Bridge Refugee Services will celebrate World Refugee Day on Saturday with a virtual showcase of various cultures and traditions of refugees living in the Chattanooga area.
The annual celebration is a chance for people to learn about different traditions, including food preparation, dance and language, said Marina Peshterianu, associate director of Bridge Refugee Services.
In previous years, the group has gathered for picnics or held open houses where people from the community can meet with their refugee neighbors and hear their stories, Peshterianu said. The event will be similar this year but with an online presentation.
"This is a very festive event, but our goal with this event is to educate, advocate of course for our clients and tell people how they can get involved," Peshterianu said.
The celebration will be streamed on Facebook and YouTube at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Bridge Refugee Services helps settle refugees in the area and is part of Episcopal Migration Ministries.
The pandemic and cuts to refugee admittance under former President Donald Trump caused a drop in the number of refugees coming into the country. The president decides the number of refugees admitted to the country each year through the annual Presidential Determination.
Peshterianu said her organization typically helps settle between 100 and 120 refugees a year, but in the past year the group has helped fewer than 30.
President Joe Biden raised the cap on the number of refugees allowed into the country this year to 62,500, though the figure is a fraction of the totals admitted under previous presidential administrations.
Refugees are vetted outside the United States to ensure the individuals either faced persecution in their home countries or have a credible fear of future persecution before they receive permission to enter the country. This process can take years.
Most people do not understand the intense vetting process that occurs or know that only a fraction of the people living in refugee camps will be admitted to a country as refugees, Peshterianu said.
She said participants in the Saturday event will see the many talents of their neighbors but also learn the challenges they face.
"The day is two-fold," Peshterianu said. "There is joy and there is sadness and acknowledgment that there is a lot of work that we can do as humankind to first, and the best one, to prevent things like this to happen where people have to flee when human rights are attacked."
Much of the negative rhetoric around refugees comes from a lack of knowledge and experience with the difficulties that persecuted individuals face, Peshterianu said. Most refugees do not want to leave their country but are forced to go. People need exposure to these kinds of stories, she said.
"To be a nation of high values, we have to help neighbors and people who need our help," she said. "This is what America is known for, and that's how it got the title of the world leader."
Contact Wyatt Massey at wmassey@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249. Follow him on Twitter @news4mass.