The observant amongst you may have noticed the snazzy new blue button that’s sitting on your homepage, for those that haven’t, say hello to Facebook Connect.
This is something we’ve been really excited about adding to Protect The Human for a while now, and are really glad it’s finally here. What it means for you is that it’s even easier to share the great work you’re doing for human rights every time you take an action on the site.
It’s easy to get started – all you need to do is sign in to Protect The Human and connect to Facebook by hitting the blue button. From here you can start inviting your friends to join and then, when you take an action, you can post it to your Facebook profile, so all your friends know you’re doing good things, and hopefully will be encouraged to join you!
We’re excited because it gives Protect The Human the chance to reach many more people, and for a site that’s all about protecting human rights and improving other people’s lives through the actions of many, well, we think that’s a pretty great thing.
If you have any problems getting set up, let us know as there might still be a few creases left to iron out and we’d love to hear what you think!
To do our bit for Refugee Week’s Simple Acts campaign we want to invite everyone to watch a film about refugees and get involved online. We’ll all watch the film in our own venues (probably our living rooms) at the same time and then discuss it on Twitter and Facebook as we go along.
The plan:
1. Help us choose a film. We’ve narrowed it down to The Kite Runner, The Visitor and Dirty Pretty Things based on suggestions from Amnesty UK’s online communities. If you want to vote then send us an @amnestyuk reply on Twitter or leave a response on Facebook
2. On Wednesday we’ll announce your winner. To take part you will need to find your own copy of the film. Buy it, rent it, borrow it or watch it online. We don’t mind how you get it, but for this to work the film is an essential part.
3. Monday, 22nd June 8:30PM. Get your copy of the film, stock up on snacks and get comfy. Press play when we say go.
5. Remember that the reason for this is Refugee Week, find out what else you can do here. Lastly, if you enjoy it, let us know and we’ll make it a regular thing!
A quick note:
If all this sounds very familiar then we should probably own up and thank Bad Movie Club and the wonderful Graham Linehan for being our inspiration.
Once a year, every year, Amnesty International and a whole host of other organisations get together to celebrate the contribution of refugees to the UK. It’s important we celebrate the concept of sanctuary and fully recognise the significant cultural, social and economical role that asylum seekers and refugees play in their country of refuge. The aim of the week is to foster cross-community understanding and to demystify some of the common misconceptions about refugees.
This year we’ll start celebrating on the 15th and there’s plenty you can do to get involved.
Take Action
From reading a book about exile, to cooking a meal from another cuisine or inviting a refugee round for a cup of tea: There’s many small things we can all do to change the perception of refugees within the UK. Head over to the Simple Acts campaign and find a little thing that you can do to make the UK a better place for everyone.
There’s also a lot we need to do to ensure our Government starts to treat refugees and asylum seekers in a fair and humane way. Failed asylum seekers in particular are often left destitute, with no support, and forced to return to countries where they have already faced persecution and violence. You can help these individuals by emailing your MP now.
Attend an Event
A big part of Refugee Week is about celebrating, and a great way to do this is by heading to a rally, going to an art exhibition or attending one of the many other diverse events that are being organised across the country. You can find a full list of events in your area here, but check out our map for some highlights.
If you’re in London you can also buy tickets for The Container, a play about asylum and persecution. Performed to just 28 audience members, all locked inside a shipping container, it provides the vivid experience asylum seekers must endure to reach our country. It’s showing at The Young Vic in association with Amnesty International from the 15th July.
Take part online
If you can’t make it to any events, there’s plenty more you can do online to get involved. Here are just a few options…
Follow AmnestyUK and Simple_Acts on Twitter for all the latest news throughout the week
Tell us what the word ‘refuge’ means to you. Loads of people have already done this, you’ll find one of them in the video below, and a bunch of others on Wordia.
This blog is where we (Amnesty UK’s webteam) will be keeping you up to date with the latest news about ProtectTheHuman.com and our other online activities.
We’ll also be using this blog to discuss our ongoing adventures in using social media for campaigning, so expect stats and insights to be coming this way soon.
