The Best Sites For Learning About World Refugee Day

June 18, 2009 by Larry Ferlazzo | 3 Comments

World Refugee Day is coming-up in two days. Here is how it described at the official site:

“The United Nations General Assembly designated June 20 as World Refugee Day to recognize and celebrate the contribution of refugees throughout the world. Since then, World Refugee Day has become an annual commemoration marked by a variety of events in over a hundred countries.

This year’s World Refugee Day theme is “Real People, Real Needs”. Despite the efforts of many, the needs of refugees worldwide are far from being met. Behind the unmet needs are not just numbers but real people with real stories.”

I don’t have time right now to do a thorough job of compiling resources, but, especially since many of our English Language Learner students are refugees, I felt like I needed to post something about the day.

You might also be interested in:

The Best Resources To Learn About The Forced Return Of 4,000 Hmong Refugees By Thailand

The Best Web Resources On Darfur

Here are a few of The Best Sites For Learning About World Refugee Day (and are accessible to English Language Learners):

ESL Holiday Lessons has a English Lesson Plan on World Refugee Day that provides audio support for the text and has an online activity.

Here are photo galleries of refugees from around the world from Refugees International.

Against All Odds is an online game created by the United Nations refugee agency. In the game you play the role of a refugee in various scenarios. It’s probably accessible to high Intermediate English Language Learners.

The UN has a number of good videos on refugees. Unfortunately, most are on YouTube and will be blocked by school content filters (See The Best Ways To Access Educational YouTube Videos At School)

GOOD Magazine has an infographic called Seeking Refuge: A Glance At Refugees Worldwide.

The Road To Refuge is a BBC presentation on the plight of refugees around the world. It has a substantial amount of resources on the site. The link in this post connects directly to a slideshow accessible to English Language Learners that highlights refugees from different parts of the globe.

Médecins Sans Frontières and MediaStorm have collaborated to produce Condition: Critical, Voices from the War in Eastern Congo. It’s a moving, informative, and disturbing audio slideshow about the on-going war in the Congo, and the suffering of refugees.

Al Jazeera, the Arabic TV network, has a feature on Hmong refugees in Thailand.

Pakistan’s refugee crisis has been in the news a lot recently. Here are some resources specifically about their plight:

Pakistan’s Invisible Refugees is a slideshow from The New York Times.

Children In Pakistan is a series of photos from the Boston Globe’s Big Picture.

Fleeing Swat Valley Fighting – Refugees in Pakistan are photos from The Denver Post.

Here’s a short PDF document from the UN telling about refugee children.

Seeking Refuge is an excellent infographic from The Wall Street Journal showing the “the top countries of origin for refugees.”

TIME Magazine has a slideshow titled The Urbanization of The World’s Refugees.

Beyond The Fire is a PBS site that introduces you to teen refugees.

Refugee 101 may be a bit of a challenge for ELL’s, but it provides an excellent overview of refugees in the United States.

Doctors Without Borders has a few simple lesson plans.

CBC News has a text description of the Anatomy of a Refugee Camp, along with a related interactive.

CNN has many refugee-related videos.

The Guardian has a graphic on refugees in the world.

ABC News also has many refugee-related videos.

Uzbeks flee ethnic clashes in Kyrgyzstan is a series of photos from The Sacramento Bee about the latest refugee crisis to hit the world.

After The Violence In Kyrgyzstan is a Wall Street Journal slideshow about the same tragedy.

Ethnic attacks in Kyrgyzstan is a series of photos from The Boston Globe’s Big Picture.

World Refugee Day is a series of photos from The Sacramento Bee.

Faces of the displaced is a series of photos from The Boston Globe’s Big Picture. They’re of refugees fleeing the violence in Libya.

United Nations Refugee Agency Teacher’s Corner and Lesson Plans

Flight and Expulsion is an impressive interactive map showing the refugee flow from and to all parts of the world. You can go and check it out directly, or you might want to read and see this short description from Fast Company first.

The World’s Largest Refugee Camp Turns 20 is a series of photos from The Atlantic.

This is a new video I’m adding to the list. It’s called “Lost and Found” and has closed captioning.

Following the lives of four refugees and how separation from loved ones has shaped their existence, “Lost and Found: The Story of Refugees United” is a journey into the hardships so many families must endure as they seek to reconnect. See the project at http://mediastorm.com/clients/lost-and-found-for-refugees-united

Dark Passage is a Newsweek slideshow.

Immigration is the title of a Boston Globe series of photos.

Photo Essay: Syrians Escape to Turkey is a photo gallery from The PBS News Hour.

Here is a special photo presentation recognizing sixty years of the United Nations Refugee Agency.

UN report on refugees – in pictures is from The Guardian.

Inside the U.N.’s Shocking New Report on Refugees is from The Atlantic and has some accessible charts.

Slide Show: The World’s Biggest Refugee Hot Zones comes from The PBS News Hour.

LIFE has a slideshow about Somalian refugees.

Haven and Hell: The World’s Largest Refugee Camp.

Dadaab: the largest refugee camp in the world — audio slideshow is from The Guardian.

Exile Without End: Palestinians In Lebanon is a photo gallery from the CBC.

Other suggestions are, as always, welcome.