The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition alongside 18 other refugee support organizations in Nashville held its second annual World Refugee Day celebration Thursday evening — and there wasn’t an empty seat in sight.
“The best day ever in our lives!” Hala Alaw said at the end of the night.
Alaw is a U.S. citizen who moved to Nashville in 2013 as a refugee from Iraq with her twin sister, Nuha. She says this event puts a spotlight on refugees in the community that need the support.
“It’s amazing being here just to shed (some) light on refugees, (who) are trying so hard to find a place that they can call home again,” Alaw said. “We’ve lived through that.”
World Refugee Day was first established by the United Nations in 2001. Since, it has become an international day organized every year on June 20 to celebrate and honor refugees from around the world.
Though TIRRC has held previous events for World Refugee Day prior to the last two years, it’s still new to hold an event of such magnitude, says Kosar Kosar, the multicultural organizer of the event.
Attendees had to pre-register, but because the event was so well-attended, vans were hired to shuttle attendees from their cars at nearby Youth Villages after parking ran out.
Backdropped by TIRRC’s colorful walls, the program consisted of speakers, food, performances, and storytellers who shared their refugee experience with the audience.
“The fact that we’re here two and half hours later and people are still here, dancing, is really really amazing,” Kosar said. “It’s just a testament to how much our community really cares about refugees.”
Diomede Richard Misigaro, a refugee storyteller from Burundi, said the refugee experience is not one to discuss lightly.
“We try to come together to remember those who have been persecuted,” Misigaro said, “who have been living in extreme violence, (and) those who are in the process of leaving their (home) to find a better place to live, to find a better place for their family.”
Misigaro said Nashville didn’t feel like home when he first arrived, however after so many years it finally does.
“I went through a lot the first days when I came,” Misigaro said. “ I didn’t know (if) it was the right place … but with time, I (started) loving it. I love Nashville.”
Kosar says the event had a “record-breaking turnout,” leaving organizers excited to expand the celebration next year.
“The story of refugees resonates with any and everyone who listens, regardless of political ideology, regardless of your stance on welcoming people,” Kosar said. “It touches your heart.”
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