Sitting around a large table in UNHCR's San Jose office, four young friends discuss a topical subject in Costa Rica that impacts directly on the lives of each of them. The earnest quartet - one Costa Rican, a Colombian, a Nicaraguan and a Bolivian - are members of La Red de Jovenes sin Fronteras (Youth Network Without Borders), which was set up earlier this year to combat the spread of xenophobia among the country's youth.
Gathering a core of about 70 members - Costa Ricans,
foreign migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers - the group has been active in
countering negative, stereotypical perceptions about foreigners in a country
that lies on a major south-north mixed migration route but where many young
people oppose integration of refugees.
The young activists regularly hold small meetings to
discuss the scourge of xenophobia and draw up strategies to counter it and to
spread understanding about refugees and migrants and debate why they deserve to
be treated fairly. Using mediums such as art, sports, theatre and social media
platforms to attract young people, they are starting to make progress and
setting an example in the region.
Twenty-year-old Millerland Angulo is the Colombian among
the group of friends around the table. She is a refugee who made her way to
Costa Rica three years ago after fleeing from persecution and conflict in her
homeland. It was not long before she encountered hostility.
"When I first moved here, I remember my neighbour
asking our landlord why she was renting her house to Colombians,"
Millerland explains, adding that the woman "strongly believed we were only
here as [drug] traffickers and would bring drug-dealing to the
neighbourhood."
Such ill-informed and negative perceptions about refugees
are widespread, especially among young people. A national study conducted in
2010 by UNHCR found that 64 per cent of the population had an unfavourable
opinion of the 12,500 refugees from more than 40 countries in Costa Rica.
Within that group, 87 per cent said they believed refugees have a negative
impact on society and the economy.
It was against this background that UNHCR helped
establish a project called Lazos sin Fronteras (Bonds Without Borders). As part
of this project, a group of about 180 young refugees, migrants, and Costa Rican
nationals set up La Red de Jovenes sin Fronteras, or La Red, at a conference in
February and issued a declaration of their goals.
They have received support from the Dutch government and
UNHCR, which wanted a project that would promote young people as leaders of the
present as well as the future. The core members of the fledgling group, with
technical help from the refugee agency, mapped out a programme of activities to
address the integration challenges that refugees and migrants face in Costa
Rica.
Jozef Merkx, UNHCR's representative in Costa Rica, said
the programme was unique and a possible model for other countries where
xenophobia is a problem. "It's the first initiative where migrants,
refugees and Costa Ricans are working together towards integration," he
says. "It's a completely different approach to addressing the issue
because the affected population is getting involved in creating a solution.
It's a terrific means of providing a strong sense of empowerment to these
groups," he adds.
Martha Amada, the young migrant from Nicaragua in the
UNHCR office meeting, agrees with Merkx about the potential influence of La
Red. "If other young people all over the world came together to do
something similar to what we are doing to make a difference, then the vision of
change can become reality," she says.
Part of the problem in Costa Rica is that many young
people are not being taught at school about toleration. La Red is trying to
bridge that gap by promoting solidarity and friendship between youth of different
cultures and nations and by spreading awareness about refugees and migrants.
UNHCR's Valentina Duque, who works closely with La Red,
believes that the involvement of young people in countering xenophobia is
vital. "If they are willing and the desire is there, they can achieve so
many great things," she says. "Their only setback is that they often
lack the tools and information necessary to make significant changes. This
programme was designed to give them that opportunity."
They've been busy and creative using the tools that they
do have to hand. On World Refugee Day (June 20) this year, members of La Red
organized a flash mob performance in San Jos�. In July, they created a TV
commercial for UNHCR's "1" Campaign.
And they have been getting results, attracting interest
from prospective new members as well as important outside organizations,
including the Costa Rican Youth Parliament, which has agreed to promote the
objectives of La Red. This could help the group get political support for
tackling important integration challenges, including access to health care,
employment and education.
Eduin Jane, a 25-year-old Costa Rican member, summarizes
what motivates them. "The most important thing is that, as a group, we
don't believe in borders. No one place and one person is better than anyone
else," he says. "Everyone may have a different nationality or live in
a different country, but we are all citizens of the world."
It's a sentiment that Millerland embraces wholeheartedly.
"When I first moved to Costa Rica, I didn't have any friends. I spent all
of my time watching TV and felt useless," she admits. "However, now
that I am in the network, I forget that I'm in Costa Rica and it feels like I'm
back in Colombia - for the first time, it feels like I am home."
*Erin Kastelz in San Jose, Costa Rica- Content Partner
// UNHCR