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Advertising

Lord Maurice Saatchi and Charles Saatchi - Founders of Saatchi and Saatchi advertising agency. Their father was an Iraqi Jewish refugee.

Architecture

Eva Jircicna - Designed the Faith Zone in the Millennium Dome. Refugee from Czechoslovakia.

Daniel Marot - Architect, furniture designer and engraver who designed Hampton Court Palace. Huguenot refugee.

Peter Moro - Born in Germany and moved to London, becoming one of the UK's most prominent post-war architects. Designed the Royal Festival Hall and the Nottingham Playhouse.

Richard Rogers - Designer of the Centre Pompidou and the Millennium Dome. His mother was a refugee from Trieste.

Art

Frank Auerbach - German-born British painter, considered one of the world's greatest living artists.

Marc Chagall - Russian-French artist of Belarusian Jewish origin.

Jacob Epstein - British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. Son of Polish-Jewish refugees.

Peter Carl Fabergé - Russian jeweller, fled Russia via Finland, Germany to Switzerland.

Lucien Freud - Well-known British painter, German-Jewish refugee.

Mona Hatoum - Well-known British painter, Palestinian-Lebanese refugee.

Anish Kapoor - Won the 1991 Turner Prize. His parents were refugees who fled Iraq.

Camille Pissarro - Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painter, Danish-French-Jewish refugee.

Sir John Tenniel - Cartoonist and book illustrator, descended from Huguenot refugees.

Alfred Wolmark - Painter, Polish-Jewish refugee.

Business

Sir Montague Burton - Founded Burton retail, refugee from Lithuania.

Sir John Houblon - First Governor of the Bank of England, grandson of refugees.

Manubhai Madhvani - Expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin.

Michael Marks - One of the founders of Marks and Spencer, Russian refugee.

Sieng van Trang - Founder of the educational website www.iLearn.to, Vietnamese refugee.

George Weidenfeld - Publisher, Jewish refugee who fled the Nazis.

Fashion and Design

Sir Alec Issigonis - Designer of the Mini car, refugee.

Tanya Sarne - Fashion designer and creator of the Ghost label, father was a Russian refugee.

Lewis de Teissier - Founder of Tessier's jewellers, and the grandson of refugee Jaqcues de Teissier.

Alek Wek - Supermodel, fled Sudan with her family.

Manufacturing

Lakshmibhai Pathak - Founder of Patak's, was a Kenyan refugee.

Rashmi Thakrar - Founder of Tilda Rice, Ugandan refugee.

Music and Dance

Bob Marley - Famous musician, fled Jamaica to Miami after being shot during political violence.

Fritzi Massary - Austrian-Jewish operetta singer, refugee.

Norbert Brainin - Austrian-Jewish violinist, refugee.

Gloria Estefan - Cuban-American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman, father was a Cuban refugee.

Justine Frischmann - Lead singer of Elastica, father was a Hungarian refugee.

Wyclef Jean - Musician, former member of Fugees, Haitian refugee

K'Naan - Hip-hop artist, refugee from Somalia now living in Toronto, Canada.

M.I.A. - English-born singer/ hip-hop artist, part of a Tamil Sri Lankan refugee family.

Mika -Famous singer, fled from Lebanon.

Freddie Mercury - Lead singer of the band Queen, fled to England from Zanzibar in 1964.

Olivia Newton-John - Singer and actress, granddaughter of refugee Max Born.

Rita Ora - Singer, came to the UK as a refugee from Kosovo as baby.

Regina Spektor - Singer, songwriter and pianist. Originally fled Soviet Russia at the age of nine, now based in New York.

Shingai Shoniwa - Lead singer of the Noisettes. British-born daughter of Zimbabwean refugees.

Claude-Michel Schonberg - Composer whose works include Les Misérables and Miss Saigon, son of refugees.

Arnold Schoenberg - Austrian Composer, one of the most important composers in history, fled Europe due to increasing Nazi terror.

Gene Simmons - Member of Kiss, mother was a Holocaust survivor.

Sir Georg Solti - Conductor, refugee.

