Asylum-seekers, refugees 'strengthen community' through football

IN a bid to bridge the cultural and social gap between asylum seekers, refugees and members of the local community, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) held a friendly football tournament at the Eddie Hart recreation ground, Tacarigua on Sunday to commemorate World Refugee Day.

Observed globally for the first time on June 20, 2001, World Refugee Day "celebrates the strength and courage of those forced to flee their homes due to conflict or persecution."

This year, World Refugee Day aimed to focus on solidarity among refugees to "envision a world where they are warmly welcomed."

In friendly, yet intriguing action in east Trinidad on the weekend, refugees and asylum-seekers from countries such as Cameroon, Cuba and Venezuela rubbed shoulders with their Trinidad and Tobago counterparts in a sport that unifies nations and breaks down otherwise challenging language barriers.

Hary Boys, MV Strikers and Combined participated in the three-team, hockey-sized-posts tournament, with the ever-popular sack race and draughts also among the activities which saw the young and not-so-young all trying their hand.

The youngsters who played on the day may not have understood the full nature of a friendly football clash, as they pulled out all the stops to try and emerge as victors.

Communications associate at the UNHCR Kalifa Clyne said it was imperative to integrate the youth into the World Refugee Day activities.

"The thing is, 25 per cent of the people who are refugees and asylum-seekers are children. This is an issue which impacts them in such a big way," Clyne said. "They need access to education so they can grow, learn, play and interact with children from TT, so they can also develop themselves and just create a community."

With the 2024 CONMEBOL Copa America tournament in full swing, a couple of diplomats also took to the playing field to show their nifty touches with the ball at their feet, as Argentine ambassador Gustavo Martínez Pandiani and Flavio Gonzalez Hernandez, the head of trade, co-operation and cultural affairs at the Mexican Embassy, both made cameo appearances.

Chatting to Newsday, Hernandez said the significance of the day was not limited to sharing camaraderie while playing the beautiful game.

"We think of the people in the centre as humans. All the rights are for everyone," Hernandez said.

"These kinds of activities will be good because we can locate the people in the centre with activities and recreation. It's about building a community...the refugees need to have a good space to recreate themselves and have access to education and health because these are human rights."

The UNHCR collaborated with the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, the Heroes Foundation and the Pan-American Development Foundation (PADF) to host the event, and like Hernandez, PADF project director Hannah Katwaroo touched on the importance of enhancing the refugees' livelihood as they fight for their rights to earn a living on foreign land.

Last year, the UNHCR and PADF teamed up with the Chaguanas Chamber of Industry and Commerce to "deliver skills training and livelihood opportunities" to migrants.

Some of the skills that were taught included electrical installation, cooking and solar-panel installation.

"I think the overall experience of just connecting migrants to apprenticeship opportunities, has given them a pathway to really understand TT's labour market and understand employers, our cultural way of working and to really see those real avenues for inclusion and interact with community members," Katwaroo said.

She said the meetings with the Chaguanas Business Chamber have helped the UNHCR and PADF to "connect the needs of migrants and refugees to these job opportunities."

She said a burgeoning relationship with the CTS College of Business and Computer Science Ltd goes beyond the advantages of the skills training and apprenticeship programmes as the one-on-one mentorship will help to "sustain the engagement and integration into communities."