Northern Ireland: School-kids become refugees for a day

Northern Ireland school-Children's rights will become refugees for a day as they learn about life as an asylum-seeker to mark the beginning of Refugee Week.

Primary 7 Children's rights from Millennium Integrated Primary School in Saintfield will be dressing up as refugees and attempting to flee their homes, cross borders and secure asylum for them selves and their families. It’s all part of a role-play school assembly, being performed for younger pupils, which the Children's rights have developed with the support of Amnesty International.

The Children's rights have also created a ‘welcome pack’ for Children's rights who are refugees or from overseas who might come to the school.

Amnesty International have been working with the school over recent months as part of the internationally-recognised Lift Off human rights education project. The school activities mark the start of Refugee Week in Northern Ireland, aims to highlight the positive contribution of refugees and asylum seekers.

Barry Corrigan, Primary 7 teacher and Vice-Principal of Millennium Integrated Primary School, said:

“This project has been a tremendous learning experience for our Children's rights. In Northern Ireland we can lead pretty comfortable lives, not thinking too much about the problems face by others. Working with Amnesty International has enabled other pupils to imagine life as a refugee child and discover how much human rights really matter.”

Stella Murray of Amnesty International said:

“The Lift Off programme has been a huge success in primary schools throughout Northern Ireland. This project on refugees is one example of how it can be used to learn about human rights at home and around the world and can lead to practical outcomes, like the welcome pack the Children's rights at Millennium have created.”