Cambridgeshire County Council is celebrating Refugee Week 2025 (June 16 – 22) with events across the county, including an acrobatic performance from a care leaver who first came to Cambridgeshire as an unaccompanied asylum seeking child.
Refugee Week, established in 1998, is an international arts & culture festival that celebrates the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary - this year's theme is 'Community as a Superpower'.
In celebration of Refugee Week 2025, on Thursday, 19 June, at 5:30pm in March Library, Amin will be performing circus skills including acrobatics. Amin first came to Cambridgeshire as unaccompanied asylum seeking child and as an adult is now a County Council care leaver.
Amin’s performance will be followed by music from Burhan and İnan. Burhan plays the bağlama – a traditional Turkish long-necked string instrument widely used in Anatolian folk music – while İnan accompanies on guitar. Together with vocals, their uplifting set blends acoustic pop with Anatolian folk rhythms, celebrating music as a shared voice of resilience and unity.
Other Refugee week events taking place next week in Cambridgeshire include ‘Navigating your journey to Higher Education’ – a free webinar for unaccompanied minors and their supporters, an international Games session and a multilingual story time.
Cllr Alison Whelan, Chair of the Communities, Social Mobility and Inclusion committee at Cambridgeshire County Council said: “I’m delighted we are marking Refugee Week 2025 in Cambridgeshire with so many fantastic events that affirm and celebrate the contributions refugees have made, and continue to make, to our county.
“Cambridgeshire has a strong heritage of supporting those in need. As a council we have an important role in ensuring that Cambridgeshire continues to be a place of safety and opportunity for all.”
Cllr Alex Bulat, Migrant Champion at Cambridgeshire County Council added: “Refugees that come to the UK after being forced to flee their homes have shown immense courage and resilience.
“Refugee Week is a joyous arts and culture festival that brings together people from different backgrounds to embrace diversity and share their experiences, perspectives and creativity – I’m looking forward to joining the celebrations.”
Burhan and İnan, who will be performing at the March Library event, said: “Music is a universal language that connects us beyond borders. Performing during Refugee Week is our way of standing in solidarity with all those who have faced hardship and displacement – it’s about turning shared struggle into shared hope.”
Find out more about the Refugee Week events happening across Cambridgeshire and discover what’s happening near you, on our website.
To mark Refugee Week the County Council will be flying the Refugee Nation flag at their headquarters, New Shire Hall in Alconbury Weald, and on Friday, 20 June, at dusk Ely Cathedral will be lit up in orange – the main colour of the Refugee Nation flag.
Earlier this year Cambridgeshire County Council was amongst the first county councils in the UK to receive Council of Sanctuary status, affirming the council’s commitment to creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for to new arrivals in the area.
