World Refugee Day 2002: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

In partnership with UK for UNHCR and the King's Fund, UNHCR organised "Women in Exile", a literary event, on 19 June to celebrate women's strength in adversity. Three prominent refugee women from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, and Algeria read poems and short stories from a recently published anthology of refugee women written by members of the NGO, Exiled Writers Ink!.

A photo exhibition "Caught in Conflict" with images by an award-winning photographer, Jenny Mathews, was displayed at the King's Fund, Central London, from 17 to 25 June. The photographs featured women caught in conflict world-wide over the last decade.

An exhibition of photojournalism "Afghanistan: Two Decades of Displacement" was held at the FrameZero Gallery, East London, from 19 to 23 June. The exhibit illustrates the experiences of Afghan refugees and the work of UNHCR over the past two decades.

Refugee Week UK started on 16 June with "Celebrating Sanctuary", a festival of music and food, at the South Bank, London. Together with Refugee Week partners, UNHCR and UK for UNHCR hosted the celebrity reception. UNHCR addressed a Refugee Week conference in Birmingham and supported various exhibitions and events in London and Cardiff.

Together with Refugee Action, Save the Children, Refugee Council and Amnesty International, UNHCR and UK for UNHCR commissioned an opinion poll on attitudes to refugees and asylum-seekers in the UK. Click here for the results. (PDF: 464K/23p). You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to read the results.

Faith groups promoted the messages of World Refugee Day and Refugee Week in religious services, newsletters, and their respective media work.

Anglia TV showed a half-hour documentary on 20 June rebutting the myth that the UK has a soft touch for asylum-seekers.

Mock camps using UNHCR plastic sheeting were displayed by the Welsh Refugee Council in Cardiff and by Save the Children as part of a three-day outdoor event in Centenary Square, Birmingham, attended by the Minister for International Development.