Activity 5
The Crossing Aim: To explore the journey undertaken by many refugees as they travel towards Europe, while exploring the human rights abuses suffered on this journey and on arrival. To consider what is involved in the journeys undertaken by refugees across the Mediterranean Sea. For participants to gain some notion of the physical and psychological stress involved whilst remaining in a safe and supportive environment. For participants to be empowered by their experience, and to use this feeling to promote solidarity. Age: 12+
Goals:
Time: 40+ mins Materials: Small squares of paper/ post its (three for every participant), Photocopies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (page 46), A4 paper, markers, and pens.
The idea of the workshop is to give the group an opportunity to consider the journey undertaken by many people as they flee their homeland. To provide them with some statistics in this regard and to support them to physically visualise an example of the type of boat used by many refugees. Step 1: Create a layout in the space you are working in that represents the size of a boat that many refugees would travel in on the journey across the sea. An example would be a 12 metre rubber boat used by many refugees. The Irish Navy saved 123 people from such a boat in the Med in 2015. If you scale down according to group size, a group of 30 would need a marked out space of 10ft length and 2.5ft width. Step 2: Invite the group to get inside the dimensions as you have laid them out on the floor. Tell them that this is a refugee boat and that they would travel in such a boat across the sea. To help set the scene you can explain that it’s a rubber dinghy and ask if anyone
has been in one before? You might ask if anyone has been on a bigger boat and contrast that this one has no facilities, no staff, no safety equipment and possibly no life-vest. Step 3: Read out some/all of the following facts as the group sit quietly. You are trying to give them a picture and a sense of the scale of movement that we are going to be talking about in the wider sense and also some reasons for moving. ••
Many refugees reach Europe by boat. Common channels crossed are Morocco to Spain, Turkey to Greece and Egypt/Libya to Italy: www.data.unhcr. org/mediterranean/regional.php
••
The Sea crossed by many refugees is the Mediterranean, which is surrounded on the north by Southern Europe, on the South by North Africa and on the East by Levant.
••
Reasons for leaving Syria --
Rebel groups/ Government forces took control of my town
--
The cost of living inside Syria became too high
22
PX1970 Global Rights Resource FINAL.indd 22
11/10/16 10:06 PM
