Refugee Crisis

Bríd Dunne for Irish Jesuit Mission Office Page 1 of 8 Development Education Lesson Plans Series

Literacy: Refugee, Migrant, Forced Migration, Asylum Seeker, Advocacy, Global Citizen (see accompanying handout)

Numeracy: Statistics, ratio, per capita, capacity, area and volume

Overview

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

• Students will develop a greater appreciation for the complexity of the refugee crisis

• Begin to evaluate responses from national and international agencies

• Consider what is the Christian response to such acrisis

• Reflect on the call of the Gospels to be people for others

• Develop opportunities for age appropriate action within the school and wider community

RESOURCES:

• Brief Introduction to Syrian Refugee Crisis www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJQPeb8WI7g&feature=youtu.be

• Further Explanation of Syrian Refugee Crisis- Hans Roseling www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_QrIapiNOw

• Why Boat Refugees Don’t Fly www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO0IRsfrPQ4

• Humanity Washed Ashore www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8Pubq2rsf4

• Syrian Boy Deserves better than Voyeurism www.irishtimes.com/opinion/breda-o-brien-syrian-boy-deserves-better-than-moment-of-voyeurism-1.2340458

• Refugee or Migrant: Which is right? www.unhcr.ie/news/irish-story/unhcr-viewpoint-refugee-or-migrant-which-is-right

• Open Letter to Anyone Who Talked Down The Refugee Crisis http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/an-open-letter-to-anyone-who-ever-talked-down-the-refugee-crisis--Wk3nGnnurx

• Should this image have been used at all? www.irishtimes.com/culture/photography/should-this-image-have-been-shown-at-all-should-we-have-used-it-on-page-one-1.2339004

• Fr. Frans Van der Lught SJ, was assonated in Homs, Syria on the 7th of April 2014. This is his story. http://www.icatholic.ie/fr-frans-van-der-lugt-sj/

• Will this photo define our era? www.express.co.uk/news/uk/602720/migrant-crisis-dead-Syrian-boy-Napalm-Girl

• Raising A Generation for Peace in Syria https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/raising-generation-peace-syria?mc_cid=73039660c3&mc_eid=f970adfb36

No. of lessons: 4-5

See Critically

EvaluateEthically

ReflectSpiritually

ActEffectively

Refugee Crisis

Bríd Dunne for Irish Jesuit Mission Office Page 2 of 8 Development Education Lesson Plans Series

See Critically

• Show the following Youth For Human Rights video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh3BbLk5UIQ&list=PLCDEA2A9A2B909933

• You might like to mention Catholic Social Teaching precedes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Calls for Justice, dignity and option from the poor steams from OT to NT

• Examples of justice as right relationships are God’s ‘steadfast love’ (Hos 6:6) which requires us to ‘do justice’ (Mic 6:8), to ensure that all are treated as his chosen people. God commands us to “love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Deut 10:19). Justice permeates through the teachings and example of Jesus, but He also preaches a new social order in the Kingdom of God giving special blessings to “those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” and to “the merciful” (Mt 5: 6-7). Thus justice as right relationship with God and one another is a central element of the Christian faith.

• Expressed in the parables, Jesus unlocks the Kingdom of God as immanent and yet not complete. Striving to make visible the Kingdom of God on earth is bound to persevering in the face of injustice. In Luke (18:1-8) the parable of the persistent widow denotes trust in God in the face of adversity. Similarly, the prodigal son (15:11-32) espouses faith in the forgiving God. For Christians, the Kingdom of God is about God’s saving power written into human history in a new way as exemplified by healing, (Mt 4:14) forgiveness, (Mt 18:21-22) and table fellowship (Lk 15:2), summarised in love (1 Cor 13:13) that is transforming (Acts1:8).

• Ask the students for their responses to the #14 Right to Seek A Safe Place To Live www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKl4J1WQJ18&index=14&list=PL725FD1B2725728F6

• Where do the students see this issue present in the world today?

