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| Kristin Davis on Australia: the detention of children is wrong and abhorrent | Kristin Davis on Australia: the detention of children is wrong and abhorrent |
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| I first became aware of the work of the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, in 2007 when I travelled to Northern Uganda with a development NGO I was supporting. I visited camps full of people who had been forced to flee their homes and become displaced within their own country because of the Lord’s Resistance Army. | I first became aware of the work of the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, in 2007 when I travelled to Northern Uganda with a development NGO I was supporting. I visited camps full of people who had been forced to flee their homes and become displaced within their own country because of the Lord’s Resistance Army. |
| I was struck by the scale and complexity of the logistics and coordination challenge of how to organise and support so many people in an emergency situation. I was so impressed with how the camps were being managed, ensuring that every internally displaced person (IDP) was registered, and working together with partner NGOs to ensure that every individual and family had access to vital life-saving support and protection. | I was struck by the scale and complexity of the logistics and coordination challenge of how to organise and support so many people in an emergency situation. I was so impressed with how the camps were being managed, ensuring that every internally displaced person (IDP) was registered, and working together with partner NGOs to ensure that every individual and family had access to vital life-saving support and protection. |
| In 2011, I was in Dadaab refugee camp during the famine in the Horn of Africa. That was the real turning point for me. When I saw the thousands of refugees arriving every day across the Somali border, more than the camp could handle, I realised that we were living in a time of crisis. I decided then that I wanted to help UNHCR in their work for people who have been left with no choice but to abandon everything that they know and love in order to survive. I decided then that I would commit myself to telling their stories, to raising up their voices, and to reminding others that refugees are ordinary people just like you and me but who are living through extraordinary circumstances. | In 2011, I was in Dadaab refugee camp during the famine in the Horn of Africa. That was the real turning point for me. When I saw the thousands of refugees arriving every day across the Somali border, more than the camp could handle, I realised that we were living in a time of crisis. I decided then that I wanted to help UNHCR in their work for people who have been left with no choice but to abandon everything that they know and love in order to survive. I decided then that I would commit myself to telling their stories, to raising up their voices, and to reminding others that refugees are ordinary people just like you and me but who are living through extraordinary circumstances. |
| When I was in Dadaab I met people who had walked from Somalia with only the clothes on their backs. More devastating still were the many cases of lone mothers seeking safety for their children, travelling without male family members, who were robbed of the very clothes off their backs, and frequently raped. Horrific stories that too many times ended with mothers losing their children on the journey from lack of food and water. It was shocking and heart breaking. For greater protection many women and children had grouped together on their journey of escape I was so moved to see the kindness and strength of these women towards each other in their shared moment of need. It is a strength that I strive to remember and convey when I am telling their stories and when I share my experiences at the refugee camps. | When I was in Dadaab I met people who had walked from Somalia with only the clothes on their backs. More devastating still were the many cases of lone mothers seeking safety for their children, travelling without male family members, who were robbed of the very clothes off their backs, and frequently raped. Horrific stories that too many times ended with mothers losing their children on the journey from lack of food and water. It was shocking and heart breaking. For greater protection many women and children had grouped together on their journey of escape I was so moved to see the kindness and strength of these women towards each other in their shared moment of need. It is a strength that I strive to remember and convey when I am telling their stories and when I share my experiences at the refugee camps. |
| Right now there are 60 million displaced people in the world. This number is unprecedented – 83% of those people are women and children. This is a fact that seems to get overlooked. And it is a key point in how, I believe, we need to respond to the refugee crisis. When I was in Northern Uganda last year I spoke with John, a man who has been forced to flee South Sudan three times in his life. He is now teaching the children in the camp at Adjumani, and he spoke to me about the power of education to change the world in the future, particularly to help change the future of the countries that have been ripped apart by decades of conflict. | Right now there are 60 million displaced people in the world. This number is unprecedented – 83% of those people are women and children. This is a fact that seems to get overlooked. And it is a key point in how, I believe, we need to respond to the refugee crisis. When I was in Northern Uganda last year I spoke with John, a man who has been forced to flee South Sudan three times in his life. He is now teaching the children in the camp at Adjumani, and he spoke to me about the power of education to change the world in the future, particularly to help change the future of the countries that have been ripped apart by decades of conflict. |
