Celebrating the spirit of refugees with a meal and a story
Rnita Dacho remembers her life before she fled Syria in 2015 as one of “constant fear”.
She recalls the threats of harassment or disappearance made against her family, who were members of the revolution against the regime of Bashar Assad.
“Every morning, I left the house not knowing if I was coming back,” she said.
“One spring day, I was in the city doing paperwork, when a big bomb exploded – just like that. I wasn’t hurt, but it was shocking to see, first-hand, how a split second can change your life.”
Eventually, the threat of political violence became too great.
“We desperately needed to leave,” she said.
Rnita is one of six Refugee Week Ambassadors for the Refugee Council of Australia, the peak body for refugees and advocacy organisations in Australia.
The council is asking Australians to “share a meal, share a story” as part of this year’s International Refugee Week, which runs from 16 to 22 June.
“A World of Stories” is the theme for the week, with the Council encouraging people to break down barriers around Australia’s refugee communities by sharing food and stories at events being held all over the country.
Director of Communications Kelly Nicholls said the “share a meal, share a story” campaign sought to humanise refugees through personal, face-to-face encounters.
“The debate becomes very politicised so people have a lot of preconceived ideas and we need to break that down,” she said.
“We shine a light on their stories; what they’ve come from, the experience of seeking asylum in Australia.
“We want people to look at the human beings behind the political rhetoric and appreciate the bad things that they have been through and treat people like people.”
The Brisbane-based refugee settlement organisation Multicultural Development Australia (MDA) is hosting the “Our Journey” event at Queen St Mall on Thursday as part of the week’s festivities.
“Our Journey is a celebration of the spirit and courage of refugees – in spoken word, world music and dance,” the organisation said.
“Our Journey will engage a broad city-going audience with the notion of everyone being at peace within a broad culturally diverse community environment.”
MDA Events Manager Sebastian Flynn said the event aimed to bring awareness to the obstacles facing refugees, without politicising the issue.
“We host these major events to show a celebration of these diverse cultures rather than [as a] political demonstration,” he said.
“With the uncertainty of today’s political climate, it’s a way for people to participate and show solidarity without that political aspect.
“Rather than ‘us and them’, it’s a way of saying ‘all of us’; it’s who we are as a diverse state rather than that old divisionist attitude.
“It’s a reminder that they are human beings.”
He said MDA wanted to raise awareness about the obstacles faced by refugees even after they arrive in Australia.
“People think the major part of the battle is arriving, but that only really marks the beginning of their challenge,” he said.
“Things like language, education, health and housing are all things lots of us take for granted, but for some of these people, they have to reinvent themselves when they arrive here."
Earlier in the month, MDA hosted the 12th annual Luminous lantern parade at the South Bank Parklands, where 25,000 people flocked to celebrate diversity and multiculturalism in Queensland.
Mr Flynn said that kind of attendance had been “unprecedented”.
“We’ve had about 13,000 in recent years, so it’s nearly doubled,” he said.
“It started off years ago as 50 people walking with candles to show solidarity with new Queenslanders.
“It’s kind of just gathered its own momentum.”
The Our Journey cultural celebration will be held at the Queen Street Mall’s Main Stage at 12pm on Thursday.