Robert Stolz - Austrian composer/conductor, refugee.

Oscar Straus - Austrian-Jewish composer, refugee.

Richard Tauber - Austrian-Jewish singer, composer and refugee.

Georg Ritter von Trapp - Father of the Trapp family, whose story inspired The Sound of Music after fleeing Nazi occupied Austria.

Politics

Madeleine Albright - Former U. S. Secretary of State, refugee From Prague.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Dutch politician, fled from Somalia.

Sitting Bull - Sioux chief, left America for Canada.

Lord Alf Dubs - Politician, refugee from Prague.

Margaret Hodge - Former British MP and Minister for Children, parents were refugees from Germany.

Michaëlle Jean - A refugee from Haiti- Governor-General of Canada from 2005 to 2010.

Henry Kissinger - American diplomat and political scientist, former US Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, fled from Germany to USA in 1938.

Vladimir Lenin - Soviet leader, refugee who fled to Switzerland.

Friedrick Lessner - Founder member of the Independent Labour Party.

Karl Marx - Political theorist, German refugee.

David Miliband - British MP, son of a Belgian Jewish refugee.

Ed Miliband - Former leader of the Labour Party, son of a Belgian Jewish refugee.

Leon Trotsky - Marxist theorist.

Psychology and Philosophy

Michael Balint - Hungarian Jew, psychoanalyst, fled from Nazis.

Sigmund Freud - Austrian Jew, founded psychoanalysis, fled from Nazis in Austria.

Anna Freud - Psychoanalyst, daughter of Sigmund, fled with him.

Ernest Gellner - Czech-Jewish philosopher, fled from the Nazis.

Stephan Korner - Czech-Jewish philosopher, fled from the Nazis.

Claude Lévi-Strauss - French-Jewish philosopher and anthropologist, French refugee.

Karl Popper - Austrian-Jewish philosopher, fled from Nazis to New Zealand.

Religion

Isaac Abravanel - Rabbi and politician, fled from Portugal to Spain.

Rabbi Leo Baeck - Reform Rabbi, holocaust survivor.

Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits - Chief rabbi of Great Britain, fled from the Nazis to Britain.

Jesus - His family fled from the holy land because of King Herod.

Current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso - refugee, he fled Tibet when China invaded.

Rabbi Hugo Gryn - Reform rabbi and holocaust survivor.

Paul Kahle - Christian Hebraist, fled from the Nazis to Britain.

Mullah Krekar - Iraqi Kurdish mullah, lives in Norway.

Muhammad (PBUH) - Fled from Mecca to Medina in 622.

Science

Gustav Victor Rudolf Born - pharmacologist, German-Jewish refugee.

Max Born - Winner of Nobel prize for physics, German-Jewish refugee.

Edith Bulbring - Pharmacologist, German-Jewish refugee.

Carl Djerassi - The inventor of the first contraceptive pill, Austrian refugee.

John Dollond - Inventor of the achromatic lens, founder of Dollond and Aitchison, descended from Huguenot refugees.

Albert Einstein - One of the world's most famous scientists, German-Jewish refugee.

Alexander Grothendieck - Mathematician, German-Jewish refugee.

Robert Fano - Physicist, Italian-Jewish refugee.

Ugo Fano - Physicist, Italian-Jewish refugee.

Bernard Katz - Nobel Prize-winning biophysicist, German-Jewish refugee.

Sir Hans Krebs - Nobel Prize-winning scientist, German-Jewish refugee.

Sir John Krebs - Zoologist, son of Sir Hans Krebs.

Sir Harold Kroto - Nobel-winning chemist, son of German-Jewish refugees.

Liviu Librescu - Physicist, fled from Romania to Israel.

Lord (Claus) Moser - British professor of statistics and head of the Government Statistical Service, Austrian-Jewish refugee.

Sport

Alexander Alekhine - Chess World Champion, moved from Communist Russia to France.

Ossip Bernstein - Chess grandmaster, escaped from Communist Ukraine to France.

Efim Bogoljubow - Chess grandmaster, moved from the Soviet Union to Germany.

Fedor Bohatirchuk - Chess grandmaster, moved from Ukraine to Canada.

Jelena Dokic - Tennis player, Serbian refugee.

Mebrahtom Keflezighi - Olympic marathon silver medallist, Eritrean refugee to US

Lomana LuaLua - Football player who has played for Colchester United, Newcastle United and Portsmouth, was a refugee.

Mario Stanic - Former footballer with Chelsea. He used to play for Sarajevo F.C. who were targeted during the Bosnian War.

Christopher Wreh - Former Arsenal footballer, Liberian refugee.

TV and Film

Jackie Chan - Fled to the US from Hong Kong after being threatened with death by the Triads.

Zohra Daoud - Former Afghani actress and model, now settled in Malibu, California.

Marlene Dietrich - Actress and refugee from Nazi Germany.

Omid Djalili - Comedian and actor, he and his family are Iranian refugees.

Ben Elton - Comedian, grandson of a Czechoslovakian refugee.

Baron Lew Grade - Television mogul and uncle of Michael Grade, was a Russian refugee.

Fritz Lang - Film director, and a half-Jewish refugee.

Jerry Springer - Talk show host, parents were German refugees.

Rachel Weisz - Actress, both parents are Jewish refugees.

Billy Wilder - Film director and writer, Jewish refugee.

Writing and Publishing

Reinaldo Arenas - Cuban novelist, became a refugee in the USA after years of persecution for his sexuality and political ideas. His autobiography, Before Night Falls, was on the New York Times list of the ten best books of the year 1993 and was made into a film in 2000.

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown - Journalist and author, Ugandan refugee.

Isabel Allende - Author of The House of Spirits, Chilean refugee who fled after receiving death threats following the overthrow of her father's cousin, Salvador Allende.

Hannah Arendt - one of the most influential political philosophers of the twentieth century. Born into a German-Jewish family, she was forced to leave Germany in 1933.

Elias Canetti - Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1981, Bulgarian refugee.

Joseph Conrad - Author of Heart of Darkness, refugee.

Anne Frank - German-born diarist, as a child she fled from Nazi Germany to the Netherlands.

Karen Gershon - A writer and poet, as a child she fled from Nazi Germany to Great Britain.

Michael Hamburger - A noted British Translator and Poet, as a child he fled from Nazi Germany to London.

Lord Paul Hamlyn CBE - The founder of Octopus Publishing Group, Jewish refugee from Germany.

Victor Hugo - Author of Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, due to his political beliefs, he was forced to flee France several times.

Ismail Kadare - A winner of the Booker prize who fled Albania in 1990 for political reasons.

Shaparak "Shappi" Khorsandi - A British comedian and author of Iranian origin. She is the daughter of the Iranian political satirist and poet Hadi Khorsandi. Her family left Iran when she was a child following the Islamic Revolution.

Marina Lewycka - Author whose first book, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, sold over a million copies worldwide.

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - Novelist and film screenwriter, German-Jewish refugee.

Judith Kerr - Children's writer, German-Jewish refugee.

Thomas Mann - Winner of the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature, moved from Germany to Switzerland and from there to the US.

Rigoberta Menchú - An author and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992, Guatemalan refugee.

Vladimir Nabokov - Russian author and lepidopterist, escaped to Europe from the Russian Civil War and then to the US from the advance of Nazi Germany.

Ursula Owen - Editor of Index on Censorship, was a German refugee as a baby.

John O'Donnell-Rosales - Cuban author, poet and journalist, escaped from Cuba with the remnants of his family after years of persecution for their political and religious views.

Felix Salten - Author of Bambi, Hungarian-born Jewish refugee from Nazis.

Loung Ung - A survivor of the Killing Fields of Cambodia, activist and author of the books First They Killed My Father and Lucky Child.
See our Literature section for a comprehensive list of refugee authors
Miscellaneous

Ossip Bernstein - Chess player, fled from Russia to France.

Alina Fernandez - Daughter of Fidel Castro, fled Cuba to Spain , now lives in the United States. Former model, now hosts a talkshow.

Otto Kahn-Freund - Lawyer, German Jew who fled Nazi Germany to the UK.

Dalai Lama - His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso is the spiritual leader of Tibet. In 1959, following the Brutal suppression of the Tibetan national uprising in Lhasa by Chinese troops, he was forced to escape into exile and has since been living in Dharamsala, northern India.

Christoph Meili - Whistleblower, fled from Switzerland to the US because an arrest warrant was issued against him.

Merhan Karimi Nasseri - An Iranian refugee who lived in the departure lounge of Terminal One in Charles de Gaulle Airport from 1988 to 2006. Subject of the Steven Spielburg film 'The Terminal'.

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Lord Maurice Saatchi and Charles Saatchi - Founders of Saatchi and Saatchi advertising agency. Their father was an Iraqi Jewish refugee. Eva Jircicna - Designed the Faith Zone in the Millennium Dome. Refugee from Czechoslovakia. Daniel Marot - Architect, furniture designer and engraver who designed Hampton Court Palace. Huguenot refugee.

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When refugees first flee the conflict in their home country or area, they settle in places where they hope to find safety and shelter.

If that involves crossing a border, the first country that a person arrives at and attempts to find safety in after leaving their home country is called the country of first asylum. The majority of the world's refugees live in a country that borders their own. People usually seek refuge in either refugee camps or in urban areas.

When people arrive in a new country after fleeing from conflict, they often don't have passports and other official documentation. It can be difficult to find safety and shelter, particularly if they don't speak the local language.

People often live for many years in countries of asylum. Many are forced to move between countries in search of refuge. Some live in 'protracted refugee situations', meaning that refugees live in exile outside their home countries for five years or more without a long-term protection solution in sight.

Destination countries

People travel to many different countries in the search for refuge. Australia is one of many countries in the world that hosts people seeking refuge.

According to the UNCHR - Global Trends 2018, the global refugee population was 25.9 million at the end of 2018, the highest level ever recorded. Over two thirds of the world's refugees come from just five countries:

Syria (6,700,000)

Afghanistan (2,700,000)

South Sudan (2,300,000)

Myanmar (1,100,000)

Somalia. (949,700)

The countries hosting the greatest number of refugees in 2018 included many developing countries:

Turkey (3,700,000)

Pakistan (1,400,000)

Uganda (1,200,000)

Sudan (>1,000,000)

Germany (1,063,800)

Iran (979,400)

Lebanon (949,700)

Bangladesh (906,600)

Ethiopia (903,200)

Jordan (715,300)

Destination countries can change quickly. For example, Syria was once a place of refuge for people seeking asylum, and now it is a place that people flee from.

Australia receives considerably fewer people who are seeking asylum than the countries listed above. In 2018-2019, Australia granted 18,762 humanitarian visas, made up of 9,451 Refugee category visas, 7,661 Special Humanitarian Program (SHP) visas and 1,650 Permanent Protection visas.

For more statistics on Australia's Humanitarian Program, go to Department of Home Affairs - Humanitarian program statistics.

More information

The UNHCR provides information that shows where refugees come from (source countries) and travel to (destination countries). This can be found via the UNHCR website. UNHCR Figures at a glance.

Refugee camps

Some people find shelter in a refugee camp. A refugee camp is an area established specifically for people seeking asylum; often it is outside the border areas of one country and inside a neighbouring country.

In some countries the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has worked with local governments to establish UNHCR 'camps'. These are places where refugees who have fled persecution in their home countries may seek asylum and refuge.

Examples of refugee camps are:

What is life like in a refugee camp?

Refugee camps are often found close to the borders of neighbouring countries. Although camps are designed to offer protection and refuge, people living in camps often continue to remain at risk and in danger. Camps can also be very overcrowded.

Refugees living in camps often report that:

people live in a constant state of insecurity and fear

shelter, food, water and medical supplies are limited, and sometimes non-existent

physical violence and abuse (including sexual violence) are widespread

children have limited access to education; they can be exposed to exploitation, violence and kidnapping; many are orphaned.

