Image credit: Tahaddi, Lebanon
WATCH OUR REFUGEE WEEK WEBINAR!
How can Christians welcome refugees? Stories from Beirut and Bristol:
In a special webinar to mark Refugee Week 2024, we were joined by Catherine Mourtada from Embrace’s partner Tahaddi in Lebanon and Dan Green, co-founder and director of Bristol-based charity, Bridges for Communities. We discussed how we can all play a part in building a kinder, safer and fairer world for refugees - whether we live in the Middle East or the Midlands.
Read on for some FAQs and links to other refugee-related content on our website…
What is Refugee Week?
World Refugee Day falls on 20 June, and every year the UK celebrates Refugee Week around this date. Refugee Week 2024 ran from 17th – 23rd June. This year’s theme was ‘Our Home’.
Refugee Week is a time for hundreds of arts, cultural and educational events that celebrate the contribution of refugees to the UK, and encourage understanding and dialogue between communities. It also aims to deepen public understanding about why people flee their homeland to seek sanctuary abroad.
What can I do to support refugees?
There are lots of ways you can get involved and show your support for refugees. Here are some easy ways to get started:
RAISE AWARENESS
Post your support for refugees on social media on World Refugee Day (20th June).
SPONSORSHIP
Interested in exploring how you and your church community could sponsor a refugee to come to the UK? Find out more on the Reset UK website.
PRAY
Join us in praying for the many people in the Middle East who have been forced to flee from their homes and seek sanctuary elsewhere. Why not use our special Refugee Week Prayer to help guide you?
TAKE ACTION
Visit the Together with Refugees website for inspiration and ideas to support refugees in your local community. Together with Refugees is a broad coalition of over 600 organisations (including Embrace!) calling for a kinder, fairer approach to supporting refugees in the UK.
GIVE
Buy an Embrace Alternative Gift and help a refugee family in the Middle East or buy products made by refugees through the Embrace Webshop
SPEAK OUT
Write to the MP candidates in your constituency to ask them about their plans to help refugees should they be elected. We recommend reading the useful election resources on the Jesuit Refugee Service website.
CONNECT
Connect with others who are passionate about supporting refugees. The Refugee Resource Centre for Churches is a website that was set up to help Christians and churches support people seeking sanctuary in their local communities across the UK. There is a helpful list of local refugee organisations across the UK.
READ OUR BLOGS ABOUT REFUGEES
UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS APPLY TO REFUGEES TOO
FLEEING SUDAN: SUPPORTING REFUGEES IN EGYPT
DON’T NEGLECT T0 SHOW HOSPITALITY TO STRANGERS
Why is Embrace supporting Refugee Week?
The instability of the Middle East is one of the major reasons our partners are needed. While they faithfully address the symptoms, a joined-up global approach is needed to tackle the root causes of conflict and displacement.
Many of our projects in the Middle East support people who have been forced to flee from their homes. Although most displaced people in the Middle East stay within the region, with only small numbers coming to Europe, we want to welcome and support refugees in our own communities in the UK.
As a Christian organization, we recognise that each person is created in the image of God – and we see a mandate throughout scripture to ‘welcome the stranger’, showing love and hospitality to all.
