APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY
________________________
CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION NO. _______________ C.M.S.
INTRODUCED BY
COUNCIL PRESIDENT PRO TEM SHENG THAO & COUNCIL PRESIDENT NIKKI
FORTUNATO BAS
RESOLUTION DECLARING JUNE 20TH, 2022 AS WORLD REFUGEE
DAY IN THE CITY OF OAKLAND TO BRING AWARENESS TO ISSUES
FACING REFUGEES AND THEIR FAMILIES
WHEREAS, the United Nations General Assembly declared June 20 as World Refugee Day, to honor refugee families and children around the world who have fled their homeland because of violence, inhumane acts, and persecution; and
WHEREAS, according to United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHRC) and its global trends data in 2020, there is an estimate of 26.4 million refugees across the globe (the highest in history), about 50% are under the age of 18; and
WHEREAS, at least 20 people all over the world get displaced each minute; some of them become refugees, some as asylum seekers, and some as internally displaced who choose to move to a different region in their country; and
WHEREAS, women and children are more at risk of violence, human trafficking, and exploitation; and
WHEREAS, refugees are more likely to have little or no access to basic human services like education, housing, and food; marginalizing and pushing them to the brink of poverty that causes economic and emotional distress, placing them in vulnerable situations that lead them to poor physical and mental conditions, increasing their likelihood to experience a cycle of abuse and danger; and
WHEREAS, the United States continues its evacuation efforts among Afghanistans with Special Immigrant Visa (SIV); whose group has been relocated to different Northern California cities, known to be one of the most welcoming in the country; and
WHEREAS, an estimate of 25,000 to 30,000 Laotians, who escaped Laos’ new communist government in the 1970s and resettled to the US made possible by The Refugee Act of 1980, now live in the Bay Area, mostly in Oakland and Richmond; and 2 WHEREAS, a considerable amount of Iu Mien families, an ethinic group with communities in Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand, who moved to the US as refugees after the Vietnam War, are now primarily situated in Fruitvale and other parts of East Oakland; and
WHEREAS, according to Burma Refugee Families and Newcomers, an ethnic community based organization whose mission is to support and empower refugees from Burma li ving in the SF Bay Area, new refugees have resettled in East Oakland during the recession in 2007 to 2012; and
WHEREAS, a number of organizations across the Bay Area are in the frontline providing direct resettlement programs to refugees from Africa, Middle East, Latin America, and Asia; and
WHEREAS, to build an empathetic community in Oakland who openly welcomes and supports humanitarian efforts in providing basic needs like education, food, shelter, and healthcare in order to rebuild lives towards a pathway of dignity, freedom, hope, and a thriving future; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED: That the City of Oakland Declares June 20th 2022 as World Refugee Day in order to create awareness regarding the injustices happening across the international community and to celebrate the acts of resilience and perseverance of millions of men, women and children who have overcome experiences of atrocities and disasters in their own country.
IN COUNCIL, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA,
PASSED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:
AYES - FIFE, GALLO, KALB, KAPLAN, REID, TAYLOR, THAO AND
PRESIDENT FORTUNATO BAS
NOES –
ABSENT –
ABSTENTION –
ATTEST:
ASHA REED
Acting City Clerk and Clerk of the Council of
the City of Oakland, California