Refugee Week is a UK-wide festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary. Founded in 1998 and held every year around World Refugee Day on the 20 June, Refugee Week is also a growing global movement.
Through a programme of arts, cultural, sports and educational events alongside media and creative campaigns, Refugee Week enables people from different backgrounds to connect beyond labels, as well as encouraging understanding of why people are displaced, and the challenges they face when seeking safety. Refugee Week is a platform for people who have sought safety in the UK to share their experiences, perspectives and creative work on their own terms.
Refugee Week’s vision is for refugees and asylum seekers to be able to live safely within inclusive and resilient communities, where they can continue to make a valuable contribution.
Podcast: BBC (April 2023) Princess: Leila Pahlavi - in this episode of the Princess podcast, presented by Anita Anand, hear the tragic story of Leila Pahlavi, the last Princess of Imperial Iran, who spent most of her life living in exile. With guests Shaparak Khorsandi and Andew Scott Cooper.
Podcast: BBC (April 2023) Thinking Allowed: Asylum and 'home' - in this episode of the Thinking Allowed podcast, presented by Laurie Taylor explores the impact of asylum dispersal and Syrian refugees' quest for home. With guests Dr Jonathan Darling (University of Durham) and Professor Vicki Squire (University of Warwick).
Book: Gulwali Passarlay (2019) The Lightless Sky: My Journey to Safety as a Child Refugee - a gripping, inspiring, and eye-opening memoir of a twelve-year-old boy's traumatic flight from Afghanistan that puts a face to a shocking and devestating humanitarian crisis.
Book: Thanhhà Lai (2023) Inside Out & Back Again - inspired by Thanhhà's childhood experience as a refugee fleeing Vietnam after the fall of the Saigon and immigrating to Alabama in the United States. This coming of age novel told in verse has been celebrated for its touching child's-ete view of family and immigration.
Book: Khaled Hosseini (2018) Sea Prayer - a short, powerful, illustrated book written in response to the refugee crisis, Sea Prayer is composed in the form of a letter, from a father to his son, on the eve of their journey.
Book: Francesca Sanna (2016) The Journey - this beautifully illustrated book explores the unimaginable decisions made as a family leave thier home and everything they know to escape the turmoil and tradgey brought by war.
Book: Viet Thanh Nguyen (2018) The Refugees - this book gives voice to lives led between two worlds, the adopted homeland and the country of birth. The stories are a captivating testament to the dreams and hardships of immigration.
Book: Linda Sue Park (2010) A Long Walk to Water - a short novel based on the true story of Salva, one of some 3,800 Sudanese “Lost Boys” airlifted to the United States beginning in the mid 1990s, told side-by-side with the story of Nya, a young girl who lives today in one of those villages.
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Warwick is a University of Sanctuary
Higher Education Institutions in the UK have a proud and radical tradition of supporting refugees and people in the asylum system. The University of Sanctuary award recognises commitment to creating a culture of safety, solidarity, and empowerment for people seeking sanctuary within, and beyond, university campuses. Warwick has been recognised as a University of Sanctuary since 2017.
