Refugee Drama: In No-man’s Land

There was a blow. The mother took her little son by the hand. Here the boy took his last breath, on the arms of the same person who saw his birth. Today, the second boy is also separated from his family, and he does not know when he will see them again. He says goodbye with tears, hoping for a better future. Refugees.

The drama of the refugees speaks to the pain of thousands of people. People who have dreams and who want the same things as us. Children who no longer know how to laugh, for their suffering has ruined all joy.

Who are the refugees?

They can be called  forced immigrants because in their home country they are persecuted for their ideology or perhaps race. Or there is not enough food or stable security in their home country.

Refugees will not steal our jobs. They don’t come on a whim. And they are not terrorists.

What are the psychological consequences of living as a refugee?

Being a refugee means living in a no-man’s-land. A refugee is unable to live a normal life in his or her own country, and at the same time, many countries from which a refugee seeks asylum do not want him or her. This can cause anxiety or depression… while igniting feelings of revenge in the refugee.

In addition to this, many experience constant bombardment. For these reasons, they  may develop hypersensitivity and chronic stress. This in turn can lead to more serious disorders such as schizophrenia or traumatic stress disorder.

Unsurprisingly,  a person suffering from social or psychological instability commits acts that may not be legal or ethical. Or that they would be involved in a group that tells them they offer security, salvation, and justice to their loved ones. Who wouldn’t look for an ally for themselves when everything around them collapses?

However, we do not see this. We quickly notice all the flaws in our brother, but not ourselves. The extremes gather power for themselves. Aren’t they also people with social and psychological instability, and aren’t they looking for security either?

What is our role in refugee drama?

When there’s the slightest chance of surviving a hellish boat trip, years of trekking through the deserts, and being in the hands of the Mafia, it’s better than staying in your own country… fences, borders, temperature differences, cops, barbed wire, or the Mediterranean itself can’t hold back a family looking for a better , a more valuable life.

Looking away does not solve the problem.  Financing the conflict will not help either. Why are we not willing to take in refugees but want to buy weapons for the parties to the conflict? This dual moralism is worrying.

Why? For that which is left behind it shall be found before him; the farther we throw the boomerang, the louder it comes back. This is also what happens if we refuse to see this brutal reality of massive emigration. Or if we don’t deny its existence, but we don’t accept it in our country, like what the United States is doing. Or if we accept and receive refugees but do not try to integrate them into our society.

We need to accept and integrate refugees into our society

If we do just one of the things mentioned above, we will create a ticking time bomb. What would you do if someone destroyed your home, kidnapped your child, or bombed your family? What would you do if you lost absolutely everything and didn’t have a chance to do better? What would you do if you felt helpless in front of everything that had happened to you? If you felt like everyone around you knew what had happened to you, but they still didn’t do anything?

The answer is simple. At a point when your life doesn’t matter, you are destroying yourself, seeking revenge or salvation. It is at this point that our intervention is really important.

Most of the terrorist attacks are carried out by the inhabitants of that country, not by the “horrible aliens who have come to kill everyone.” They are a new generation that has not felt welcome in that country. They are rejected or not recognized as real French, German or US citizens, but also as Syrians, Iraqis, Somalis, etc.

We are no better or different than others… but sometimes we forget this

Looks like we don’t remember anymore. Just 76 years ago, 465,000 Spaniards crossed the French border seeking refuge from the Civil War. 220,000 of them never returned to Spain.

And what about all those Finns who moved to the United States at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in the hope of a better life? Or our war children who were sent to Sweden to safety under the war?

Pablo Neruda once wrote that  “love is so short, and forgetfulness so long.”

This is even more striking if we observe ourselves a little. The young citizens of our country are also moving. They move to the United States, China, France, Ireland… They too are looking for a better future. This immigration story can be them, you, or anyone.

Illegal Spanish immigrants off the coast of Venezuela (1949)

It is up to us whether we want our voice to be heard by those whose cries for help have drowned in tears. For those more than 10,000 children who have disappeared across Europe, for those families who hope to find them again. And for many who sell themselves in refugee camps to save their lives.

According to UNICEF, there were nearly 1,500 serious offenses against minors in 2015, including murder, mutilation, recruitment or kidnapping. Of these cases, more than 400 children were found dead, and nearly 500 of these children were mutilated. Are these children terrorists too?

The easiest exercise is to open our minds and hearts to our peers.