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Dear Students, Parents, Carers and Families,

Celebrate World Refugee Day

Each day thousands of families are forced to flee their homes and leave everything behind. People like you, people like me. World Refugee Day is June 20. On this day, the world stands together to celebrate the strength, courage and perseverance of millions of refugees

What is Refugee Week?

Refugee Week actually started in Australia, in 1986, and is now a global celebration. It provides an opportunity to celebrate the wonderful ways in which people from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds enrich their new communities.

Refugee Week is a chance for ordinary people to welcome, thank and celebrate their neighbours who have come seeking safety. Refugee Week incorporates World Refugee Day on 20th June each year, which is designed to raise awareness and establish dialogue in our communities about the refugee experience. In doing so, Refugee Week aims to facilitate better understanding between communities and encourage successful integration.

They say that crisis leads to innovation, and in 2020 at the Refugee Week Head Quarters were creative. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted them to create Australia’s first ever digital Refugee Week. They have taken the celebration to the next level, incorporating a week-long digital program to enable people to participate either in person or from the comfort of their own home. Going digital has also led to exciting new global partnerships, and they were delighted to be joining up with UNHCR and Refugee Week UK and ambassadors from around the world for the first time in 2020 to deliver elements of this program.

The aims of Refugee Week

Refugee Week is an important opportunity for us all to experience and celebrate the rich cultures of refugee communities through theatre, music, dance, film, food and other kinds of events that take place all over Australia and beyond. This participatory festival typically encompasses events hosted by a wide range of people - individuals, community, voluntary and statutory organisations, schools, student groups, faith-based organisations and more. This diversity creates an eclectic and diverse celebration appealing to all ages. The key aims of Refugee Week are:

• To celebrate the ways in which people from refugee backgrounds enrich our communities and culture.

• To educate the public about who refugees are and why they have come to Australia, and to understand the many challenges they face in doing so.

• To foster empathy and understanding and in doing so, encourage a safe and welcoming environment for people seeking safety in Australia.

• To enable communities and individuals to take positive action, and stand in solidarity with people seeking asylum and displaced people in Australia and around the world.

Why does Refugee Week have a theme?

The Refugee Week theme has a number of important functions:

It raises awareness of the issues affecting refugees. The theme aims to highlight aspects of the refugee experience and help the broader community to understand what it is like to be a refugee.
It helps to make Refugee Week a national celebration. The theme provides a focal point for events across Australia, uniting separate activities into a single nationwide celebration.
It promotes harmony and togetherness. The theme unites individuals, communities and organisations from many different backgrounds behind a common cause. The common theme is a reminder that, regardless of our differences, we all share a common humanity.
It broadens the impact of Refugee Week. The theme provides a common, cohesive message which can be promoted across the country, helping to maximise the effectiveness of awareness-raising activities.

Kind Regards,

Diane Morwood

Assistant Principal

Monash Health