Refugee Week
June 14 – 20 is International Refugee Week.
What is a Refugee?
Today, 42 million people around the world have fled armed conflicts and are searching for safety . They are children, women, and men living in temporary shelters, camps, or shanty towns, struggling to survive in new and often hostile environments. Those who have sought refuge in another country are refugees, a status which entitles them to certain rights under international law.
Those who are seeking refuge within their own countries are officially called internally displaced persons (IDPs). They have fewer rights than refugees, yet make up almost two-thirds of the people around the world today who are seeking safety from armed conflict and violence. [MSF Website]
With the numerous incidences of conflict around the world, and the increasing effect of climate change forcing people from their homes, raising awareness about the displacement of people is a key element of Medicins Sans Frontieres – Doctors Without Borders. This organisation works in Refugee Camps around the world tending to those people who have sort refuge. The website includes an interactive Refugee Camp game and video about the Refugee Camp in the City project.
The Oxfam website Refugee Realities has a learning space where students can not only learn about refugees but also play online games such as Against All Odds – from UNHCR, which includes teacher resources.
Print resources such as The Arrival, My Dog, Home and Away, Ziba Came on a Boat and Refugees are all useful additions to any work on this topic. For further Fiction titles the CMIS Resource Bank is a useful source