| I visited the Democratic Republic of Congo after I left Adjumani, where I met a truly amazing woman named Sister Angelique Namaika. She is a nun living in a very remote area of DRC called Dungu. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) came to this area of Congo, forcing Sister Angelique to flee. The LRA soldiers took many young boys, forcing them to become child soldiers. They also took many young girls with them back into the bush. One of the tactics used by the LRA as a weapon of war is rape and sexual violence. Many of the girls who somehow managed to escape their ordeal at the hands of the LRA returned to their villages either pregnant or with children conceived out of rape. Tragically these girls were often shunned by their own families due to cultural stigma. Amongst such brutality and inhumanity and darkness was the light of Sister Angelique – a source of healing and recovery. Sister Angelique created a safe place for these women and girls to gather and talk about what had happened to them, to learn new skills so they could become self-sufficient, to create a community of care and compassion. | I visited the Democratic Republic of Congo after I left Adjumani, where I met a truly amazing woman named Sister Angelique Namaika. She is a nun living in a very remote area of DRC called Dungu. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) came to this area of Congo, forcing Sister Angelique to flee. The LRA soldiers took many young boys, forcing them to become child soldiers. They also took many young girls with them back into the bush. One of the tactics used by the LRA as a weapon of war is rape and sexual violence. Many of the girls who somehow managed to escape their ordeal at the hands of the LRA returned to their villages either pregnant or with children conceived out of rape. Tragically these girls were often shunned by their own families due to cultural stigma. Amongst such brutality and inhumanity and darkness was the light of Sister Angelique – a source of healing and recovery. Sister Angelique created a safe place for these women and girls to gather and talk about what had happened to them, to learn new skills so they could become self-sufficient, to create a community of care and compassion. |
| In 2013 Sister Angelique was presented with the Nansen Refugee Award by UNHCR for her exceptional commitment and dedication to the recovery of thousands of women. When I was in Dungu I was honoured to be a part of the opening celebration of the bakery that Sister Angelique and the community she has created had built with the Award money. I saw the small clinic and school she has built on the compound. I met the 35 small babies and toddlers she cares for in the orphanage. They all call her Mama. This woman’s strength and pure love is the epitome of the possibilities refugees and the displaced have to offer. Their drive to work hard and to create change for their children, for their communities, for their countries inspires awe in me. | In 2013 Sister Angelique was presented with the Nansen Refugee Award by UNHCR for her exceptional commitment and dedication to the recovery of thousands of women. When I was in Dungu I was honoured to be a part of the opening celebration of the bakery that Sister Angelique and the community she has created had built with the Award money. I saw the small clinic and school she has built on the compound. I met the 35 small babies and toddlers she cares for in the orphanage. They all call her Mama. This woman’s strength and pure love is the epitome of the possibilities refugees and the displaced have to offer. Their drive to work hard and to create change for their children, for their communities, for their countries inspires awe in me. |
| The reason I am in Australia is to help launch the I Will campaign and to help raise funds and awareness for Australia for UNHCR, which is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to raising funds for UNHCR’s international humanitarian operations worldwide. It is a significant and vital funder of projects addressing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in the Democratic Republic of Congo. | The reason I am in Australia is to help launch the I Will campaign and to help raise funds and awareness for Australia for UNHCR, which is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to raising funds for UNHCR’s international humanitarian operations worldwide. It is a significant and vital funder of projects addressing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in the Democratic Republic of Congo. |
| I also understand that Australia is in the midst of an intense national debate about the treatment of refugees. I feel that the detention of children is wrong and abhorrent. As a mother I lay awake at night thinking of the refugee children who are sick and being threatened with deportation. This is a subject to which Australia needs to find a solution, and one with which almost every country in the world is also dealing. | I also understand that Australia is in the midst of an intense national debate about the treatment of refugees. I feel that the detention of children is wrong and abhorrent. As a mother I lay awake at night thinking of the refugee children who are sick and being threatened with deportation. This is a subject to which Australia needs to find a solution, and one with which almost every country in the world is also dealing. |
| For me, I feel it is an ethical and moral imperative to help. Each person and country needs to decide how or if they can help. Our collective future will depend on how we handle this unprecedented global human crisis. | For me, I feel it is an ethical and moral imperative to help. Each person and country needs to decide how or if they can help. Our collective future will depend on how we handle this unprecedented global human crisis. |