After I have watched the movie called “Refugee: The
Eritrean Exodus”, I had many thoughts in my mind – critiques, but also
positive things. Personally, I’m rather willing to give feedback and to try to
find new possibilities to improve, than criticism, because. in this way, I
think I don’t encourage the change.
Despite all of these,
I don’t want to comment the movie at all, in either perspectives, but I want to
emphasize one of the all the emotions I had when I first watched this movie. It
is a scene when Chris Cotter enters a tent with Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia,
while trying to observe their life: how many are there living, in what
conditions, etc. The fact that touched me the most was when the 2 persons
sitting there in the middle, of the ground offered him food (some bread). Then,
I realized myself how strong this message could be for us.
I remembered that this is not the only case when
people who are in a stronger need than us, give us the example of how we should
behave as human beings.
First example that I want to point out is a Syrian
refugee who left his family in Syria and came to Germany because others were
trying to kill him. He started to give free food to homeless people in Berlin
as a recompense to Germany for giving him asylum. Some people could say that he
is doing for his own purpose, but what his reward could be in this situation
and why he should make these efforts when his family is left in Syria with the
danger of suffering from his departure – both physically and emotionally. Personally,
I consider this a true act of “humanitarianism” without any other benefit from
it. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/12014475/Syrian-refugee-pays-back-German-kindness-with-food-for-the-homeless.html]
The second example are some teenager Syrian refugees
from Seattle who gave volunteering aid in their community [http://kuow.org/post/guess-whos-helping-seattle-homeless-veterans-syrian-refugees].
They lost their home, the civil war started and they couldn’t remain in their
country with the risk of getting killed or tortured. Again, there could be some
mischievous queries regarding their implications, but I think that they strongly
want to be part of and to feel integrated in the community even if they came to
Seattle a few months ago.
The last and the most recent example is the one with
the refugees in Houston before and after the Harvey Hurricane [https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/harvey-texas-refugees_us_59a5d84be4b084581a141921].
They feel so connected with their new homes and want to support the community
for how they were embraced (“The federal
government still resettled people in Texas without the state government’s help”).
One of the refugees said: “As a human, we
help them”. So, there is not seen as part of the gratefulness that
refugees should give as expected, but more as a need of help; it comes from
their willing, not from an external obligation.
As
Dina Nayeri,
an Iranian refugee who came to USA as a child, is arguing in an interview: “gratitude
can become harmful when the natives of that country come to require it. She
believes it's healthy for refugees to have personal gratitude to the country
that has accepted them but suggests, <<it's the expectation of gratitude
that is toxic.>>" [http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-may-3-2017-1.4095703/expecting-gratitude-from-refugees-can-be-toxic-says-author-1.4095737].
So, why is there this kind of pressure not only from the institutions, but also
from the community in which refugees are coming?!
I correlated these facts with some ideas from Michel Agier’s
reading ("Managing the undesirables"), but as well from Mr. Daniel Mekonnen’s speech: there are big
expectations from refugees to be grateful for the opportunity they have been
given. People have truly personal gratitude because they know and feel being helped,
but this shouldn’t be a requirement in favor of “our rescue”.
The rhetorical question that I want to raise for all
the people involved in helping refugees (starting with volunteers, ethnologists,
advocates, etc) after presenting these examples of altruistic and humane aid is
the following:
Is a disinterested commitment to humanitarian action
possible?
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