Refugees

Kiwis to eat the same rations as Syrian refugees for a week

April 24, 2018

This week marks the launch of the Ration Challenge, a fundraising initiative which will see thousands of Kiwis eat a refugee’s rations for one week to raise money and awareness for Syrian refugees living in Jordan.

Ration Challenge asks Kiwis to eat the exact same rations as Syrian refugees receive for one week – just a small amount of rice, beans, lentils, fish, oil and flour.

The challenge aims to give New Zealanders a small taste of what refugees go through, while also raising money to support them.

An estimated 2,000 New Zealanders will take on the Ration Challenge this year which coincides with World Refugee Week (June 17 – June 24, 2017).

The idea for the Ration Challenge first emerged in December 2013, when Ration Challenge co-founders, Karen McGrath and Ben Littlejohn, visited Burmese refugee camps and witnessed first-hand the lack of food available for the refugees.

“I felt sick to the stomach at even the thought of living off such a small amount of food day in, day out, and it got me thinking what it would really be like to live on those rations,” said McGrath.

In 2018 the Ration Challenge has partnered with Oxfam New Zealand. Oxfam’s Executive Director Rachael Le Mesurier is excited to lead the launch of the initiative in New Zealand and give Kiwis a powerful way to show solidarity with refugees.

“The challenge is a practical, empowering and meaningful way Kiwis can raise money for Syrian refugees living in Jordan and in other parts of the world,” she says.

“The funds raised from the challenge will support Syrian refugees in Jordan by providing them with the food, medicine and psychosocial support they urgently need to survive, and will also help improve the lives of people living in poverty around the world.

“The Ration Challenge is more than just fundraising for much needed support for refugees. It’s an opportunity for us as Kiwis to show people living as refugees anywhere in the world that we stand together, and that we want to understand just a little of what they go through.

“It’s an important conversation starter – the challenge makes you want to talk to family and friends about it and take action to contribute to a more compassionate and just world,” said Le Mesurier.

The Ration Challenge has become a movement for change since 100 people first set out to live on the rations and raised $60,000. Internationally, tens of thousands of people have signed up to take part and together they’ve raised nearly $6 million dollars for Syrian refugees living in Jordan and other vulnerable communities around the world. Oxfam is excited to launch the Ration Challenge in New Zealand this year.

Registrants will begin receiving their ration packs containing all their rations over the coming weeks and will fundraise in the lead up to and throughout the official Ration Challenge week. Register for the challenge at www.rationchallenge.org.nz.

Women helping women survive and thrive in Bangladesh refugee camps

April 10, 2018

Blog written by AJM Zobaidur Rahman, Campaigns and Communications Officer, Oxfam in Bangladesh.

Photo: Maruf Hasan/Oxfam

Women helping women survive and thrive.

Rajiah, 46, fled violence near her home in Myanmar six months ago with her 15-year-old daughter. She is now living in a refugee camp in Bangladesh.

Rajiah is one of close to a million Rohingya people who have fled violence in Myanmar to seek refuge across the border in Bangladesh. This unprecedented number of refugees, of whom more than half are children, has caused a large-scale humanitarian crisis.

Rajiah has been surrounded by women throughout her life as the eldest of 10 sisters. She herself has five daughters, two of which are also in camps living as refugees in Bangladesh with their husbands, while the other two remain in Myanmar. Tragically, Rajiah’s husband disappeared when the violence broke out in Myanmar and Rajiah has no way of knowing where he is. Like so many women in the camp, Rajiah must head up her household alone.

Oxfam has come to know Rajiah as a leader when she was unanimously selected to represent her community during an Oxfam assessment of what their most pressing needs were. Rajiah is well educated and has been working with and for her community throughout her life. She told us that she delivered some 10,000 babies as a midwife in Myanmar.

Now, as a refugee in Bangladesh, she is making sure she puts her experience to good use and supports and provides information to the pregnant women in her community. Her name means “hope” – a true reflection of her personality and life’s work.

Rajiah brings leadership to Cox’s Bazar

Rajiah was born in a relatively affluent family in Myanmar. Education was an important part of her childhood, and her family made sure all the girls had eight years of schooling. Rajiah speaks particularly highly of her father, who she says was the greatest influence in her life.

