1. Stand As One Lesbos, Greece 16 February 2016
Early one morning in 2016, this small inflatable boat carrying around 50 people fleeing war and poverty arrived in Lesbos, Greece, from Turkey. After paying human traffickers around €1,000 per person (€800 for the over-60s or in bad weather), these people and many others risked their lives on a dangerous journey with no guarantees. Without proper safety equipment, they set sail with little idea about steering, often at night and in bad weather. Some were fortunate enough to land on beaches where groups of volunteers from across Europe were waiting to help them, while others arrived at empty, inhospitable cliffs. At least 1,237 refugees drowned at sea while making the journey between January and July 2018 alone. Altogether around 1 million people arrived in Europe by sea journeys like this in They continued to arrive through 2016, 2017 and 2018, although in smaller numbers. Between January and July 2018, 42,213 people made this dangerous journey.
Photo: Pablo Tosco/Oxfam. February 2016
Statistics
UNHCR (2018) – ‘Europe Situation’
Stand As One

2. A global issue Imvepi, Uganda
However the refugee emergency is a humanitarian crisis for the whole world, and 85% of refugees are hosted by the world’s least developed countries.
For example, by October 2017 conflict in South Sudan, one of the world’s poorest countries and far from many people’s attention, had forced 4.37 million people to flee their homes. By October 2017 just over 1 million of these 4.37 million people crossed the border and sought safety in neighbouring Uganda. Uganda is also a poor country, but has welcomed the large numbers of refugees arriving on its soil and now hosts the largest number of refugees of any African country. By the end of 2018 this number of refugees is projected to rise by around a further 323,000 people.
This photograph shows South Sudanese refugees arriving at Imvepi in Uganda.
Photo: Kieran Doherty/Oxfam. June 2017
Statistics
UNHCR (2018)
Imvepi,
Uganda
A global issue

3. 25 per cent Bekaa Valley, Lebanon 26 January 2016
In Europe the refugee emergency we hear about the most is Syria. However just like South Sudan, it’s Syria’s neighbours who host the majority of the people forced to flee the Syrian conflict.
For example in 2017 one quarter of the population of Lebanon was a refugee. Lebanon is a small country but is hosting over 1 million refugees. Many of them are Palestinian refugees whose families have lived in Lebanon since The most recent refugees from Syria live in informal settlements like this one in the Bekaa Valley, or squeezed onto unused land and empty buildings across the country.
Photo: Sam Tarling/Oxfam. January 2016
Statistics
UNHCR (2018) – ‘Global Trends. Forced Displacement in 2017’
25 per cent

4. A European issue Belgrade, Serbia February 2017
Refugees are also a European issue
For example these refugees are living in derelict warehouses behind the main railway station in Belgrade, Serbia. Lack of space in government accommodation facilities, coercion by smugglers and fear of deportation by authorities have pushed them in inhumane and degrading conditions. Camping in ill-adapted shelters, they have been exposed to freezing temperatures throughout the winter. All of them have unsuccessfully attempted to cross the border into Hungary or Croatia. Many have suffered physical abuse from the police while trying.
Many people have called the recent arrival of refugees into Europe ‘the biggest refugee crisis since World War 2.’ It has certainly placed strains and tensions on Europe’s governments, meaning that large numbers of refugees have been stranded without a clear future or legal status in places like the one in this photo. However the recent refugees arriving in Europe represent only 0.2% of the European Union’s total population.
Photo: Miodrag Ćakić/Info Park, February 2017
Belgrade, Serbia
February 2017
A European issue

5. 51% children The Serbia-Macedonia border 8 February 2016
In 2016 children made up, for the first time, over half of the world’s 22.5m refugees. Children make up around 1/3 of the world’s population, so they are significantly over represented in the refugee population.
In 2017, European countries recorded 209,756 asylum claims by children. This represents a drop from 2016, when 396,740 children claimed asylum in Europe. But children still make up more than 30% of all asylum seekers in Europe. 20,000 of these children arrived in Europe unaccompanied by an adult.
Think about this for a moment. We’re talking about 20,000 children – of whom you’d be among the oldest – making long, arduous and dangerous journeys by themselves. Once they reach their destination who will they live with? Who will look after them?
Ask: why do you think the number of child refugees is so high?
(No single answer. Some answers are; parents send their children ahead for safety, parents only have money to pay for the journeys of their children, parents may be conscripted or otherwise forced to stay behind, families may be separated during hazardous escapes, schools are closed so it makes sense for children to leave, etc)
Photo: Pablo Tosco/Oxfam. February 2016
Statistics:
UNICEF (2016) – ‘Uprooted. The Growing Crisis for Refugee and Migrant Children’
UNICEF (2018) – ‘Latest statistics and graphics on refugee and migrant children’
51% children

