World Refugee Day – 2025

By Umanga Perera

Migration is a natural part of life, it’s seen in wildlife, work, and humanity. Even though migration has been essential to the development of knowledge, culture, and progress, it is often viewed as a threat to those very things. 

What happened? In short, the lack of awareness and subsequent trust in migration systems. Speaking as a migrant to the UK and a lifelong migrant from Qatar, navigating bureaucratic systems is hard enough in times of so-called “stability”. As a Sri Lankan citizen, I have a weak passport that needs a visa for most countries, and an embassy that takes 3-6 months to renew a passport without any digital tracking.  

Coming to the UK on a visit visa needs you to provide a travel history spanning 10 years, proof of financial stability with bank statements with a return ticket and accommodation sorted out before you even get the visa. There are fluctuations in waiting times for VFS Global to process your application. These long wait times caused me to miss my graduation back in May 2022. Legal migration to live or work in the UK is another challenge entirely.  

In another life, I was part of the team that helped run an interim community centre for families and children who were evacuated from Afghanistan to Qatar. Every person that entered the centre was worried –  about their families, their friends, and what was happening and going to happen to them and their children.  

Refugees are a result of forced migration. They are people with agency and the very human worry of what will happen.

Despite the uncertainty they faced, many stepped forward to support one another. Families with even one English-speaking member helped us lead informal workshops and learning sessions, with participants ranging in age from fifty to six. I was often invited to their houses to have lunch, with friends offering to look after the centre so I can take a quick break. Some families even opened up their homes to host donations (food, toys etc.) so women and children could browse with dignity. Children played openly with one another, inviting others to join in and play and helping with translating.  

All my experience taught me was that people are people, regardless of where they come from. Despite everything happening with the Taliban, everyone I had the pleasure of working with showed incredible generosity, always making sure that the people running the programmes were taken care of.  

In times of strife, we must remember how often refugees are othered, viewed as outsiders or worse, threats to the “British culture and ways of life.” Refugees are a result of forced migration. They are people with agency, skills, generosity and a deep desire for stability.