Reflecting on Refugee Week 2013
Refugee Week has been and gone for another year. Celebrating the contributions of refugee's in the UK and across the world, Refugee Week also aims to highlight the precarious position which refugees and asylum seekers face everyday.
Stories are often conflated and marred by inaccurate press coverage, creating a bad name for those who are seeking sanctuary from war and violence. One of the most rewarding elements of Refugee Week as a whole is the chance to challenge the unfounded beliefs that refugees and asylum seekers are scroungers. This year HOST attempted to diminish the perception of this often stigmatised group through opening a Human Library for one day only.
The idea of a human library started in Denmark in 1993 to challenge people's prejudice by raising awareness through peer group education, to mobilise people against violence. Just like a real library, the only difference at a human library is the books are people who share their stories with others. The Refugee Week Human Library has a selection of 'books' from Eritrea, Iran, Zimbabwe and England, each sharing with strangers their experiences of claiming asylum in the UK and their experience of supporting asylum seekers. It was an eye opening experience for many people, for whom this was the first time they had spoken to a refugee or an asylum seeker. Those who attended the event were kind enough to shared with us their thoughts;
In addition to the diverse number of events, there was a number of great resources shared and coverage across the region. Check out just a few of them here......
Sigmund Freud, Freddie Mercury and Sir Henry Holborn all have one thing in common that many might not know. They are all refugees who came to the UK to search of sanctuary and become household names in the process. Marcus Crocker, has created tiny clay figures of these famous refugees to celebrate Refugee Week and photographed them across london.
Follow the link to a clip of BBC Radio Nottingham's Reya El-Salahi's coverage of the launch celebration at the Nottingham Contemporary.
UNHCR's resource showing the dynamics of world refugee flows as well as these great info-graphs which clearly show the worlds biggest refugee host countries over history.
Stories are often conflated and marred by inaccurate press coverage, creating a bad name for those who are seeking sanctuary from war and violence. One of the most rewarding elements of Refugee Week as a whole is the chance to challenge the unfounded beliefs that refugees and asylum seekers are scroungers. This year HOST attempted to diminish the perception of this often stigmatised group through opening a Human Library for one day only.
The idea of a human library started in Denmark in 1993 to challenge people's prejudice by raising awareness through peer group education, to mobilise people against violence. Just like a real library, the only difference at a human library is the books are people who share their stories with others. The Refugee Week Human Library has a selection of 'books' from Eritrea, Iran, Zimbabwe and England, each sharing with strangers their experiences of claiming asylum in the UK and their experience of supporting asylum seekers. It was an eye opening experience for many people, for whom this was the first time they had spoken to a refugee or an asylum seeker. Those who attended the event were kind enough to shared with us their thoughts;
“Highly worthwhile event, thanks”
“Lovely people, lovely cake”
“Wonderful event, life enriching”
In addition to the diverse number of events, there was a number of great resources shared and coverage across the region. Check out just a few of them here......
Sigmund Freud, Freddie Mercury and Sir Henry Holborn all have one thing in common that many might not know. They are all refugees who came to the UK to search of sanctuary and become household names in the process. Marcus Crocker, has created tiny clay figures of these famous refugees to celebrate Refugee Week and photographed them across london.
Follow the link to a clip of BBC Radio Nottingham's Reya El-Salahi's coverage of the launch celebration at the Nottingham Contemporary.
UNHCR's resource showing the dynamics of world refugee flows as well as these great info-graphs which clearly show the worlds biggest refugee host countries over history.
Source: www.dw.de/more-refugees-cross-national-borders/a-16037345
Source: Major refugee hosting countries, end 2012. via UNHCR/Global Trends 2012.
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