Gendanie was in the countryside when he was told that his village had been attacked. He rushed home, but no one was left there. His family had fled by canoe to Tanzania. He did the same. Shortly afterwards, he arrived at the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, where he was reunited with his wife and children.
His story is no exception: it is just one of the millions of lives lost due to war and violence. So too is the story of Joseph, an 11-year-old boy who was forced to flee his home in Juba, South Sudan, whilst bullets whistled past him and armed men broke into houses to loot them.
According to the latest figures from international organisations worldwide, over 117.8 million people are living as displaced persons due to violence. Of these, 41.6 million are refugees (displaced outside their own country), 9 million are asylum seekers and 68.7 million are internally displaced persons. Although this represents a slight decrease compared with previous years, the figure still reflects a humanitarian crisis of vast proportions.
Conflicts in Sudan, the Congo, South Sudan, Ukraine, Myanmar, Afghanistan and the Sahel continue to force entire families to leave their homes, schools, jobs and everything that was part of their everyday lives.
“Behind every figure is a person who has had to flee to save their life. Our commitment is to stand by them, welcoming them, protecting them and offering opportunities to start afresh. When someone has lost almost everything, even a school and someone who listens and lends a helping hand can become their first refuge,” says Fr Luis Manuel Moral, Director of MISIONES SALESIANAS.
Salesians around the world assist over 500,000 displaced people and refugees in various parts of the world, such as South Sudan, Kenya and Uganda… They do so by providing emergency aid, food, shelter, psychological support and safe spaces, but also by offering education and vocational formation for children, girls, adolescents and young people.
In Kakuma, one of Africa’s largest refugee camps, and in Palabek, in northern Uganda, the Salesians live within the refugee camps, literally alongside the refugee population. There, they work to ensure that children can continue to attend school and receive at least one meal a day, and that young people can learn a trade at the vocational training centres they run.
This reality is reflected in the documentary “Palabek. Refugio de esperanza”, through the stories of Alice and Gladys, two young mothers who fled the war to save their own lives and those of their children; or that of Lucy, a young refugee in Palabek:
“We suffered greatly because of my father’s death and because we were in a new and unfamiliar place, but one Sunday I met the missionaries and my family and I rediscovered joy, hope and dreams for the future.”
On World Refugee Day, celebrated on 20 June, MISIONES SALESIANAS wishes to remind us that no one chooses to be a refugee and that every person has the right to live in peace, safety and dignity. Whilst millions of people continue to seek refuge, protection and a future, the Salesian Mission Office in Madrid, speaking on behalf of the entire Salesian Family, reaffirms its commitment to stand by them, to support them and to accompany them towards a better future.
