Refugee Awareness

Refugees come from all over the world. Many of us do not realize that Refugee Awareness month was last June and June 20th is in fact Refugee Awareness Day. There are hundreds of Refugee Assistance programs globally, ours included, acting towards the benefit of those that have been misplaced from their homes. The unfortunate individuals must move from their homes to distant lands and must ask for help in a strange new language.

What is a refugee?"

"Where do refugees come from?"

"How can I help?"

These are all questions that you might be thinking to yourself as you read the above paragraph. Simply, my friends, I will tell you.

The UN Refugee Agency defines a refugee as someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence. Refugees often have deep fears of persecution based on their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. Most likely, they cannot return home or are afraid to do so. War and ethnic, tribal and religious violence are leading causes of refugees fleeing their countries (1).

Refugees are coming from war-torn and conflict areas. Often, the children that do manage to escape know nothing of time before the conflict. Families have been torn apart due to the ongoing violence. Refugees rely on relatives, caring strangers, and assistance programs to help them move to relatively safe surrounding areas. The leading 5 countries to produce refugees from the dusts of the fighting are Syria, Afghanistan, Lake Chad Basin, South Sudan, and Somalia (2).

If you are still wondering about how you can help, please contact us at Iskashitaa through the contact button at the top of the webpage. We are a non-profit that offers assistance programs for refugees in and around Tucson. To learn more about us, please review all our content we offer on the several web pages we provide.

Alfonso Cavada-Tavares

Iskashitaa Refugee Network

Social Media Intern

Sources

1. "What is a refugee," USA for UNHCR The UN Refugee Agency, http://www.unrefugees.org/what-is-a-refugee/, Accessed August 21, 2017.

2. Chris Huber, "Forced to flee: Top 5 countries refugees are coming from," Displacement, World Vision, https://www.worldvision.org/refugees-news-stories/forced-flee-top-5-countries-refugees, Accessed August 21, 2017.