UNHCR Thailand marks World Refugee Day 2017 with a Gala Dinner hosted by Goodwill Ambassador, Praya Lundberg
Submitted by webmaster on 18 July 2017
BANGKOK – UNHCR marked World Refugee Day this year with its first gala dinner hosted by Goodwill Ambassador, Praya Lundberg, on Friday 16 June at Sala Rim Naam, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Bangkok.
The ‘Praya Lundberg for World Refugee Day’ Gala Dinner is part of the commemoration on World Refugee Day which fall on 20 June every year. The event was held to demonstrate Thailand solidarity during the worst refugee crisis of our time.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr. Filippo Grandi met with Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha
During his first visit to Thailand as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr. Filippo Grandi met with Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha to discuss the situation of refugees and asylum seekers in Thailand.
UNHCR, Vimuttayalaya Foundation launch talks on Buddhism and Humanitarianism
Submitted by webmaster on 8 July 2017
A three-day retreat on Buddhism and Humanitarianism in Asia is taking place this week under the auspices of the UN Refugee Agency and the Vimuttayalaya Foundation. Held in Chiang Rai in northern Thailand, the 7-9 July event brings together some 200 Buddhist monks from countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam.
Monks pledge to deepen ties between Buddhism and humanitarian work
Buddhist monks from across Asia have pledged to continue to strengthen ties between Buddhism and humanitarian work, and to collaborate with humanitarian actors, to work towards bringing about peace, prosperity and compassion to the world.
The declaration was announced at the end of a three-day retreat in Chiang Rai titled “Buddhism and Humanitarianism in Asia”. Co-hosted by the UN Refugee Agency and the Vimuttayalaya Foundation in Thailand, the retreat brought together the Foundation’s vision of engaged Buddhism and UNHCR’s focus on the links between faith and protection. More than 500 participants’ including monks, academics, and students attended from 13 countries including Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam.
“All religions, at the highest level, teach the unity of humanity,” said Dr Surin Pitsuwan, the former Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and a practising Muslim, in his opening speech. “With a growing population and finite resources, we must ask how to protect and care for future generations.”
Indrika Ratwatte, the incoming Director of UNHCR’s Asia and Pacific bureau, cautioned: “Religious beliefs must not be allowed to become a ground for persecution and a source of displacement. The shared values common to different religious traditions present a strong framework for promoting tolerance and openness towards people of other faiths.”
He further noted that faith-based organisations can play an important part in seeking solutions to refugee situations by promoting reconciliation and peaceful co-existence.
With 250 million adherents in South East Asia, Buddhism is a primary religion in the region. Some of its central elements – empathy, compassion and non-discrimination – directly align with the mandate of UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations.
The Chiang Rai retreat sought to explore the commonalities in the perspectives of Buddhists and humanitarians on four issues: Responding to natural disasters, overcoming armed/communal conflict, social empowerment and environmental sustainability.
In break-out sessions, the participants shared good practices from their own countries relating to such issues as the use social media as a platform for positive change, community led responses, and the role of faith-based organisations in humanitarian settings. Dynamic discussions surrounding armed and communal conflict highlighted the importance of building trust in order to improve cooperation between different actors. Discussions emphasized the desirability of translating Buddhist teachings into concrete local actions. It was agreed that prioritizing the needs of the most vulnerable, including refugees, stateless persons, migrant workers and victims of national disasters and conflict is critical.
The President of the Vimuttayalaya Foundation, the Venerable V. Vajiramedhi, closed the retreat on Sunday with words of hope, observing that when people come together there are “many more hands to change the world.” He further encouraged participants to take actions that would allow this generation to be one of “compassion, love and sharing”.
Topics on the agenda range from responses to natural disasters, to overcoming armed conflict, promoting social empowerment and sustaining the environment. The discussions will be facilitated by entities including the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the 3R Foundation.
The Venerable V. Vajiramedhi, President of the Vimuttayalaya Foundation and of the Buddhist Economics Foundation, will close the event on 9 July.
It is hoped that the retreat will lead to the development of a network of Buddhists interested in these issues and provide the foundation for a regional inter-faith conference on similar themes.
UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi renews call for solutions in Myanmar
Submitted by webmaster on 7 July 2017
YANGON, Myanmar, 6 July – The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, has concluded his first visit to Myanmar by appealing for inclusive and sustainable solutions to protracted displacement and statelessness.
It will not be easy – the atmosphere in Maungdaw remains tense after the October violence that was allegedly perpetrated by members of a militant group.
On Tuesday, when Grandi met a group of Rakhine villagers living next to a Muslim village in Maungdaw, they told him the communities used to live and work together.
“But after the October violence, we are afraid to leave our homes to collect firewood or fish for a living. Our children are also staying home from school. We need some assistance until things improve,” said a community leader.
The High Commissioner urged both communities to resume dialogue. “You have the same fears for your families, and the same anxieties over how to provide for them,” he said. “Humanitarian assistance is important but it will not last forever. By learning to live together in peace, you can lay the groundwork for prosperity and development.”
In Maungdaw, Grandi visited a UNHCR, UN Refugee Agency, supported project to promote peaceful co-existence through vocational training classes. It brings together 20 Muslim and Rakhine women to learn sewing skills and basic literacy, as well as health and hygiene education. Although they would appear to have little in common, many of these women have either had no education or had to drop out of school to support their families.
May Than New, 23, dropped out after middle school as her parents could not afford further education. She sold fuel in a shop before joining the sewing class. Now she plans to work as a tailor and teach sewing upon graduation.
“My parents always had Muslim friends in our house and we believe discrimination will only bring problems,” she said. “This class has helped me to understand my Muslim friends better.”
Her classmate Somira, 19, added: “I didn’t know any Rakhines before but now I have made some friends in class.”
“This class has helped me to understand my Muslim friends better.”
UNHCR has also helped to set up a market in downtown Maungdaw where some 2,000 families of Muslim, Rakhine, Hindu and other minority groups go for their daily food supplies and social interaction.
Asked what would help to improve their lives, a Muslim villager in Maungdaw said: “We just want to live peacefully, to have an identity card and the same rights as the others.”
On Wednesday, the High Commissioner met with Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other ministers to discuss the situation in Rakhine State, the displacement in Kachin and northern Shan state, as well as the potential for mainly ethnic Karen refugees to return home voluntarily from Thailand.
From Myanmar, Grandi will move on to Thailand and Bangladesh to discuss refugee issues in both countries, before ending his regional tour on July 11.
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