World Refugee Day- our celebration at the end of Ramadan: Moving, Music and Mixer
PLEASE EXCUSE English errors and typos as due to time and priorities, I have little editing time :)
When you hear refugee’s on the news- do your ears perk up a bit more having read my personal account? In case you didn’t know (and I didn’t prior to coming here) according to a new report from the United Nations, 65.6 million people were forced to leave their homes in 2016, the highest number since World War II. Half of those who fled were children. Of that group, 20 million left their home countries; the rest remained within their borders as internally displaced people. According to this report, the rise is due in large part to continuing conflict in Syria and Afghanistan and the terrible famine in sub-Saharan Africa.
In the spring of 2015 more than 1 million immigrants, most of them Syrians, would attempt to go to central Europe, the majority traveling via a dangerous path through the Balkans. Many of the migrants who risked the trip would end up brutalized by bandits and corrupt police. Some would end up in Samos and some would die en route. This was the beginning of a surge that would turn into Europe’s extraordinary refugee crisis
Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, called the crisis “a disheartening failure of international diplomacy.” South Sudan, a country plagued by both violence and hunger, saw the biggest number of people leave — about 340,000 have gone into Uganda. About 200,000 Syrians also left their homes for the Middle East and Europe. Pause and think about these numbers…. At the camp here in Samos there are mostly Syrians but also refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq, Algeria, Iran and others. Two refugees with whom I was speaking with today both, one Shia, one Sunni said that if they were home they would be killing each other literally but here they can be friends. Powerful!
In the midst of this devastating data there seems to be some positives. According to Jan Egeland (in Norway) the “negative, xenophobic” reaction to migrants may be dissipating in many parts of the world. There are still stories that terrorists are associated with refugees, which is wrong. Wrong. We’ve even seen in some the recent European elections that less politicians are supporting closed borders. Let’s hope “other” countries open their border more as well 😊
I find it virtually impossible to really understand the hardships and complex family emotions that erupt during a refugee’s flight to safety. Mahmoud’s (name changed for safety) sister and father had escaped Syria and made it to Germany. Mahmoud was taking his brother’s two children to their father. On their route to safety they faced miles of hiking by moonlight through bandit-filled forests, did jail time in Hungary, lost weight and became ill from endless walking and poor-quality food. I’ve heard this insight over and over again — Refugees are people (just like you and me) of circumstance, not of choice. Believe me, no one would choose the path they took and are taking unless they really had to.
In partnership with other NGO’s and the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission on Refugees) we celebrate World Refugee Day and the end of Ramadan. World Refugee Day was actually last week but due to Ramadan we had the event on Sunday evening. It was one of my highlights. It was held at an old amphitheater in the old part of town, up on hill with an incredible view. There was food from many of the refugee countries, artwork that they have been working on in art class, music from our music classes, the kids and I (I’m in bright pink) sang songs and I face painted many of them. The parents ended up wanting their country flag painted on their arms which I did as well. The sewing group made “World Refugee Day” stuffed letters. Over 500 people attended which included refugees, sponsoring agencies and locals. I was, of course, moved to tears again thinking about the various reception we have received from the locals. For example our volunteer group went to dinner the other night and one restaurant did not welcome us as we had some refugees (our Samos community volunteers) with us as they said it would be bad for their tourist business. We took our group to a different restaurant which welcomed us with open arms. As I watched and felt the atmosphere at the amphitheater, every single person who was there was thrilled to be there — all together celebrating the strength in diversity!
Sample videos below to give you a flavor!
