Record 8,000 join Night of the Refugees walk, raising €1.6 million

The Night of the Refugee began Saturday evening with a record 8,000 participants and a provisional fundraising total of more than 1.6 million euros, according to a press release from Stichting Vluchteling (Refugee Foundation).

The nationwide solidarity walk started at 5 p.m. in six cities: Amsterdam, Groningen, Nijmegen, Tilburg, Utrecht, and Rotterdam. Participants are walking routes of 10, 20, or 40 kilometers to show support for more than 122 million people worldwide who have been forced to flee their homes due to war or violence.

Approximately 200 teams from schools, organizations, and companies are participating in the event. “They and the tens of thousands of people sponsoring them show that Dutch citizens increasingly care about people on the run,” said Renske Boetje, acting director of Stichting Vluchteling, in the press release. “It is inspiring to see the number of participants grow year after year.”

This year’s edition includes a route in Groningen for the first time. Registration numbers there exceeded expectations, and all five other routes are fully booked: Tilburg to Den Bosch, Rotterdam to The Hague, Amsterdam to Haarlem, Utrecht to Amersfoort, and Nijmegen to Arnhem.

Many participants have personal experiences of displacement. Ari, 29, who fled Afghanistan as a baby with his parents, is walking the route for the second time. “I experienced as a child how difficult and intense the journey here was. Nobody flees because they want to,” he told Stichting Vluchteling.

The money raised will reportedly fund emergency relief efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, aid for earthquake victims in Myanmar, and support for displaced Syrians returning home, Stichting Vluchteling said.