More information

Human Rights Watch Thailand: Ad Hoc and Inadequate 2012

Aljazeera news report Women fear violence and rape in refugee camps 2017

CNN's news report The 'silent crisis' of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh (April 19, 2017)

Real Stories Refugee Documentary Kids in Camps

Urban areas

More than half of the world's 22.5 million refugee people live in or on the fringes of urban areas.

When people arrive in a country of first asylum there are not always refugee camps available. In some cases people are unable to access refugee camps even if they are available. Lack of access could be due to physical barriers such as mountains and rivers, lack of transport, or fear of further danger.

When no camps are accessible, people are forced to try and seek refuge in urban areas. Here they set up makeshift homes, often living beside railway tracks, on riverbanks or in the poorer districts of cities, towns and villages.

Some of the biggest urban refugee populations in 2018 were found in:

What happens when asylum seekers are unable to access legal protection?

In countries where there is no means to formally register and/or apply for refugee status protection, people are considered (by that government) to be living illegally. This leaves many people without legal protection, without access to work, food, adequate shelter or medical care.

When this happens people can be vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, detention and arrest. They can be forced to return to their home country. People seeking refuge in urban areas often report:

regular discrimination and harassment

lack of affordability of shelter (housing) and food (in some cases families have a subsistence allowance)

exploitation of labour (including sexual exploitation), particularly children

sexual and gender based violence and harassment

limited or no access to education and/or medical care (some is provided through the UNHCR and NGOs).

More information

For case studies on people seeking refuge in urban areas refer to UNHCR Urban refugees

Amnesty International - Jordan: Syrian refugees must not be abandoned, 2018

Watch Columbia University's Teachers College's Urban Refugee Education

Women and children

Women and children are often at risk groups in countries of asylum. They can be targeted for violence and abuse and find it difficult to access critical resources such as food, shelter and water. Sexual violence is endemic within many refugee camps and urban areas.

Smugglers, border guards, and members of armed groups have all been known to abuse refugee women and children who are in search of safety. In some cases, the perpetrators of sexual violence are those from whom they expect protection: police, military guards, camp administrators and other refugees.

Refugee adolescents, especially girls, are primary targets of violence. Many are also forced to assume responsibilities for younger siblings and other members of the household.

Many women and girls face considerable shame and stigma because of this violence. Some become pregnant and bear children as a result. Despite the efforts of UNHCR and other organisations, there is little protection within refugee camps.

More information

Pittaway, E. & Bartolomei. L. with UNHCR Geneva (2011) Survivors Protectors Providers: Refugee Women Speak Out, Divisions of International Protection, UNHCR Geneva.

Watch the Women's Refugee Commission clip Urban Refugees: The Right to Live in Dignity

Watch Human Rights Watch 750,000 Syrian Children out of School

Watch UNICEF's clip The Dangerous boat ride to Greece through the eyes of a Syrian refugee girl

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Refugee journeys: Seeking refuge - Refugee camps - Urban areas - Women & children

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When refugees first flee the conflict in their home country or area, they settle in places where they hope to find safety and shelter. This may be a refugee camp or perhaps an urban area. Women and children are at higher risk

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It wasn't enough to send warm wishes to refugees in Syria. Vick Liu wanted to send them actual warmth.

Liu is a sophomore at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is creating a new line of sleeping bags. They are designed for refugees. These refugees have few other options to keep warm during harsh winters in the Middle East. Liu was an avid backpacker in his youth. He came up with the idea last year. This came after reading about Syrian families who were struggling to survive freezing temperatures after fleeing the country's civil war.

"The only way for them to create heat is through fire and through blankets," said Liu. He is a 19-year-old finance and political science student. "It's tough to stay warm at 15 degrees Fahrenheit with a couple blankets."

Freezing temperatures in Syria have been blamed for causing hypothermia. The cold has caused some refugee deaths in recent years. The United Nations says up to 4 million refugees in the Middle East face "extreme risk" this winter. Only a quarter are expected to get assistance preparing for the cold.

