Refugee Week: A Time For Stories, On and Off the Page

Sunday 16 June to Saturday 22 June is Refugee Week in Australia, which coincides with World Refugee Day on June 20. Refugee Week is Australia’s peak annual activity to raise awareness about the issues affecting refugees and to celebrate the positive contributions made by refugees to Australian society. 

This year the theme is A world of stories. An important program this week is share a meal, share a story, where you can meet with a refugee and hear his or her story. Storytelling provides a way for us to connect, which is why it’s an excellent time to reflect on the power of reading to help us learn about the refugee experience.

Books provide a portal into other people’s lives and worlds, and great writing can be the key to feeling empathy and connection with people who at first glance might seem far removed from our own lives. What becomes unimaginable, becomes relatable – perhaps not specifically the events experienced but certainly the feelings and trauma associated with the events. We can relate. We understand. We feel empathy. And in that moment, the world becomes smaller, and people become more connected. We find our humanity.

A recent example of this is No Friend but the Mountains by Behrouz Boochani (and translated by Omid Tofighian). At first glance it might seem difficult to relate to Behrouz, a Kurdish journalist who fled Iran and wrote his award-winning book from Manus Island. And yet, thousands of readers now understand his journey and support him. His book is a powerful, heartbreaking, devastating piece of literature that turns our country’s treatment of asylum seekers from a political issue to a personal tale.

The plight of refugees is a sensitive subject to introduce to children, and yet it’s important we do. There are age appropriate ways to broach this, none better than the many wonderful books available. Start with picture books for younger children, and then as they get older there are many great novels to read. Books about refugees offer you a way to have discussions with your children about these topics and also helps foster empathy in kids. Sometimes early introduction to stories of asylum seekers and refugees inspires young people to take action in their own communities.

A ‘Refugee’ is a person; boy, girl, woman or man. Not a label, but a human being with a beating heart just like you and me.  The refugee experience can be prolonged or it can be fleeting. Being born and raised in a country like Australia sometimes makes it difficult to relate to the experiences of less fortunate people. Stories bridge that divide. Great books will always help us walk in the shoes of others, and that is an important experience to have. Not just important, but essential.

The Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) is the peak national body representing over 200 organisations who support refugees and people seeking asylum and coordinates Refugee Week across Australia. For more information, click here.

Click here for a list of books to read.