What We've Been Up To

Our team has recently begun making presentations at school club meetings. We're really excited about this opportunity to share valuable information in an intimate setting; this allows our team members to make genuine connections with the youth we are presenting to.

Team member Aadesh Brahmbhatt recently presented to over 100 people at an Elkins Highschool Redcross meeting. He presented a powerpoint and enganged with students, asking what they already knew and then presenting them with more information on refugees. "It went very well! They are even featuring me on the Red Cross yearbook page which is pretty cool!" said Aadesh.



Aadesh Brahmbhatt presents at Elkins High School

Team leader Kylie Ting and member Jeffery Yang presented to Clements UNICEF club this week.

"Jeffrey and I talked to a small club at our high school after school, where we taught students about IHL and conducted raid cross activities. Many people enjoyed the refugee simulation and admitted that they now better understood the topic. It was great to be able to help open people's eyes and make them more aware!" said Kylie.

Jeffery Yang presents.

In the upcoming weeks we have plans to present to Clements Red Cross, Clements Model UN, Clements African Student Association, and more! Stay tuned for information about a walk through we will be setting up at the University of Houston.

Do you know of somewhere we should present? Email us at whattheyleftbehindhtx@gmail.com

This week we encourage you to think about what you would not want to leave behind in your life. Gratitude for what we have and awareness that not everyone has that security is a valuable realization. Post your realizations with the hashtag #whattheyleftbehindhtx ; we'd love to hear from you.

Allison Yelvington

  

Why I joined the IHL Youth Action Campaign

When you think of senior year, joining a Red Cross campaign is not the first thing that usually pops into mind. Many people think of senioritis, prom, graduation, and all the other fun things that come along with being at the top of the "food chain". 

To be honest, I thought my senior year would be similar to that of Gabriella's in High School Musical 3: filled with parties, going out, spontaneous singing and dancing with my fellow classmates, and enjoying my last year of being a kid before I ventured off into the world of College and legal adulthood. However, not only do I not sing and dance in the hallways, I never go out because I can almost always be found holed up in my scrambling to finish the homework assigned to me by my six, wonderful, AP teachers. 

One day I realized that my senior year was on a fast track to “unmemorablenessville,” and I felt like I needed to make a quick exit off this road. That realization began my search for something unique to do. I was tired of the monotony of school and soccer, and I needed something challenging and rewarding to consume my virtually nonexistent free time for the remainder of my senior year.

One evening, I stumbled upon a Facebook post asking for people to apply to this “Red Cross IHL Youth Action Campaign.” I clicked on the link and read the description of what it was, and I ABSOLUTELY KNEW I HAD TO BE A PART OF THIS AMAZING CAMPAIGN!!”

I've always been interested in international humanitarian law. Ever since I was old enough to comprehend the atrocities that have happened and continue to happen in our world, I've always known that I wanted to help those who couldn’t help themselves. When I read that the focus of the campaign was refugees, I felt an indescribable force imploring me to join. As an immigrant from Africa, every time I hear about bombings displacing people or the plight of refugees, I get this illogical sense of guilt. I know that if I wasn't fortunate enough to have parents that had the skills and education enabling them to come to America, I could have easily become one of those refugees struggling to survive in a cramped refugee camp while hopelessly seeking asylum. 

In a sense, this campaign is kind of a therapeutic journey for me. By helping to spread awareness about International Humanitarian law and the refugees that depend on it, I am able to come to terms with the privileged life that I live. I realize that I don't have to feel bad for “abandoning” the millions of Africans and people of other ethnicities who are or will become refugees because I didn't abandon them! In fact, through this campaign, I'm actively striving to empower the refugee community within my community and around the world in my own little way. Each adolescent or young adult that our campaign educates about International Humanitarian Law is one more person who can fight on behalf of the refugees as a future lawyer, ambassador, lobbyist, aid worker, or even a lawmaker. To me, knowing that what I'm doing is impacting the future leaders of the world is more rewarding than partying my weekends away!

Moyo Ajepe

An Overview of International Humanitarian Law

International Humanitarian Law is the body of law promoted by the International Red Cross that comes from the four Geneva Conventions along with the Additional Protocols and other treaties.  International Humanitarian Law serves to put limits on armed conflicts in order to protect groups such as soldiers, sailors, civilians, and prisoners of war. Times of armed conflict can often lead to mass destruction of human life, and IHL serves to offer some regulation and protection in spite of that.  For IHL to apply there must be a situation of armed conflict which may be determined by the IRRC or through declarations of war or UN rulings.

International Humanitarian law often overlaps or shares ideas with other human rights laws, but is also uniquely suited to judge issues in armed conflicts such as what is considered permissible collateral damage.

In our campaign we intend to educate youth about International Humanitarian Law’s effect on refugees. According the 1951 Refugee Convention the term refugee applies to anyone

“...owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.”

A refugee is thus someone outside of their original country who fears persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political opinion.

International Humanitarian law works first to prevent the creation of refugees in the first place by prohibiting parties in conflict from displacing civilians or attacking civilian groups. However once someone is forced to leave their home behind and is considered a refugee, IHL offers the following protections:

·         IHL protects the right to leave the area they find themselves in

·         IHL ensures continued entitlement to the basic rights they would have had before hostilities

·         IHL enforces the principle of “non-refoulment” meaning that countries providing asylum to refugees cannot force them to return to their home country if they still fear persecution.

·         IHL prohibits refugees from being treated as enemy aliens based solely on their nationality

Finally it is important to note that this body of law effects and protects real people who have left real lives behind because of persecution. Through the continuation of our campaign we hope to share with you some of their stories.

Allison Yelvington

Bibliography:

https://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/statement/6t7g86.htm

http://www.geneva-academy.ch/RULAC/international_refugee_law.php

Introduction

From Left to Right: Jeffrey Yang, Felix Tan, Iman Jamoussi, Kylie
Ting, Allison Yelvington, Archibald Cruz, Justin Bui, Moyo Ajepe,
Victoria Diaz-Torres, Aadesh Brahmbhatt

Greetings from one of this year's Houston Area Teams for the Red Cross IHL Action Campaign! This blog will consist of updates on how we are conducting our campaign, as well as additional information.

Who are we? 

Our team leaders are Iman Jamoussi and Kylie Ting, and the team members consist of students from Dulles, Clements, and Elkins High School. We are all very driven and excited to participate in this campaign and educate youth in interesting new ways!



What do we do?

The object of our campaign is to educate local youth on the issues of refugees throughout the world, and how they are affected by International Humanitarian Law. We have a lot of exciting plans for how we are going to do this in a fun and interactive way, so be sure to keep an eye out for updates on how you can get involved!

What have we done so far?

Our team met for the first time in late December. We got to know each other and began the planning process of executing our campaign. On Monday January 19th we attended an official training along with the other Houston Area Teams at the Houston Red Cross. We participated in a number of activities and completed "Raid Cross" simulations. We also had lectures and discussions on this year's topics of Refugees and Gender Relations. We all left feeling more informed and ready to pass that knowledge along to others!

Team Members complete an obstacle course as part of Raid Cross training.

What does our blog title mean?

One of the lessons we learned at our day of training is that refugees often do not get to choose what to take with them when they are fleeing because of armed conflict or other persecution. We want to focus on the narrative of what has been left behind by individuals in these circumstances, and how IHL is able to provide some aid and protection, because even wars have limits.

Be sure to check on the official Red Cross IHL Blog  and follow The American Red Cross IHL Unit on twitter @RulesofWar.

Allison Yelvington