Victorya Rouse - Finding Refuge: Real-Life Immigration Stories from Young People

W hen you read about war in your history book or hear about it in the news, do you ever wonder what happens to the families and children in the places experiencing war? History books and news reports usually focus on government leaders, not the people caught in the middle of the conflict.

In our own daily lives, we have routines: getting up in the morning, eating, going to school or work, spending time with our friends, and sleeping at night. For a child living through war, nights are filled with the sounds of gunfire and bombs. Getting food to eat and water to drink can be difficult. Grocery stores and markets may be unable to get supplies. Fields and gardens may not get planted or cared for. Sometimes there is no electricity. Leaving home to go to school or to hang out with friends can be dangerous. Knowing whom to trust is hard if one group of people decides that another group is too different to live in their community. Many families in these situations decide that they must leave their homes to stay alive. What happens to them? Some of these people become refugees.

What Is a Refugee?

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) defines a refugee as

... someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.

We all need shelter and safety. Refuge is a safe place, so a refugee is a person looking for safety.

Throughout history, people have been forced to leave their homes because of war, natural disasters, and other problems that made their homes unsafe. Usually refugees have very little time to plan their journey. Their situation changes quickly, they are in sudden danger, and they leave their homes with whatever they can carry. Sometimes families travel for days, weeks, or months, looking for refuge. When they arrive in a new place, the people who live there may not have enough food and shelter available to help them. Sometimes they are welcomed, but sometimes they are told they cannot stay and must keep going.

Why Do People Become Refugees?

Sometimes people look at war and violence in another country and wonder, Why do people commit such terrible acts against their own people? Those who are persecuting others do not consider their victims to be their own people; they view their victims as different and dangerous. When one group of people decides that another group of people is too different to be tolerated, they often turn to violence to make those people go away. The victims of persecution must make the choice to leave or suffer violence, discrimination, and possibly death.

When refugees decide they must flee their homes, their destination is determined by several factors. Some are practical, such as where they are allowed to settle, where they can afford to settle, and where they can physically travel. Many countries do not allow refugees to permanently settle within their borders. Transportation to a safe place can be difficult to find and expensive. It is often dangerous. Every year hundreds of people die trying to find refuge. Other factors are emotional; refugees may have relatives or friends already living in a certain country, or they may have heard that a certain country is more accepting of their culture or beliefs than their homeland.

Often, refugees do not have a choice, and they are assigned the place where they will be resettled. Countries that receive refugees decide who and how many people they will admit. There is no perfectly safe or welcoming country where every refugee has a positive experience, but refugees make the best of the situations they find in their new homes.

What Happens When People Become Refugees?

When people leave home looking for safety, they are asylum seekers. According to international law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to seek asylum. People may cross borders and request asylum from the country they arrive in, or they may register with an organization to get help resettling in another country.

Before they are granted refugee status, asylum seekers must pass background checks and health checks, in addition to answering many questions to prove that they are who they say they are. People who have committed crimes are not eligible for refugee status. If their request is processed and approved, they are officially refugees, meaning they have a clear legal status in their new countries.

Sometimes, people cannot find a safe place to wait during the long and difficult application process, or they fear their application will be denied on a technicality. They may try to enter a new country without legal documentation. If discovered by authorities, they may be held in a detention facility or deportedsent to another country, often the very country they fled.