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Pandemic Pushes World Refugee Day Celebrations Online

Aline Barros

   WASHINGTON - Ekhlas Ahmed is a high school teacher in Portland, Maine,
   coping with the new reality of virtual classrooms. She is also a former
   Sudanese refugee and is one of many people working on the frontlines in
   the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

   The 28-year-old has been shopping for groceries for her neighbors,
   hosting monthly calls to communicate critical information about the
   pandemic to community members, and offering a space for others to share
   their pandemic experiences.

   "I dedicated my life to being a community organizer. I do whatever it
   takes to make my community better," Ahmed said, "We have a monthly
   conference call for people who are dealing with mental health or just
   want to talk."

   Ahmed also celebrates World Refugee Day, calling it a "humbling day."

   "It takes me back and I'm sure it takes many individuals back to how
   far they have come. '¦ If we want to define the word resilience, we
   should look more into the refugee stories," Ahmed said.

   Refugee advocates and activists are in fact hoping for a "unique" day
   of celebrations on [1]World Refugee Day. Between virtual concerts,
   online panels, film festivals, and cooking shows, celebrations will
   move forward on June 20.

   This year's theme, "Every Action Counts", highlights the contributions
   of [2]refugees and asylum seekers as essential workers, leaders and
   neighbors during the pandemic.

   Joung-ah Ghedini-Williams, head of global communications for the U.N.
   Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said many refugees have become an essential
   part of the fight against COVID-19.

   "We have lots of cases of refugees who are doing their part, either as
   essential workers, cleaning hospitals, providing support and care to
   vulnerable people like elderly or immunodeficient people or taking them
   their groceries, taking them their meals, checking in on them
   regularly," Ghedini-Williams told VOA.

   Ahmed said World Refugee Day is also a wake-up call to remember those
   who have been left behind.

   "It's a day of celebration. It's a day of reflection. And it's a day to
   remember that there's always a light at the end of the tunnel," she
   said.

   The U.N. refugee agency reports nearly 71 million people around the
   world have been forcibly displaced -- a record.

   World Refugee Day has been observed since 2001 by a resolution of the
   U.N. General Assembly that affirms solidarity with those displaced from
   their homes by persecution, famine or war.

   Ahmed's journey

References

   1. https://www.unhcr.org/refugeeday/wrd2020-events/
   2. https://www.unhcr.org/refugeeday/

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