The UNESCO Chair for Dialogue at the University of Kufa, in cooperation with the Department of Civil Society at the Faculty of Arts, University of Kufa, conducts the symposium entitled “the Phenomenon of Displacement, Understanding the Great Migration, a Comparative Study between Iraq and Venezuela) on Monday the 15th March, 2021. the symposium was presented by Professor Jonathan Hill from Southern Illinois University in the United States and Dr. Ahmed Jafar Al-Ansari from the Department of Civil Society in the College of Arts.

Professor Jonathan Hill discussed the phenomenon of displacement or mass immigration from Venezuela to the United States and neighboring countries, which he considered the largest immigration in South American countries. He attributed the causes in the first place to the deteriorating economic situation in Venezuela, mismanagement and corruption. He compared the situation in Venezuela and Iraq and the similarities and differences in being two oil states, and despite this, they suffer from the same conditions.

Dr. Ahmad Al-Ansari touched on the series of immigrations from Iraq to the United States in a historical series, analyzing their reasons and the circumstances that accompanied them. Moreover, he discussed the situation of Iraqi immigrants in the United States, especially in Michigan, and the extent of their communication with their mother country, Iraq.