[hr-education] Reaching out with drama to challenge negative perceptions about refugees

UNCHR, LONDON, United Kingdom, January 8 (UNHCR) -- Refugees and asylum
seekers get a bad press in some sections of the UK media, but one advocacy
group is using drama to counter the negative public perceptions.

The Actors for Refugees production of The Asylum Monologues has played to
more than 2,000 people around England and Wales since opening in London on
June 25, 2006 as part of celebrations in the UK marking World Refugee Day.

The play, scripted by award-winning playwright Sonja Linden and performed
for free, is easy and cheap to stage, requires a minimum of scenery and
delivers a thought-provoking message.

Linden says she was concerned about how refugees are portrayed in the UK
and wrote The Asylum Monologues to show British audiences that refugees
and asylum seekers are "ordinary people caught up in extraordinary
circumstances."

At its heart are the personal testimonies of people with first-hand
experience of the UK's asylum system. Their stories, culled from hours of
interviews, are combined with public opinion, political statements and
statistical fact to show what it means to be an exile in Britain.

The 90-minute show features the stories of refugees from different
nationalities, reflecting the diversity of the estimated 25,000 people who
claim asylum in the UK each year. Variations have been used as an advocacy
and awareness-raising tool to challenge misconceptions about asylum
seekers in the UK.

Christine Bacon, coordinator of The Asylum Monologues, sees the drama as a
potent tool to correct what she regards as an injustice. "There is often a
misconception of refugees, yet you cannot ask refugees to repeat the
trauma they have endured again and again, so there was previously nothing
being done ," she says.

"The Asylum Monologues is an innovative and non-intrusive way of bringing
asylum to people's attention and it aims to challenge the perceptions set
about - particularly by the British tabloids," the Australian adds. The
play will continue to travel around Britain during the coming months.

Meanwhile, an exhibition under way at the Museum of London also challenges
public perceptions about refugees and shows how they have contributed to
the life of the vibrant and multicultural city.

Entitled "Belonging: Voices of London's Refugees," the exhibition focuses
on themes such as family, community, London and the world. Visitors are
immersed in the refugees' stories, which are presented through
photographs, artwork, film, audio recordings and objects ranging from
battered suitcases to clothing.

The presentation has been put together by the Evelyn Oldfield Unit in
partnership with 25 refugee community organisations across London. It runs
until February 25.

By Khalila Ismail and Jennie Hartley 
In London, United Kingdom 

Source: UNHCR website 
http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/45a26a534.html 





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