World Humanitarian Day - August 19 What would you do?

•    Stay and risk your lives in the conflict?
•    Flee and risk kidnap, rape, torture or worse?

Could you survive?

• War breaks out. You flee on foot with your family. In the chaos that follows, you and your son are separated from your husband and daughter. Do you…

    Lead your son out of danger and hope for the best? Your son is safe for now, but you fear for your husband and daughter.

    Go back to find your husband and daughter? You try to go back, but the fighting is too intense. You have to flee without them.

    Stay put and wait for news of your loved ones? Rebels take you and your son captive.

• Violent conflict spreads to your area. You and your children prepare to flee your home on foot. You have 3 minutes to decide what to bring. Do you…

    Grab your passport, identity papers and money? You are robbed within 24 hours. Now you have no money and no documents.

    Gather clothes for the children, a blanket and an umbrella? The clothes and blanket are heavy, so you leave them along the way. The umbrella keeps your children dry, but then it breaks.

    Pack a cooking pot and spoon, dried beans, matches and a shawl? The shawl gives shelter from the sun and keeps your children warm at night. But without money, you soon run out of food and your children go hungry.

• You are persecuted for speaking out about the government’s disregard for human rights. Then you begin receiving death threats. Do you…

    Stay and take a stand? A noble choice, but it puts your whole family in danger.

    Flee and leave your family behind? Thanks to your sacrifice, your family is safe. But you might never see them again.

    Try to escape with your family? By traveling as a group, you are easily tracked. The authorities jail and torture you.

• As a teenager, you risk being forced to join a lawless army that’s terrorizing your region. To escape, you pay a smuggler to take you on a lorry to Europe with other refugees. Do you…

    Bring identity papers, photos of your family, a mobile phone and money? The smuggler takes your money and papers. You can keep your phone, but have no money to buy airtime.

    Bring cigarettes, canned food, bottled water and an mp3 player? The food and water are heavy, so you have to leave them behind. You trade cigarettes for food along the way and save the mp3 player to trade later.

    Bring a blanket, extra clothes, soap and an English dictionary? You have to lighten your load. Then, with no money and nothing to trade, you go hungry.

• Displaced by war, you arrive in a foreign city with your wife and children. You file an asylum claim with local authorities, but could wait months or years for a decision. Do you…

    Find illegal work in the meantime so you can feed your family? On your way home from the sweatshop one day, you are arrested and detained.

    Try to stay hidden? Without food, your family goes hungry. You beg on the streets but are arrested.

    Seek out other refugees from your country? You find sympathy, but everyone is facing the same problems.

• Ready for an even tougher challenge? Download our new app, My Life as a Refugee, and see if you've got what it takes to survive.

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