Stephanie Jane recenzis American Refuge de Diya Abdo
A beautifully poetic study
5 steloj
American Refuge is a beautifully poetic study of the experiences of seven disparate refugees who ended up being welcomed into the Every Campus A Refuge program at a Greensboro college. Written by Diya Abdo, herself a third generation Palestinian refugee, this profound book brings together the similarities between these people's forced journeys and shows the realities of life for millions of displaced persons worldwide - a reality which is far from the callous, xenophobia newspaper headlines and political rhetoric we are so frequently exposed to here in the UK and in the USA. I felt that the resounding truth that Diya demonstrates here, and which is so often overlooked, is that these refugees did not want to leave their homes and their communities, or to be flung thousands of miles across the world into places where they may not even have a grasp of the local language. They generally find …
American Refuge is a beautifully poetic study of the experiences of seven disparate refugees who ended up being welcomed into the Every Campus A Refuge program at a Greensboro college. Written by Diya Abdo, herself a third generation Palestinian refugee, this profound book brings together the similarities between these people's forced journeys and shows the realities of life for millions of displaced persons worldwide - a reality which is far from the callous, xenophobia newspaper headlines and political rhetoric we are so frequently exposed to here in the UK and in the USA. I felt that the resounding truth that Diya demonstrates here, and which is so often overlooked, is that these refugees did not want to leave their homes and their communities, or to be flung thousands of miles across the world into places where they may not even have a grasp of the local language. They generally find themselves forced into poverty-level employment and sub-standard housing and are expected to be thankful for it. The idea that anyone should be grateful for such exploitation is baffling to me, especially when their existing skills and talents, that could benefit their new host nation, are so frequently ignored.
I am sure that American Refuge will be an inspiring call to action for most of us who read this book, whether in America as Diya is, or elsewhere. Sadly, I am also sure that the many people who refuse to recognise refugees' plights will not even read the synopsis. American Refuge focuses as much on exposing systemic failures as on showing the experiences of refugees themselves. It explains legal terminology and the grinding administrative processes as well as touching upon the politicising of the whole issue of who should be allowed to emigrate.
I have previously read harrowing memoirs about refugees' escapes from horrendous situations and wondered why they are forced to spend such astronomical sums to be smuggled when properly set-up official routes could allow families to resettle without becoming further traumatised and destitute in the process. After reading American Refuge, I am further dismayed at seeing the waste of so, so many lives passed in refugee camps worldwide waiting for such official routes - to the countries that do have them - to be realised. I wasn't fully aware that families may very well be trapped in such environments not just for months or even years, but for decades with several generations living out successive lives in tents and 'temporary' shacks. How can our world be so broken?