WORLD REFUGEE DAY RALLY AND MARCH IN CLEVELAND
Local Refugees and Advocates Call for Compliance with UN Convention on Refugees
WHEN: 4:00PM, June 20, 2019
WHERE: Anthony Celebrezze Federal Building, 1240 East Ninth St.
CONTACT: Don Bryant – 216.255.1576
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 18, 2019
The Greater Cleveland Immigrant Support Network, Friends of Immigrants Lake County, and Ohio Immigrant Alliance are hosting a World Refugee Day Rally and March in Cleveland on Thursday, June 20, 2019. A local Mauritanian family and others who fled violence and persecution to settle in Northeast Ohio will share their stories and journeys to freedom.
Speakers include:
Kathy Baka, Friends of Immigrants Lake County, poem recitationRita Danks, Friends of Immigrants, Lake CountyAbbas Hamideh, Palestine Right to Return MovementOlga Rosado, Cleveland Rape Crisis CenterLynn Tramonte, Ohio Immigrant AllianceDavid Lima, MCOthers Invited/TBD
On December 4, 2000, the United Nations General Assembly named June 20th as World Refugee Day. In the resolution, the General Assembly noted that 2001 marked the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees which sets out the rights of individuals who are granted asylum and the responsibilities of nations that grant asylum. The US is cosignatory of this convention.
Still, the Trump administration has turned our nation’s back on refugees, first attempting to cancel the program and then cutting the numbers of UN-designated refugees we will accept for a new home in the United States by 75%. The administration has also imposed a Muslim ban and broken the asylum process, which also puts the lives of people fleeing persecution at risk and undermines our values of religious liberty and freedom.
“We must condemn the inhumanity of U.S. policy that jails refugees who travel to the US border to gain these rights,” said Linda Park, co-founder and member of the Greater Cleveland Immigrant Support Network.
The World Refugee Day Rally will commence at the Anthony Celebrezze Federal Building, 1240 East Ninth Street at 4:00pm and culminates at the Carl B. Stokes Federal Courthouse, 801 West Superior Avenue at 5:15pm. Handmade posters will be exhibited along the route, illustrating the refugee journey: from violence in native lands, to crossing land or sea, facing discomfort and danger, and ending up in a US jail. For more information, see: https://www.facebook.com/events/636358633500229/?ti=as
###