Refugee Week 2013

Refugee Week is celebrated all over the world with events and activities to recognise the plight of refugees around the world and acknowledge the contribution made by government and non-government organisations in helping refugees to contribute to the society.

Australia

Refugee Week has been celebrated in Australia since the 1980s and coincides each year with World Refugee Day on 20 June.

In 2013, the department is celebrating the arrival of the 800 000th refugee and other humanitarian entrants since World War II and is launching a social media campaign, Pathway to Protection which is centred around a series of videos depicting a family’s settlement journey from a refugee camp in Nepal to their new home in Launceston, Tasmania.

UK

Refugee Week is an annual event celebrating the contribution of refugees to the UK and encouraging people to take a more positive look at asylum. Performances and awareness-raising events take place across the UK. The event takes place every June, so why not organise a celebration in your school?

For more information, visit the Refugee Week Website - they have stories and case studies about the contributions that refugees have made to Britain over the last 60 years. (The year 2011 was the 60th anniversary of the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which defines who is a refugee and sets out rights and responsibilities in the context of asylum.)