Zrinka Bralo shares an emotional experience: what it feels like living in a war zone, being a refugee in a foreign country, but also, helping other refugees in the country that welcomed you. In her talk she gives examples of how the media can contribute in creating a negative image for refugees and presents her initiative to help women immigrants. She asks us to see ourselves as citizens who have the power to accept and protect refugees as the only way to stop being afraid of them.

Zrinka Bralo is Chief Executive of Migrants Organise, a community organizing platform for migrants and refugees. She herself is a refugee from Sarajevo (Bosnia), where she was a journalist and worked with leading war correspondents during the siege in the 90’s. Zrinka is a founder of the “Women on the Move Awards”. She won the 2011 “Voices of Courage Award” by the Women’s Refugee Commission in New York and joined their Board in 2012. She successfully campaigned to end immigration detention of children and currently campaigns to end indefinite immigration detention. In September 2015 she became founding Chair of the National Refugee Welcome Board. She is also founding Trustee of the Bridge of Peace, a reconciliation charity supporting young people working for peace in North Bosnia, in towns where notorious concentration camps were discovered during the 90’s war. Zrinka holds an MS in Media and Communications from London School of Economics and is a 2014 Churchill Fellow.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx