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June 14, 2024
In honor of the upcoming World Refugee Day (June 20), we’re highlighting our Sport Together Fund grantee partner Yoga and Sport with Refugees, who are calling upon people around the world to join their 12km “Swim For Good” solidarity event on June 29. The initiative intends to raise awareness of the life-threatening journeys asylum seekers take in search of better lives and safety.
Yoga and Sport with Refugees (YSR) works to improve the physical and mental health of displaced communities in locations across Greece and France. The organization believes that sport can break down ethnic and religious barriers, creating a safe space for continuous learning and development between cultures where the overall community benefits.
It launched the second edition of its international “Swim For Good” campaign and event to raise awareness of the dangerous journey asylum seekers are forced to take to reach safety in Europe. Every year, thousands of asylum seekers embark on dangerous journeys on often overfilled and unsafe boats to cross into Europe, due to a lack of safe and legal routes. These voyages are incredibly risky and life-threatening, but people are left with no other choice.
The organization is encouraging individuals and teams to join with them to swim in solidarity with internationally displaced people on June 29. The 12km event – representing the distance between Turkey and Lesvos where thousands of people cross every year and too many lose their lives – is being jointly organized by YSR and the Yusra Mardini Foundation (YMF).
This year’s event will be held on the Greek island of Lesvos, where YSR and YMF teams will complete the swim with Becky Crowe who now teaches refugees to swim after her swimming career at Stanford University. In order to “make waves in favor of humanity” and increase its impact, YSR is asking people from around the world to take part and share their efforts on social media. The action and interviews will also be live-streamed on YSR’s social accounts. In 2023, Syrian Olympic Refugee swimmer and YSR Ambassador, Alaa Maso, swam 12km from Lausanne, Switzerland to Evian, France in 3 hours, 47 minutes and 43 seconds!
According to data from UNHCR, The UN Refugee Agency, in 2023 over 41,000 refugees and migrants arrived by sea to Greece – an increase from the nearly 13,000 who arrived by sea in 2022. Of this, a reported 799 were found dead or missing last year. It is not only the treacherous waters that make it harder for asylum seekers crossing the Aegean Sea to seek refuge but also border officials who partake in pushbacks. Pushbacks are the illegal practice of a state preventing people from entering territory by forcing them back across the border or into waters from another state. The Turkish Coast Guard Command came to the rescue of 25,889 irregular migrants pushed back by Greece in the Aegean Sea throughout 2023, according to data from the agency.
Swim For Good began last year to raise awareness about the situation in Greece and across Europe. It also highlights the resilience of displaced people by standing – or in this case swimming – in solidarity with those who have lost their lives in search of a better future. Through the global campaign, YSR is advocating for safe passageways for displaced people and a humane reception of migrants in Europe.
Created in 2017 in response to the huge need for healthy safe spaces and outlets to build positive mental and physical health in refugee camps, YSR currently offers more than 20 different sports activities including Muay Thai, dance, circus lessons, aerial yoga and more daily. Its gyms in Athens, Lesvos and Ioannina in Greece have become safe spaces and strong community meetings spots with over 40,000 annual athletes and over 40 coaches who are mainly from the refugee community.
Every summer YSR runs programs teaching participants how to swim and reconnect to water, which many have become fearful of during their dangerous journeys. These sessions are being improved and developed through its partnership with YMF, which is dedicated to advancing access to sports and education for refugee communities around the world and directly supporting refugee athletes. The Foundation was founded by Yusra Mardini – a competitive swimmer and member of the 2016 Refugee Olympic Team – who experienced the perilous journey from Turkey to Greece first-hand after fleeing war-torn Syria.
Click here to learn more and sign up for Swim For Good.
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