World Refugee Day 2007 National Activities: United Kingdom

A conference was held with Nike and Right to Play UK to present the ninemillion.org campaign. About 100 people attended the event, mostly young professionals and some parliamentarians.

Actors for Refugees presented "Asylum Monologues" in the National Portrait Gallery. More than 250 people attended the performance, in which actors recite personal testimonies of asylum seekers in the United Kingdom. The "Asylum Monologues" was also performed at 12 other locations across the UK.

In London, 101 members of parliament marked Britain's annual Refugee Week (18-24 June) by signing a special World Refugee Day motion. This noted that millions of displaced people needed help and urged the government to support the work of UNHCR and its partners. WRD was raised in the weekly Prime Minister's Questions in the lower house of parliament.

A highlight of Refugee Week was the Celebrating Sanctuary community festival along London's South Bank. Various humanitarian organizations and aid groups gave presentations of their work with refugees, while there were also workshops, music and stalls with handicrafts. Hundreds of people visited UNHCR's booth at the festival, which attracted several thousand visitors.

London's Migrants Resource Centre launched a free newspaper produced by refugees and asylum seekers and called The New Londoners. A launch ceremony was held at London's City Hall and copies of the publication were distributed to some 55,000 people at underground railway stations across London during Refugee Week.