“I went to bed as a judge and woke up as a terrorist.”

Utrecht University’s Incluusion programme debuted their exhibition '100 Million Voices, 100 Million Stories’ at the recent EDI Festival. Through this audiovisual exhibition, Incluusion platforms the voices of those who are increasingly invisible in the intensifying immigration debates and current political climate of the Netherlands: refugees and asylum seekers. ‘100 Million Voices, 100 Million Stories’ reminds us that behind every statistic is a human voice with a story waiting to be heard and understood.  

For the exhibition, former Incluusion students and trainees were asked to reflect on their asylum journeys to and in the Netherlands and to write a story in whichever form they saw fit. This resulted in an assortment of poetry and prose detailing a vast spectrum of asylum narratives. Their audio stories offer an unfiltered glimpse into the challenges faced by refugees in the Netherlands - from navigating complex and rigid asylum procedures, adapting to unfamiliar environments and languages, to the constant threat of transfer that dictates life in the system. 

Every journey is unique

The uniqueness of each story captures the complexity of the refugee experience. While refugees may share common challenges, everyone's journey is distinct, shaped by their personal history, cultural background, and the specific circumstances of their displacement. A former judge describes how their life changed overnight: “I went to bed as a judge and woke up as a terrorist."  

There is a young professional yearning to continue his education but ultimately left feeling disheartened and unsupported: “Yet another hurdle - refugees under 30 are entitled to the same study financing as Dutch students, but I had turned 30 just one month before my program started. This meant I didn’t qualify for financial aid.” Lengthy asylum procedures thus can have a direct impact on the options refugees have once they get their status.  

Another participant must hide their queerness, and as such remains anonymous in their submission: "It’s a strange life of halves I live now. Neither here, not there, nor fully anywhere."

The exhibition also sheds light on the challenges of integration. As one Incluusion participant notes: "On top of the sorrow I had experienced in my country, I had now also become a refugee, trying to survive in an unfamiliar country in an unfamiliar language."

When I look at how much I have achieved in such a short time, I can hardly believe it.

Transformative power of education

Amidst the ongoing challenges of the asylum system, participants mention the transformative power of education and support programs like Incluusion. “Incluusion gave me the courage to take those first steps toward a new beginning. Working, contributing to society, being part of life – it gave me back the feeling of being human again.”  Incluusion encourages participants to explore opportunities in a new land and to regain confidence in their ability to connect to the people and society around them. 

The personal narratives offer valuable insights into the people at the heart of the ongoing immigration and integration debate in the Netherlands. They paint a picture of resilience and determination, underscoring the progress made in all dimensions of refugee integration, and the challenges that persist in creating a truly inclusive society.  

The six stories platformed by this exhibition represent a negligible fraction of those who are forcibly displaced. At the end of 2023, the UN Refugee Agency released a new estimation: over 117 million are thought to be forcibly displaced. To put that into perspective – that is 1 in every 69 people worldwide.

Exhibition

The exhibition was debuted at the EDI Festival in ‘De Lik’, Utrecht. ‘100 Million Voices, 100 Million Stories’ humanises the refugee experience and fosters greater understanding among the general public. Portraits of the people who shared their refugee journeys lined the walls. Festival attendees were invited to wear a headset for a deeply immersive experience, listening to the autobiographies of Incluusion’s former refugee students and trainees. 

If you wish to host the exhibition, please contact Incluusion at incluusion@uu.nl.