Tag: #refugee

Hope Away from Home ©Dawn Minott |for World Refugee Day 2023

On By Dawn MinottIn Poetry9 Comments

A refugee’s journey marked by turmoil and despair
Hope away from home, though there must be fear
With open hearts, with hands extended wide
Build supportive community, stand side by side

Let there not be walls to impede quest for new start
Inclusion the motto to guide each heart
Champions of justice defenders, support not fight
For refugees seeking safety this will be a guiding light

In the face of adversity champion their cause
United voices resounding can influence laws
Advocate for their stories loudly proclaim
Lasting solutions the aim, extinguish prejudice flame

World Refugee Day—a reminder profound
That compassion and empathy know no bounds
It’s possible in this vast world for refugees to find
A haven of safety, warmth and peace of mind

Together we can make a difference, this is true
Champion rights, that’s what we’re meant to do
Better to build bridges than feed the divide
For on this day and every day our humanity abide

You may appreciate reading the 2022 poem, Before You Call Me Refugee and Refugee, which was also published on Spillwords.

Afterword: Each year on 20 June, the United Nations calls on the world to commemorate the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution. The 2023 theme of World Refugee Day is “hope away from home.”

2023 All Rights Reserved

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In creative solidarity, Dee

Before You Call Me Refugee©: World Refugee Day 2022

On By Dawn MinottIn Poetry15 Comments

Before you call me refugee

I have a name, I have identity

Before war, before natural disasters, before conflict rising

I had citizenship—belonged to a people who looked like me, loved me, wanted me

Before you built your walls to keep me out

I lived in a house of walls that kept me in, kept me protected, kept me safe

Before your “go back to where you came from” trope

I belonged to a land that birthed me, fed me, wanted me

Before you raped my body as a weapon of your war

I gave myself freely to love, to receive love, to be loved

Before you snatched my children, ripped them from my arms, displaced them

I cuddled them, consoled them, pampered them

Before you call me refugee

I have a name, I have an identity, I am a human being 

2022 ©DeeMin All rights reserved

World Refugee Day 2022
This year, the theme for World Refugee Day is ‘Whoever, Whatever, Whenever. Everyone has the right to seek safety.’ It means that every refugee should be welcomed and treated with dignity regardless of their birthplace, origin, race or religion.

Five facts about refugees around the world:

  • 83 percent of refugees have taken shelter in developing countries. Over 40 percent of global refugees are children.
  • Over two-thirds of the total number of the world’s refugees have fled from just five countries- Syria, Venezuela, South Sudan, Afghanistan and Myanmar.
  • About 72 percent of refugees relocate to neighbouring countries. As per statistics by the United Nations, Turkey hosts the maximum number, with 3.6 million refugees while Columbia is in the second position with 1.8 million refugees.
  • More than 6 million refugees live in camps which offer immediate protection and assistance to people who were forced to flee their homes due to persecution, war or violence. One of the world’s largest refugee camp is at Dadaab in Kenya where more than 329,000 people are housed.

Thank you for journeying along.

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In creative solidarity, Dee

Refugee ©Dawn Minott

On By Dawn MinottIn Poetry47 Comments

Walking for days

Days in cold, sleet and rain—away

Away from ways

Ways of life that’s changing

Changing all around

Around me faster

Faster than my mind can conceive

Conceive that war

War is raging

Raging in my homeland

Homeland no longer home

Home no longer land

Land I love, I defend

Defend to the very end

End of the road I arrive

Arrive in a new place, not home, I stand

Stand, I will not fall

Also published on Spillwords

Today marks 100 days since the invasion of Ukraine which has now displaced 8 million people within their country while 6 million refugee movements have been registered. The world’s focus is primarily on Ukraine, understandably. This piece is drawing attention to the fact that there are over 100 million refugees the world all over—a number reached for the first time on record. This is a record that never should have been set. “Let there be peace on earth.”

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In creative solidarity, Dee