By Nassos Stylianou
THE UNHCR Representation in Cyprus yesterday announced the launch of an internet game, in a bid to sensitise people to the problems refugees face.
The Greek version of the game, entitled ‘taxidi fygis’, has been designed in order to make people realise how it feels on a day-to-day basis to be “a victim of persecution and facing the certainty that there is no other option than to run away from your home and attempt to rebuild your life in a new country”.
The innovative new technique to raise awareness on the topic of refugees was announced yesterday to mark the World Refugee Day and is supported by the Education Ministry and the Archbishopric.
“As the UNHCR Representation in Cyprus, we have the duty to promote this understanding of the problems refugees are faced with, and the presentation of this game is a part of this attempt,” UNHCR representatives said in a news conference yesterday.
According to UNHCR figures, almost 40 million people have been uprooted and forced to flee violence and persecution, with the trend set to increase in the future.
The Cypriot government has come under fire for not giving adequate support to refugees, like the group of Iraqi asylum applicants camped outside the United Nations Protected Area in Makedonitissa for the last three months. With Iraqis at the top of the countries of origin for asylum seekers in the world's industrialised countries in the last few years, the group of around 80 refugees claim that the subsidiary protection given to them by the Cypriot government does not enable them to survive.
Cyprus is currently home to 900 refugees and more than 12,000 asylum seekers, and according to UNHCR, the only way to help them rebuild their life is by “enlightening people and making them understand”.
“Today, on World Refugee Day, is an opportunity to remember the tens of millions of refugees and displaced people and remember what it is that makes them different,” the UNHCR said.
The internet game is targeting secondary school students aged from 13-18, but everyone is welcome to give it ago. In other countries where the game was launched, both teachers and journalists were found to have enjoyed out the game, the UNHCR said.
There are various stages in the game where the player is forced to answer questions and is made to step into the shoes of a refugee, as giving answers indicating opposition to the regime could land him in trouble.
In other levels, the player undergoes a number of difficulties and tasks before he finds a way to flee to another country, where he faces unwelcome locals who are not prepared to assist refugees.
In addition to this, the game’s website also includes a number of articles and confessions from refugees regarding their own personal experiences, also including information and definitions on the term refugee and the history of asylum seekers.
The game is available at www.taxidifygis.org.cy/ and is available in four different languages, Greek, Swedish, Norwegian and German.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2007
I think they must mean people like me because they did not mention the ones in the south or the north
