Refugee Week is the world’s largest arts & culture festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary. It takes place every year around
World Refugee Day (20th June).
Refugee Week Aims
Refugee Week is a community-powered festival with arts & culture at the heart. It’s an open platform with a decentralised model, which means that everyone is invited to take part and help make the festival happen. Activities are planned by individuals, schools, libraries, arts venues, faith groups, local councils, football clubs, businesses and a variety of other contributors.
By providing a platform for people who have sought sanctuary to share their experiences, perspectives and creative work on their own terms, the festival aims to enable refugees and asylum seekers to be able to live safely within inclusive and resilient communities, where they can continue to make a valuable contribution.
In Refugee Week 2024 there were over 15,000 events and activities and over 1.3 million people took part.
Refugee Week 2025
In 2025, Refugee Week will take place from 16-22 June, with the theme 'Community as a Superpower'. Events take place across the UK and internationally.
Past Refugee Weeks
Previous Refugee Weeks included the themes:
*Our Home (17-23 June 2024)
*Compassion (19-25 June 2023)
*Healing (20-26 June 2022)
*We cannot walk alone (14-20 June 2021)
*Imagine (15-21 June 2020)
Partnership
Refugee Week UK is a partnership project coordinated by Counterpoints Arts, working with
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
,
Barnardo's,
Ben & Jerry's,
British Future, the
British Red Cross
The British Red Cross Society () is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with 1 ...
,
Choose Love,
City of Sanctuary,
Freedom from Torture, imix, IOM (the
International Organization for Migration
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is a United Nations related organization working in the field of migration. The organization implements operational assistance programmes for Human migration, migrants, including internally displa ...
), the
International Rescue Committee
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a global humanitarian aid, relief, and development nongovernmental organization. Founded in 1933 as the International Relief Association, at the request of Albert Einstein, and changing its name in 1 ...
,
Migrant Help,
National Education Union
The National Education Union (NEU) is a trade union in the United Kingdom for school teachers, further education lecturers, education support staff and teaching assistants. It was formed by the amalgamation of the National Union of Teachers ...
,
Oxfam,
Refugee Council,
Refugee Action,
Scottish Refugee Council, Student Action for Refugees, UK for UNHCR, UNHCR (
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, l ...
), and the
Welsh Refugee Council.
UK Refugee Week activities are delivered with multiple national and regional partners. Refugee Week is also celebrated in Australia, Berlin, Croatia, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jordan, Malta, Lithuania, Slovenia and Taiwan.
References
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Refugees