To celebrate International Migrants Day on 18 December the Regional Office is teaming up with United Nations Information Service Vienna (UNIS Vienna), and the United Nations Network on Migration for a virtual film screening and panel discussion.

“Our Only Home”, a reflective film on Turks of African origin, has been selected for the virtual screening at 11am CET. Made earlier this year by young Turkish director Bayram Küçük, it was chosen from hundreds of short films submitted to IOM's annual Global Migration Film Festival. 

The film (trailer) follows the daily lives of Turks of African descent, whose forebears came to the country from the 15th century during Ottoman times, as slaves, soldiers, and labourers. When the Empire became a republic, they were given citizenship, and their dependents, up to 10,000 in number, now live and work in Turkey. In this short film, they tell of the marginalization they face, and their attempts to overcome it. 

The event will be moderated by Martin Nesirky, director of UNIS Vienna, and feature panellists from the OSCE, the United Nations Network on Migration, the Irish Government, the More in Common initiative and the film’s producer.

Panellists and guests will discuss the film under the rubric “Reimagining Human Mobility” which is the theme of IMD 2020. It will hone in on Objective 17 of the Global Compact on Migration (GCM), the elimination of all forms of discrimination and promotion of evidence-based public discourse to shape perceptions of migration.

Connection details

Link: https://iom.webex.com/iom/onstage/g.php?MTID=ea08547188efab1b0e00a5d8d3041d81e

Event number: 126 193 7638
Event password: IntMigDay20#