The team have been in the island for the past few days, meeting with the Guernsey Overseas Aid & Development Commission, attending an event on evacuees and refugees, and celebrating the 80th anniversary of evacuees returning home after the Occupation.
UK for UNHCR CEO Emma Cherniavsky was one of those visiting.
‘We’ve found so much solidarity that this history exists in Guernsey. We also heard about Alderney and Sark and their experience of the war, and that history lives on with people here today. It’s a point of reference that has helped people here feel some solidarity with refugees around the world,’ she said.
‘The children and others who were forced to flee the island when the Germans invaded were called evacuees, but in many ways it was a refugee experience for them, and families were separated. There are many common strands to the refugee experience.’
UNHCR was established after the Second World War to help with the resettlement of refugees and people who had been forcibly displaced by the war. The mandate was then extended to other global refugee situations.
UNHCR is primarily funded by governments and the States of Guernsey has been aiding work in countries such as Ukraine, Pakistan, Sudan and, most recently, the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The British charity was set up about five years ago to work alongside the UNHCR to raise money from trusts and foundations, philanthropists and individual donors, companies and businesses in the UK.
It also has a relationship with the Isle of Man and States of Guernsey.
‘We’re enormously grateful for the partnership with Guernsey and that willingness to help refugees rebuild their lives. The sense of community in Guernsey is very strong,’ said Ms Cherniavsky.
‘We’re living in a world where a lot is happening. There’s a lot of challenge now in the humanitarian sector with the US government, but some other European governments as well who are stepping back from the funding commitments. It means that the donors we have and the partnerships we have are more important than ever to help refugees.’
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