20th June marks World Refugee Day, so we will stand in solidarity with protests and celebrations across the globe in making our voices heard for refugees across the world.
Yesterday, the news that Serco is to evict 30 destitute people per week from their homes for the next 4 months broke, and it has shaken us. Despite protests and ongoing legal challenges, the housing provider and the Home Office are charging ahead with their cruel and inhumane lock-change policy, which has caused outrage and anger across the sector, and confusion and fear among refugee and asylum seeking communities.
The theme of this year’s festival is “Making Art, Making Home” – a theme which stemmed from Serco’s initial attempts to evict 300 people last summer. We call on the people of Glasgow, of Scotland, to come together and create a sense of home for those who are being forced from theirs. Refugee Festival Scotland provides an opportunity for people to come together who wouldn’t otherwise have met, to build bonds and remember that there is more that unites us than divides us. A chance to celebrate what makes us human, and to embrace each other’s talents and abilities. The show will go on, and we will make HOME louder and bigger than ever.
Everyone has a right to a home and the right to feel at home, safe, welcome and part of a community. In a hostile environment, home can be built on memories and hope, with the help of new neighbours and friends.
Making home shouldn’t have to be a defiant act, but if it has to be, it will be.
Join us at St Enoch Square on World Refugee Day – 20th June, and help us to make home for people here in Scotland:
12.00 – 12.10
Join us in a display of solidarity, friendship and welcome
12.10 – 12.30
Hear from inspiring artists and activists Pinar Aksu, Amal Azzudin, Sabir Zazai and Manaf Halbouni
12.30 – 13.30
Drumming with Musicians in Exile, followed by Arabic, Persian and Kurdish music
This event is outdoors and wheelchair accessible.
