World

Refugee
Day
Saturday,
20 June
2021
Presented
By:
Anodiwa Matinya
Busisiwe Khuzwayo
Keana Harvey
Kamohelo Mmusi
Taylor Jonkerman
 “Blue
Is the color
for Refugees
it represents
Hope”
 “ To be called
a refugee
World Is the
opposite
Refugee of
an insult;
DayIt is a badge
of strength
Sunday
courage
20 and
June victory.”
2021
~Tannessee Office For Refugees~
What is a
refugee?
A refugee is a person
who is forced to flee
there home to
survive. They never
want to leave they
home country but
are foced to due to
events that occur for
example famine,
poverty, war etc.
How many
refugees are
there?
There are
79.5 million
displaced
people. 26
million are
refugees.
So around
80% of the
worlds
population is
displaced
and 40% are
Minors.
Information found on the UNHCR
(Figures at glance)
What happens
on World
Refugee Day?
Each day thousands of
families are forced to flee
their homes and leave
everything behind. People
like you , people like me.
World Refugee Day is June
20.On this day, the world
stands together to
celebrate the strength,
courage and perseverance
of millions of refugees.
What is the
Theme of World
Refugee Day?
The theme of World
Refugee Day this year is
'every action
counts'.Everyone can make
a difference, says the world
body and it is the
responsible of each one of
us to make sure that no one
is left behind.The focus is
to bring about changes to
make the world more
inclusive.
 Yasers Story
Current coutry: Germany
Country of origin:Unknown

Figure 1: Yaser's* five children have been waiting 11

days for their registration process to be completed.
Photo by Chris de Bode / Save the Children
Yaser's Story
For two long years, violence
has kept Yaser’s* five
children, Ali*, 15, Achmed*,
14, Hala*, 10, Sedra*, 7 and
Aya*, 3, from living a normal
life. They haven’t been able
to go to school or play
outside – the sniper and
missile attacks made it too
risky. Instead, they learned
what type of weapon was
being used just by the
sound it made.
"Being scared was a permanent
state of mind. I was always
scared," said Achmed. "When I
went to bed, I always wondered
if I would wake up the next
morning." Eventually the
violence became too much for
Yaser and his wife, and they
made the decision to uproot
their family from their home in
Syria in search of a better life in
Germany. They were only able
to make their long and difficult
journey from sunset to sunrise
so they would not be spotted.
Young Hala lost her glasses
during their trek. "Everything is
already strange, but now it is
also blurry," she said. "It is very
scary not to be able to see
clearly."
They walked for days until they
reached the boat that would carry
them to Germany. The water was
rough and the children were scared,
but the family eventually made it. Now
they must wait to register for asylum, a
process that takes up to two weeks.
During those two weeks the family
must wait outside the registration
center every day for their number to
be called. There are no facilities or
shelter from the rain.

"I am tired of waiting here all

day. We just stand in the rain,"
said Achmed. "But I will tell
you something: after
everything we have been
through, a bit of rain can’t
hurt me."
Shafaqs’ Story
Current Country:Bekaa, Labanon
Country of Origin:Dera’a, Syria
She fled her home in Dera’a, Syria and is
currently living with her family in
Bekaa, Lebanon. Shafaq shared her
story with us through the Middle East
Children’s Alliance, which provides
emergency support to newly arrived
refugees in Lebanon. She is 14 years old.

She fled her home in Dera’a, Syria and is

currently living with her family in
Bekaa, Lebanon. Shafaq shared her
story with us through the Middle East
Children’s Alliance, which provides
emergency support to newly arrived
refugees in Lebanon. She is 14 years old.

“I used to have a peaceful life and live in

my amazing home in Dera’a. I enjoyed
the nature around my house and the
food coming from the land. I woke up
every morning to the sound of birds
singing. The brutality of the civil war
forced my family to leave this house and
to start the journey to be refugees.
“Since the start of our journey, we moved a lot
in Lebanon and I attended different schools.
In the end my family decided to go close to the
border with Syria. We came to this area
because just we want to survive. My father is
working as an electrician and this is the only
income for our family. All of my family we are
living in a tiny house with one bedroom, a
small kitchen and a bathroom. We are
considered illegal because we don’t have
official documents.

