Nobody leaves a happy life, a legacy, their home country and dreams by will. They are forced to leave by either war or by the so-called proponents of “Peace”. I am a writer and this is my take on the Refugees.
During the troubled times of 1940’s and 50’s, the UN carved out a Refugee Convention because that was a time when the World was at war. At the 1951 Refugee Convention, the definition of a Refugee came out to be something like this: “Refugee is someone who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.”
On paper, this definition looks myopic and resembles the outlook UN has on the rest of the world. Since humans tend to overlook between the lines, this definitions needs to include people that are forced to leave because of war, an unexpected famine, and the unfamiliar reasons a human may choose to leave their home country and escape persecution to stay alive.
Refugees, however, are not the only ones who leave their places in search of a better life. Books are filled with conceptual words like Migrants, Immigrants, Expatriate/Democrats, Job-seekers, Aliens and many more etc. I do not believe I would be wrong if I compile all these together and assign them one word that is used frequently, a dignified word – Foreigner. This term reminds the bearer that wherever they go, they entirely do not belong at that place. They are not a part of that land.
God created the land and we, the people, made countries on that land. God did not differentiate between race, caste, creed, status, foreigners, locals etc…but WE, the people, can not live without differentiating.
I am not a foreigner and by the Grace of God, I have never been a refugee. So I have never walked in those shoes. I don’t know how it feels like to be one, and by looking at those pained faces, I pray I am never made to become a Refugee. But I want to dig a bit deeper. I was contemplating the thought of moving out. I tried staying at a different place for a few weeks. But had to return back when I was made to realize that I am a foreigner. I was not born at that place. That land does not belong to me. The irony: I had only moved to a different city. I came back to my roots. I came back because I am not patriotic to places, I believe in being loyal to certain paradigms.
And the one paradigm I would always stand affirm for is the self-respect that humans have for themselves. People, by the grant of humanity, have the freedom of movement. Freedom of being global. Freedom of living in a World without Borders.
I know this is idealistic. I understand it is a belief that is hard to act upon because of the differences in culture, politics, economics, history and ideology. But as I said above: God created the land and we created countries with borders.
I have not been a refugee (thank God) but I have been friends and have talked to some people who have gone through the troubling times. My heart has a special soft corner for refugees. I believe being a human gives me the right to advocate for their plight. Its not easy for any person to leave their home country, regardless of the circumstances, and look for a different place of settlement.
The world is filled with luxuries. Some are affordable, some are a privilege for the rich. For some, it is a luxury to consider any land on this God made earth, a home. While reading about Nation-States in Modern World History, I found out that the place people are born at, they believe it is right to call it as their Home. I am not a scholar of history nor have much understanding of nation-states, but I still stand firm by my understanding: It is not a right anymore; it is an un-affordable luxury. If you want to read more about Nation-States, then I suggest you grab hold of this book[amazon_link asins=’1608465683′ template=’ProductGrid’ store=’immuddkha-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’283a9b69-c224-11e7-abf2-c170a4a9e6c3′].
Unfortunately, half of the world is being a spectator to the crisis of the refugee. They are not being welcome. Refugees have lost the privilege of calling any place their home.
We call ourselves human. I wonder how we pull that off. We can not bear other humans who are begging for a place to stay because of being dispersed by war which had nothing to do with them. They are looking for a place to maintain their dignity; to stay alive. A place where they might feel as humans as well.
If I follow the political and the social constructs, then I should not welcome any human on my land. However, the idealistic side in me believe that we are all just foreigners on this piece of land, water, and borders, that we call “earth”. Being a human, I refuse to accept any other constructs. Being a human I wish to go with the theory of humanity. I believe that refugees (read: Humans) should be embraced with humility and happiness everywhere because they paint a gleaming picture of history and future. They remind us that Karma is a Bitch and strikes when you least expect it.
Humans from Syria, Libya, Myanmar, Ukraine, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Iraq, Aleppo, and from many other parts of the world are forced to leave their homeland. The question is: Do we see their humanity? Do we see our reflection in their circumstances? If our conscience does not allow us to stand as humans and save humanity, how can we expect the other humans to retain their own humanity? How can we expect them not to grow up and become warmongers? It is a question we would soon need to address. It is a question the leaders of the world would soon need to address.
God created the land and we humans created countries with borders.
