Post 3

            The film The Gods Grew Tired of Us documents the plight of a few of the “lost boys” of Sudan who were chosen to resettle in the United States.  The documentary works well in that it is both informing and emotionally engaging.  The use of personal interviews combined with informative narration makes it easy to empathize with the young men as they describe their stories.  The boys tell how they had trekked hundreds of miles away from their homes, suffering starvation and the dangers of the African wildlife, to find safety in refugee camps.  However, we soon discover the suffering does not end in the camps, as it is revealed that food and freedom are limited: the boys are kept inside the parameters of the camps with barbed wire fences and have little freedom of movement.  Fadlalla describes his viewing of such documentaries as “wrought with mixed feelings, including the urgency of raising awareness about suffering and the risk of gazing at Africa’s sufferers from afar” (105).  The plight of the “lost boys” was quite moving and certainly fostered feelings of compassion and an urge to “do something” to help.

            The film then moves on to follow the journeys of some of the few “lost boys” who were chosen to resettle in America as refugees. This is where the film begins to display some of the faults that Fadlalla comments on in his piece on the depiction of refugees.  Fadlalla explains how the documentaries “were not free from hegemonic understandings of Africa as a “bushland” whose traditional ways are contrasted with modern disciplinary practices, governance systems, and humanitarian compassion” (106).   The film seems to portray Africa as “the other”.  It is depicted as violent, dangerous, and primitive while America is the Promised Land— modernized and ideal.   This also contributes to how, Fadlalla argues, such documentaries employ “language of moral humanitarianism and compassion that gloss over state failures, global inequities, and socio-economic injustices” (108).  When watching the film, I couldn’t help but feel as though the idea of the “white man’s burden” was being depicted. There was no mention of the root cause of the upheaval in Sudan.  Instead, the boys were “saved” from the primitive and violent Africa by becoming Americans. While the humanitarianism involved in resettling these boys is not necessarily a negative thing, it does not and cannot fully address what created the boys’ situation in the first place.  

Post 2

Before reading the UNHCR piece, I thought the main criteria for being a refugee was being displaced from one’s home.  I didn’t realize that the term refugee is actually a specific legal term for a specific group of people.  Legal refugees are people who are “outside their country of nationality” due to a “well founded fear of persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion” (8).  This legal definition narrows down who actual refugees are, and what life as a refugee means for these people.

Clearly, being a refugee means much more than simply being away from home or being displaced from home.  Although people who are displaced from their home within their own countries may face similar plights, they are not refugees but are instead internally displaced persons.  Similarly, people who leave their countries because they want a better economic life are not refugees. They are economic migrants.  Therefore, while there are many reasons for displacement, refugees are displaced for a single reason—fear or threat of persecution. 

I think that this fear of persecution is a very important piece in understanding what it means to be a refugee.  A refugee is somebody who has “well-founded fear of persecution” or may have already endured persecution in his or her homeland.  Often times, the government allows or even encourages this persecution.  Therefore, being a refugee means being an outsider.  It means being betrayed by one’s country.  I think that persecution or even fear of persecution can be very damaging—physically, emotionally, and psychologically.  This important aspect of refugees sets them apart from other displaced people, as they face unique circumstances. It really makes sense to me, now that I read this article, that refugees can only be considered refugees if they have suffered persecution. 

The article mentions that UNHCR provides refugees with their basic needs—food, water, shelter— and also seeks permanent solutions for them, whether that is through repatriation or resettlement in a new country.  I wonder how working with refugees extends beyond these basic physical needs.  How does one address and assist a refugee with the psychological and emotional toll that has resulted from their circumstances?  

Post 1

A refugee is somebody who has been forced from his or her home or homeland.  This displacement is often times the result of force.  This force may be due to nature (such as a destructive storm or a famine) or it may be due to human factors such as religious, political, or racial persecution.   These factors force refugees out of their homes or countries and force them to start over in a new and unfamiliar place. 

I think that being a refugee means displacement. This displacement can manifest itself in many different forms.  Of course, an obvious form of displacement is physical displacement.  Refugees are no longer living in their previous countries or residences.  This means they must become accustomed to new surroundings and environments that are foreign or possibly even frightening. This displacement can extend beyond literal, physical displacement and extend into mental and emotional displacement.  Often times, refugees are persecuted, either in their homelands or in their new residences (often times both).  This can result in mental displacement— the feeling of being an outsider, unwelcome, or unworthy.   Emotional displacement can come from the loss of family or a community.  When refugees are uprooted from their homes and communities, they lose the support system and networks they had built in that place.  The loss of these connections and relationships can take an incredible emotional toll.  I think in general, being a refugee means hardship.  It requires great perseverance and strength.  The life of a refugee involves both the destruction of one life and the attempt to rebuild another.