Join us in celebrating World Refugee Day on 20 June every year!
World Refugee Day 2010
WORLD
REFUGEE DAY is celebrated worldwide on 20 June to recognise the courage of refugees
in rebuilding their lives despite the horrors they have faced, and to create
awareness and garner public support for creating a humanitarian space for
refugees.
This year,
in Malaysia, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) together with
partners from refugee community groups will launch World Refugee Dayat
KL Sentral Station on 19 and 20 June 2010 from 10.00am - 9.00pm. This is the first time a World Refugee Day
public awareness event of this scale will be held in Malaysia.
The World Refugee Day event hopes to provide an opportunity for greater public
understanding of the refugee identity, their story, the circumstances that
compelled them to flee and their lives in Malaysia., and creates an opportunity
for positive interaction between refugees and local communities.
WHAT IS WORLD REFUGEE DAY?
WORLD REFUGEE DAY is celebrated on 20 June every year. It celebrates the spirit and
courage of refugees in finding ways to rebuild their lives with strength and
dignity.
WORLD REFUGEE DAY is a salute to the indomitable spirit and courage of the world’s refugees, not just in enduring the dangers and violence of the crises that made them refugees, but also in the courage they show in rebuilding their lives and contributing to society in difficult or unfamiliar circumstances.
It is celebrated on 20 June every year, all over the world.
Refugees show incredible strength in their oftentimes dangerous journeys to find sanctuary for their families and themselves. In every step of their journey, refugees carry with them an unshakable, unrelenting hope for basic survival, sustenance and protection.
By hanging on to hope that they can, one day, rebuild their lives, refugees defy all odds. On World Refugee Day, we celebrate the hope and courage of refugees for a safe life and better future for themselves and their families.
Learn more about how World Refugee Day is celebrated worldwide.
World Refugee Day 2009 Theme: ‘Real People, Real Needs’
Adapted to the local context, this theme brings to the surface that refugees are people, like you and me, with very real needs. The circumstances that compel refugees to flee often leave them with little but the clothes on their backs. Yet, in the wake of having lost everything, refugees have an incredible courage and perseverance to remain steadfast and positive in their will to survive. But they need our compassion and understanding and a humanitarian space to be able to rebuild their lives.
World Refugee Day 2009 puts a human face to the refugee issue, that behind the numbers and statistics are real people with real stories and real dreams and desires for a life of safety.
Why World Refugee Day?
Just as we make a special effort to remember our mothers on Mother’s Day, we want the world’s refugees to be remembered on their special day. For years, many countries and regions have been holding their own Refugee Days and even Weeks. One of the most widespread is Africa Refugee Day, which is celebrated on 20 June in several countries.
As an expression of solidarity with Africa, which hosts the most refugees, and which traditionally has shown them great generosity, a special UN General Assembly Resolution was unanimously adopted in 2000 which designated 20 June every year as World Refugee Day.
The History of World Refugee Day
The history of the World Refugee Day dated back to the celebration held in Africa every the 20th June. Refugee Day has been celebrated in Africa since 20 June 1975 under the supervision of the Organization of African Unity, the embryo of the African Union. They called this day as African Refugee Day.
As an expression of solidarity with Africa, which hosts the most refugees, and which traditionally has shown them great generosity, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 55/76 on 4 December 2000. In this resolution, the General Assembly noted that 2001 marked the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and that the Organization of African Unity had agreed to have International Refugee Day coincide with Africa Refugee Day on 20 June. The Assembly therefore decided that, from 2001, 20 June would be celebrated as World Refugee Day.
World refugee day is not only a salute to the indomitable spirit and courage of the worlds refugees but it also provides an opportunity for UNHCR to thank those individuals and nations that have opened their doors and their hearts to refugees.
World Refugee Day in Malaysia
World Refugee Day in Malaysia is celebrated in many different ways by a variety of individuals and organizations.
Read more about the events organized in Malaysia by UNHCR for World Refugee Day.
In conjunction with World Refugee Day, the Second Refugee Carnival was held on 15 June 2007 to provide a day of fun and treats for some 230 refugee children and 100 refugee adults. It was organised by volunteers and UNHCR staff, and completely funded through private sector and public fundraising.