• Introduce the concept of refugee. Read the definition from the handout. Draw from students why people might become refugees

• Read the definition from the handout

• Ask the students to answer the following sentences

• When I say ‘migrant’ I mean…

• When I say ‘refugee’ I mean…

• Play the following clip which offers an interesting perspective onrefugees http://www.kuleuven.be/thomas/page/verder-kijken/eng/video/103978/

• Navigate the presentation (link below) pausing to explain difficult words (sound needed) https://prezi.com/oopubqldmd6i/syria-the-basics/

• Ask the students to note any concepts that are new and questions they are left with

FURTHER UNDERSTANDING

• Introduce the statistics on the handout

See Critically

EvaluateEthically

ReflectSpiritually

ActEffectively

‘Every time there is a noise everyone is afraid.’

Image from Youtube.com: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Refugee Crisis

Bríd Dunne for Irish Jesuit Mission Office Page 3 of 8 Development Education Lesson Plans Series

Evaluate Ethically

READ THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE WITH YOUR STUDENTS

• Gordon Linney: The Moral and Christian Challenge of the Refugee Crisis www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/the-moraland-christian-challenge-of-the-refugee-crisis-1.2324594

DISCUSS WITH YOUR STUDENTS THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

• What might the Christian response look like?

• What are the ethical implications for countries witnessing this crisis?

DIVIDE THE CLASS INTO THREE GROUPS.

• One group represents the International community/UN

• One group represents the EU

• One group represents Irish Government

• Ask the students to outline potential responses of each group to which they belong

• Nominate a spokes person to present to the widerclass

DEBRIEF QUESTIONS:

• Are their any drawbacks to these responses?

• How might these groups lessen against any drawbacks?

• Has the Christian response translated into each group’s response?

See Critically

EvaluateEthically

ReflectSpiritually

ActEffectively

Read

ReflectRespond

Refugee Crisis

Bríd Dunne for Irish Jesuit Mission Office Page 4 of 8 Development Education Lesson Plans Series

Reflect Spiritually

LEAD THE STUDENTS IN THE FOLLOWING ADAPTED EXAMEN

As you begin your prayer today, remember that you are in God’s holy presence. Become aware of how God gazes on you, tenderly. Ask God for guidance in your prayer.

Ask God to help you as you experience the reality of hurt in the world, its sinful structures, and our part in the world’s brokenness.

Reflect on the following:“The situations of injustice and poverty in the world of today are countless and dramatic and it is necessary to try and understand and combat in the heart of man the deeper causes of the evil that separate him from God, without forgetting to meet the more urgent needs in the spirit of the charity of Christ.” Pope Benedict XVI, from his address to the delegates of the Jesuit General Congregation 35, February 21, 2008.

“Our goal is not to amass information or to satisfy curiosity, but rather to become painfully aware, to dare to turn what is happening to the world into our own personal suffering and thus to discover what each of us can do about it.” Laudate Sí 2015 (19) Pope Francis.

Talk to God about your response to what you have learned and heard.

End your prayer with the Our Father, the prayer Jesus taught us or pray together

Lord God, no one is a stranger to you and no one is ever far from your loving care. In your kindness, watch over refugees; those separated from their loved ones, young people who are lost, and those who have fled their homeland.Help us always to show your kindness to strangers and to all in need Grant this through Christour Lord.

For further prayer resources see http://en.jrs.net/retreat?&l=1

See Critically

EvaluateEthically

ReflectSpiritually

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Refugee Crisis

Bríd Dunne for Irish Jesuit Mission Office Page 5 of 8 Development Education Lesson Plans Series

Act Effectively

HARVEST QUESTIONS AND IDEAS

• Keep a note of any difficult questions students have Feel free to contact bdunne@jesuitmissions.ie for additional support

• When students have ideas for action, note them down

IDEAS FOR ACTION

• Invite students to tweet about the crisis using an agreed hashtag

• Students can write to local TD’s urging a greater response to the crises

• Invite local politicians to a Q&A session with your class

• Sign a petition lobbying for greater action to be taken

• Join a solidarity group

• Host a red t-shirt day in remembrance of Alyan Kurdi and in solidarity with refugees globally

• Further inform yourself. Watch the news!

