When I tell someone that I am volunteering in a refugee camp on Lesvos, they almost always reply by asking if it is not very dangerous, or if I feel unsafe. This concern has been surprising to me. I have never met so many helpful, generous and through-and-through good people as I have in the camp. Not a day goes by without us volunteers being offered food, tea, or simply a few minutes rest inside the tents of the residents of the camp, people who once again lost everything when they had to flee the fire in Moria camp a few weeks ago.
"These are people that flee from danger, they’re not dangerous themselves"
This has left me wondering why people keep asking if I feel unsafe. I have come to the conclusion that this worry is borne out of misinformation and a demeaning idea of who a refugee is. This idea and concern rarely stems from any conscious prejudice against refugees, but is rather a product of how refugees are presented in the media and politics. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi recognised this stating ‘these are people that flee from danger, they’re not dangerous themselves’.
In order to change this narrative, it is crucial to give young people the opportunity to explore issues around migration and refugees.
A Human Rights approach
Both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child include key articles which directly address the right to protection and refuge. It is important to emphasise that these rights are universal, that every single person around the world is entitled to them. This of course means that countries that fail to provide refuge or safe passage are directly violating the human rights. This online course provided by Amnesty is suitable for educators who wish to refresh or enhance their knowledge of the rights of refugees.
"It is important to emphasise that not all refugees or migrants have the same experience and to include a range of different stories."
There are a number of learning activities which explore the issues around refugees and migration from a human rights perspective. This activity introduces the rights of the child and supports pupils to consider to what degree refugee children’s rights are being protected. UNICEF UK’s teaching resource ‘In Search of Safety’ includes 20 activities where a children’s rights framework is applied to help students make sense of the situation for refugees and migrants in Europe. The online resource ‘Syria: A Children’s Crisis?’ was developed by Oxfam and supports learners to design a project to enhance refugee children’s rights.
Building empathy
Understanding the lived experience of refugees is key in building empathy. This can be done by exploring some of the reasons why people have to leave their homes and countries, the choices they make and the impact on young people. It is important to emphasise that not all refugees or migrants have the same experience and to include a range of different stories. This activity encourages pupils to empathise with what it must have been like to leave home and not know when you might return. The Safe Place Ludo game, developed by Christian Aid, helps pupils understand more about the choices and challenges facing people making difficult journeys in search of a safe place. This Oxfam’s Schools of Sanctuary also encourages learners to consider how welcoming the UK and their own schools are to those seeking asylum. This blog post from Amnesty includes a number of great books with refugee and migrant stories from around the world.
"It is all too easy to only consider what is happening on our doorstep, but we must continue discussing issues related to migration and refugees."
The media and stereotypes
Being able to critically read the media is key to understanding how the media is shaping the narrative and perpetuating stereotypes around migration and refugees. The arrival of migrants and refugees to Europe in 2015-16 were framed by the media as a crisis, with dehumanising words such as ‘wave’ or ‘flood’ used to describe large numbers of people seeking refuge from conflicts and other disasters. This perspective has contributed to a negative and sometimes hostile attitude amongst the public towards migrants and refugees.
While the language used to describe refugees, migrants and asylum seekers in the media has been overwhelmingly negative, the images used are often ethically questionable and show little respect for human dignity. Turning a critical eye on images and language used in the media is a useful way of separating facts from opinions, but also to reflect on the values they represent. This activity helps pupils think critically about how newspapers present the story of refugees, while the British Red Cross’ toolkit ‘Positive Images’ encourages learners to discuss different perspectives on migration in the media.
Global issues
While the issue of refugees and migration has once again been highlighted due to the increased number of people crossing the channel, it is important to remember that these problems exist even when they are not the main focus in the media. For instance, last summer there was a record number of around 20,000 people housed in Moria camp on Lesvos, a camp built to host approximately 3,000 people. Around the same time, Turkey hosted almost 3.7 refugees, Pakistan was the home to 1.4 million refugees and in Uganda there were about 1.2 million refugees.
"We need to hold on to our global perspective and encourage empathy and understanding for people with different stories from our own."
It is all too easy to only consider what is happening on our doorstep, but we must continue discussing issues related to migration and refugees. We must support learners in their journey to explore what is means to be human, and what we are entitled to as human beings. We need to hold on to our global perspective and encourage empathy and understanding for people with different stories from our own. We have to keep strengthen the ability of children and young people to challenge degrading depictions in the media of people in need. And we must carry on empowering learners to promote the rights of refugees, to never look the other way when these rights are being denied.