World Refugee Day was launched on 20 June 2007 through a mini concert, celebrating the spirit and strength of refugees. For the first time, over 50 refugee children of various ethnicities jointly performed traditional songs and dances. The event was attended by some 200 invited guests, including Government officials, the diplomatic community, NGOs, private sector, academia, law enforcement authorities, media and volunteers, while the venue was sponsored by the Ministry of Arts and Heritage.
Official World Refugee Day Launch event
An official launch ceremony was held on Tuesday, 20 June 2006 at 10.30am, at the UNHCR office. Some 150 guests attended the ceremony, and various refugee communities were invited to participate in the ceremony through the welcome and farewell dances, and in a sharing session.
World Refugee Day Carnival
In conjunction with World Refugee Day, a Carnival was held to provide a rare opportunity for refugees to enjoy a day with their families, while interacting among themselves and with UNHCR and NGOs; and to create a safe space for refugee children to play outdoors. This was the first time such a Carnival was held in Malaysia for the refugee communities. This was held on Tuesday, 20 June 2006, from 8.30am - 1.00pm, at the UNHCR premises.
It was attended by almost 250 refugee men, women and children from the various refugee communities living in Malaysia. More than half of this number comprised children aged below 14 years.
Activities implemented at the Carnival:
Inflatable bouncy castle and Velcro wall
Tele-matches
Movie screening
Fairground games
Face painting
Nail painting
Clowns
Henna tattoos
Painting and colouring competition
Photo booth (memento portraits for each person)
Each person received:
Food and drink packs for breakfast
Assorted snacks throughout the morning
Cakes and sweets
Take-away pack from McDonald’s at the end of the event
Free-flow mineral water
Party packs and gift packs for adults and children
Prizes for games
Sponsors:
Allianz General Insurance Malaysia Berhad
Benny Tan, Managing Director of Property Trend
Danone Malaysia Sdn Bhd
Fitness Concept - Largest Fitness Specialist Chain Store
Fun Expresso
Horeb Sdn Bhd (Drs Tong, Leow, Chiam and Partners)
Marslim Movers Sdn Bhd
Mc Donald’s
Picture This and That & The Photographers’ Gallery
Prince Hotel
Pure Water (KL) Sdn Bhd
Rann Consulting Sdn Bhd
Razneil Resources Sdn Bhd
Renaissance Hotel
Secret Recipe
Tetra Pak Malaysia and Singapore
Tones Entertainment
Yellow House Society of Malaysia
Friends and Volunteers of UNHCR
The successful implementation of the Refugee Carnival would not have been possible without the benevolence of the above mentioned private sector and individuals in Malaysia.
For the first time, World Refugee Day was celebrated this year in Malaysia with a series of public advocacy and awareness programmes.
As an inaugural event, the World Refugee Day activities aimed to create awareness among the Malaysian population at a basic level.
The objectives were to create compassion and empathy among Malaysians on the challenges faced by refugees and to destigmatise refugees by putting a human face and giving a voice to them
The activities held were:
Launch of WRD in Parliament on 21 June 2005 The Office launched the Bahasa Malaysia version of the IPU-UNHCR Handbook on Refugee Law for Parliamentarians, in collaboration with the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of parliamentary affairs.
This was held in Parliament, with the attendance of some 100 guests including the head of the Opposition Party and several Opposition Members of Parliament, the President of the Back Benchers Club and several Members of Parliament of the Ruling Party.
This event was also significant because NGOs working in refugee issues were provided the opportunity to speak with political leaders and advocate their work.
At this event, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department publicly declared his support for refugee issues and announced that the Government in principle will allow refugees to work legally in the country.
Photography project “Face To Face: Confronting the Humanity of Refugees in Malaysia”. This 3-month long project begun when the Office recognised that Malaysians’ apathy towards refugee issues were because of the difficulty in humanising the statistics that appeared in the media. Thus, faces and stories of refugee were captured. The first tranche of the project was the official unveiling of a selection of the photos at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Center, by the Regent of Perak. Some 100 guests attended, including refugees.
This was an important project because never before had images and stories of refugees been documented in Malaysia for public consumption. The launch event was significant because it was the first time the Office publicly brought refugees into the public sphere through the photos, and through their traditional performances at the launch event.
This event marked the first time many Malaysians had seen a refugee’s face as a human being with feelings - a mother, a lover, a child - and not just as a fugitive in fear and flight.
