rotarians in europe working to help refugees

REFUGEES AND ROTARYRotarians in Europe helping 

refugees

ROTARY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONSEOUL, KOREA 2016

Coordinator: PDG Matias RöyttäTurku International RC

TurkuFinland

“I HAVE A DREAM”

• When we are born everybody is equal• ROTARY consists of multitalented people willing 

to help • “SERVICE ABOVE SELF”• ROTARY FOUNDATION is one of the biggest           

private organizations DOING GOOD IN THE WORLD

EUROPE IS IN TURNMOIL 

• REFUGEES with many faces of human catastrophe 

• WHAT CAN WE AS ROTARIANS DO to help our  sisters and brothers in the middle of human  catastrophe, especially in Europe

• In this session there are THREE AUTSTANDING      SPEAKERS speaking about the history and the current status of this human catastrophe and present some means to help these people

THE SPEAKERS:

ELINA LEHTINEN Director, Communications and fundraising    

CMI (Crisis Management Initiative), Helsinki, Finland

PDG, RID SAFAK ALPAYIstanbul-Sisli RC, Istanbul, Turkey

RODA HASSAN Roda fled from Somalia to Finland 26 years ago. 

      Translator, member of Turku City Council. Member              of political party Green.

MARTTI AHTISAARITHE NOBEL PEACE LAUREATE 

2008

”Peace is a question of will. All conflicts can be settled, and there are no excuses for allowing them to become eternal. It is simply intolerable that violent conflicts defy resolution for decades causing immeasurable human suffering, and preventing economic and social development. ”

“Europe is a continent where nearly everyone has at one time been a refugee. We Europeans should know, and should never forget, why giving refuge and complying with the fundamental right to asylum is so important.”

President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker

CMI’S VISIONAll conflicts can be resolved

What people have started, people can end.

• 40 million internally displaced

• 20 million displaced in neighbouring countries

• 1,4 million in Europe

• All in all 60+ million refugees

Migrant crisis in numbers

 Graphic and data: UNHCR, 2015

Sweden: ~ 150 000

Germany: ~ 500 000

Turkey: 2 800 000

Jordan: 700 000

Lebanon: 1 100 000

Finland: 35 000

• Failed governments

• Weak institutions

• Corruption

• Inequality (elite vs public)

• No proper rule of law

• No channels to express themselves

Root causes

CMI as an independent actor

Global military expenditure for one day is 4 billion euros.

 That would pay for 100,000 

rounds of peace talks.

Watch video

This picture summarizes my speech

from refugee to chairing city council

▪ WHO office , Mogadishu ,

Somalia

My graduation  and boys graduation

My son in the Finnish Army(community 

service)

My sons graduationHigh School

me and crown Princess 

Victoria of Sweden in this picture

Me in the Campaing and in Berbera Libarary, 

SOmaliland

"From Somalia to Finland. My experiences in being a refugee in Finland"

WHY REFUGEES MIGRATE?

"From Somalia to Finland. 

▪ World needs to address these underlying root causes, rather than struggling with symptoms.

▪ Accepting refugees, preventing them, rejecting them, or even returning them to their countries, are not sustainable.

"From Somalia to Finland. 

▪ Refugees must be accommodated and accepted on humanity basis.

▪ Special attention must be given to women

▪ Returning is difficult for mothers and their children, who have already suffered a lot. They were looking for better future for themselves and for their children.

"From Somalia to Finland. 

▪ Education and employment, are key for women refugees.

▪ An educated mother, can prevent radicalization from her children, because she can immediately answer to their questions about life.

"From Somalia to Finland. 

▪ It is also important, to give special attention, to young

▪ Employment and education prevent isolation and radicalization. Sports too, is key to youth integration.

SUMMING UP:

Actions to be taken ?

• Rotarian in Europe (with the help of Rotarians outside Europe) form an internal Rotary organization to plan, implement and monitor

• Countries should join to raise Global grants• Also collect District grants• Professional help: legal, educational, social 

and medical from Clubs and individual members of the Clubs

CAN WE BREAK THE BRANCHAND START TO FLY ? 

YES, WE CAN!