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End bias and spread empathy on World Refugee Day
When tabloid journalism and populist politics rule the day, it is not easy to stay in touch with our humanity, not least around the issue of refugees. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Refugee Agency, the world is now witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record, with an unprecedented 65.6 million people forced from home. Nearly 22.5 million are refugees, over half of whom are under the age of 18. Every minute, 20 people are forcibly displaced as a result of conflict or persecution. As residents of a relatively peaceful city, we may not be able to readily relate to the extremity of the terror refugees have undergone, or the confounding sense of alienation that comes when one sets foot on unfamiliar ground. Yet, at one point or another in our lives, we have all experienced feelings of helplessness and despair; and World Refugee Day (20 June) serves as the perfect occasion for us to put ourselves into the shoes of refugees at home and around the world, and find out what we – as individuals and a society – can do to lessen their pain and answer their hopes.
This year, several organisations are heralding the day with different awareness-raising events:
- 11th Charity Refugee Film Festival (7 – 20 June), a film programme organised by UNHCR to offer refreshing perspectives through cinema on the plight of refuges, a subject often misunderstood or misrepresented;
- World Refugee Day Film Screening (19 June), a screening of AI Weiwei's documentary on the global refugee crisis, Human Flow (2017), organised by Justice Centre Hong Kong and accompanied with a panel discussion;
- Celebrating World Refugee Day: Human Library (20 June), a forum hosted by Community Business and Centre for Refugees – Christian Action where expert panelists will share insights into refugees’ employment rights and the process of seeking a work permit;
- World Refugee Day 2018 (23 June), a celebratory event organised by Table of Two Cities and BiteUnite featuring refugee cuisines and pop-up sales of arts and crafts by female asylum seekers
