The poster and program for this Saturdays World Refugee Day are now available for download, simply click and dragging the image onto your desktop! (you may also right click on the image and save the image onto your computer) On Saturday you will also be able to pick up a souvenir poster and program.
Thanks to derooted creative agency for donating their services!
World Refugee Day Toronto Celebrations
Programme Saturday June 20, 2009
2:00 PM
Gather at Speaker’s Corner Nathan Phillips Square ( Queen St W. between York & Bay Street) in preparation for the Refugee Walk “Walk a Mile in a Refugee’s Shoes”
3:00 – 6:30 PM
Concert Queen’s Park North (Queen’s Park Crescent E. & Wellesley St. W.)
Featuring Lizwe Mahashe, Kemer Yousef, Marcelo Puente, Heather Chetwynd, Folklorico Filipino Canada Dance troupe, SalahRashid & famed writer Austin Clarke. Awards for UNHCR-COSTI First Annual Refugees and Human Rights Poetry Contest.
Interactive displays
*UNHCR Tent www.unhcr.org/
*Red Cross simulation tents www.redcross.ca/
*MSF tent www.msf.ca/
*interactive art by Amanta Scott
*Rhythmic by Nature (Terri Segal)
* Photo exhibit on issues of family separation/reunification – www.settlementarts.ca
*Masaisai
Further contact details on performers and artists:
http://www.folkloricofilipino.com
*Please check our site regularly for event updates and changes.
By Diana Mavunduse
Not knowing or understanding someone until you have walked a mile in their shoes is a cliché often used in different cultures world-wide.
Jumping over barbed wires, navigating through landmines, losing family and friends, children crying for their mothers, wives separated from their husbands, women sexually assaulted, food rationings, feeling powerless, not accepted because of religious, political and sexual orientation, packed like sardines in refugee camps, losing all belongings, walking all night and sleeping by day, arriving in a new country all confused, language barriers and feeling homesick—These are just a few anecdotes of the hardships faced daily by refugees world-wide as they flee their homes to seek refuge in other countries. Some make it across, but others have lost their lives trying to cross the borders to safety.
Sadly the refugee and asylum seekers’ story does not always end in them having made it across to freedom. For most, their struggle to survive continues in the countries they would have settled, where they are subjected to prejudice and misunderstandings. They are targeted being foreigners, viewed economic migrants and perceived as a threat to national security in some cases.
Canada has a long tradition of welcoming refugees. Since World War 2, over 700,000 individuals have been offered protection and have become a valued part of the Canada’s fabric and cultural mosaic. Their economic contributions are also well documented.
It is therefore worrying that the continued misunderstandings and discriminations against refugee’s and asylum seekers overshadows the immense contributions that migrants have long made to Canadian culture and its economy. It is partly for this reason that the organizers for the Toronto World Refugee Day celebrations are calling upon all Torontonians to come out in their numbers on Sat. June 20, 2009 to “Walk a Mile in a Refugee’s shoes” and to experience first hand refugees issues through music, poetry and story telling.
The Refugee Walk is a way of challenging Torontonians “to walk the symbolic mile as a way of raising public awareness of the plight of refugees world-wide and also celebrate the resilience and contributions of those refugees who have made it across the borders and now call Canada their home,” said Prince Sibanda, Coordinator for Toronto World Refugee Day Celebrations Committee.
The organizers also see the day as a way of delivering positive educational messages that counter fear, ignorance and negative stereotypes of refugees and to promote understanding about refugee issues in Toronto and Canada as a whole.
True or False?
1. A rich person cannot become a refugee.
2. Refugees are people who flee their countries and cannot return because they fear being persecuted due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion or belonging to a particular social group.
3. Women and children account for 75% of a given refugee population, and constitutes its most vulnerable group.
4. Internally displaced persons are people who have been uprooted within their own countries because of war, human rights violations or natural disasters.
5. Refugees are strangers in the asylum country, so the host government is not obliged to respect their human rights.
6. The previous and current Governor General of Canada came to Canada as refugees.
7. A person who flees from his/her country of origin without any documentation has no right to seek asylum.
8. Canada accepts 25,000-30,000 refugees every year.
9. Albert Einstein was a refugee.
“Walk a Mile in a Refugee’s shoes” in commemoration of World Refugee Day on June 20, 2009. The walk will begin at Speaker’s Corner, City Hall, west corner of Nathan Phillips Square on Queen St. West between York and Bay Street and proceed to Queens Park on Saturday, June 20 2009. Included in the program will be an official proclamation from the City, a music concert and an awards ceremony marking the winners of the First Amateur Poetry Contest on Human Rights and Refugees, currently running in Toronto schools. Organizations hosting the event include the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Canadian Red Cross, COSTI Immigrant Services, Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture, Christie Refugee Welcome Centre and Sojourn House. Over the years the City of Toronto has supported this event. This event is free and open to the public.
For more information, contact World Refugee Day Committee Coordinator Prince Sibanda at prince@worldrefugeedayto.com.
By Diana Mavunduse
On Sat. June 20, 2009, hundreds of Torontonians from all walks of life are expected to gather at Nathan Philips Square to begin the World Refugee Day celebrations.
World Refugee Day is an occasion to salute the indomitable spirit of the world’s refugees. Around the world, this day of festivity and tribute is expressed in different ways, from stand-up comics and rock concerts to conferences and memorial services.
To mark the celebrations in Toronto, a coalition of organizations working with refugees in the Toronto area, are organizing a Refugee Walk, under the theme “Walk a Mile in a Refugee’s Shoes”.
The Refugee Walk will begin at Speaker’s Corner, City Hall Southwest corner of Nathan Phillips Square and proceeds to Queens Park, where a special musical concert will be held. Included in the program will be an official proclamation from the Toronto Mayor, David Miller, displays from organisations in Toronto working with and for refugees, and an awards ceremony marking the winners of the First Amateur Poetry Contest on Human Rights and Refugees, currently running in Toronto schools.
Organizations hosting the event include the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Canadian Red Cross, COSTI Immigrant Services, Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture, Christie Refugee Welcome Centre and Sojourn House.
“It is a great occasion to celebrate the resilience of refugees, many of whom make outstanding contributions to their new home countries,” said Prince Sibanda, coordinator for the Refugee Walk.
The event is free and is an open invitation to everyone. “It is not a fund-raising event, but it is an opportunity to raise awareness of the positive contributions made by refugees in Canada,” said Mr. Sibanda.
Various performing artisits such as Marcelo Puente and Kemer Yousef will be raising their voices in support of World Refugee Day.
For more information please contact:
Prince Sibanda, Refugee Walk Coordinator
Email: refugeewalk@gmail.com
Refugees and Human Rights Children and Youth AmatuerPoetry Contest As part of Toronto’s Refugee Day celebrations, UNHCR and COSTI Immigrant Services, are co-hosting a poetry competition, which is currently underway, targeting Grade 4-12 students attending schools in the City of Toronto. The topic for the contest is Refugees and Human Rights. The deadline to send in entries was April 30th, 2009. The winners will be posted on the UNHCR and COSTI websites. The winners will have the opportunity to read their poems at the Peace Walk event. For more information on the poetry contest and downloading entry forms visit: costi.org
Refugees are described as people who are outside their country and cannot return owing to a well-founded fear of persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group. Another category is that of Internally Displaced People (IDP) who are caught in situations similar to refugees but who have stayed in their own countries rather than cross an international frontier. REFUGEES IN CANADA Since World War 2, Canada has offered refugee protection to over 700,000 Individuals.