Rajiah honed her leadership skills from a young age, starting at school as a class leader. Later, organisations who were working in her community, including the UN, selected Rajiah as one of their volunteers. She continued working as a health worker and played a major role in the vaccination process in her area, helping to prevent children dying needlessly from preventable illnesses.

Rajiah is outspoken and confident, a full believer in women’s roles outside the household. That way, she says, women can get knowledge and they can advance – and then other women can also come forward simply by seeing these role models. She is very keen on working and further helping her community, especially the women in her community.

Rajiah shares health information with a pregnant woman in her home in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Photo: Maruf Hasan/Oxfam

Oxfam is there

Oxfam is planning to organise women’s groups in the camps and Rajiah is the ideal person to lead this process in her community. With her leadership skills, kind and warm personality, she will undoubtedly make great progress with the women in the community.

Oxfam is also currently focusing on providing water and sanitation and adapting to better deal with the crowded conditions and sheer numbers of people. We are drilling wells and installing water points, toilets and showers.

We’re also helping people stay healthy and hygienic by distributing soap and other essentials and working with community-based volunteers to emphasise the importance of clean water and good hygiene, especially as monsoon season approaches.

So far, we have reached at least 185,000 people, and hope to reach more than 250,000 in the coming months.

Your support has been vital in this effort – thank you.

Rajiah on her rounds, walking through the refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Photo: Maruf Hasan/Oxfam

Oxfam helps Syrians to find safety without risking their lives at sea

April 27, 2017

Oxfam has joined a program to help Syrians find refuge in Europe. 60 people, including many families, will arrive in Italy today to seek asylum as part of a humanitarian visa programme approved by the Italian government. The people will be hosted by Oxfam in the Italian region of Tuscany for the duration of their asylum process.

Already more than 1,000 migrants killed or missing in the Mediterranean in 2017

April 25, 2017

Already more than 1,000 people have been reported dead or missing in 2017 while trying to cross the Mediterranean in search for a life in safety and dignity, figures published today by two UN agencies show. Also today, the European Court of Auditors has criticized appalling gaps in the EU’s ‘hotspot’ approach for receiving migrants.

In response, Oxfam International’s Deputy Director for Advocacy and Campaigns, Natalia Alonso, said:

On the death of migrants in the Mediterranean:

“The people who try to reach Europe are often desperate in their search for a life in safety and dignity for themselves and their families. For many, risking their lives in unseaworthy boats is the only option to escape violence, disasters and poverty.

“So far, EU member states have relied on shutting down their borders. But this does not stop people from looking for safety, dignity and a better life. On the contrary, the lack of safe and regular routes to reach Europe pushes many to rely on smugglers and increases the suffering of people.

“EU member states must expand safe and regular alternatives for people in need, so they are not forced to risk their lives in search of safety and dignity.”

On the Court of Auditors report:

“The suffering of migrants does not stop with the dangerous sea crossing. This new report confirms how many people, are forced to live in inadequate conditions, with children’s welfare in many cases put at risk. Oxfam’s own research in Greece and Italy has shown how people in ‘hotspots’ are caught in legal limbo and confusion, with their basic human rights being trampled on.

“EU member states must rethink their approach to managing migration, moving away from detention and harsh conditions to providing fair and transparent asylum procedures, decent accommodation and better access to basic services such as healthcare.”

Notes to editors:

Per the latest update of the UN refugee agency UNHCR on 25 April, 1,092 people have died or gone missing this year while trying to cross the Mediterranean in search for a life in safety and dignity.
The ‘Missing Migrants’ project of the International Organization for Migration has recorded 1,089 migrants dead or missing per 25 April.
Oxfam, together with IRC and NRC, has exposed the sometimes horrific situation of migrants on Greek islands, many of them living in EU ‘hotspots’.
An Oxfam report on Italy showed last year that EU ‘hotspots’ have been operating without a clear legal framework, shutting people out of the asylum system and leaving them stranded and even more vulnerable.
Europe is also failing refugee and migrant children arriving through Italy, an Oxfam report exposed in September 2017.
Read more about Oxfam’s work with refugees and other migrants in Europe and across the globe.