The World Refugee Day celebrated annually on June 20 in accordance with the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 4, 2000 aims to protect the rights of refugees and raise public awareness on this issue. This day aims to draw attention to the rights of people of different faiths, stateless persons, displaced persons, refugees and other people who have been forced to flee their homes around the world.
Due to persecution for their nationality, religion, race, sexual orientation, political opinion or belonging to a particular social group, people seek security abroad and often have difficulties finding it. The Russian Red Cross (RRC) helps refugees throughout the country. Providing assistance to refugees and working with all stakeholders and partners to ensure the safety of all individuals or communities is one of the key activities of the RRC.
To understand how to help refugees, it is necessary, in the first place, to understand why people become refugees. As the global population grows alongside conflicts and environmental changes, more people are becoming refugees than ever before. According to Natalia Zaibert, Deputy Chairperson of the St. Petersburg Regional Branch of the Russian Red Cross for Program Development and International Affairs, Director of Migration Programs, the most common reasons for people to leave their countries are “threat to their life and freedom and a danger of political, religious, racial and social persecution. When persecution, violence, hostilities, violation of human rights prevail in a county, people flee to other countries.”
Aysha, 18, told us her story (name changed at her request).
“I came to St. Petersburg fr om Afghanistan with my mother, younger brother and sisters. Last year, the Taliban* came to power in our country, and life has changed a lot. In Kabul, wh ere we lived with my family, the school where we studied was closed. It became impossible for girls to get an education. Then they killed our dad, and we had to flee,” the girl said.
The St. Petersburg Regional Branch of the Russian Red Cross helped the family with the submission of an application for a temporary asylum status. Now they are legally staying within the territory of Russia.
In February this year, the St. Petersburg Regional Branch of the Russian Red Cross, together with the agency of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), launched a free Russian language course. The language course is attended by refugees from Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen. More than half are children and teenagers, including Aysha with her brother and sisters. For them, these classes are a chance to go to school or college in the new academic year, continue to receive education, integrate into society and make friends among their peers.
“In February, my brother, my sisters and I came to the St. Petersburg branch of the Russian Red Cross to start learning Russian. My brother and sisters hope to go to school, because this is very important. In Afghanistan, we were deprived of this opportunity, so we hope that we will have it here,” Aysha said.
This summer, representatives of the St. Petersburg Regional Branch of the RRC are making every effort to help enroll the girl's younger sisters to school.
In Moscow, to provide refugees with free access to humanitarian assistance, legal support, sociopractical and psychological support without any segregation, the Migration Center operates under the auspices of the Russian Red Cross. Refugees from any country in the world can get help there. You can get advice and support at the following address: Moscow, Fersman Street 1, building 1, entrance 4.
All refugees who stay in other regions of Russia can call the free hotlines of the RRC:
Migration Center hotline: +7 (800) 600-73-72
RRC united hotline: +7 (800) 234-07-07
Email: migration@redcross.ru
Often in host countries, refugees still face many problems and challenges that they have to deal with.
“The main difficulties are, first of all, the difficulties of adaptation. If there are no adaptation programs in the country, then, of course, it is very difficult for refugees. Especially if they, for example, do not know the language of the host country. It is one thing to adapt refugees who arrived in Russia from Ukraine and Donbass, and quite a different thing to adapt refugees from non-CIS countries, Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen. In terms of language, culture, and other things it’s a whole different matter. Therefore, the Russian language courses, among other things, are critical for refugees to understand how to adapt further. The Russian language is also necessary to get a job, to place one’s child into school or a kindergarten,” said Natalia Zaibert.
Despite the great number of difficulties that refugees have to face, they often find the strength to help their fellow refugees through difficult times.
One of these helpers is Maxim (name changed at his request), a refugee from Kharkov who lives in Nizhny Novgorod and actively helps his compatriots.
“Last spring I came with my family to friends in Nizhny Novgorod. First of all, because I was concerned about the safety of my family. The first to help us was Tamara Grinevich, chairperson of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Branch of the RRC. She immediately listened to us, helped with food, personal hygiene items, dishes and supported us psychologically. We are always in touch with her, I am already helping the Red Cross branch on a voluntary basis: unloading humanitarian aid, consulting displaced residents and I am always ready to help. I recently got a job, now I don’t need help anymore, but we keep in touch with Tamara, and I am ready to provide all possible assistance to the Russian Red Cross, because these were the first people who extended a helping hand to me in difficult times,” said Maxim.
The staff and volunteers of the Russian Red Cross were among the first to step up work to provide the necessary material assistance and specialized psychosocial support, as well as the creation of child-friendly spaces that offer recreation to families experiencing the stress of displacement.
The Russian Red Cross is now implementing several programs in different regions of Russia that help the children of refugee families receive education on an equal basis with their peers. For example, the RRC Training Center for children of refugees and migrants has been operating in Moscow for almost two years now. It provides an opportunity to study the Russian language and main school subjects and preschool programs for children from the countries of the Middle East, Africa, the CIS and Afghanistan, and children from families of internally displaced persons from other countries also study there. They are trained by facilitators and volunteers of the Center for Support and Adaptation of Refugee and Migrant Children “Children Just Like Ours”, which has been doing this work for more than 25 years. They teach Russian as a foreign language, mathematics, literature, and hold events that promote the integration of children into the cultural environment.
*The Taliban is an Islamist far-right religious and political movement recognized as terrorist and banned in most countries of the world, including Russia.
