On the Refugee Issue
On the Refugee Issue
"The story of our struggle has finally become known. We lost our home, which means the familiarity of daily life. We lost our occupation, which means the confidence that we are of some use in this world. We lost our language, which means the naturalness of reactions, the simplicity of gestures, the unaffected expression of feelings. We left our relatives in the Polish ghettos and our best friends have been killed in concentration camps, and that means the rupture of our private lives." H. Arendt
I wanted to start writing on the issue of refugees in the words of Hannah Arendt because she gave a very sophisticated definition of a refugee. When someone looks for the definition of refugee elsewhere, the definition by the 1951 Geneva Convention will be found. I find it very cold and practical. But I assure you, the issue of refugees is far greater than merely a practical issue.
As given in Arendt's definition, it is the absence of former life's familiarity in all aspects. It can be the language, neighborhood, social life, livelihoods, daily routines, and many more. This explanation closes the refugee term into the forced migration term. There is also another term for those who are forced to migrate, and it is called asylum seeker.
The area of refugee studies is like a playground of terms. Refugees, internally displaced persons, asylum seekers, forced migration, regular and irregular migrants, and many other terms distinguish themselves from one another with their certain aspects.