Yahoo News 'Don't listen to the lies - think about what it's really like to be a refugee'
A Liverpool based charity is taking part in the world’s largest arts and culture festival.
Asylum Link Merseyside (ALM) are contributing to the celebrations for Refugee Week with activities, fundraising and a 93 mile sponsored walk up Mount Snowdon. Established in 1998, this annual festival aligns with World Refugee Day and is celebrated globally on June 20.
Rory Goldring, project leader from Action Asylum will take part in the sponsored walk with members Mori and Ernie. Refugee Week is the high point of Asylum Link’s year.
READ MORE: Get information on summer events sent straight to your phone
ALM’s manager Ewan Roberts told the ECHO: "Think about being a refugee, it means you have to come from somewhere and go somewhere else to be safe. In the media we get images of people in boats or the backs of lorries, that’s only 10% of the story.
"The things that go along with that are why do people do that, why do people cram themselves into tiny spaces to cross borders? You don't do that for nothing, you only do that if you’re fleeing from something serious.
"Refugee Week is the high point of our year and we work towards it. Every year we do a BBQ, a chance for people to come here, taste food from around the world and actually meet asylum seekers and refugees, because the two terms get twisted a lot".
Through a programme of events, activities and media campaigns, Refugee Week runs from June 17 - 23 bringing together people from various backgrounds to connect beyond the labels of asylum seeker or refugee and helps them gain a deeper understanding of why people are displaced and the challenges faced when seeking safety. Everyone is welcome to get involved by supporting events or hosting their own activities to celebrate, welcome and fundraise for refugee organisations and charities.
Ewan said: "When they’re here, what’s their contribution from that point onwards? People contribute to this country way beyond what the general public thinks. I’m looking at Ernie and Mori on this walk, they want to give something back".
Mori said: "This is a very small thing I can do for the charity. They gave me light when I was in darkness, cared about me like I’m family, taught me as a new born person who couldn’t speak (and) reminded me that I still matter”.
He said he volunteers "to find the meaning of life as an asylum seeker in a new world without family, friends etc. You don't see the world through the eyes of an asylum seeker until you are an asylum seeker".
Ewan added: "People should find out; don't sit in a pub, don't listen to the likes of [Nigel] Farage spouting rubbish. Find out a bit more about it.
"It had to be bad for you to come here. People look at that adversity and decide we’re not just going to sit there, we’re going to go forward and make something new.
"All these terms that go with refugees it's to cover something up; cover up the fact they’re someone’s mum, someone’s dad. The person you're looking at might be a refugee, but could also be a gardener, a table tennis player, a professor or a tailor.
"They don't have to be any particular thing to be a refugee, you just have to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. People should go onto websites like Asylum Link, the Refugee Council or UNHCR and find out.
"It’s interesting we’re watching television or reading the news about war in Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Myanmar and all these other horrible things that are happening. Yet, we’re very surprised when they turn up at our door, I don’t understand that way of thinking.
"If it was awful here, we would leave and go somewhere else. We wouldn’t just sit and let it happen to us”.
Action Asylum is a national initiative that enables people seeking asylum to join volunteering and activities alongside local people. Most don’t have the means to pursue their interests, so they try to help make their interests possible.
Rory and two members will do a sponsored walk for ALM over four days. They'll walk 93 miles, camp along the way, walk up and down Mount Snowdon and then commute back to Liverpool.
He said: "We're doing that to raise funds for ALM, so it can continue to provide valuable support for people seeking asylum in Merseyside. All people should have the right to live safe from persecution and have the means to a good life.
“Unfortunately war, climate change, political struggles and persecution mean that many don't have the ability to do that in the country they live in. When they come to this country, the government makes things actively difficult for refugees for political reasons to position themselves as tough.
“What that creates is misery, poverty and destitution on a huge scale. People don't have the means to feed themselves, they’re on as little as £9 per week and often nothing if their support is revoked.
“Refugee Week is about shining a light on that systemic injustice and making the case for people to be able to live freely and free from persecution."
For sponsorship donations visit HERE for Asylum Link information visit HERE
The Liverpool Daily Post newsletter delves into the biggest stories on Merseyside
Enter our £1,500 Aldi voucher giveaway and host a sizzling barbecue to remember!
