Refugee Day at Mount St Mary's College

Students enact refugees cross borders

On Thursday 19th June, Mount St Mary's College in Derbyshire held a day of reflection on the situation of refugees, to mark UNHCR World Refugee Day which falls on 20th June.

Fr Tony O'Riordan SJ, an Irish Jesuit who has spent the last ten years working with the Jesuit Refugee Service in South Sudan, Kenya, Syria and now Ireland, was the main speaker in an all-day programme for Lower Sixth (Year 12) students, including visitors from Jesuit schools in Mexico, Italy and France.

The day was led by Mr Michael Jones, Head of Religious Studies at the College, and included a live Zoom call to South Sudan, allowing students to engage with Mr David Mawa, a South Sudanese national who, as a child, was forced to flee with his family to Uganda. He emphasised to the students that refugees are normal people who have hopes and dreams, and are not looking for sympathy but for recognition of their potential. David is now back in his own country, having established a primary school for 700 boys and girls in Juba, many of whom are refugees from Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. David had the opportunity to complete his education with a Masters degree at Bradford University, and when asked by the students how he felt refugees were treated in Britain, he said that in his experience, refugees are very well received by British society.

The afternoon was given to a simulation exercise in the college grounds in which the students, role-playing family units, had to simulate various stages of the refugee experience - fleeing from their home region, coping with chaotic and dangerous situations, crossing international borders and applying for asylum. Particularly powerful was the experience of arriving at a country's border, unable to speak its language and feeling powerless in the face of hostility and exploitation. This was simulated very effectively with the help of armed officers from the College's Combined Cadet Force, and gave students a new insight into the need for laws and procedures that ensure refugees and asylum seekers are treated fairly, and the importance of the "four verbs" that Pope Francis used to characterise the Christian response to refugees: "Welcome, Protect, Promote and Integrate."