The Centre for Peace Studies (CMS) has launched a campaign called #ovdježivimo (#welivehere) within Refugee Week in Croatia. This was organised to share the stories of refugees who have found their new home in Croatia. And the focus has been how the integration in the new environment went.
Using short videos and radio jingle, five refugees from Iran, Turkey, Pakistan and Congo have spoken about their lives in Croatia: what they do and what they consider important.
The objective of the campaign
This way, Croatian citizens can get to know their new neighbours who: have been granted international protection, live and work here, make friends and try to make their wishes and dreams come true.
Refugees seeking protection in Croatia are theoretically guaranteed a host of rights under the Croatian and international law. However, they encounter many institutional barriers as well as discrimination when they try to exercise these rights.
“This campaign shows that we have so much in common and stresses out the importance of connecting the local community and the newcomers”, says Lovorka Šošić, the campaign manager.
Stories of refugees in Croatia shared on video
The videos produced within the campaign were announced at a press conference earlier this year. While, for the jingles Croatian actor Dado Ćosić gave his voice in a call to action to invite people to participate in the Refugee Weeks.
The campaign has been approved by the Commission for Public Actions of the Croatian National Television (HRT), and the videos were broadcasted on all their channels, in the period leading up to the International Day of Peace.
Funders of the campaign
The video are co-financed from #NewNeighbours and the BRIDGES project.
This action is funded by the European Union’s A sylum, Migration and Integration Fund.The content of this campaign represents the views of the authors only and is their sole responsibility. The European Commission does not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.
