The theme of the day this year, is every action counts. The idea is that each of us can do something. Our combined actions can definitely create necessary change.
World Refugee Day is essentially a day on which we honour the strength and courage of refugees. A day on which the public are made aware of the plight of refugees and are encouraged to support them. Mona-Lisa Danieli Mungure, the Director of Molao-Matters a Botswana-based organisation which interests itself in legal literacy, when introducing the various struggles of refugees in Botswana, defined a refugee as “a survivor of trauma, pain, hardship; a conquerer of death.” Warsan Shire, the poet born in Kenya to Somali parents, in her poem, Home, says, “No one leaves home unless//home is the mouth of a shark//you only run for the border//when you see the whole city running as well…//no one leaves home unless home chases you// fire under feet// hot blood in your belly// it’s not something you ever thought of doing//until the blade burnt threats into your neck//and even then you carried the anthem under your breath//only tearing up your passport in an airport toilet// sobbing as each mouthful of paper//made it clear that you wouldn’t be going back//You have to understand//that no one puts their children in a boat// unless the water is safer than the land//no one burns their palms//under trains// beneath carriages//no one spends days and nights in the stomach of a truck// feeding on newspaper unless the miles travelled means something more than journey//no one crawls under fences// no one wants to be beaten//pitied”
