How to start a conversation on migration?

We started a 7-day course on strengths-based facilitation of refugee groups in the Netherlands by letting participants (some of them with migration/flight history, and some Dutch) ask each other the following questions:

- Where were you born? Where were your parents born?

- How did that shape you as a…

In Utrecht, in the center of the Netherlands, we came together to learn about SALT as a strengths-based approach to assist refugees in making a new home, building new networks etc. More importantly, we came together to learn from each other about diverse perspectives on inclusion of refugees in Dutch society.

Only 6 out of the 20+ participants are born in the Netherlands in a Dutch family. The rest of the group consisted of (former) refugees from Eritrea, Syria, Iraq, Kosovo, Burkina…