| Birmingham refugee facts | Jewish people were Birmingham's first refugees escaping escaping religious persecution in Europe in the eighteenth century. Alec Issigonis was Birmingham's best known car designer, creating the Morris Minor, the Mini and the Austin 1100. He was also a refugee from Turkey. Birmingham has been home to a Polish community since World War II. In 1939, Germany and Communist Russia partitioned Poland and refugees came to England to fight alongside armed forces. |
 | | Having fun dancing |
Birmingham city centre was awash with colour, music, dancing, fun and heaps of sunshine on Saturday 18 June in celebration of the refugees that make Birmingham their home and sanctuary. Many thousands of refugees from across the world now live in Birmingham and celebrated their, culture, music and traditions in a huge free open-air festival as part of Refugee Week 2005 18-26 June.
 | | Hohodza |
No one wants to be a refugee in an alien country, but sometimes people have to run from their homes, lives and families because they are facing torture, imprisonment or even death. People who are persecuted are faced with no choice but to flee their homes, and only a tiny percentage of these people come to the UK, some of them beginning a new life in Birmingham. Refugees have always had a huge contribution to make to UK society, in economic terms as well as cultural and social ones. Celebrating Sanctuary saw performances from people from Zimbabwe, Albania, Iran, Burundi, the Congo and Angola to name just a few. Real stories, real people
 | | Saadiya from Somalia |
Refugees living in Birmingham were chatting to people about how they came to live in Birmingham and why they left their home countries, and were happy to talk about their culture, clothes and traditions. It wasn't just born and bred Brummies that were interested in other cultures, some refugees had a few questions of their own. Saadiya from Somalia spoke to Jordan and Sam and was curious to know about their community and culture, because of the way they dressed.
 | | Jordan and Sam |
"I didn't know which community they belonged to. They wear black clothes, black eyeliner, have black hair. I asked them what community they belong to because they look different from others, and then I told them about myself." Jordan and Sam describe themselves as 'Emo'; "I stumbled across this event and wondered what was going on .It was really colourful and entertaining. We met Saadiya and told her about emo which is a fashion based on music. It was good to talk to her and find out about each other." Dance Birmingham
 | | Dancing to African music |
Music certainly brought everyone together, particularly performances from Hohodza from Zimbabwe and Mbonda Africa from Angola and the Congo. Their African rhythms and drumming proved irresistible to the people of Birmingham who danced, laughed, and threw themselves into dancing Africa-style. Also on stage were 'Shipojat e lira' – Free Eagles (Albania), Ikaze (Rwanda and Burundi), Congolese and Angolan 'Mbonda Africa', dancing from Leila Miyzova (Kurdistan) and Cameroon drummers.
 | | Birmingham Bosnia Country Dance Group |
Away from the main stage in Chamberlain Square, visitors could try foods from Iran, watch traditional dancing from Bosnia, the Congo and Iran, and learn about traditions and cultures of refugees' home countries. Click the gallery link at the top right of this page to see pictures from Celebrating Sanctuary>> Click the 'Time Together' link to read about Suzanne from Rwanda and her mentor Caroline>> Click the 'Refugee Stories' link to read about Saadiya from Somalia, Fidiya from Burundi, Ismael from Togo and Akram from Iran - in their own words>> | 
