By
Erika Altensee
Highlights from the POINT TAKEN debate in 2016 about refugees. This shows the different sides to a still ongoing debate about whether United States should let in more refugees. I chose this presentation to highlight how many different viewpoints there are regarding this issue.
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The Mariel boatlift happened in the 1980s. Even though I lived in Florida, I only knew a little about this before this unit because I was only 11 years old. This video makes me wonder how being a refugee in the 80s in Orlando (not too far from Miami) would be different than being one in 2018. I know now that many of my friends back then were refugees from other places, and I wonder what they would say if someone would have asked them how it was to come to another country.
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The boy and family described in the book, Refugee, was based on true events in 2015, but the Syrian civil war is still going on! I chose this video about a family who came to live in Illinois, but I haven't been able to find out how they are doing now. I wonder what it is like to be a Syrian refugee living in America in 2018.
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In May, 1939, the SS St. Louis, a ship of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution left Hamburg, bound for Havana, Cuba. The Jewish refugees did not expect being turned down by Cuba, United States, and Canada. They ended up having to go back to European countries, which were mostly occupied by Nazi forces. I picked this video because it shows what happens to many refugees. This story did not have a happy ending for most of the refugees.
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What is a refugee? Where are they from? There are now more refugees and IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) than Brits or Californians. I wonder how many refugees will find a permanent place to settle by the end of 2018? I chose this article because it shows how much of the world is considered to be part of the refugee population, and that number is growing! This article shows the real people who are refugees today (and none of it is made up!).
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This is a book talk about Refugee by Alan Gratz. When I read it, I learned a lot about different types of people who become "refugees" and how that happens. It made me feel angry that kids, who don't have a choice in the way their lives happen, suffered as refugees.
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