Refugee Day 2023: Lets help them adjust to their new life
This past Tuesday, many paused to celebrate World Refugee Day, an international day that the United Nations designated to bring attention to citizens who fled their countries hoping to find a better life.
There is no shortage of world conflict, whether war, famine, religious persecution or organized violence. Each year, the International Rescue Committee reports the top conflicts going on worldwide; no region of the world is exempt.
When it comes to welcoming new citizens to a new country, I cant help but think of the poem by Brian Bilston titled “Refugee.” Remember to follow the directions at the bottom
Refugee
They have no need of our help
So do not tell me
These haggard faces could belong to you or me
Should life have dealt a different hand
We need to see them for who they really are
Chancers and scroungers
Layabouts and loungers
With bombs up their sleeves
Cut-throats and thieves
They are not
Welcome here
We should make them
Go back to where they came from
They cannot
Share our food
Share our homes
Share our countries
Instead let us
Build a wall to keep them out
It is not okay to say
These are people just like us
A place should only belong to those who are born there
Do not be so stupid to think that
The world can be looked at another way
(now read from bottom to top)
Let us continue to be the shining city on a hill, and welcome citizens pressed on their luck as they begin their new life.
