Taking Refuge

1093 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Condition of refugees essay

Taking Refuge

Works Cited Not Included

The difference between refugees and immigrants is significant. Refugees migrate for reasons of safety or civil rights from their own country. They are usually in danger of losing their life. Humanities basic rights and simple safety are at risk. Immigrants migrate because they choose to look for a better life. Many times immigrants are seeking economic opportunities not available in their country of origin. These migrants could be seen as economic refugees because they are often unable to feed their families and must immigrate for work opportunities. This is usually due to disruptions in local economies, not dissimilar to situations feared in refugee populations.

Refugees leave because of war, danger or the threat of imprisonment to themselves or their loved ones. They have no choice if they want to continue to live at all. “The term refuge is associated with some of the most profoundly disturbing human experiences, that of persecution, genocide, dislocation, disruption, forced migration, alienation, and loss.”(Koltyk, p21, Pioneers) Many Hmong have migrated to the US because they were actively involved in helping US Armed Forces during the Vietnam War. The people who recruited them for their expertise and assistance assured the Hmong that if the war was lost the US would take care of them and their families. They are the veterans of our own war fought on their land. We owe it to them to take care of them and their families. They are our allies. They helped us when we needed them; we owe them the same in return.

None should ever be left behind to suffer for involvement in our war. They assisted us out of choice; they could have chosen the other side and become our enemy....

... middle of paper ...

... additional hardships.

Having overcome my own set of adversities in this country, I can only imagine what being a refuge must be like. They have been forced to leave their homes with little or nothing. They run for their lives leaving behind war, civil strife, famine and environmental disaster. The Statue of Liberty says,

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teaming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Is this not the basis of America, Liberty and justice for all or only the select few who possess the correct characteristics that is deemed appropriate, I wonder? I believe that I will lift my lamp. This will be my mission. This is what I believe in, will the real Americans please stand up & Lift your lamp!

Show More
Related

  • Argumentative Essay On What Makes America Is Unfair

    1289 Words  | 3 Pages

    What makes America great? To many it is the idea that everyone has an equal shot. Everyone is allowed the same chance at glory. But recently our way of life has come under fire by our own elected leader, Donald Trump. Our president has written in an executive order banning the immigrations of all citizen from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia. This goes against everything we have fought for, and our morals as americans. And when our morals are in check, we have to make our voices heard. We must show the world what we believe in, revolt and not let go until our country is better than it was before. It is this never ending fight that defines the greatest countries, and we are not going to let ourselves slip. Donald Trump’s travel ban wrong, not only morally but it is also illegal, unconstitutional, and most importantly against our beliefs as americans.

    Read More

  • Hmong Case Study

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the Vietnam War, the Hmong helped assist the United States government. However, when the United States withdrew from the war, the North Vietnamese and Laos Communist government declared genocide on the Hmong (Tatman, 2004; Thao, 2003). Thus, the Hmong were left to defend themselves and flee to refugee camps in Thailand for safely (McCall, 1999). This resulted in the Hmong migrating to the United States during the late 1970s through 2007 in waves as refugees. They reside in California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin (Collier, Munger, & Moua, 2012; Lee & Green, 2008).

    Read More

  • Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee Summary

    441 Words  | 1 Pages

    Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee gives several accounts of different tribes and their struggles against the United States government. Some Native Americans peacefully gave up their land and relocated, but many

    Read More

  • Vietnamese Refugees in Orange County

    995 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Vietnamese refugees fled to America in a few waves, one was after the Vietnam War in 1975 and was aided heavily by the US. The US did not support Communism and with the fall of the South Vietnam government and Communism taking over, the US did everything they could to help get them out. The US provided military cargo ships, planes, whatever they could do to help. The Vietnamese were transferred to US government bases in Thailand, Guam, Hawaii and the Philippines. When they got over to the US, they were put in refugee camps like Camp Pendleton in California, and one of the biggest Fort Chaffee. At first the American people did not welcome the Vietnamese. Fortunately when Ford passed the Refugee Act of 1980, which assisted refugees who fled from Vietnam and Cambodia, Americans got used to the Vietnamese being in the US. There were about 100,000 Vietnamese that left Vietnam and came to the US. Most who fled Vietnam ended up in California. In California they had one pretty big refugee camp in Camp Pendleton. From there, that’s how the Vietnamese ended up in Orange County.

    Read More

  • Effects Of Vietnamese Diaspora

    1583 Words  | 4 Pages

    Vietnam has gone through a major change during and after the Vietnam War. In the beginning the country’s citizens were fighting with the help of America to gain control of their government. Refugees are people who solely have a push factor of migration. They have to leave their country and usually do not have a specific destination in mind. Refugees are due to political reasons or war, there status has been legally recognized since the 1950’s. Vietnamese refugees coming into America were introduced by the Communist regime taking over after the Vietnam War. There are three major waves of Vietnamese immigration. There come many struggles to gaining citizenship, finding a stable job, immersing with American culture, and

    Read More

  • Refugee Quotes

    1133 Words  | 3 Pages

    The life of a refugee is not just a life of trials and ordeals, but also has rewards for those who pushed through the pain.