To help, Liu and a team of five classmates recently raised $17,000. They will use this money to manufacture 250 bedrolls. They they will send them to resettlement areas in northwest Syria. They'll be distributed in December by Nu Day Syria. It is a nonprofit group. It is based in New Hampshire. It provides medical supplies and everyday items. It gives them to refugees in Syria.

The group partnered with Liu after hearing from families who feared a repeat of last year's winter. It was one of the worst in recent history. Workers say even a sleeping bag can make a major difference for refugees who had to flee home without warm clothing. Many can't afford fuel for gas heaters.

"We have 8-year-old children saying, 'I don't want my brother to die,'" said Huda Alawa.

Alawa is the grants and logistics coordinator for the group. "It's a very tangible fear. It's something they've seen happen already."

The project joins other efforts to help refugees through the winter. This includes programs by the U.N. and other nonprofits that distribute blankets and warm clothing.

Liu's work began last year in his dorm room. That is where the Los Angeles native crafted a prototype. He used a sewing machine and materials stashed under his bed.

His final product is called the TravlerPack. It is a lightweight sleeping bag that's filled with duck down insulation. It can handle temperatures as low as 15 degrees. Each one costs about $50 to make and distribute.

Some of the design is based on Liu's experiences as an Eagle Scout backpacking in cold conditions. But other features were suggested by Syrian refugees Liu met through a friend. These features include a waterproof pocket for travel documents and a shoulder strap for portability. Multiple bags can be zipped together to create a larger blanket for families.

"I made it a point not to assume what their needs were, but to go out and find out," said Liu, who tested one of his early models by zipping into it overnight during a Boston snowstorm.

After the first sleeping bags are delivered to Syria, Liu's team aims to send another 1,000 to refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan. Fires for warmth can be a deadly hazard in these areas. The students are now trying to raise $50,000 for that effort. Once that's finished, Liu plans to turn the project into a nonprofit group and look for other refugees in need.

"At the end of the day, we didn't start this to make money. We didn't start this to get a ton of prestige," he said. "We just wanted to help people."
Source URL: https://www.tweentribune.com/article/tween56/student-makes-sleeping-bags-refugees-middle-east/

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Student makes sleeping bags for refugees in Middle East

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It wasn't enough to send warm wishes to refugees in Syria. Vick Liu wanted to send them actual warmth. Liu is a sophomore at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is creating a new line of sleeping bags. They are designed for refugees.

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For most mothers, daily life revolves around the items on each day's to-do list: cook, shuttle kids, head to work, clean, help with homework, get kids to bed.

In some ways, daily life for refugee moms is similar. They do many of the same things for their own families. But getting those things done looks entirely different for a mom whose family has been forced from their home by war.

1. Shower and get ready for the day

Our "home" doesn't have a bathroom, so I pack my things and go outside to wait for the shower.

In Jordan and Iraq, as many as 50 people share one bathroom. How many people do you share a toilet with?

It's not feasible to shower every day, and we often wear the same clothes we slept in.

There's not much privacy. It makes me nervous, both for myself and my 11-year-old daughter.

2. Drop my son off at school

In our tent settlement, there's an early education center. It's run by one of the aid groups working here and it helps kids get ready for school. If they're not ready to transition into the Lebanese school system, they get left behind.

Frankly, we're lucky to have it - not every camp or settlement has access to a place like this.

But my son Omar just stands in the door watching the other children playing. He's so hesitant. Sometimes he takes a few steps in, and I can tell that he wants to stay, but he can't quite do it.

I know I'm protective. I don't always know how much to let him move around the camp on his own. I want to keep him safe and this place is so different from the structure and security of our home and community in Syria.

3. Take the kids to work

We don't have an education center - and even if we did, we couldn't afford to use it. If we don't work - all of us - we can't pay rent on the land we use.

So we make and stack bricks for 8 cents a brick.

My 12-year-old, Jomaa misses school so much. He says he's forgetting what he learned.

My 4-year-old Saad should be playing, not shoveling brick dust. We pulled out an old toy fire truck and he didn't know what to do with it. He's forgotten how to play.

