World Refugee Day is fast approaching. And with San Diego being home to thousands of refugees – many from East Africa – this city will be participating in many programs and recognition ceremonies to observe this day. San Diego provides asylum to one of the largest groups of refugees in the nation. Dozens of organizations have been created to care for and encourage these groups into a new way of life.
World Refugee Day is observed every year on June 20, with this year’s official date being next Thursday. For many years, countries worldwide had designated their own individual refugee days. But the spirit of disunity was broken on December 4, 2000 when the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 55/76. This resolution acknowledged the 50th anniversary of the 1951 convention related to the status of refugees; as well where the Organization of African Unity also agreed to have International Refugee Day coincide with African Refugee Day on June 20. Thus was birthed, World Refugee Day.
Worldwide there are 43.7 million refugees and internationally displaced people. Of this number, eighty percent are women and children. There are a multitude of organizations and programs created to house, sustain and assimilate these people into a safe haven. When refugees flee their homeland to a place of security, there comes a period of adjustment. They come from genocide, war, famine and disease-ridden areas, and walking into a new environment where they don’t even speak the language can be terrifying.
San Diego has dozens of organizations that work in welcoming refugees, and that also provide opportunities to encourage these individuals to become self-sufficient. Refugees are taught English, Mathematics and a host of other skills and trades in order to become successful. However there are many refugees who are extremely educated, speak several languages and were wealthy in their own rights living in their native lands, but must begin their trek for success again due to accreditation issues. For example, many Somalis who have immigrated to America were doctors and lawyers in their native country, but their degrees and education is not always recognized in the States, and they therefore must work their way up from the bottom.
This process can open the door to a host of other issues, including depression. Refugees face so many different issues upon arrival to the U.S. They must learn a completely new way of life, from how to use the transportation system, to how to enroll their children in school, to how to find housing and employment. Their assimilation is multilayered.
World Refugee Day is a step in the right direction in terms of supporting our brothers and sisters. But more must be done on the ground level in leveling the playing field for their success. Stay tuned for more information on the local organizations that support refugees and encourage their success.
