NZ Refugee Letter

Dear Whanau and Friends, At school this term my reading group has been reading the book Refugee. It focuses on three children in different times. 1938, Nazi Germany, Cuba in 1994 and Syria, 2015. Josef (Jewish), Isabel (Cuban), Mahmoud (Muslim). It is a very good book but there are some really sad bits. We’ve been reading it five chapters at a time, which is kind of annoying as I’m a fast reader. So I read it all in one day and then I have to wait another week, even though I really want to find out what happens next. In this writing activity I’m going to tell you about refugees, most of you will probably know more than me because I’m only eleven years old, but you may learn a thing or two about refugees. 

 In New Zealand we are really lucky, why? Well let me tell you. Unlike other countries there is no war (apart from politics, though that doesn’t really count because its all words. Oh, and the fight against plastic, but that’s different because millions of people don’t get blown up). It is all love, peace, flowers, sunshine, rainbows, etc. But in other countries they are not so lucky. People become refugees for lots of reasons, political or religious beliefs, ethnicity, nationality or membership of a particular social group. The reason they leave to become refugees is nearly always war (or political coup). People’s opinions change and sometimes people get hurt. 

 Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia make up 54% of the worlds refugees source. During the war it might have been other countries (like I don’t know, Hitler and the Nazis, Stalin? Just taking a wild guess). 

 How can we help refugees? Well that is a very good question, but before I answer I want to tell you why we should help them. People may say“This is our country, it is for us.” that is what a truly horrible person would say. Others say “If people get hurt we should help. If people need help we should help.” that is what someone truly awesome would say. We are in New Zealand, we have awesome lives, lots of food, clean water, no political coups. Other countries aren’t so lucky, other people aren’t so lucky. Everyone has feelings, everyone has rights. And we are violating their rights if we do nothing. Besides refugees can also be really helpful. They are smart, clever, hardworking, honest people. We should be honoured to have them in our country, refugees have job skills that we may not have and that helps us and our economy. 

 Alright, back to the question: How can we help them? Well, first of all we need to treat like humans with feelings (because they are humans with feelings). Being mean is a terrible way to start, if we are mean and horrible we have failed our mission without even starting. Once we’ve got that covered we need to help them get jobs, homes, furnitures, educations, you know, all the stuff we are lucky enough to have. There are some great charities and government schemes that cover this, but kindness still goes a long way. 

 Whether you just chat to them (only talk about being refugees if they bring it up, as this can be offensive and we don’t want them being sad) or invite them over for a barbecue, this helps, this kindness we give to them, they appreciate being treated normally, just like we do. They may have lived far away, and may lead very different lives to us, but we’re all in this together. 

 Thank you for reading. And to anyone reading this who may be a refugee I just want to say thank you for being here, thank you for being your awesome self.