Refugee Week

posted by kathy


It's Refugee Week again and I'm late in posting links and details.

The Refugee Week website gives plenty of information with details of events nationwide. There's a special Simple Acts campaign this year. We're asked to do just one simple thing to change the way in which refugees are perceived in Britain. You might cook a meal from a different country, tell or read a story about refugees, get to know local asylum-seekers or join a campaign.

As my contribution, I'm going to mention three familiar stories about people in exile who rely on the kindness and hospitality of others.




My first choice is the story of Odysseus. When the Trojan war is over, he spends years trying to get home. The Odyssey praises the people who show kindness to strangers and treat them generously as guests. The picture shows the princess Nausicaa, who finds Odysseus exhausted and naked on the shore. She invites him to the palace for food, drink and rest.





My second choice of story is Sleeping Beauty. Beauty is an exile in fear of her life, who receives hospitality in exchange for housework.






My final selection is the story of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, fleeing persecution by leaving home and spending a time in Egypt - a country with different customs, religion and language.




All these stories agree that hospitality to those in need is important. Kindness to vulnerable and needy strangers is a theme of many old stories. They often suggest that such hospitality is a sign of a good society.



There are plenty of events near Beeston - you will find details below. Jonathan asked me to draw attention to the City of Sanctuary meeting (tomorrow!) and the whole City of Sanctuary movement.



TUESDAY 16TH JUNE
Learn how to DJ workshops (FREE)
… and make tunes using technology and cutting edge software. All levels welcome
Venue: SEND Project Studio, Greenway Centre, Trent Lane, Sneinton NG2 4DF Time: 3-6pm (8-14 yrs olds); 7-10pm (14-19 yrs olds) Email: beats@sendproject.com

Capoeira Angola Special Beginners Dance Sessions (FREE)
Venue: New Art Exchange, Hyson Green Time: 7:30 - 9:30pm Contact: Just turn up. (Wear comfortable clothing and light shoes)

Taxi to the Dark Side
US 2007. Dir Alex Gibney. 106min. Certificate 15
This Oscar-winning film is a gripping investigation into the use of torture by the US military as part of its ‘war on terror’. A documentary murder mystery, the film examines the death of an Afghan taxi driver at Bagram Air Base, exposing a worldwide policy of detention that condones torture and ignores human rights.
Venue: Broadway, Broad Street, Hockley NG1 3AL

Quiz Night – Who wants to be a Zimbabwean Billionaire?
Pub Quiz on the Citizen Test
Organised by Nottingham Zimbabwean Community Network
Venue: Lincolnshire Poacher, 161 Mansfield Road NG1 3FR Time: 7.30pm


WEDNESDAY 17TH JUNE
City of Sanctuary Open Day (FREE)
Speaker: Craig Barnett (The National Organiser) What is the City of Sanctuary movement?
Hear the stories of people seeking sanctuary in Nottingham. How can we, as the host community, help? Get involved as a City of Sanctuary volunteer. Vegetarian food provided
Venue: St Stephens Church, Bobbers Mill Road, Hyson Green Time: 11am – 1pm

Jupiter's Dance (FREE FILM)
Producers: Renaud Barret and Florent de La Tullaye DONATION FOR FOOD
A documentary film set in the ghettos of Kinshasa in the 1970s where street children, beggars, prostitutes and disabled victims of polio, strive to find their daily bread in an urban jungle that has plummeted into poverty and violence. The film shows how music is allowing these disenfranchised Congolese to stand up and be counted. Jupiter’s Dance should be obligatory viewing for all lovers of African music, as well as those who want to admire the defiance of the human spirit in this beleaguered nation.
Venue: SUMAC Centre, 245 Gladstone Street, Forest Fields Time: 7pm vegan food – 7.45pm film
Tickets: Admission free – donation for food. All proceeds to NNRF Tuesday Project For more information: www.smallworldcinema.wordpress.com


La Forteresse (The Fortress) - UK premiere
Switzerland 2008. Dir Fernand Melgar. 104min.
For the first time, a camera looks into the hidden world of a Swiss reception centre for asylum seekers. Awarding it the Golden Leopard, the Locarno festival jury cited ‘a remarkably sensitive film exhibiting profound human intelligence.’ www.laforteresse.ch
Venue: Broadway, Broad Street, Hockley NG1 3AL Time: 8.15pm


THURSDAY 18TH JUNE
Refugee Rights FREE
What are they? How are they under attack? How can they be protected?
Speakers:
Alice Edwards, Lecturer in Refugee & Human Rights Laws, University of Nottingham
Vincent Fox, Solicitor, First Call Immigration Services, Nottingham
Venue: Refugee Forum, The Square Centre, Alfred Street North NG3 1AA Time: 7.30pm followed by Q&A


FRIDAY 19TH JUNE
Rainbow Project Fundraising Dinner
Delicious African and Asian Food served with Caribbean Punch. All funds to support people seeking Asylum and Refuge
Venue: The Vine Community Centre, Bobbers Mill Road, Hyson Green Time: Arrive at 7pm – Eat at 7.30pm
Tickets: £10 / Asylum seekers & refugees free / unwaged & senior citizens (donate if able) Contact: dskerritt@southwell.anglican.org

