AMERICAN REFUGE

A collection of stories of refugees in America from the founder of the Every Campus a Refuge organization.

Jordan-born Abdo, a professor of English at Guilford College, where she founded ECAR, begins with her own experience as the daughter and granddaughter of Palestinian refugees. She then introduces readers to seven refugees from around the world—Palestine, Burma, Uganda, Iraq, Syria—who have started new lives near where the author lives in North Carolina. Stressing repeatedly that anyone can become a refugee, Abdo effectively demonstrates what many in the U.S. fail to grasp: “All refugees have lived lives that are distinct and individual—complicated, rich, layered. Something happens in their lives that fractures them from their souls, their homes. A fracture that threatens their safety. And it is a fracture they are not allowed to forget. Their future depends on forever remembering their persecution.” By following the unique journeys of these courageous individuals, the author reveals the often terrifying and overwhelming process of resettlement. These biographical portraits are thorough and compassionate, covering the initial reason for escape, life in refugee camps, endless questioning by various government agencies, and countless obstacles to putting down roots in a strange land. Abdo ends with an in-depth examination of the politicized and sometimes racist terms used to describe refugees, nearly all of whom merely seek a better life. Unfortunately, most don’t find it. Even with organizations like ECAR, writes the author, “less than 1 percent of the world’s refugees are ever resettled. The majority of refugees remain, sometimes for generations, in camps a bomb-sound away from the towns they fled, across a relatively recently created national border.” By humanizing and contextualizing the refugee experience, Abdo forces readers to confront their own preconceived notions about a global crisis that will only become more widespread in the years to come.

A moving and timely book that strips away misleading politics to reveal the complexities of real human lives.