The term refugee comes from the word “refuge,” which means a safe shelter in which a person resides when in need of protection. The term was initially used for Protestants who fled France when the Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685.
Fast forward to today, refugees are defined as people who are forced to leave their home, country, and everything else behind due to violence, war, or fear of persecution. These issues occur based on certain beliefs and ideas about religion, race, nationality, sectarianism, or political opinion. How is that fair?
What we see on the internet makes us believe that somehow, in the end, everything works out towards the betterment of refugees. However, that’s not entirely true. Little does the internet share how refugees struggle daily for food, shelter, respect, and the space required to develop and grow as normal human beings.
A refugee is just like you and us, with goals and dreams, who wish to provide the best to their family and live a peaceful life. Even though this isn’t that big of an ask, their basic human needs and rights aren’t respected nor fulfilled, even though they deserve it as much as we do. they undergo extreme situations to bring their families to a safe destination. They may experience trauma, fight many situations such as hunger, harsh weather conditions, rape, violence, emotional stress, and the death of their loved ones.
On top of the hurdles that Somali refugees face daily, most countries that host refugees are usually developing countries, such as Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Turkey, Bangladesh, and Libya. That’s primarily because they don’t have the infrastructure and economic means to support the refugees and make them a healthy part of the economy.
It is the responsibility of each country with better stability than other countries to support refugees by giving them material support, shelter, security, insurance, good health care, education, and all other necessary social services to enable refugees to maintain their dignity.
Caring for refugees comes down to humanity, for there’s no greater charity than humanity. Come to think of it, refugees didn’t choose to be born in countries with conflicts such as ongoing civil wars and an unsafe environment. Refugees, just like us, deserve a better, healthier, happier, and more prosperous life.
With over 30 million refugees worldwide, governments and ordinary citizens need to reconsider their lifestyle choices and ponder the unfortunate incidents and the number of souls the global greed of capitalism has displaced. Refugees should not feel abandoned by the global community.
Rather than competing with each other over hosting the Olympics and engaging in the race to construct the tallest buildings, governments a must now discuss who can address the problem of refugees and make them feel welcome. That’s the only right thing to do.
How You Can Help Somali Refugees in Ohio
Ending the Somali refugee crisis requires everyone to play their role, some more than others. That’s why make your donations to Somali Community Link today! We are a non-profit organization based in Ohio that aims to help every Somali refugee. Your generous contributions can help us provide for their housing needs, education funding, employment programs, etc.
Remember, every penny counts. Visit our website to donate now.