Started on March 8, International Women’s Day, Pressenza is publishing a series of video interviews entitled “Women who build the future, Towards a nonviolent culture ”.

In this interview Anna Polo speaks with Gemma Bird, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of Liverpool, is a teacher and a researcher, but also an activist for migrants’ rights. She has spent long periods in the Greek island of Samos, where thousands of refugees are forced to live in appalling conditions.

In this interview she talks about the role of academics and the connection among the fields of her activity, describes what motivated her commitment and denounce the political decisions made by the European Union and the Greek government that keep refugees and asylum seekers stuck for years in the islands.

Gemma stresses the importance and necessity of challenging this system and working together to change it. Finally, she describes the future she aspires to, a future without borders and walls, based on solidarity and equality.

Contacts: 

g.bird@liverpool.ac.uk

twitter: @gemmakristina