4. Do the laundry

We don't have a washer or dryer, so laundry has a lot of steps to it: build a fire, get water from the tank and boil it, soak and scrub the clothes and hang them to dry outside.

The sun's out, so the clothes should dry in a day. They get dusty and smell like smoke, but that's still better than having to hang them inside when it's raining or snowing. Inside, they're in the way for days and never really get dry.

5. Take my son to the doctor

Check the bus schedule. We have to take two buses to get there.

Sometimes I don't have bus fare, so I have to walk and carry him.

Jamal likes to go to the physiotherapist. It's good for his injured foot, and they are kind to him. But it's hard to afford the treatment.

6. Clean up and help with homework

Fold and pile up sleeping mats and blankets from last night. Our family of seven shares one tent - so the one room we have has to work.

We leave shoes at the door, but the floor is dusty when it's dry and so muddy when it rains. I feel like I'm always cleaning.

If the kids have any homework, it has to be done early in the afternoon. Once the sun goes down, our light inside is really minimal.

I work hard to keep the tent clean and make it a better place to live. I found flour sacks in the garbage and sewed them together to make walls for our tent, and I found some fabric to make the inside look better.

7. Call my husband in Syria

My husband is the eldest son, so he stayed in Syria to care for his family.

The place is under siege, he says. There are raids, bombs. We're constantly afraid for his life.

He can't call me from Syria, so sometimes I call him, always praying that he answers the phone.

Kids need a father. They need to feel protected and provided for - to feel like their family is complete. They miss him, and I really wish he were here with us.

8. Referee the kids

Fortunately, my kids don't have to work, but we don't have access to a children's center, and I'm scared to let them stray too far.

I think they ask, "What can we do, Mom?" about a million times each day. They're bored all of the time. I see kids just kind of run wild around the settlement. I don't want my kids doing that.

They're always fighting with each other. It's exhausting.

9. Cook dinner

Tell the kids for the one-millionth time, "Yes, we're having potatoes for dinner again." It's the one thing we can afford that will actually feed all of us.

It's an afternoon event to get everything peeled, cut up, and cooked.

I cook over an open fire. In some places, people can at least access a shared single burner.

Either way, it's a lot like camping. Believe me, camping stops being fun after you've been doing it for months or years.

10. Tuck kids into bed

Pull out the bed mats and blankets we rolled up and put away this morning.

Say goodnight, but the kids don't sleep. When they doze off, they have nightmares about the things they've experienced.

My husband was killed when our farm was bombed a few months ago. My three kids and I found his body. I feel so helpless to protect and comfort them because I know they can never un-see what they've seen.

This list represents the experiences of several refugees and internally displaced people in places where World Vision is working.

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A refugee mom's to-do list | World Vision

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For most mothers, daily life revolves around the items on each day's to-do list: cook, shuttle kids, head to work, clean, help with homework, get kids to bed. In some ways, daily life for refugee moms is similar. They do many of the same things for their own families.

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What services are provided at a refugee camp?

Planning and Design:

Within the first 72 hours after a new emergency, the UN Refugee Agency mobilizes response teams to assess the situation and coordinate with government authorities a "safe humanitarian space" that guarantees the safety of the people being forced to flee - in rural settings this is often a camp.

The criteria for a safe humanitarian space includes the following:

A well-designed camp should protect the environment and help prevent fires and outbreaks of disease. Food, water access points and latrines should be properly lit and near shelters so as to protect women and girls against sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and facilities should offer refugees the possibility to access the local economy, infrastructure and services of the host community.

Services:

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What is a Refugee Camp? Definition and Statistics | USA for UNHCR

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A refugee camp is intended as a temporary accommodation for people who have been forced to flee their home because of violence and persecution. Refugee camps are practical during emergencies for delivering lifesaving aid, but many refugees displaced are living through protracted situations that require longer term care.

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Refugee Facts and Statistics | USA for UNHCR

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A record 65.6 million people have been forced to flee their homes. Get the facts on who these refugees are, where they come from, the conflicts causing their displacement and the process of resettlement in new locations.

