2.1 Shelter for the night!
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In this section of the game, the escape route runs from the country of origin to a neighbouring country. But in this case the person cannot seek asylum there. The political situation in the neighbouring country is unstable; it lacks any refugee law or facilities and systems to receive and support asylum seekers. The refugee in the game feels unsafe and wants to continue on to another country.
Ask the students to look for information on the following topics, using the web facts, internet and other literature:
Discuss with the class the circumstances in the countries the students have researched and what compelled people to flee.
If you ask refugees what they hope for, most of them will say: peace and the chance to return home. But voluntary return is just one of several solutions for refugees today. Split the class into groups and assign them the task of looking for information on the web facts about:
Then ask the groups to present their findings to the class.
Most people never imagined becoming refugees. They perhaps hoped that their home countries would protect them from conflict and uphold their human rights. Often, this is not the case, which raises an important problem for the international community. There is no enforceable agreement between UN member states about how the circumstances which generate refugee crises should be prevented. There may be talk of whether nations may intervene in a sovereign country’s domestic affairs to prevent conflict and human rights abuses worsening, but actions that ensure parties address disputes are difficult to implement.
Split the class into groups or pairs to freely discuss what measures they think could be implemented to prevent refugee crisis situations. Ask pupils to write down their ideas on the board when presenting to the class.
Participants are given the opportunity to find out how it might feel to wait for an asylum decision. There are four options, e.g. “anger”, “anxiety”, “indifference” and an “unsure” alternative for those pupils who cannot identify with the other three options. The corners of the room represent these four alternatives. The group leader reads the alternatives out loud and each participant must choose which corner they think would best reflect their feelings. The groups in each corner should then discuss amongst themselves why they chose that option. Finally, each group explains their reasoning to the rest of the class. If anybody changes their mind and wants to switch corners during or after presentations, they are free to do so.
Goal: To generate understanding of the kind of feelings that may be associated with waiting for a decision on an asylum claim.
Societal factors affect our political opinions on all issues. This exercise is intended to make students aware of these factors, such as age, gender, race, class and religion.
Split the class into smaller groups and ask each person to write down factors that affect our opinions on post-it notes. Groups should then place their post-its on a sheet of paper and rank the factors according to level of influence.
Discuss with the class what affects social norms and opinions and what can affect our impressions of other people, such as refugees.
Goal: To advance the students’ awareness of what affects our opinions and the importance of challenging stereotypes and prejudices concerning refugees.