Freedom Meal & Liberation Festival 2022
Picture on top: Anne Reitsma ©
On the 5th of May, the people of the Netherlands celebrate freedom. Justice & Peace participated in different events in The Hague, the City of Peace & Justice.
As a programme partner we were involved in the development of the first Hague edition of the Freedom Meal. 500 residents of The Hague, including the Samen Hier The Hague community and the participants of Shelter City Netherlands, were invited to enormous tables at the leafy Lange Voorhout. Together with these 500, we reflected on the freedom we know in the Netherlands and we celebrated it together with good food and great performances.
One of the speakers was Asya, our Shelter City guest and human rights defender from Kazakhstan, who is dedicated to improving environmental and political rights in her country. Standing on the tables, she was interviewed by Leila Prnjavorac and impressed the audience with her personal story about freedom, representation, detention of peaceful political activists and the importance of the freedom and right to feel at home in your country and to be able to leave and come back.
“You want your future to be created by us and not by someone else.”
(Asya, political rights defender from Kazakhstan & Shelter City participant)
Samen Hier student community at the Liberation Festival The Hague.
A few blocks away the Samen Hier student community of The Hague could be found at the The Hague Liberation Festival. Against the background of the pop festival, the students discussed human rights, refugee rights and children’s rights with the visitors and promoted their vision of safe pathways for students in refugee camps to the Netherlands where they are admitted to a master and welcomed by an inclusive community of students both with – and without a refugee background.
“We would like to set up Samen Hier student communities in more cities”
(Manju, Unicef Student Team The Hague & co-founder of the Samen Hier student community)