Time to Flee (migration lesson)

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 2

TIME TO FLEE

Aim

To understand why people become asylum seekers and refugees, and the difficulties they face on arrival in another country.

Why do people become refugees?

write down your own definitions of

 - Persecution

- Refugee

- Asylum seeker

Share, discuss and compare their definitions with the following:

•  Persecution: Subjecting a person to prolonged hostility and ill-treatment because of who they are or what they think.
• Refugee: Someone who has left their own country because they are afraid of being persecuted (abused or mistreated) because of their religion, political beliefs or social behaviour. When you are given refugee status by another country you are allowed to live in that country, safe from harm.

Refugees....

Many people consider themselves refugees, and are considered so by others, whether or not they have been officially recognised by the government of the country in which they are seeking asylum.

• Asylum seeker A person who has come to another country asking the government to stay here as a refugee. They are waiting to hear whether they are allowed to stay or not.

How many refugees are there in the world at the moment?

1. 21.3 million
2. 12 million
3. 10.6 million
4. 70 million

Over half of all refugees are women and children.

1. True
2. False

Less than 1 per cent of the world’s refugees are in the UK

1. True
2. False

You are going to read the true story of Suada, a refugee who arrived in the UK from Bosnia. 

A role play to empathise with the situation of refugees.

Get into groups of 5 or 6

Listen to the case study

Decisions

1. Who is to go?

Each group must decide who should go, and who should be left behind or sent off to relatives, or hidden somewhere. Should they take Mum, Dad, the baby, Uncle Ali, Granny, the children? Ask each group to feed back their decision and discuss it.

2. What should they take with them?

Each group must make a list of the 10 most important things to take with them to get across the border to claim asylum as refugees. When everyone is agreed, they should write the list down or draw pictures of the chosen items on the sheet of paper.

Discussion

Groups report back on who they decided should go and what was on their lists.  Keep your lists safe.

Role Play (continued)

After a long, difficult and frightening journey, you arrive tired and hungry at the border. The teacher now takes on the role of an Immigration Officer at passport control.

Arriving at border control

"Who  are you and what they are doing here"? At the border you say you are in danger and need a place of safety in your country, Tell the border guard what happened.

The immigration officer, will  decide if you will be let into the country as refugees.

DEVELOPMENT

Come out of the role and discuss:

• How did you find the experience of being an asylum seeker?

• Has it changed your perception of asylum seekers in this country?