lesson 2 time to flee

In your book write down 5 W questions about this

picture

Time to flee

The Situation• Dad – Journalist on the local newspaper,

leading figure in the trade union

• Mum – Mechanic

• New baby

• Boy and girl at school

• Granny – in a wheel chair, housebound

• Uncle Ali – very religious, has been a political prisoner, walks with difficulty

• Old Car

• The country is changing rapidly

Two Months Ago• A Military Coup took place (the

military took control of the country)

• There was gunfire on the streets

• Tanks were everywhere

• There is a curfew: everyone must stay in after dark

• The military has taken over the TV

One Month Ago• Dad was told that the

new rulers had arrested a lot of people

• Others, including religious leaders and trade unionists, had simply ‘gone missing’

A Fortnight Ago

• An article appeared in a paper that supported the army. It listed people that were ‘enemies of the state’

• It had a picture of a skull and was signed ‘Friends of the Motherland’

Last Week

• Soldiers came to the school looking for the dinner lady’s husband

• He wasn’t there

• They took the dinner lady and her children instead

Four Days Ago

• The Journalist’s Trade Union is banned

Three Days Ago

• A note was pushed through the door of the family home

Two Days Ago

• Someone rang Uncle Ali and told him he’d better get out as people were going to set the house on fire

Yesterday

• Some children at school said that soldiers had been searching the streets and arresting people.

• Some of these people were in Dad’s trade union.

Today

• There is more gunfire in the main square

• Trucks full of soldiers have been arriving in front of the town hall

• Roadblocks are stopping all cars

• All trains are being searched

What will the family do?• The family have to make a decision

• Dad says the family should flee, and seek asylum as refugees

• It is under an hour to the border by car, but the journey would be risky

• If they go by foot it will take a week through the desert and then a forest in dangerous country.

The military start to search their street.

They have 10 minutes to make their minds up, to get organised,

and to get out.

Will you get over the border?

Time to Flee

• How did you find the experience of being an asylum seeker?

• Has this exercise changed your ideas about asylum seekers?