“I am behind two years in school because of

moving from one school to another. I am still
doing very good in my school and I will
continue to do that. I want to finish my
education, to help my family, and to help other
people they want to learn. I consider myself
lucky to have Al Jalil Center. I got a lot of
educational, emotional, and psychological
support. I am also really sad because of the
unknown future waiting for me. Every day I
wonder where I will be tomorrow. Yes, it’s an
unknown future.”
Emmanuel
Current Country: Ghana
Country of Origin: Ghana
Isuppose I am one of those who almost made it.
You don’t hear much about migrants like me,
because we didn’t die at sea or in the desert. We
just didn’t make it to Europe.

I left home with dream of getting to Europe

where I was told I would easily find a job which
would mean I would be able to look after my
siblings. My mother died when I was very young
and our father basically abandoned us as he
could not, or did not want to, take care of us. I
felt I had no choice but to leave Ghana and try
my luck in Europe.

After months of travelling through West Africa

by whatever means, I eventually made it to Libya
where I paid 800 euros to men who promised
they would put me on a big boat that would
finally take me to Europe. It is difficult to explain
and I have bad memories about this, but I had a
terrible time in Libya. Those of us from certain
African countries were treated very badly by the
men who kept us in these dirty houses without
much clean water and with very little edible
food. They were very abusive and they seemed to
enjoy the way the treated us. It did not matter to
them that we had paid them all this money.
Finally, one day, after several weeks of waiting, I was
one of about 75 mostly Africans who were shoved
onto a small rubber boat in the early morning when
it was still dark. A few in our group initially refused
to get onto this boat because it did not look strong or
even big enough to carry all of us to Europe. The
men in charge had weapons and were very
aggressive. They were simply not interested in our
complaints about the boat.

We did not make it to Europe.

Instead we spent 5 days aimlessly floating around

and basically lost at sea. When the boat started
losing air (deflating) we thought we were all going to
die.

As our food and water ran out, we eventually drifted

towards the Tunisian coast where we were rescued
and sent to a detention centre. I was in the detention
centre for a month before I was freed.

[Emmanuel was rescued from the detention centre

and assisted by IOM in returning to Ghana where he
was provided with reintegration supports including
a small grant that enabled him to start a small
business transporting yams to the market.]
When I arrived back home in Ghana, my
friends and relatives wanted to know why I had
come back with nothing. Here I was back
home, when others were busy earning good
money and looking after their families, they
mocked. Many wanted to know when I would
try again.

However, I do not see myself as a failure. For

me, the most important thing was that I felt
lucky that I had survived at sea and that I am
alive. Although, I did not make it to Europe, I
genuinely do not regret trying.

One is certain, if I had opportunities here, I

would not have been so desperate enough to
try and go to Europe the way I did. If young
people like me have jobs and a way to earn a
living we would not try these dangerous
journeys.

After my experience, my advice to other young

people is do not to make this journey. I know
many may not listen and perhaps I too would
probably not listen if I was very desperate to
leave, but it is better to try very hard and make
it here at home.
If you have to migrate, do it
properly, but for this to work, we
need a lot of support.

My dream now is to expand my

(yam) business and end up
employing other young people
who would no longer be
desperate enough to try and put
their lives at risk.

For now, I have no desire to try

and make it to Europe again.

I am very hopeful about the

future.

I wish many other young people

are too.
If u were on an island and the island
started sinking and everything around u
was starting to sink what would u do?
But let me say that there is a boat there,
whhat would u do now? This is the
same situation most refugees are in,
their home lands are like that island
slowly but surely it sinking. Sinking in
this context apply to he distruction like
the wars and famine etc. The refugees
are the people who chose the same
choice as u, which is to survive .
Refugee are people who have been
forced away from their home to stay
alive or too improve their lives. They
are not terrorist the people who drve
them out of their homes are terrorist Just
like Tarsq Banjadan said “Your enemy
is not the refugee. Your enemy is the
one who made them refugees.”
Refugees are human beings facing
difficult trials. But there is so much we
can learn from them like their resilience
and courage in the face of adversity.
Their devoton to families and friends.
There grace and fortitude from their
response to their situations and more
They deserve respect and honor for the trials they
have endured or are still enduring. Targeting the
weak does not make u strong. We should respect
them and encourage them to the best they can
because it is not easy adjusting to new places.Like
the theme of refugee day this year is every action
counts. We are the Youth, we are the future, we
are the change and we are the strengt and hope for
a better tomorrow. Better people wil ultimately
make a better world. Good day fellow humans.