    Read More

  • Assimilation into the United States

    1819 Words  | 4 Pages

    Immigrants leave their countries in search for a better life and improvement of their situation. There is no singular reason for immigration; motivations range from better economic prospects to political safety. As of late, the number of immigrants living in the United States is an estimated 11 million. Those who immigrate are expected to contribute to the United States culturally, politically, and economically. Yet, full assimilation becomes difficult to achieve when the immigrant is made into “the other” by the country of reception.

    Read More

  • Essay On Refugees In America

    1101 Words  | 3 Pages

    Refugees do not simply choose to be “refugees.” There are many aspects that go into account when displacement occurs. War is often associated with refugee displacement. Even a simple task of walking in the streets can be dangerous. In an interview with Time magazine, Syrian refugee Faez al Sharaa says that he was held up at gunpoint with three other people in his homeland after soldiers accused him of being a terrorist. "We felt death upon us," Sharaa said (Altman 24). His backyard turned into a battle ground, while young kids were fighting for their lives (Altman 24). War

    Read More

  • Civil War

    1591 Words  | 4 Pages

    I give these men lots of credit for going out there and fighting like they did. Many really did not know why they were fighting and they still fought with courage. And with a total of 620,000 casualties, a lot of men did not come home.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Illegal Immigration

    1508 Words  | 4 Pages

    Immigration is one of the most common disputes in the United States, let’s define what immigration stands for. Immigration is the act of coming to a foreign country to live, the act of leaving one 's country to settle in another is called emigration. Immigrants who leave their country because of persecution, war, or disasters such as famines or epidemics are known as refugees or displaced persons.

    Read More

  • Immigrate To America Essay

    729 Words  | 2 Pages

    Among every other country in the world, the United States of America is where people feel the most comfortable place to come and live a better life. Immigrants are people who leave their counties to reside in other counties that are rich and safe to better themselves. Every year people immigrate to the USA for many reasons. Many people are having difficulty living in their native country such as over population, jobless which make the economy so hard. People from outside of the United States think there is peace, love, equality, free education, jobs, good food to stay healthy, but most importantly freedom of speech to express yourself in America. Today, I will only focus on some reasons why people in my country immigrates to America. This is

    Read More

  • Matthew Lister Refugee, And The Definition Of Refugees

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    Refugee is an important term and concept existing in international studies. In order to understand the problems confronting refugees, we must first know the definition and the concept of refugee.

    Read More

  • Challenges Faced by Immigrants

    2882 Words  | 6 Pages

    Alejandro Portes, author of Immigrant America: A Portrait, mentions in his book that although loving and cherishing the homeland, people are sometimes forced to leave because of its disadvantages. The "desperate poverty, squalor, and unemployment" are among the most common reasons that cause immigration out of a country. Hundreds of families in third world countries literally struggle to put bread on the table. There are many people who can't find jobs and therefore aren't able to provide enough food and other everyday necessities for their families. These miserable conditions bring thoughts of moving to other places where a family can survive.

    Read More

  • Seeking Refuge

    626 Words  | 2 Pages

    Seeking Refuge The writer of the article entitled "Seeking refuge from the rhetoric" begins the article by stating factual information that he personally watched along with hundreds of journalists and witnesses the first plane load of Kosovan refugees arrive at Leeds Bradford airport. He then goes on in the article to express his own personal opinion of the events that went on to take place some months later. To sway the reader to his way of thinking he then proceeds to quote information he has found from another source to describe the conditions that surround this subject, he then quotes another article as saying that a "fight at a fairground in Dover resulted in a stream of anti-refugee rhetoric" from politicians and journalists. The writer then starts to use negative language that initial makes the reader feel that he is anti-refugee. He then uses statements made by commentators on this subject such as "Floods of refugees are swamping us" and also that this country has been "taken for a ride".

    Read More

  • Should Immigrants Learn English Essay

    1324 Words  | 3 Pages

    Who is an immigrant? An immigrant is a person who has a citizenship in one country but enters another country to set up as a permanent resident. Sometimes countries are suffering greatly from lack of leadership, internal strife or war, and a collapsed economy. This is the case in Somalia, as well as in Syria, Libya, and Yemen. Syrian people are moving to Europe in order to find a peaceful home. Mexican immigrants come to the US looking for jobs. The people then move to new countries where they don’t speak the national language. In America, when the immigrants come, there are many difficulties: cultural differences regarding time and scheduling, transportation issues, and language difficulties.

    Read More

More about Taking Refuge

Open Document