We Are Not Refugees

Never in history have so many people been displaced by political and military conflicts at home--more than 65 million globally. Unsparing, outspoken, vital, We Are Not Refugees tells the stories of many of these displaced, who have not been given asylum.

For over a decade, human rights journalist Agus Morales has journeyed to the sites of the world's most brutal conflicts and spoken to the victims of violence and displacement. To Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Central African Republic. To Central America, the Congo, and the refugee camps of Jordan. To the Tibetan Parliament in exile in northern India.

We are living in a time of massive global change when negative images of refugees undermine the truth of their humiliation and suffering. By bringing us stories that reveal the personal pain and the global scope of the crisis, Morales reminds us of the fact and appeals to our conscience.

I still wonder why I picked this book to read from those suggested for me by NetGalley.  A book about refugees?  That sounds fun.  Then I remembered that several of my ancestors would have been refugees if they had wanted to go home rather than immigrate.  Those who fled Islamic radicalism and government exclusion.  These are my roots, and I have a long forgotten connection to these people today.

Morales invited me into the lives of these people, like me, running with their families from their homes.  They have no desire to run.  No desire to leave.  They love their homes, countries, and neighborhoods.  War has forced them to leave.  Their homes were taken from them.  And, they have nowhere to go.  Closed borders, distrust, and dangerous routes have made them residents of inhuman "refugee" camps.

These are not stories that are heard in the news.  These are not stories that are told by politicians in the United States.  These are people that I have been shown to fear.  These are the people that the United States, and by extension, I, are preventing from protecting an providing for here; the land of opportunity; the nation of immigrants.

What is truly interesting about this book is that Morales so pulled me into these lives that I, a right-center individual, would want to bring as many of these fleeing people as possible into my country, into my town, into my house.