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Refugee's

I wish to call on you to join hands in the building of a world in which less people will be forced to flee, and in which refugees are protected until they can safely return home one day.
-- Sadako Ogata, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 1990-2000

Global statistics from 2010 indicate that there are roughly 15.2 million refugees around the world (10.5 million under UNHCR mandate, 4.7 million under UNRWA mandate). These statistics also indicate that there has been a downtrend in the number of refugee and humanitarian resettlement in Australia over the past five decades.

 In 1949-50, there were 89,199 humanitarian arrivals. This dropped to 11,645 humanitarian arrivals in 2008-2009. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) records of government contributions reveals that this downtrend has been ongoing for sometime – in 2003, Australia’s monetary contribution declined to $16.1 million from $25.3 million in 2002. In the light of these statistics, let us understand the ‘refugee issue’.

According to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is:

‘ Any person who owing to a well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his/her nationality and is unable, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself/herself of the protection of that country.’

 This definition basically means that refugees have been forced to leave their homes without the time and opportunity to pack their belongings, or say farewells. Most often, they leave their homes secretly for fear of being found out by conflict groups. They are running away from their home towns and country without knowing if they will ever come back. They are running away and not particularly to a country.

Most refugees will go to any country that offers them safety. They come to this ‘refuge’ carrying the memory of violent and terrible experiences. They may be survivors of war-torn nations, internment or rape camps, and they come to the new country with little or no knowledge of its culture and language. In the case of children, experiences may include interrupted schooling and severe trauma. So, unlike migrants who choose to move to a country for economic or personal reasons, refugees have no choice. Refugees also require a higher degree of care, counseling and medical services. The most important difference between a migrant and a refugee is that the former can go back home any time. The refugee on the other hand may never see home again or never meet loved ones who were left behind.

While Australia is a major resettlement country for refugees, the process itself is a very difficult time for the refugee. They experience a high level of homesickness and isolation. This is aggravated by culture shock which further hinders their ability to begin their life in Australia. The impact of integrating into a new society can often cause high levels of stress and anxiety for refugees.

 Besides a shared traumatic past, many refugees may have experienced poverty, poor quality or total absence of formal education, and may have low or no levels of English knowledge. If they were living in a refugee camp prior to their arrival in the country, they may have no concept of interacting with society and its institutions such as banks, hotels etc. These are some of the reasons that refugees in a country grapple with unemployment, English language barriers, post-traumatic disorders, general health and cultural issues.

Grim as the scenario looks, there are many ways to help refugees settle in, especially the children. Here are some tips:

1. If you’re involved in educating refugee children, study their native culture thoroughly. Moderate teaching strategies accordingly. For example, the oral culture is highly prevalent in Africa and children from there might be more exposed to oral teaching strategies.
2. Considering investing in and distributing kits to children that have resources that remind them of home.
3. Tie up with local refugee social service agencies to help integrate refugee children into schools.
4. Make counseling services easily available.
5. Do activities based around the child’s native culture.
6. Constantly monitor academic progress, behaviour and social adaptation.
7. Be involved in fair and balanced public discourse about refugee issues with others in the immediate environment.

Refugees are a silent group that can be easily neglected and are often overlooked. This vulnerable group requires that their needs are properly addressed and met if a successful integration is going to happen.

Global Kids Oz has recently set up a specific category on our website with supportive refugee resources that assist this difficult transiton to western life in Australia, we are also in the process of designing a new range of recycled play mats in African designs to help children feel more at ease in the classroom environment - we hope to have these out later in 2012, a portion of the sale of each mat will be donated back to a charity in Africa that helps to break the cycle of poverty.