A staggering 22.5 million people worldwide are living as refugees. With war, conflict, natural disaster and persecution forcing millions of people to flee their homes – displacing 65.6 million people in fact – millions of men, women and children are left searching for peace, safety and security. What’s more, 10 million people have no nationality as they have been declared stateless.
We all want and deserve a safe place to live, to settle with our families, to go to school and to have the means to earn a living, yet for refugees, from the moment they leave their homes until they are granted refugee status, life is incredibly challenging. With complex legal, financial, social, physical, mental and psychological barriers and hurdles, life as a refugee is tough. So you’d think that the media, the government and wider society would declare full support for refugee families in dire need of a safe new home.
Sadly however, with anti-refugee media propaganda, refugee quotas and rising xenophobia (and Islamophobia), the reality is quite the opposite. So this Refugee Week (18th – 24th June), why not show your support for this crucial cause?
The folks at Refugee Week have designed 20 simple acts that you can undertake to support refugees during this period. Why not give them a go! Read on to see how you can help!
20 Simple acts, 20 signs of solidarity
Not sure how you can show your support for refugees? Well try one (or more!) or these simple acts!
1. Share a 20 second message of welcome
3. Share one of 20 refugee stories
4. Sing a song
5. Find 20 objects that tell a refugee story
6. Play with 20
7. Send a card
8. Bake a cake
10. Watch a film
12. Share your refugees welcome banner
13. Make a gift
14. Get together
15. Spread the word
17. Learn a few words in another language
18. Have a kickabout
19. Find five facts about refugees (check out my five media-myth busting facts here)
So why not get involved? Share your support for refugees this Refugee Week and declare: Refugees are welcome here!
For more information, visit Refugee Week’s 20 Simple Acts page.
Salam!
Voice of Salam 