The Refugee Crisis

Trish Becker-Hafnor is a Colorado kid, who just completed her Masters in Social Work at the University of Washington. For two years, she lived and worked in a Burmese refugee camp in Thailand, coordinating a public health program, providing training, and fundraising for disaster relief. She has also worked in refugee mental health in the US, providing trauma-focused therapy for resettled refugees from around the world. She is passionate about social justice, positivity and the power of community to create change and will be sharing her expertise and experience on refugee issues with us during Forced to Flee.

This year’s “Forced to Flee” tour is dedicated to bringing awareness to refugee issues throughout the world and promoting activism among the Calling All Crows community. For the next five weeks, the Crows’ Nest blog will feature articles discussing the complex elements of the refugee experience, from conflicts affecting communities across the globe, to the challenges of living in a foreign country after resettlement. Please join CAC in our mission to create awareness by learning and sharing these blogs, joining us on the tour, and promoting justice and human rights for all.

Currently, there are over 51.2 million forcibly displaced people in countries throughout the world. The current conflict in Syria is the “biggest humanitarian emergency of our era,” and there is unprecedented need for global action to promote nonviolence and support for those who have been displaced. At this moment, nearly 16 million people wait in refugee camps around the world, 30 million seek refuge from violence within the borders of their own nations, and hundreds of thousands struggle to adapt to a life in a foreign country after being resettled. 

The statistics are staggering, but still must be placed within the context of the individual lives and experiences; collective stories of refuge and of resilience. Ahmed,* a policeman from Iraq who has lived in the US for five years, still jumps at the sound of passing trucks as it stirs vivid memories of being attacked in front of his home as his family watched from inside. Mu Paw, an 80-year-old widow in a rural Burmese village looks upon the ashes of what once was her home and all of her possessions, knowing that she has no resources to rebuild and no family to stand beside her amidst the rubble. And Esmeralda, a young female activist from Kenya spends her nights fearing footsteps beyond her locked door, as sexual violence plagues the unstable environments of war torn cities, refugee camps and border towns.

Calling All Crows encourages its supporters to become informed on the global refugee crisis, and to take action both locally and globally. The first step in activism is always to listen. We encourage you to seek out individuals in your local communities and learn about their experiences of being forced to flee. You can be involved, on a local level, by volunteering with resettlement organizations, refugee communities and ESL classes. You can continue to advocate for justice and human rights abroad with international human rights organizations, and by bringing awareness to your own networks. Finally, you can join Calling All Crows in our pre-show service projects and fundraising efforts for aid to Syrian refugees. Thank you, as always, for being a part of the movement.

For more information on the global refugee crisis, please visit www.unhcr.org. 

*Names and other identifying information have been changed to protect the individual’s privacy.