I was first introduced to refugees in a class I took my sophomore year entitled Citizenship. The class soon became one that not just introduced me to an entirely new perspective but also changed the rest of my F&M career (and to a large degree – my future career ambitions). In the class – I was paired with another student, Alegra, and together we were given the task of helping a newly resettled family. In class – we discussed the philosophical and political meaning of what it means to be a citizen, and in real life – we worked hard to ease the adjustment to life in America for the new immigrants. For the first time – I felt as though I was having a real impact on the life of another person. It was during my time as a volunteer that I witnessed the many struggles that refugee families face in Lancaster. It was clear that a few organizations were working around the clock – but it just was not enough. I could see my own refugee family – and the families that the other students had in the class – were struggling in employment, education, housing and so much more. It was clear that Lancaster was responding to a certain degree to the new influx of 600 immigrants but the specific organizations were not equipped to efficiently handle all of the culture-sensitive need.
So – the only thing I could think to do was to volunteer (maybe raise funds? Or coats?) and to ease the adjustment for one refugee or family at a time. A year and a half later (now the spring of my junior year) we were given an opportunity to help write a grant for a vulnerable population in Lancaster in another Professor Dicklitch course, V.I.T.A. Social In/Justice in Lancaster. So working along side a group of fellow VITA site coordinators and Church World Service, we created the idea of a refugee conference. We would use F&M resources of space and volunteers to create a space where all of the service providers that are helping address refugee needs are brought together and given the opportunity to discuss current methods and future. Once we were awarded the $15,000 grant from the Lancaster Community Foundation, we started planning the conference: It Takes A Community: Optimizing Refugee Resettlement in Lancaster. The conference will be the final event for Human Rights Week 2012 on Friday March 30th.
Working with some incredible THRI leaders (Anna(x2), Claire, and Katie) and a really great team of F&M volunteers we have spent this year planning the refugee conference. If you are intersed in volunteering please visit this site. If you are interested in finding more out about the conference, visit the website!
Hello and thank you for this really interesting article. Let me say a couple of words about UNRWA activities.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) defines a Palestine refugee as a person “whose normal place of residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948, who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict”. The descendants of the original Palestine refugees in the male line “are also eligible for registration.” UNRWA aids all “those living in its area of operations who meet this definition, who are registered with the Agency and who need assistance”[5] and those who first became refugees as a result of the Six-Day War, regardless whether they reside in areas designated as Palestine refugee camps or in other permanent communities. A Palestine refugee camp is “a plot of land placed at the disposal of UNRWA by the host government to accommodate Palestine refugees and to set up facilities to cater to their needs”. Today, 58 UNRWA recognised refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank habor only “one-third of the registered Palestine refugees, more than 1.4 million.” The UNRWA definition does not cover final status. In many cases UNHCR provides support for the children of Palestine refugees too.
Registered descendants of UNRWA Palestine refugees are, like “Nansen passport” and “Certificate of Eligibility” holders (the documents issued those displaced by World War II) and UNHCR refugees are inherited the same UNRWA Palestine refugee status as their male parent.
Based on the UNRWA definition, the number of original Palestine refugees has declined from 711,000 in 1950 to an estimated 30 to 50,000 in 2012. According to Bogumil Terminski from the University of Geneva the original Palestinian diaspora is about 65,000. An estimated 5 million Palestine refugees are registered in total in 2012. In 2012 the number of registered descendants of male parents of the original Palestine refugees, based on the UNRWA registration requirements, are an estimated 4,950,000.