The theme for 2017 “With courage let us all combine” is taken from the second verse of Australia’s national anthem. It invites us to work together, creating a shared future with refugees in a society where respect and equality for all are paramount.
View: Our Stories – Our Lives – Our Hopes in Rural Australia (09:36)
Solomon, Elizabeth, Lucy, Aya and Aluna all students of English at the Queanbeyan Multicultural/Multilingual Centre, New South Wales used their class time to write their stories and then shared them with us through film.
Looking for a way to be involved? The Refugee Council of Australia make a number of resources available to the public who wish to join in celebrating Refugee Week each year.
World Refugee Day
World Refugee Day is an important part of Refugee Week. Every year on June 20th, World Refugee Day, the world takes time to recognise the resilience of people forcibly displaced by wars, conflict, persecution, or natural or man-made disasters.
Did you know?
65.3 million people are currently displaced worldwide, of whom 21.3 million are refugeees and 10 million are stateless people. 54 % of refugees world wide come from three countries: Somalia (1.1 million), Afghanistan (2.7 million) and Syria (4.9 million). 11,766 refugees were resettled or recognised in Australia 2015 (latest available figures). 0.48 % of world’s refugees were protected by Australia in 2015.
TOGETHER is a United Nations campaign that promotes respect safety and dignity for refugees and migrants. Launched in September 2016, its aim is to counter the rise in xenophobia and discrimination (01:56)
UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, is asking us all of us to help them send a clear message to governments that they must act with solidarity and shared responsibility by signing the #With Refugees Petition. The campaign continues until a global compact for refugees is signed in 2018.