• Work on a Solidarity mural that can be updated as an awareness raising opportunity

• Talk about the crisis! Inform others

• Respond to agencies call for supplies

• Support the work of JRS Ireland and JRS International

• Find out more about refugees in your local community

• Consider how you might address stereotypes through a local campaign

See Critically

EvaluateEthically

ReflectSpiritually

ActEffectively

“It is violent to build walls and barriers to stop those who look for a place of peace. It is violent to push back those who flee inhuman conditions in the hope of a better future.”Pope Francis, Sun 6th Sept 2015

Refugee Crisis

Bríd Dunne for Irish Jesuit Mission Office Page 6 of 8 Development Education Lesson Plans Series

Student Handout

KEY WORDS AND DEFINITIONS

The Geneva Conventions are international treaties binding on all States, which have accepted them.

The 1951 Refugee Convention spells out that a refugee is someone who “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to suchfear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of thatcountry.”

Migrant: A person who moves from one place to another in order to find work or better living conditions.

Forced Migration is ‘a general term that refers to the movements of refugees and internally displaced people (those displaced by conflicts) as well as people displaced by natural or environmental disasters, chemical or nuclear disasters, famine, or development projects.’1

Asylum Seeker in the EU context, a person who has made an application for protection under the Geneva Convention in respect of which a final decision has not yet been taken.

Advocacy is a political process by an individual or group, which aims to influence decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions

A global citizen is someone who identifies with being part of an emerging world community and whose actions contribute to building this community’s values and practices.

Reflecting upon the social questions of the time, Catholic Social Teaching engages the church in a process of radical examination of our way of being in the world and our responsibilities towards others. “Catholic social teaching refers to a limited body of literature that is a response of the papal Episcopal teachers to the various political, economic and social issues of our time”.2

1 See more at: http://www.forcedmigration.org/about/whatisfm#sthash.p6o3MotP.dpuf For a full glossary of terms see European Migration Network http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we- do/networks/european_migration_network/docs/emn-glossary-en-versio.pdf

2 Kenneth R. Himes, ed., Modern Catholic Social Teaching, Comments and Interpretations(Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2004), 5.

Refugee Crisis

Bríd Dunne for Irish Jesuit Mission Office Page 7 of 8 Development Education Lesson Plans Series

Some Facts and Statistics

• 1n 2014, more than 250,000 men, women and children tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea.

• On average, over the past year, there has been 10 people have died every day trying to reach Italy, Greece and Spain by sea.

• Currently, 1,200,000 Syrian refugees are being accommodated by Lebanon, a country half the size of Munster.

• In October 2013, 366 people drowned when a boat sank close to Lampedusa. Italy began a rescue patrols. ‘Operation Mare Nostrum’ was funded by the EU and prevented thousands of deaths. The EU decided these patrols with their promise of rescue, were encouraging more migrants to attempt the crossing, and withdrew funding. After the death of 800 refugees in April 2015, the EU restored their funding to the rescue operation.

• In July 2015, the European Council meeting adopted a resolution on reallocating 40,000 people from Greece and Italy and resettling a further 22,504 displaced people from outside the EU. This will be formally adopted in September 2015.

• The member states failed to agree on how to distribute the asylum seekers and postponed the decision until the end of the year.

• In the meantime the situation worsens:

• Refugees and asylum seekers increasingly desperate continue to seek refuge in Europe, often using dangerous means to get there.

• Rescue missions on the Mediterranean continue

• Hungry is preparing to build at 13ft wall along its 109-mile boarder with Serbia to keep refugees out. Attempts to penetrate the fence will be punishable by up to 4 years inprison.

• 80% of arrivals to Europe come from the top 10 refugee producing countries.

Refugee Crisis

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The Jesuit Response

• 60% of all JRS International Resources focused on the Middle East and Syria for the past 3years.

• For the past 2 years, the Irish Jesuit Mission Office (IJMO) funds JRS Syria refugee projects in Jordan, Beirut and Allepo. These are mainly feeding and educationprogrammes.

• IJMO acts as a channel for government and donor money to support Syrian refugees through establishedprogrammes.

• Jesuits in Syria are supported in their advocacy work.

• IJMO is planning to fund a humanitarian response to support JRS offices in Macedonia as well as setting up supports in Greece and Hungry.

• JRS Ireland is developing a position paper to provide an evidence base and structural analysis of the current crisis. This will include commentary on resource needs for long and short-term integration ofrefugees.

• Jesuits and Jesuit works in Ireland continue to work with people on the margins either in direct provision or the homeless.