6. Family reunion Mosul, Iraq November 2016
The high number of child refugees may not be that surprising. When families flee their homes in total fear they may often become separated from one another in the rush to escape. Parents may prioritise their children and send them ahead. Family members may even end up fleeing to different countries. The United Nations Convention on Human Rights states everyone has the right to asylum, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states the right of all children to family life.
Despite these protections, UK law restricts the rights of refugee families to be reunited on arrival here in the UK. Oxfam’s ‘Stand As One’ campaign asks the British government to provide greater help to reunite divided families when there are already family members settled in the UK.
UK law currently states
a refugee settled in the UK may sponsor their husband, wife or same-sex partner to join them
a parent may sponsor their children under 18 to join them
Ask: can you think of any examples of family reunion not covered by the current UK law?
Some of the restrictions are
A child may not bring a parent into the UK
It is very difficult to bring family members who are not spouses or children into the UK – eg: children over 18, cousins, nephews
It is very difficult for people on the move or in refugee camps to get legal aid or do the necessary paperwork
- A British citizen may not bring a child or spouse seeking asylum into the UK (However a refugee can)
The photograph shows relatives embracing when they were reunited at a refugee camp outside Mosul, Iraq.
Photo: Hassan Sham/Oxfam. November 2016
Mosul, Iraq
November 2016
Family reunion

7. A change in the law? The Houses of Parliament
On Friday 16 March 2018, the Refugees (Family Reunion) Bill passed its second reading in the House of Commons with 129 MPs voting in its support. This bill would give refugees many of the rights to family reunion you’ve just discussed and which Oxfam and other charities are asking for.
The bill is a Private Members Bill. This means it is sponsored by an individual MP (in this case Angus MacNeil of the Scottish National Party) and not the government. It is more difficult for a Private Members Bill to become law because the government and opposition do not ‘whip’ (or tell) their MPs to vote and support it. It’s MPs’ free choice whether to attend the debate and vote. Therefore, the Bill achieving its second reading with the support of 129 MPs was a major achievement for campaigners and the MPs involved.
The next steps are for the Bill to become law are the committee stage and then its final third reading. The earliest the Bill could reach the committee stage is October 2018 but this may not occur until early 2019.
However, in the meantime, the Home Secretary Sajid Javid has the power to make the changes called for in the Bill without any new legislation, and the new Immigration Bill proposed in the Queen’s Speech could also be amended by MPs with clauses to support family reunion. The white paper for the Immigration Bill has been delayed several times and in July 2018 we were still waiting for it to be published.
Photo:
The Houses of Parliament
A change in the law?

8. Home Is…. Your message goes here….
Here’s how you can have your say and support family reunion.
Print off the ‘Home Is…’ templates or, better still, design your own.
Home should be a place of safety, security and togetherness for every family. However this is not yet the case for refugee families, many of whom have been separated by conflict and persecution. Think of what home means to you and your family. Then write your message to your MP on the template.
When you’ve all finished we’re going to collect your messages and give them to your MP, calling on her or him to support family reunion in Parliament.
Home Is….

9. Thank you  Ask: what do you think this photo shows?
I’m going to leave you with this image. Earlier we discussed the dangerous sea journeys refugees make to cross the Mediterranean Sea and reach Europe. This is what the new arrivals in Europe leave behind as they walk away from the beach and begin their long journeys by land – hundreds upon hundreds of flimsy life jackets have been abandoned on this beach alone.
Think of the experiences of each person who wore one of these lifejackets. Remember more than 30% of them are children, and thousands have travelled unaccompanied on their own without a parent or family member. Think of the conflicts and terror they’ve left behind, and think about the journeys still ahead of them – the dangers, the uncertainty and the insecurity.
Then think about the Home Is… message you’ll write, and think about what you’ll say to your friends and schoolmates to get them involved too.
Thank you
Photo: Pablo Tosco/Oxfam. February 2016
Thank you 