LEWISTON – World Refugee Day will be observed with exhibits, speakers and bilingual multimedia presentations beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 20, at the Franco-American Heritage Center.

“There is a significant regional refugee population, many of whom are French-speaking,” said Rita Dube, executive director of the Franco-American Heritage Center.

She said the the presentation would highlight similarities between the heritage of the local Franco population and the more recently arrived refugees from Somalia, Sudan, Togo and other countries and regions.

“Our goal is to further promote acceptance and understanding among the cultural groups in our community,” Dube said.

The event will begin at 6 p.m. with ethnic and cultural exhibits in the center’s Heritage Hall. At 7:30 p.m., remarks from area leaders, members of the refugee communities and support agency officials and a bilingual multimedia program will be presented.

“In order to promote acceptance, we need to remind ourselves of our past,” Dube said. “We will start by going back to the 1755 event in Canada called Le Grand Derangement, when the French settlers, our forefathers, were forcibly removed by the British in what would be seen today as an act of ethnic cleansing.

“Following this atrocity, which made our predecessors refugees, they battled racial and religious prejudice and bigotry in the colonies where they tried to resettle, and they faced tremendous poverty.”