AMHERST, N.Y. – With the ongoing refugee crisis a main focus around the world, experts from the Buffalo Niagara region will discuss myths and misconceptions about the refugee population at a panel presentation scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Feb. 2 in Daemen College’s Wick Campus Center Social Room.

Areas of discussion and participants will include:

• Refugee resettlement process - Maria Domingo, new American director at Jewish Family Service of Buffalo and Erie County.
• Challenge of seeking asylum in the U.S. - Sophie Feal, supervising immigration attorney at the Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyer’s Project.
• Cultural differences and realities facing new refugees - Dr. Anna Ireland, chief program officer at Jericho Road Community Health Center.
• Comparisons between the Japanese internment and the Syrian crisis - Margaret Phillips, director of the Daemen Paralegal Studies Program.
• Educational challenges for refugee students - Linda Scinta, school social worker in the Buffalo Public Schools Department of Multilingual Education.

“Through our regular community outreach with Buffalo’s refugee population, we are well aware misconceptions persist about refugees who have resettled in this area,” said Cheryl Bird, executive director of the Daemen Center for Sustainable Communities and Civic Engagement (CSCCE). “Our goal with the panel discussion is to educate and give a realistic perspective about refugees.”

The panel discussion is free and open to the public. Co-sponsors are the Daemen CSCCE, Division of Arts and Sciences, Philosophy and Religious Studies Department, Social Work Department, and Department of Service Learning.

More information is available by contacting Cheryl Bird at cbird@daemen.edu.