Today, our services shut for two weeks for the Christmas break.
The 18th of December 2020 is also the 10th anniversary of International Migrants Day. Many people and organisations across the world mark International Migrants Day which was set up by the UN in 1990. We hope to join the chorus of voices in proudly supporting migrant communities and recognising the vital and positive impact that they have on global society.
UN data shows that there were 297 million migrants in 2019, that’s 3.5% of the global population. The global refugee population was 25.9 million.
Celebrating Migration
In November the world cautiously breathed a huge sigh of relief (albeit into their masks) as news circulated that a Turkish couple Dr Uğur Şahin and his wife Özlem Türeci have developed a front running vaccination to the Coronavirus with 90% success rate. The scientists are both from immigrant Turkish families – a true triumph of immigration, and science! This World Migrants day the team at WCC would like to celebrate the stories of people like Drs Şahin and Türeci, as well as all migrants over the world currently trying to lead better lives for themselves and their families.
Our own Marisa Matos, Centre Manager extraordinaire of Waterloo Community Counselling puts her experiences of being a migrant simply and powerfully in the statement below:
“I came to the UK 22 years ago. My mum is a survivor of domestic violence and, in order to escape my father, she decided to come to the UK with my brother and I. It was difficult to adapt to a new culture and learn a new language at first but everyone was so friendly and welcoming and helpful that I soon began to see the UK as my home. My mum was able to receive the help she needed and I was able to access opportunities that I would never have been able to access if I had stayed in my country”
As we have seen, any person has the potential to change the world and contribute to society. Unfortunately, it feels that many people, including many in the current cabinet have lost sight of that.
How much human potential do we stifle when we cram asylum-seekers into miserable, wet army barracks or threaten asylum-seekers with detention on remote islands like St Helena? How much passion and creativity do we crush when we deny asylum-seekers any right to work, to contribute and to integrate? We must urgently realise the role that migration plays in building, nurturing and creating society and culture, and do away with dangerous nativism and isolationism that seeks to enforce division and sow hatred. We are so much better when we are together; how have we lost sight of this?
In celebration of International Migrants Day and in recognition of the importance of the work our counsellor do in supporting migrant communities in London, I invited 3 of the MECS Counsellors to write about their experiences of working with refugee, asylum-seeking and migrant clients.