 Refugees |
Issue 91 |
Seeking Protection
"Everyone has the right to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum
from persecution"
Article 14 (1), Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Just over 50 years ago, the world responded with generosity to the plight of so many people in Europe who had suffered so much. People had to suffer unspeakable evil just because of their race or ethnicity. Millions of people were uprooted from their homes and forced to wander hungry and homeless through the ruins of Europe after the war that had devastated so many of the cities and so much of the landscape. World leaders came together in the Swiss city of Geneva to formulate a set of rules which would ensure that such a situation could not occur in the future, that refugees would be protected. This is how the 1951 Refugee Convention was born.
This Convention recognises the plight of people who through no fault of their own are forced to flee from their homes. They are forced to seek protection from others as their own government cannot or will not protect them. And yet the situation continues, where millions of people in Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia leave their homes, cross borders and ask for protection. Sometimes they remove themselves to other regions within the borders of their own country. Mostly these people are fleeing war and conflict. They simply want to survive, wait until the conflict ends and then return to their homes. Meanwhile, they are entitled to have their human rights protected. After all, refugees and displaced people are no less human for having left their homes.
Who is a refugee?
A refugee is a person who: "owing to a well-founded fear of being
persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of
a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country
of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling
to avail himself of the protection of that country..."
The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees
What rights does a refugee have?
A refugee has the right to safe asylum. However, international protection
comprises more than physical safety. Refugees should receive at least
the same rights and basic help as any other foreigner who is a legal
resident, including freedom of thought, of movement and freedom from
torture and degrading treatment. Economic and social rights are equally
applicable. Refugees should have access to medical care, schooling and
the right to work. UNHCR
Who are refugees today?
There were some 9.7 million refugees in the world
as at the end of 2003. This is a decrease of 10% over the previous year.
Afghans remain the
largest single group of 2.1 million people who have sought asylum in
Pakistan or Iran from the Taliban and the continuing war in Afghanistan.
Other major sources of refugees are Sudan, Burundi, the Democratic Republic
of Congo, Somalia, Iraq and the territories claimed as Palestinian. On
top of this there were around 1 million people seeking asylum who have
not yet been found to be refugees and 4.4 million people who fled persecution
but who remained within the borders of their own countries. Around 1
million refugees returned home during 2003, over half returning to Afghanistan.
Some 55,000 people were resettled in third countries, as they could not
return safely to their own countries.
The recent crisis in Sudan highlights the importance of the right to protection enshrined in the 1951 Refugee Convention. Around 1 million people have been forced to leave their homes, their fields and their villages for a life in tent camps in Chad or in the southern border regions of Sudan. They had to escape bands of armed men who were killing people, destroying villages, and terrorising the countryside.
Many of these people have had members of their family killed or injured, their homes destroyed and their crops burnt. They simply had to take what they could carry and run for their lives. The same story has been repeated many times since 1951. No doubt it will continue into the future.
People will continue to escape from war and persecution in their own countries and to seek refuge in other countries. The 1951 Refugee Convention will continue to be an important reminder that the rights of refugees are universal and need to be safeguarded as much now as in the aftermath of World War II.
Refugee Week is the 24th to 30th October 2004
The Veil is a short film by Richard Jasek which asks us to pause to commemorate the sinking of the SIEV X in October 2001 with a loss of over 350 lives, mostly women and children.
To order a copy of the DVD
with study notes or video with study notes contact Brigidine Asylum
Seeker Project.
ph: (03) 9696 2107 or
email: bssc@cyberspace.net au
A $10 of donation per video or DVD is requested to contribute to the cost of postage and handling.
HSIE/SOSE
What is it like to be a refugee?
1. Brainstorm this question. Concentrate on how it would feel to be a
refugee. How would it compare to moving house? List some similarities
and differences. What is the difference between a migrant and a refugee?
Create a mind map of your conclusions. You may wish to add to this as
you find out more.
2. If you could only take 10 things with you, what
would you choose? Compare your list with the rest of the class.
3. Go to www.globalgang.org.uk/hotnews/childpower/
refugeesdak.html to
read Dak's story. What do the words "fear" and "safety" mean
for Dak? How does he feel about going back to his home?
4. Rewrite Dak's story as though you were Dak. How did it feel
to put yourself in his position?
5. Go to www.amnesty.org.au/__data/page/826/04
Activity_Time_to_Flee.pdf?MySourceSession=
972ce0f020ab6a02ae87c598c96f7771 to
undertake a simulation exercise so that students will be able to put
themselves in the position of a refugee and have to take the type of
decisions that refugees have to take.
6. Play a game called The Great Escape, which simulates the challenges
that refugees face from www.amnesty.org.au/resources/
for_teachers
7. Go to www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/
where_we_work/sudan/emergency/asha.htm and
answer the following:
- Why did Asha have to leave her home?
- Why can't she return at the moment?
- How long has she been away from her home?
- Did she go straight to the refugee camp? If not, where did she go first?
- Who did she run away with?
- Why is she now head of the household?
- How does Asha spend her time in the camp?
- Why is the cleaning of the latrines (toilets) such an important job?
- How do you think she is feeling about being away from home and in the camp?
8. Click on "Daily life at Abu Shouk camp" and view life in one of the camps for displaced people in Darfur.
- How do people feed themselves at the camp?
- Why are there so few men in the camp?
- What do they use for shelter?
- What is life like for the children in the camp?
9. Where in the world are the refugees? Go to www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/basics to find out.
What can we do to help?
1. List ways that refugees can be helped
2. Name some organisations that assist refugees
3. What does the UNHCR do? Go to www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/protect to
find out.
English
Imagine you are a refugee who is arriving in a new country.
Write a short story about the experience. Things to include might be:
what you have
left behind, your journey, your hopes for a new life free from persecution.
Debate: That refugees are just the sort of people that we want in
Australia.
Write a creative piece which describes the type of world where there
would no longer be refugees
Visual Arts
Draw a picture, make a painting or make a collage which
will represent the refugee experience.
Go to www.australiaforunhcr.org.au/
schools/teacher.html and
www.unhcr.ch/cgibin/texis/vtx/home/?
Table=MENUS&id=4072c8174&page=help for
more teaching ideas.
1. Go to www.caritas.org.au/emergencies/sudan.htm to find out how you can help the crisis in Sudan
2. Download a refugee Week
poster from
www.refugeecouncil.org.au/docs/refugeeweek/
Refugee%20Week%20Poster1.JPG
3. For more information regarding Refugee Week activities and events go
to www.refugeecouncil.org.au/html/Refugeeweek2004/
refugeeweek.html
4.If you are in Sydney: October 2004 is the third anniversary of the sinking of the Siev X refugee boat, with the loss of 363 lives, of which 146 were children. Around Australia, young people have been developing designs for a memorial to remember these families who were coming to Australia to find a safe place to live. The memorial will be built in Canberra in 2005. The designs will be on display in Sydney for one week, from October 26 to 30, 2004. The exhibition will be open from 10am to 4pm each day. Teachers - book a tour of the exhibition. Phone (02) 9427 1174 to book a session. There is no cost for the tour.
Also, Sir William Deane will open the National
Siev X Memorial Exhibition, to be held on Tuesday 26th October, at 6.30pm,
at the Pitt St Uniting Church.
RSVP phone (02) 9427 1174.
Go to www.sievxmemorial.com,
for more information
5. Go to www.caritas.org.au/emergencies/
sudan_takeaction_letter.htm to
contact your newly elected Federal Member of Parliament asking them to
put pressure on our Government to take decisive action to protect the refugees
from the Darfur region of Sudan.