Refugee Week in Wollongong City Mall will feature music, song, beats, dance, great markets, laughter and much happiness.

All the ingredients for a celebration will be mixed together on Friday 24 June in the Mall when performers will gather to celebrate their home culture and their new Australian culture.

Manager Community Cultural and Library Services Jenny Thompson said the event is an enjoyable and heart warming way of celebrating the beginnings of new life in Australia.

“Many of the new refugees who are making a home in our city come from countries and regions that are facing huge political, social and economic upheaval,” Ms Thompson said. “They have made enormous personal sacrifices to reach Australia and they are adding to the diversity of our multicultural Wollongong community. I encourage all citizens to take some time on Friday 24 June to visit the mall to enjoy the music and performances.”

The event will begin at 11am and includes performers and speakers from Serbia, Croatia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burma, Sudan, Vietnam, Ethiopia and Burundi.

Wollongong’s Refugee Week event will celebrate those people who have arrived in the city during the past 50 years. 2011 marks the 60th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, a milestone in the recognition of the rights of people displaced by persecution and in the development of an international human rights framework. It is also the 50th anniversary of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

“Wollongong takes pride in its status as a vibrant and diverse city that has welcomed refugees and migrants from all over the world over many years. This event will be a celebration of the contribution refugees and former refugees have made to the Wollongong community,” Ms Thompson said

Refugee Week is supported by Wollongong City Council, Multicultural Communities Council of Illawarra, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health Network, Illawarra Multicultural Services, Healthy Cities Illawarra, and Navitas.

For more information on the Refugee Week, contact Council’s Community, Cultural; and Library Services on (02) 4227 7111.