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