Yogyakarta, September 22, 2026 — The Master’s Program in Social Welfare (MKS) at UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta invited a guest lecturer to join the Migration, Mobility and Refugees course on Tuesday (22/9). Held in Classroom 113B, the session featured Muhammad Rifa'at Adiakarti Farid, S.Sos., M.A., M.Pdis a lecturer at Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang , who delivered a lecture on international refugee issues in Indonesia. The session was attended by MKS students enrolled in the course.

In his presentation, Muhammad Rifa'at Adiakarti Farid encouraged students to view international refugee issues not merely as a matter of population movement across national borders. Refugee issues involve a complex range of challenges, including the reasons people leave their countries of origin, their journeys and mobility across different territories, their legal and protection status, and the conditions they face while staying in transit countries such as Indonesia. This perspective is important for understanding that refugee mobility is closely connected to social experiences, vulnerability, and various protection needs.

The discussion also examined Indonesia's position within the broader context of international refugee issues. As one of the countries along refugee mobility routes, Indonesia has become a place of transit for people who have left their countries of origin due to various circumstances. This situation raises a number of social issues, including access to education and basic services, the fulfillment of daily needs, limited opportunities to work, relationships with local communities, and uncertainty about their future. Through the session, students were encouraged to examine refugee issues from multiple perspectives and to recognize that addressing them requires not only administrative considerations but also a strong humanitarian and social perspective.

For MKS students, the discussion of refugees is closely relevant to the field of social welfare. Issues of vulnerability, basic needs, social protection, access to services, and relationships between refugees and host communities can all be examined through social welfare and social work perspectives. The guest lecture therefore enriched the learning process by bringing a contemporary social issue into the classroom and enabling students to connect theoretical concepts with the realities of migration and refugee situations in Indonesia. Through this learning experience, students are expected to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the complexity of refugee issues and the challenges involved in promoting protection and well-being for people in vulnerable situations.