• Home
• -System
• Articles

Thuong, Roving reporter

Refugee Realities

On Friday 22 February 2008, Australia's first ever simulated refugee camp opened to the public in Melbourne at Gasworks Arts Park. Organised by Oxfam Australia, Refugee Realities has given visitors an insight into the issues confronting refugees and how humanitarian agencies assist displaced people in achieving their basis rights in crisis.

Project Coordinator Stephanie Cousins says, "The aim of this project is to educate Australians about refugee rights and experiences, so as to increase empathy and understanding in the community, and improve Australia's commitment to protecting refugee rights at home and around the world."

What is Refugee Realities?

Refugee Realities is a simulation-based exercise designed to put visitors in the position of a refugee searching for safety and protection in a camp. It incorporates moving image, improvised theatre, audio-visual, photographic artforms, real humanitarian supplies and equipment as well as an ongoing online project to document the various realities refugees face.

According to Cousins, "Refugee Realities is a way of giving people a compelling experience they can use to identify and empathise with the refugee experience, without having the misfortune of really going through such experiences."

Visitors experienced a two-hour tour that took them through some of the experiences that refugees around the world experience every day. The tour included:

• Navigating a minefield
• Negotiating with border guards
• Issuing of rations (food and other provisions)
• Building shelter with tarpaulins and bamboo
• Finding relatives through a family tracing service
• Collecting water from tanks

"We hope people who have gone through the experience will use their understanding and empathy to do their bit to support refugees and asylum seekers, as well as demand our government protects the rights of refugees in Australia and abroad."

How would you survive as a refugee?

Each year more than 30 million people flee their homes to seek refuge from conflict and natural disasters. The livelihoods of many are destroyed and families are torn apart. Their immediate needs are to find shelter, water and food. Often they are left with no choice but to live in camps which are usually occupied by thousands of people. Unfortunately, many Australians do not know about the rights displaced peoples have in crisis situations.

Cousins's passion for social issues is inspired by her Irish heritage and in particular her mother who is never reluctant to speak out about injustice.

"Refugee rights protection is an important global and local issue and we felt it was an area not well understood by the Australian public. Part of the reason for this is that as a prosperous and safe nation we feel far removed from the trauma of conflict and displacement."

Refugee Game for Change

The Refugee Game for Change is a mobile phone console playable game about Aissa, a refugee who has to flee conflict in Darfur with her four children. Aissa has to navigate a minefield, guerillas, and seek food and water for herself and her children.

The aim of the game is to generate debate and discussion particularly amongst young people about refugee and conflict issues. The game asks the user to imagine themselves fleeing the conditions Aissa finds herself in, and to think about how fair it is that people are forced to flee for their lives.

Cousins says "Oxfam Australia is always trying to develop innovative ways to engage the Australian public in relevant social justice issues."

Games for Change (G4C) (new window) is a movement dedicated to using computer and video games to educate people about social issues and encourage social action. Games offer a new medium to engage the community in the promotion of refugee rights.

"Once the user completes the game they are reminded that this is not just a game, but a reality for millions of people around the world."

Get involved

Cousins became involved through volunteering with Oxfam Australia on a bunch of similar projects leading up to Refugee Realities.

"My background was in public policy and human rights as well as refugee rights - so the concept of Refugee Realities, which was developed by Oxfam's Humanitarian Advocacy Coordinator, Brendan Ross, was immediately appealing to me. In my experience that lack of empathy and understanding about refugee experiences leads to serious distrust in the community of people who are of refugee backgrounds and it gives the media and the public the license to ignore serious human rights atrocities and humanitarian crises around the world."

She hopes that people will walk away with a new or renewed sense of awareness that they have the power to promote peace and the protection of refugees through social and community action.

For more information about refugee issues and how you can get involved, including the Refugee Game for Change, visit the Oxfam Refugee Realities website.

BACK TO MORE ARTICLES