Human rights groups at York are inviting students, faculty, and staff to experience the life of a refugee.
From January 7 to 9, Vari Hall will be transformed to simulate the living conditions and security issues faced by those living in refugee camps all over the world. The purpose of the exhibit is to raise awareness of the need for humanitarian aid in refugee camps.RefugeAid, Friends of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) at York, World University Service of Canada at York, UNICEF, and the Centre for Refugee Studies Student Caucus are the five organizations behind the event.
Samir Mourani, involved in planning the event, believes bringing awareness to what happens in refugee camps is extremely important.
“The refugee crisis is a growing world issue, one that is unsustainable,” says Mourani. “Until we find viable solutions for these refugees, they will continue to pose problems for host countries, for themselves, and there is a huge risk of generations upon generations of lost lives.”
Elements of a typical refugee camp are on display at this exhibit, including a life-sized tent and edible imitations of food available at these camps, as well as photographs of a Malawian refugee camp taken by graduate student Heather Donald.
With recent conflict in Syria having displaced over 2.3 million people, Mourani is concerned York students, along with the general population, are blissfully ignorant.
“Talking to many students here at York, I [realized] they are completely unaware of what is happening,” says Mourani. “Thousands of students walk through Vari Hall every day to get to and from class; this allows for a large group of unexpecting observers.”
Danyka Nadeau, a music major who participated in the event, believes they are achieving their goal.
“Sometimes you need something this intrusive to really wake you up,” says Nadeau. “Stopping to check it out has definitely opened my eyes.”
The exhibit runs from from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. until January 9.
In addition to the refugee camp simulation, a student will be speaking about his real-life experience in refugee camps. Jonathan Jennings, a representative of MSF will also speak about his work with refugees globally on January 8 at 6 p.m. at the Underground.
Sarah Peterson
Contributor
