Category: Migration

In the news – human rights

Durig the last few weeks the war in Ukraine has been all over the news – rightfully so… but what is getting lost when so much focus is on this conflict? Here a couple of items I don’t think we should miss out on:

One of very few women ever to lead a national football organization, Norwegian Lise Klaveness spoke to the FIFA Congress in Quatar last week about human rights violations. She talked about the importance of helping migrant workers in Qatar, do more to protect LGBTQ+ supporters at the World Cup, and more in general to make the global game welcoming to all. According to The Guardian, 6500 migrant workers have died in Quatar since they were awarded the World Cup in 2010. In the past 10 years, Qatar has put in place a massive building program, preparing for the football tournament in 2022. In addition to seven new stadiums, dozens of major projects have been completed or are under way, including a new airport, roads, public transport systems, hotels as well as a new city, which will host the coming World Cup  final.

See the full speech below:

Another important news item regarding human rights violations came, not unexpectedly, from Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. “Following a U-turn over re-opening girls’ secondary schools in Afghanistan on Wednesday, the UN human rights chief shared her “profound frustration and disappointment” that six months after the Taliban seized power, high school girls have yet to return to the classroom.” Read the UN report here:

https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1114482


UNICEF Afghanistan

@UNICEFAfg

“Millions of secondary-school girls around Afghanistan woke up hopeful today that they will be able to go back to school and resume their learning. It did not take long for their hopes to be shattered.” statement by @unicefchief

unicef.org

Girls in Afghanistan must go back to school without any further delays

2:58 PM · Mar 23, 2022

Working with the film Babel

Babel (2006)

We talk about the border as a place only, instead of an idea. I believe that the real borders are the ones that exist within us.

Alejandro González Iñárritu, director of Babel

Discussion questions to the film:

  1. What does the Biblical story of Babel in chapter 11 of Genesis illustrate?
  2. In which countries does this film take place?
  3. What languages are spoken by the main persons?
  4. Where do you find acute misunderstandings between persons?
  5. Give a short summary of the plot and the main conflicts in the film.
  6. How well do the actors portray the main characters, do you think??
  7. Which scenes do you think are the most important ones?
  8. Is the story chronological? Are there any flashbacks and/or flash forwards?
  9. What techniques are used to tell the story? (sound-color-camera use)
  10. It is claimed that this film is filled with emotions that need no translation. They are universal. Give examples of this.
  11.  Does the film have a clear message, or does it leave room for different solutions?
  12. Your personal evaluation of the film. Give reasons for your view.
  13. To whom would you recommend the film “Babel”?

After having watched the film, write a blog post on one of the following tasks:

  1. The title and the actions in the film strongly indicate that communication and lack of communication, or rather breakdown of communication is a main theme. Discuss and explain how this is reflected in the film.
  2. Another theme related to this might be intercultural communication and challenges represented by globalization. Why is it so difficult to reach out to each other across cultures? Discuss and explain by referring to the film. You may focus on:

    Japanese vs. Western culture
    Mexican vs. American culture
    American vs. Arab culture
  3. Yet another theme related to communication might be loneliness. How is this reflected in the film? Give examples and explain.

Ingunn

NB! Postponed because of home school – see itslearning for link and task to the film Desert Flower instead.

The Election in the USA and Global Issues

As Election Day in the USA is approaching, what does it matter to the rest of the world who becomes the next American president? Here’s a look at how global issues will be affected: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/10/22/926692628/trump-and-biden-on-global-issues-from-reproductive-rights-to-refugees

Operation Day’s Work: South Sudanese Refugees in Uganda

This year’s OD Project support young refugees from South Sudan. Visit this site:  https://www.od.no/pushgrensene to learn more about the project. What do you learn about the country South Sudan and the challenges people are faced with there? Why have many people fled to the neighbour country, Uganda? What are some of the problems they are faced with there? What is the OD Project going to help with?

Write a blog post where you argue why Norwegian students should take part in this year’s OD Project. 