Cabaret Sorbet
Cabaret Sorbet is an audio-visual live performance night incorporating an eclectic mix of music, dance, illustration, sculpture, spoken word, body art, film projections, and theatre. This month’s event has contributions from international artists / artists in exile.
Venue: The Art Organisation, Station Street Time: 8pm – 12 midnight Ticket: £2 / £3 on the door (bring your own booze)
Contact: Via myspace or facebook by typing Cabaret Sorbet, or email: cabaret-sorbet@live.co.uk


SATURDAY 20TH JUNE
Family Fun Day
An afternoon of puppet-making, storytelling, dance and art workshops for all the family. FREE and open to all.
Venue: 1st Floor, Central Library, Angel Row Time: 12.30 – 3.30pm Contact: Juliet / juliet.line@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

One Man's Journey

posted by Rhiannon

I wanted to follow up Kathy's excellent post with a personal and specific account of one of the local events. I'm not going to make it to any of the evening things, but popping in the Central Library for an hour was easy and really informative.

The exhibition (Nottingham Central Library, Angel Row, June 1st-30th 2008) is called "One Man's Journey Through the Asylum Process", and has been created by the Sankofa Foundation. It displays, though photographs, objects, a video, and background documents, what happened to one man who left Kurdistan Iraq in 1998. Although the Immigration Tribunal didn't doubt that he had indeed been in danger, but believed that he could relocate to somewhere else in Iraq.

For all that there are important differences between refugees and asylum seekers (see the comments to Kathy's post), they also tend to have similar needs when they arrive here: food, shelter, support, English lessons, and so forth. A couple of years ago, I was trained as an In4mer (peer educator) through GirlguidingUK, and one of the topics I teach in that capacity is 'Refugees and Asylum Seekers'. In those sessions, I often find that the participants (typically 7-14 year old girls, who repeat the things their parents say) believe many mistaken things. For example, they often think that asylum seekers can be illegal (not true: everyone has a right to seek asylum, though many will not be granted it).

Very few of them have taken the time to think about what it must be like to be in that situation: so as well as explaining, we do exercises with them to prompt thought. We start playing a game but only give the rules in Spanish--to parallel the way that asylum seekers, including the One Man of the exhibition, need help to understand what is going on. We ask them to rate food, water, family, shelter, education, and other things in order of importance--to bring to their attention how much they may have lost.

Even fewer if any of them, though, are mature enough to begin to think about other themes of this exhibition: the loneliness of being cut off from your family and unable to participate normally in British society, the mixed longing to go home and fear of what will happen if you do, and the struggles with the legal system here.

When his application was rejected, this man ended up living in the corner of the factory where he worked--not for pay, but for the right to sleep in the corner. Later he lived in his allotment shed. He is now back in Kurdistan, but (despite all that has happened in Iraq), the Kurds are still, to quote the exhibition signs, "a nation without a state" and his family are "trying to live a very low-profile existence in the shadows".

I found it especially moving that he had left behind so many photographs (having treasured images of his family during their decade apart) which let us have an insight into his experience.

Refugee Week in the East Midlands

posted by Kathy

Refugees - or "asylum seekers" as they're now called - face a lot of prejudice. But refugees also give a lot to our society. Beeston Quakers know this well as we gained a great deal from the presence at Meeting of Konrad Elsdon, who came to Britain as a refugee in 1939. As the obituary published by the University of Leicester testifies, Konrad's contribution to this country was widely appreciated.

Many people who have arrived here recently as refugees have a great deal to offer - but they aren't always allowed to give anything. Instead, many are forced into destitution: homelessness and near-starvation.

Refugee Week organises events which do a number of things. Some show why people seek asylum. There are showcases for music and the arts, for sports and food.

There's more information about Refugee Week HERE.

You can find events all over the United Kingdom by clicking HERE.

There are links to events in the Notts, Derby and Leics area HERE.

Nottingham events are listed HERE.

Beeston Quakers has some informal contact with the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum, which does good work in helping refugees and campaiging on their behalf.

Not all those who need it get asylum. This video shows a performance of a piece simply called "Study for String Orchestra." It's by the Czech composer Pavel Haas. He composed it in Terezin concentration camp (also called Theresienstadt) in 1943. In the following year he was one of 18,000 prisoners, including children, transferred to Auschwitz. On arrival he was taken to the gas chambers and murdered. He was 45 years old.

Nottingham Refugee Week 16th - 24th June

posted by Kathy

Refugee week, which lasts eight days, starts this Saturday (16th June) . If you're in Nottingham between 11 and 2, there's a stall outside St Peter's Church* (the church near Marks & Spencers).

There's a leaflet which has details on events, but it doesn't have full information. For instance, it doesn't give the time and place for Crossing Borders, which is the opening party/entertainment on Saturday. The national Refugee Week website doesn't give the information either, but it does give list events all over the country. There are helpful e-mail addresses too. You can also contact Notts Refugee Forum by clicking on the link in the sidebar on the right.


*for very traditional Quakers, a "church" is what George Fox used to call a "steeplehouse". And for Quakers so devoted to simple living that they weave their own cloth, Marks & Spencer is a big shop.