Together Marking the World Day of Migrants and Refugees

To mark the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, celebrated this year on 27 September, we organized gatherings in Bihać and Sarajevo. We brought together children and families on the move with young people from the local community, creating opportunities to meet, connect and build friendships through shared activities.

This year’s message from Pope Leo XIV, “And only one of these children,” draws attention to children and adolescents affected by migration. It reminds us that behind the words migrant or refugee is a child with their own story, needs and hopes. For us at JRS, this call is closely connected to our everyday work: accompanying people on the move, standing by them and creating opportunities for them to feel welcomed and included in the community.

In the family area of the Lipa Temporary Reception Centre, we spent the day with children, parents and other family members. Through drawing, adults reflected on memories from their own childhoods, while children and parents took part together in music, dancing and creative activities. They also left handprints on white T-shirts, creating a lasting memory of the day they shared.

The day continued with sports activities and volleyball, and ended with refreshments and conversation. It was an opportunity for families to spend time together outside the usual routine of life in the reception centre, in an atmosphere of play and togetherness.

In Sarajevo, in cooperation with the Hadžići Secondary School Centre and our centre for unaccompanied minors, we brought together ten fourth-year students and five children on the move. Through team-based, creative and problem-solving activities, the young people got to know one another, talked and worked together to find solutions. Each activity was an opportunity to listen to one another, bring different ideas together and cooperate.

These gatherings once again reminded us how important it is to create spaces where children and young people can meet through shared experiences. When they create, play and talk together, differences no longer have to stand in the way of taking the first step towards friendship. These are the kinds of encounters we want to continue creating—both in reception centres and in local communities.