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The United States has long been the global leader in resettling refugees, strictly defined as people forced to flee their home country to escape war, persecution or violence. Since October 2001, more than 895,000 refugees have settled here, typically after being referred by the United Nations and vetted by the State Department in a process that takes at least 18 months. (By comparison, a million or so legal immigrants arrive annually.)

As you can see from the map below, refugees to the United States have come mostly from the Middle East, Asia and Africa. While many immigrants, legal and undocumented, come from Latin America, U.S. regulations make it difficult for Central and South Americans to qualify as refugees.

Where They're From

Where They End Up

Somalia to Minnesota. Burma to Indiana. Settling in the States

These pie charts compare refugee populations resettled in 41 states since October 2001. For clarity, the breakdown in each state is limited to nationalities with at least 500 people, and no more than the top 5 nationalities are shown. Below each state name is the number of refugees, in bold, reflected in the pie chart; it's followed by the total number of refugees.

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By the Numbers: The United States of Refugees

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The United States has long been the global leader in resettling refugees, strictly defined as people forced to flee their home country to escape war, persecution or violence. Since October 2001, more than 895,000 refugees have settled here, typically after being referred by the United Nations and vetted by the State Department in a process that takes at least 18 months.

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Ted-Ed

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What does it mean to be a refugee? - Benedetta Berti and Evelien Borgman

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When people leave their country to seek refuge, or protection, in another country, they are called refugees. Sometimes governments force people to leave their country. Other...

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UNHCR’s global trends in forced displacement – 2018 figures

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About Us

Figures at a Glance

How many refugees are there around the world?

At least 82.4 million people around the world have been forced to flee their homes. Among them are nearly 26.4 million refugees, around half of whom are under the age of 18.

There are also millions of stateless people, who have been denied a nationality and lack access to basic rights such as education, health care, employment and freedom of movement.

At a time when 1 in every 95 people on earth has fled their home as a result of conflict or persecution, our work at UNHCR is more important than ever before.

UNHCR personnel

Our workforce is the backbone of UNHCR. As of 31 December 2020, we employ 17,878 people, of whom around nearly 91 per cent are based in the field.

We work in 132 countries and territories, with personnel based in a mixture of regional and branch offices and sub and field offices. Our teams work hard to help the displaced, specializing in a wide range of disciplines, including legal protection, administration, community services, public affairs and health.

How is UNHCR funded

We are funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions, with 85 per cent from governments and the European Union. Three per cent comes from other inter-governmental organizations and pooled funding mechanisms, while a further 11 per cent is from the private sector, including foundations, corporations and the public. Additionally, we receive a limited subsidy (one per cent) from the UN budget for administrative costs, and accept in-kind contributions, including items such as tents, medicines and trucks.

UNHCR was launched on a shoestring annual budget of US$300,000 in 1950. But as our work and size have grown, so too have the costs. Our annual budget rose to more than US$1 billion in the early 1990s and reached a new annual high of US$9.15 billion in 2021. For up to date information about UNHCR’s financial needs visit our Global Focus website.

Our yearly budget supports continuing operations and supplementary programmes to cover emergencies, such as the Syria crisis or large-scale repatriation operations.

Data on forced displacement and stateless populations

We track the number of people forced to flee and use data and statistics to inform and optimize our work and the work of our partners to better protect, assist and provide solutions. So when for example a major displacement crisis erupts, we can predict how many people need help, what kind of help they need and how many staff we must deploy.

These figures are released every year in our flagship reports: Global Trends and Global Report.

For statistics and operational data that are essential for UNHCR operations, we collect and process data in a number of different systems that are fit for purpose. Our Population Statistics Database, for example, carries information on country of asylum, country of origin and demographics on people of concern to UNHCR – refugees, asylum seekers, returned refugees, internally displaced and stateless people.

For more information on how UNHCR collects population figures, including links to our databases, visit our data page.

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United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

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At least 82.4 million people around the world have been forced to flee their homes. Among them are 26.4 million refugees, around half of whom are under the age of 18.