RSIR : A Quest to Help Refugees How Recent Events Have Affected the Immigrant-Helping Lunch Club After the withdrawal of over 15000 U.S troops, Afghanistan was plunged into civil arrest. It’s government collapsed due to attacks on it’s provincial capitals and more than 2.2 million sought to leave the country. Around 400 refugees were flown to Korea, where they’ve mostly been welcomed by public support. Although the general public does in fact support the settlement of Afghan refugees, some politicians have openly criticized South Korea’s response, reigniting South Korea’s long-fought refugee and immigrant debate. “How can we be sure none of the 400 refugees are affiliated with the Taliban?” Cho Kyung-Tae, a South Korean politician, argued. The conflict has reached DIS as well, with RSIR (a lunch group) aiming to inform students and help immigrants get settled in Korea. RSIR, Research and Services for Immigrants and Refugees, is a student organized lunch club focused on raising awareness and helping refugees. “What our organization (RSIR) is wanting to do is we’re wanting to help raise funds to help with the basic necessities for any family that does come to Korea, whether they are the recent refugees that came from Afghanistan or any refugee or immigrant group.” said Mr.Bergan, the teacher chaperone for the club. Not only has RSIR raised money for donation to various immigrant groups, the group has also made announcements to better educate DIS, visited and helped refugees living in Daegu with their errands, and sent basic necessities to immigrants. The members are passionate about their cause, with many joining the club to genuinely help out. When asked about why he joined the club, Samuel, one of the club’s founders in 12th grade responded “We created this organization because there wasn’t much awareness at the time about refugee situations and foregin situations in terms of social issues in Korea. And especially in our school, since we only handle things mainly about the U.S, nobody really knew about it (social issues). We wanted to help awareness in terms of a global perspective and wanted to actually do something to help the people around us.” Covid-19 has unfortunately limited the type of activities and fundraisers that the club can do. “Because of Covid-19, there are restrictions on what we can do.” explained Samuel. “Still, we are hoping to plan many different things and do fundraisers outside of dress down days.” he said. Though Covid-19 has had its effect on the group’s activities, the club aims to continue its services as best as possible. Not only are the members of RSIR planning fundraisers like non-uniform days and goodie bags, they’re also planning on reaching out to refugees to learn more and check in. “Of course for future projects, we also want to try to either visit or virtually contact some of the refugees or some of the refugees we contacted before to see how they’re doing right now, to see if we can be of any help to them.” commented KD, another one of the founders. With the pandemic getting better and restrictions getting lifted, RSIR has become more active. In fact, the lunch club hosted its first fundraiser of the year yesterday : a non-uniform day. The students’ responses were positive and many could be seen wearing colorful and individual outfits. The event was financially successful as well, raising almost _________ won for the __________________. “___________________________________________________________________________” After the success of the non-uniform day, more events are sure to come. _________________________________________________. Make sure to donate Works Cited Lee, S., & Slavney, N. (2021, October 2). Afghanistan Crisis reignites South Korea's refugee debate. The Diplomat. Retrieved October 23, 2021, from https://thediplomat.com/2021/10/afghanistan-crisis-reignites-south-koreas-refugee-debate/ Rashid, R. (2021, August 26). South Korea designates arriving Afghans as 'persons of special merit'. The Guardian. Retrieved October 1, 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/26/south-korea-designates-afghan-arrivals-as-persons-of-s pecial-merit Faiez, R., & Seir, A. (2021, August 16). Taliban sweep into Afghan capital after government collapses. AP NEWS. Retrieved October 21, 2021, from https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-taliban-kabul-bagram-e1ed33fe0c665ee67ba132c51b8e32a5.
