RRS ARTICLE OF THE WEEK - REFUGEE WEEK 2021
World Refugee Day has been recognised by the United Nations since 2001.
A refugee is someone who has had to flee their home because their lives were in danger in their home country. There are many different reasons for this and we will explore some of them in the activities coming up. World Refugee Day is on 20th June 2021 and helps to raise awareness of the lives and experiences of refugees.
National Refugee Week is an annual event. This year it is 14-20 June and the theme is 'We cannot walk alone' . This is taken from a line in Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream' speech when he turns his attention to the White people who, realising their destiny and that of their Black fellow citizens was intertwined, joined the movement for equal rights.
“They have come to realise that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom,” he said. “We cannot walk alone.”
On World Refugee Day Article 22 and Article 10 are particularly important:
Article 22 (refugee children)
If a child is seeking refugee or has refugee status, governments must provide them with appropriate protection and assistance to help them enjoy all the rights in the Convention. Governments must help refugee children who are separated from their parents to be reunited with them.
Article 10 (family reunification)
Governments must respond quickly and sympathetically if a child or their parents apply to live together in the same country. If a child’s parents live apart in different countries, the child has a right to visit and keep in contact with both of them.
Jilly introduces World Refugee Day
At Marlow C of E Infant school we believe that every individual is created in God's image and is therefore precious and valuable. Our values teach our children to treat everybody with respect and dignity and in order to be good citizens of our planet we encourage our children to serve in and around our local community in order to help others.
As a rights respecting school and to mark Refugee Week, this year we wanted to support a local charity, Marlow Refugee Action. The Rights Respecting Ambassadors led worship on Thursday 10th June to inform the whole school of the global refugee crisis and set them a challenge to help raise some vital funds. This year, we are raising funds through sponsorship and donations and every child in school will be walking strong for refugees by walking a lap of the school grounds every day.
Marlow Refugee Action is a registered charity that was set up in 2016 which relies on local people and organisations for support and funding. At our school, we are committed to serving our local community, and we are excited to support this wonderful charity and all the work they do to help make a difference to many refugees.
All the below activities are linked to the above article, you don’t need to do every single activity but if you have time you can do more than one!
1) Think about your home. What makes it special to you? What makes a home safe? Who keeps you safe at home?
Can you draw a picture of your home? Include all the people who live with you.
2) You have the right to be safe. Which people keep us safe? Which people help you? Can you draw some pictures of people who help you in your community?
What sort of things might happen if you are not kept safe? What kind of dangers might some children face?
3) Imagine a new child has arrived in your school from another country. Create a pack to welcome them to your school and include information you think they would need to know, such as school timings, uniform and dinner choices.