Five things to catch at the Refugee Fest in KL

The Refugee Fest in KL is a unique all-embracing event, a celebration of the contributions that refugees and asylum seekers make to life in Malaysia.

It is supported by various refugee communities and volunteers, all working together to present an artistic, cultural and educational festival experience for the masses.

The festival, now in its third year, was created as a platform for refugees to showcase their talents, share traditions and culture.

This year’s theme is “Sharing A Global Responsibility”, with activities, talks and exhibitions for the Refugee Fest taking place at the White and Black Box venues in Publika, KL, starting June 28.

“I believe people only fear something when they don’t understand it in its entirety. And therefore I have a role to play in helping Malaysians to get to know the refugees,” says Mahi Ramakrishnan, the Refugee Fest director.

“All it takes is for you to sit down with them, have coffee or teh tarik and listen to them. You would then realise that the refugees are just like you and me, with the same hopes and aspirations for themselves. With the same dreams for their children,” she adds.

One of the main reasons behind the Refugee Fest is to offer people from different backgrounds the opportunity to meet and celebrate together.

“It’s important that we embrace them (refugees) as a part of our society, not just as a global responsibility but also because the refugees contribute effectively to our society as artists, poets, engineers, teachers and so on,” says Mahi.

As of May this year, there are some 157,580 refugees registered with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia, and of the figure, 72,490 or 46%, are Rohingya refugees.