The Ambassadors of Peace and Friendship Group, in partnership with United Nations Information Center (UNIC) commemorated International Migration Day by a ceremony, at the UN Building in the presence of scholars, thinkers and artists on 16 December 2019.
The meeting began with classical music performance of two young artists Ms. Ghazaleh Shriazi and Mr. Adel Asgharzadeh who played a piece that expressed the ambiguity of immigration with the music language.
Then, a nine-year old Iranian immigrant Artin Rousta Kohan in English talked about immigration. He said, “I am a child, my father’s stories are from a land that I wasn’t born in there and my mother’s lullaby is in a language that my friends do not speak, I am an immigrant child. Perhaps we can better understand the meaning of peace, because, for us, borders make no sense. I want to invite all of you today to be united as one, each of us to be an ambassador of peace
Then, UNIC National Information Officer Mr. Mohammad Rajai-Moghaddam, welcomed the guests and thanked the Ambassadors of Peace and Friendship Group for their cooperation in commemorating UN observances and read the message of the UN Secretary-General on the occasion of International Migration Day.
Founder and Director of Ambassadors for Peace and Friendship Group Dr. Tayebeh Mohammad also welcomed the audience.
Then, Dr. Sogol Mashayekhi delivered a speech on understanding the immigrant community and its impact on the host country. She also read a beautiful poem, titled “This home is beautiful, but it is not my home”, from late Professor of the Persian Language and Literature late Dr. Khosrow Farshid-Vard.
Then, Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Ibrahim Rahimpour, delivered a speech on the cause of migration and the formation of the immigrant communities in the world from the beginning of human life. He mentioned the religious migration, academic migration, and investment-capital migration in his remarks.
The next speaker at the meeting was the writer and professor Dr. Houshang Moradi Kermani, who read one of his stories called “Mother’s Lullaby”, a story of a migrant mother with two children in a foreign country. Ms. Mohammed stated that in coordination with Professor Moradi Kermani, his story will be donated as a gift to the United Nations on the occasion of International Migration Day to be offered to all immigrants around the world.
Composer and Conductor Professor Loris Tjeknavorian, was another speaker at the meeting. He gave a speech on the benefits of immigration. In his remarks, Tjeknavorian addressed the transfer of culture and art between countries and people by immigrants.
A video film of the Chief Executive Officer of HodHod Media Mr. Mohammad Rad, on the life, problems, and benefits of immigrants was displayed for the audience.
Then, Director General of Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants’ Affairs Mr. Mansour Haji, gave a speech. The final speaker of the seminar was Iranian prominent scholar Prof. Hossein Bahr, who spoke on the topic of gene transfer and the value of migration.