The UN Refugee Agency confirmed a worldwide rise of refugees and migrants since 2015.
More than 21.3 million people are now refugees while there are currently over 65.3 million people who have been forcibly displaced worldwide, a lot of whom have employed desperate measures in an attempt to find a safer home away from their war ridden countries.
Cate Blanchett along with a host of popular actors to draw attention to the plight of these refugees and migrants who grab little fragments of what used to be their home to lead a new life in newer countries where they often face with xenophobia and racist attacks. The video was exclusively released on Facebook.
Watch the video below.
Popular actors Keira Knightley, Juliet Stevenson, Peter Capaldi, Stanley Tucci, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kit Harington, Douglas Booth, Jesse Eisenberg and Neil Gaiman joined Blanchett in performing Jenifer Toksvig’s poem What They Took With Them to urge people to go to withrefugees.org and sign the petition to ensure, education, shelter and employment for refugees who find it hard to restart their lives without any support from the government.
Jenifer Toksvig’s poem is inspired by first person testimonies from refugees of the items they took before fleeing their homes.
Among the items listed from the testimonies are “yellow plastic bag for papers, sellotape till waterproof” and “yellow cards for refugees”, “certificate from high school”, diploma, national flag, sea sickness tablets, “a piece of mortar from the house”, house keys and national flag.
Cate Blanchett who is also a UNHCR goodwill ambassador said:
As soon as I read Jenifer Toksvig’s poem, and even more so after I took part in an early performance of it, I was struck by its immense power. The rhythm and words of the poem echo the frenzy and chaos and terror of suddenly being forced to leave your home, grabbing what little you can carry with you, and fleeing for safety. As a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, I believe the very least each of us can do is work together to ensure refugees have the basics with which to build back their lives – an education, somewhere safe to live, the ability to work.
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