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World Refugee Day (20 June 2007)
 The
purpose of World Refugee Day is to draw attention to the plight of
refugees, celebrate their courage and resilience, and renew
commitment to solving refugee problems. It is also an opportunity to
recognise the contribution which refugees make to the countries
which host them.
On this sixth anniversary of the United Nations-designated
World Refugee Day, thousands of organisations in hundreds of countries
will come together to focus global attention not only on the plight
of refugees and the causes of their exile, but also on their determination
and will to survive and on the contributions they make to their host
communities.
Source: UNHCR
News
World Refugee Day: Guterres lauds Sudan repatriation as a bright spot in the region(19.06.07)
UNHCR report says refugee population rises to almost 10 million(19.06.07)
UNHCR relaunches Refworld as state-of-art online protection tool(15.06.07)
UNHCR organises solidarity march for displaced persons in Chad(14.06.07)
Iraqis rank first in asylum claims last year, but overall trend continues to fall(26.03.07)
New bill would let refugee doctors practise in Ireland(1.03.07)
UNHCR chief Guterres praises Syria for generosity to Iraqi refugees(9.02.07)
Ruling highlights problems skilled refugees face finding work in Canada(18.01.07)
US, Jordan and Syria must open doors to Iraqi refugees, urges Human Rights Watch(17.01.07)
Chadian villages attacked and burned, many dead and hundreds flee(10.11.06)
Annual Nansen Refugee Award presented to Japanese optometrist(4.10.06)
Asylum applications in industrialised countries continue to plummet(20.09.06)
OSCE, UNHCR and EC urge full implementation of Sarajevo Declaration on refugees(18.09.06)
A deadly sailing season begins: Smuggling people from Somalia to Yemen(8.09.06)
Croatia: Plight of returning Serb refugees may slow EU bid(5.09.06)
Selected learning materials
Study Guide on
Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons
A quick introduction in the rights of refugees, and ways to
protect them.
For advocates
Refugees in the UN System of Human Rights Protection (by Jacqueline Kacprzak, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights-Poland)
This lesson plan consists of exercises related to the problems faced by refugees. Focus is on the application of the Refugee Convention and the activities of the UNHCR.
For health professionals
Examining Asylum Seekers: A Health Professional's Guide to Medical and Psychological Evaluations of Torture (by Physicians for Human Rights)
This guide is designed specifically for medical or mental health professional seeking to develop knowledge and skills needed to conduct clinical evaluations of asylum seekers and assess physical or psychological evidence of torture and ill-treatment. Several sections of this guidebook are based on recent international guidelines for medical/legal documentation of torture.
For humanitarian workers
IASC Training Modules on Internally Displaced Persons (Norwegian Refugee Council/Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights)
Comprehensive training package on internally displaced persons. This online training program consists of several modules which, used alone or together, discuss the protection and assistance of internally displaced persons guaranteed by international law. The following modules are currently available on-line: A Definition of Internally Displaced Persons; Legal Origins and International Obligations; Protection from Displacement; Return, Resettlement, and Reintegration; and Recipients as Resources: Community Based Programming.
For teachers
Refugee Children (UNHCR)
This unit of lessons has been designed to help young students to empathize with the plight of refugee children, to become aware that children from all over the world have similar needs.
Debate: America, Refugees and Asylum (Michael Hutchison)
This lesson plan accompanies the film Well-Founded Fear (108 minutes) which offers a view into the world of the immigration authorities in the United States who have to make decisions about whether or not they grant asylum and "reveal the dramatic real-life stage where human rights and American ideals collide with the nearly impossible task of trying to know the truth". The lesson plan is in debate format and addresses background of refugee problems and its international context, refugee law and its international context, and the interpretation of laws by immigration officials.
Opening the Door to Nonviolence. Peace Education Manual for Primary School Children (Maja Uzelac)
This comprehensive teacher manual was designed by the Croatian NGO Mali Korak ("Small Step"). The manual was used with children in schools and refugee camps in multiethnic settings, at the end of the Bosnian wars.
Refugee Roleplay (Amnesty International)
This lesson activity uses a roleplay where refugees and border officials express different points of view on the rights of refugees to increase students' knowledge about refugee rights.
International and regional documents on refugees and
displaced persons:
- Convention
Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951)
- Protocol
Relating to the Status of Refugees (1967)
- Handbook
on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the
1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the status of refugees
- Guiding
principles on Internal Displacement
- Convention
Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa (1969)
(African Union, formerly Organisation of African Unity, OAU)
- Cartagena
Declaration on Refugees (1984) (Organization of American States,
OAS)
Useful links
United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Organisations
that support and advocate for refugees and IDPs
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