Ingunn

Migration and Refugees

  1. Take a look at what the refugee situation is like in the world today: https://www.unhcr.org/figures-at-a-glance.html?fbclid=IwAR2v8SbIQQMRbPf66tUb8O60mcZm2ERhqGm9A5aqu7bguZY7at0Tcl263X4

2. Work in pairs. One person reads up on migration, the other on refugees. Take turns telling each other what you found out:

https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/migration/index.html

https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/refugees/

You should also check out The International Organization on Migration:: https://www.iom.int/

3. Read the two texts below:

View at Medium.com
Warsan Shire: “Home”: https://medium.com/poem-of-the-day/warsan-shire-home-46630fcc90ab
The Unaccompanied Minor’s Tale

Discuss what they tell you about the issues of migration and refugees. What thoughts do these texts provoke in you?

Warshan Shire has said it is important to her to “tell the stories of those people, especially refugees and immigrants, that otherwise wouldn’t be told, or told inaccurately.” What do you think she means by this? Does she succeed in doing so with her poem? Give examples from the text. Can you find similar examples from the other text you read?

4. Immigrant Posters: Discuss these posters and the message they send:

Erin Wright - Posters Without Borders - International Immigration Poster Exhibition
https://posterswithoutborders.com/Erin-Wright Immigration Posters | Redbubble

No human being is illegal Poster
Australian government's anti-immigrant poster shocks planet (VIDEO) | IrishCentral.com
Australia government poster from 2014

5. The situation in Moria

Read this article to find out more about the situation in Moria after the fire: https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/12/greeces-moria-camp-fire-whats-next

Watch this video:

  • Why are women and girls especially at risk?
  • What do you think Europe should do about the situation in this and other refugee camps? Discuss in your groups.

6. The artist Banksy has donated a lot of art and even a ship to the cause of helping refugees in the Mediterranean Sea.

https://www.myartbroker.com/blog/banksy-the-benevolent-10-times-banksy-has-done-something-for-charity/

What do you think about this kind of activism, combining art, creation of awareness and collecting money for a cause?

My Son the Fanatic and Free for all

“My Son the Fanatic” is a short story written in 1997 by Hanif Kureishi about a father and a son living in London, and struggling to adapt. The father left Pakistan and loves England, he wants to become as English as possible, because “you can do almost anything here.” The son has never been outside England, but still struggles to find his place in the English society, and is looking for something else, going back to the culture and faith of his ancestors, and becoming more and more angry with the society he sees around himself – the society his father is so in love with.

“Free for All” is a short story written by Moin Ashraf in 1999. This story too depicts a father and a son, this time in the US, the father doing everything “right” to become an upright and successful man in his new country, and being frustrated at seeing his son leaving the ideals of his own country and tradition. It is a culture clash, between a son who has grown up American, and a father who still looks back to and values of his Pakistani homeland.

Write a blog post where you EITHER compare these two stories in terms of father-son relationships and the question of identity and belonging, OR discuss what these two stories say about being an immigrant, and raising a family in a different culture. What are these two stories saying about multiculturalism?

Hanna

Two immigrant voices

Comedians Trevor Noah and Hasan Minhaj use their own experiences and background in their stand-up shows «Homecoming King» and «Son of Patricia».

Write a blog post in which you discuss how they use examples from their own lives to illustrate their experience as immigrants in the USA.

Choose one or two of the sub topics they include in their shows and comment on the questions below:

Do you think other immigrants can recognise the challenges the two talk about being an immigrant or part of an immigrant family? Why? Why not?

Can we learn something about being an immigrant watching these shows? Explain.

Elin and Hanna

 

The Disunited State of America

Ever since it became an independent country, the dream of a free America “for all” has been present. America had much “empty” land, and people could seek refuge and new opportunities there.

It has always been a country of many cultures, more and more as time went on.

Today we read about the “Disunited Peoples of America” – how people are divided in their views on multiculturalism and how inequality and racism continue to cause problems in the US.

Here you will find letters written between Eddie Glaude and his son Langston in 2016, after a brutal incident of police violence in Louisiana.

Read the letter and write a blog post where you comment on the following:

  • what are the events Eddie and Langston are referring to?
  • What is the message in each of these letters?
  • What kind of impression do you get from the unity, or disunity of the American society from reading these letters?

 

-Hanna