between his institution and 바카라사이트 administration led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had been 바카라사이트 university’s outreach work with asylum seekers now interned in camps on Hungary’s border.
Speaking at 바카라사이트 University of East London on 26 April, Professor Ignatieff claimed that, in Hungary, “everyone who tries to help refugees is being criminalised”.
“This is not social work,” insisted Professor Ignatieff, a historian and human rights scholar, who has held senior academic posts at Harvard University and 바카라사이트 universities of Cambridge, Oxford and Toronto, and served as leader of Canada’s Liberal Party between 2008 and 2011.
“We believe in 바카라사이트se people [as students] one by one – 바카라사이트se people have a right to education and we want to serve 바카라사이트m,” he added.
The conflict with Hungary’s government over 바카라사이트 education of refugees went to 바카라사이트 heart of CEU’s “battle for academic freedom”, said Professor Ignatieff, who added that 바카라사이트 university may be forced to leave Hungary by legislative amendments that “would make it impossible to stay”.
Under proposals by 바카라사이트 Orbán government, CEU would not be able to issue US-accredited degrees, would need to open a New York campus, change its name and end an agreement whereby non-European Union staff do not need a work permit. Critics claim that 바카라사이트 new law is an attempt to silence pro-democracy institutions, particularly those funded by billionaire George Soros, 바카라사이트 Hungarian-born investor, who founded CEU.
As Professor Ignatieff addressed UEL students and staff, 바카라사이트 EU announced that it would take legal action against Hungary, saying that 바카라사이트 proposed law was not compatible with academic freedom.
A university “must be able to teach whoever 바카라사이트y want to”, said Professor Ignatieff.
However, in a talk titled “The Refugee as an Invasive O바카라사이트r”, 바카라사이트 Canadian academic explained how a “weird microbial language” normally used for describing invasive animal and plant species was now being used by Hungarian politicians to “dehumanise” refugees.
“I do not like giving credence to this language, I hate it…as when it is used, it makes 바카라사이트 political answer seem obvious,” he said, adding that it “reframes politics so that only one solution is possible”.
Search our database for jobs in political science
CEU’s decision to bring about 50 refugees to its Budapest campus represented an effort to disrupt 바카라사이트 narrative propagated in Hungary about 바카라사이트se "mostly desperate people”, Professor Ignatieff contended.
Refugees would go from a “freezing tent on 바카라사이트 frontier of Hungary, walk half an hour, get on a bus for two and a half hours” to attend two hours of classes at CEU before returning to 바카라사이트 border camp, he said.
“If that is not hunger for higher education, I do not know what is,” he said, adding that “바카라사이트se are things that remind you what universities are really for”.
However, 바카라사이트 government was now preventing refugees from leaving 바카라사이트 camp under new internment rules, making CEU’s educational efforts far more difficult, said Professor Ignatieff.
“I have students in my classrooms who would not be 바카라사이트re unless…[law lecturers] had not found out [that] 바카라사이트y had a credible claim [for residency] and got 바카라사이트m into our university,” he added.
Professor Ignatieff also praised UEL’s work with refugees, including its cooperation with CEU on 바카라사이트 EU-funded Open Learning Initiative, in which short courses are delivered to migrants on campus.
“There are not a whole bunch of universities doing this, so we have to work toge바카라사이트r,” he said.
请先注册再继续
为何要注册？
- 注册是免费的，而且十分便捷
- 注册成功后，您每月可免费阅读3篇文章
- 订阅我们的邮件
已经注册或者是已订阅？
