http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/feb/21game.htm
February 21, 2008 13:06 IST
Breakthrough, an international human rights organisation, has launched a unique video game to highlight the unfair immigration policies prevalent in the United States. The game -- I Can End Deportation � aims to help reframe the immigration debate in the United States and ensure due process and fairness for all those who live in the country.
The game is available for free download at www.icedgame.com
and the website has had over 20,000 visitors since its launch on February 18.
Designed to spark dialogue and create awareness about unfair US immigration policies, ICED is a free, 3D downloadable game. It teaches players about current immigration laws on detention and deportation that affect legal permanent residents, asylum seekers, students and undocumented people.
Game players can choose one of five characters to inhabit and live out the day-to-day life of an immigrant youth. The youth, who is being chased by immigration officers, is making moral decisions and answering myth and fact questions about current immigration policies.
If the player chooses or answers incorrectly, he/she increases his/her chances of being thrown into detention.
Once in detention, the player endures both physical separation from his/her family and unjust conditions while awaiting -- often for an unknown amount of time -- the random outcome of his/her case. One character, Ayesha, is an Indian high school student who gets deported for writing an essay about The Patriot.
"Breakthrough believes it's important to engage young people in social issues and encourage civic engagement. Games for change helps people to relate better to an issue because they can put themselves into the shoes of a character experiencing injustice," said Breakthrough Executive Director Mallika Dutt.
"Close to two million people have been deported and thousands more affected --
many without just cause -- due to unfair immigration policies. When we let the government deny due process and human rights for some people, we are putting all of our freedoms at risk," she said.
ICED was created as a collaborative initiative coordinated by Breakthrough, in partnership with various community-based organisations, high school teachers and over a hundred students from across high schools and after-school programmes in New York City.
Breakthrough hopes that people around the world will play ICED and support the need for fair immigration laws in the United States.
February 21, 2008 13:06 IST
Breakthrough, an international human rights organisation, has launched a unique video game to highlight the unfair immigration policies prevalent in the United States. The game -- I Can End Deportation � aims to help reframe the immigration debate in the United States and ensure due process and fairness for all those who live in the country.
The game is available for free download at www.icedgame.com
and the website has had over 20,000 visitors since its launch on February 18.
Designed to spark dialogue and create awareness about unfair US immigration policies, ICED is a free, 3D downloadable game. It teaches players about current immigration laws on detention and deportation that affect legal permanent residents, asylum seekers, students and undocumented people.
Game players can choose one of five characters to inhabit and live out the day-to-day life of an immigrant youth. The youth, who is being chased by immigration officers, is making moral decisions and answering myth and fact questions about current immigration policies.
If the player chooses or answers incorrectly, he/she increases his/her chances of being thrown into detention.
Once in detention, the player endures both physical separation from his/her family and unjust conditions while awaiting -- often for an unknown amount of time -- the random outcome of his/her case. One character, Ayesha, is an Indian high school student who gets deported for writing an essay about The Patriot.
"Breakthrough believes it's important to engage young people in social issues and encourage civic engagement. Games for change helps people to relate better to an issue because they can put themselves into the shoes of a character experiencing injustice," said Breakthrough Executive Director Mallika Dutt.
"Close to two million people have been deported and thousands more affected --
many without just cause -- due to unfair immigration policies. When we let the government deny due process and human rights for some people, we are putting all of our freedoms at risk," she said.
ICED was created as a collaborative initiative coordinated by Breakthrough, in partnership with various community-based organisations, high school teachers and over a hundred students from across high schools and after-school programmes in New York City.
Breakthrough hopes that people around the world will play ICED and support the need for fair immigration laws in the United States.