refugee in your neighbourhood

As part of Refugee Week, Auburn Council ran a 2 hour simulation of the journey of a refugee. We arrived and were asked to imagine we were refugees - write down 5 things we would bring with us if we were fleeing a war-torn country.

We entered a dark room with sound effects of gunfire & bombings. Then we heard a few stories over the speaker of people's experiences as they tried to flee their country.

Then we went outside, past posters of lions & landmines imagining what this would be like, walking long distances with pretty much nothing & probably small children in tow.

We arrived at a checkpoint of a new country. We lined up and a lady spoke to us (& screamed) in an African language. If we didn't give her what she wanted - ID from what we guessed! then we were told to stand aside with our hands on our heads.

We entered a field which represented a refugee camp. There can be tens or hundreds of thousands of people already there. Our tour guide for this section was one of the lost boys of South Sudan & he was in a refugee camp for 21 years by himself! The people at the camp became his family.

Each person/family needs to complete forms that cost money & are in different languages. The UNHCR people spoke in a different language too so we had no idea what the process was for the forms, where to hand it in etc. Plus no money...

Each person/family needs to qualify for a UNHCR card which entitles you to a ration of food per month. There is 1 toilet & shower per 1,000 people and 1 water hole per 1,500 people!

To endure & past the time they made tools & toys. So resourceful considering they had so little. Usually more than half the population of refugees are children.

Next stop is getting on an over-crowded unsafe boat - and being in the sea for days on end with no food or water. We entered another dark room where all the pipes are. There was some blue artworks on the walls which glowed in the dark to make us feel like we're at sea. We heard more stories over the speaker. A couple of people also shared about their difficult journey. Was a bit emotional. Must be so hard for these tour guides to keep sharing their horrible experiences.

Then we entered deeper into the room to the detention centre stage. A big screen at the end showed an interview of a detainee. "Prison is better than detention centre because they know how long they're in there for...

Constant worry for their families in war-torn countries causes much anxiety, depression & self-harm. Many have seen their family/friends murdered or kill themselves even in detention. Those who can get in touch with family don't tell them how hard it is in detention because they don't want their family to worry.

Then out to another room for immigration. Heaps of forms & complicated visas - the rules of which keep changing. Most have come from corrupt countries and so are very hesitant to tell the truth in their forms - which means it's too late by the time RACS (Refugee Advice & Casework Services) represent them in court as the form didn't represent their full story from the beginning and so their credibility is hard to prove.

Final room was a reflection room where we were asked how we feel, if there was something new we learnt & what we were going to do after this. There were also various organisations we could talk to eg. RACS, House of Welcome, STARTTS (Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors) and a wall where we could write messages to the children in detention. It was intense but a real glimpse into what its like to be a refugee.

The question is, what now?
Should we run this at a conference or even as part of church one Sunday?
We in the west are so time-poor. Can we realistically look after refugees well?
Do we need a group of people to look after 1 family to share the load?
What are your thoughts...?