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| Participants attend the opening ceremony of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Korea representation's online film festival, held at The Seoul Plaza, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Jung Da-min |
UNHCR screens six films online to help improve public understanding of refugees
By Jung Da-min
For Jacob Jorgensen, a Korean adoptee brought up in Sweden, finding a sense of belonging has been a lifelong task he struggled for a long time with, while feeling he belongs neither in Sweden nor Korea. But taking part in the filming of a documentary, titled "Belonging," helped Jacob to define his own sense of belonging.
"I did look into the Webster dictionary to get some help with the word 'belonging.' And the first example that is shown in the dictionary of the word belonging in a sentence is this ― Her adoptive family give the young girl the sense of belonging that she had never developed," Jorgensen said during a press conference after a screening of the film, at Wednesday's opening ceremony of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Seoul office's online film festival.
Including "Belonging," a total of six films, each depicting stories of those who have been forcibly displaced from their homes and countries, will be screened online for free at unhcrkoreafilms.com during "Stories Behind the Numbers," an online film festival that kicked off on Wednesday to run until May 3.
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| Captured from UNHCR's website |
"Belonging is something that is actually given to you by another person or other people by accepting you and inviting you into their group. But this is not enough. When you get invited or accepted into your group, you have to have the sense that you are accepted. I think this has been my problem growing up," Jorgensen said.
He said he now has a sense of belonging, which is given to him by his family and friends. He said what gives a person a sense of belonging is not a certain place but the people around that person.
But there is one more important thing, Jorgensen added. "I think I found my sense of belonging through life experience. You still have to be brave enough. I think that is the hardest part," he said.
Including the stories of Jorgensen and his sister Soni, "Belonging" includes stories of others including Syrian-born naturalized Korean Abdul Wahab Al Mohammad Agha and Egyptian couple Musab and Sara Darwish, who came to Korea after fleeing from political persecution in Syria and Egypt. The film was directed by Paul Wu who has been working with UNHCR on film projects.
"The theme used to host UNHCR's first film festival is 'Stories Behind the Numbers,' considering that refugees and asylum seekers are often shown with numbers and figures. Today, more than 84 million are forcibly displaced from their homes and countries ― doubled the numbers over the last decade," said James Lynch, South Korea's representative to the UNHCR, delivering opening remarks for the opening ceremony. "This is equivalent to one percent of the entire population in the world. A new humanitarian crisis is escalating in Ukraine, and more than 4.5 million people have fled the country. Most of them are women and children."
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| James Lynch, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative to Korea, delivers an opening speech at the opening ceremony of the UNHCR's online film festival at The Plaza Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of UNHCR |
"I hope the next two weeks would help us change the way we see refugees and develop strong solidarity by understanding them better. Being a refugee is a circumstance, not a fate. An ultimate dream for all refugees is to return to their homes where peace is restored. Until then, refugees, like any of us, deserve to be protected and live with dignity, particularly in these difficult times," he said.
Lynch was referring to the war in Ukraine due to the Russian invasion which began in late February.
UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Jung Woo-sung, also said, "Especially, millions of Ukrainians were forced to leave their homes due to military action that started last February. After watching this film, I wish that we could all understand the circumstances faced by the refugees who had to leave their homes against their will and develop solidarity with them."
Attending the opening ceremony of the film festival were about 80 participants, including officials of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, human rights activists, as well as officials of foreign embassies here including the embassies of Canada, Germany and the United States.
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