Refugee Week 18 – 24 June – ‘With courage let us all combine’
Refugee Week is Australia’s peak annual activity to raise awareness about issues affecting refugees and to celebrate positive contributions made by refugees to Australian society. Celebrated since 1986, Refugee Week coincides with World Refugee Day (June 20) and once again Federation is a proud supporter of Refugee Week 2017. Over 90% of refugee children and young people attend our NSW public schools and TAFE colleges.
In line with the decision of Federation’s last council on June 9, Federation members are urged to participate in the Red for Refugees action on Tuesday June 20, World Refugee Day.
Federation members and their supporters will contribute to this campaign by;
- Wearing red on Tuesday June 20, ‘Red For Refugees’ to show your support for refugees.
- Taking a photograph of yourself and/or your colleagues with the slogans #closethecamps, #bringthemhere and #educationnotdetention
- Tweeting your photos to @TurnbullMalcolm, @PeterDutton_MP or posting them on facebook with the hashtags #redforrefugees, #closethecamps #bringthemhere and #educationnotdetention
The theme for Refugee Week for 2015 to 2017 is: “With courage let us all combine”. Taken from the second verse of the national anthem, the theme celebrates the courage of refugees and of people who speak out against persecution and injustice. It serves as a call for unity and for positive action, encouraging Australians to improve our nation’s welcome for refugees and to acknowledge the skills and energy refugees bring to their new home.
Global displacement has reached a record high of 65.3 million people who have been forced to leave their homes, an increase of 4.8 million people since last year. Each year, UNHCR releases statistics on the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide, including refugees, internally displaced people, people seeking asylum and stateless people.
One in every 113 people globally is now either an asylum-seeker, internally displaced or a refugee.
To put this number in perspective, the number of people forcibly displaced is greater than the populations of Australia and New Zealand and Canada combined.
Below are links to the Refugee Film Festival starting on June 17 at the NSW State Library, the Refugee Week Resource Kit, including background information, statistics, rights of refugees and over 15 pages of teacher resources with ideas, activities and resources for teachers to use in both primary and secondary classrooms.
Further, a link to the latest statistics and a short video on the answer to the question: Are there still children in detention in Australia