The Brown & White

Last week, the Global Union brought Lehigh a taste of adversity and stories of despair, tragedy and hope of good fortune, as five refugees from around the world came together to tell their stories and answer questions from intrigued listeners.

The Global Union brought this discussion together to teach people about the struggles of refugees and to give students a chance to appreciate the freedoms they have.

A refugee is someone who is forced from the country in fear of persecution.

The refugees spoke about why they left their country.

A refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo said, "There was no peace. There was war, and there are two governments within one country, so I fled to Zambia."

A refugee from Iraq said war was constant in his country.

"It was futureless," he said. "War finishes, and another begins. It was a continuous cycle. Until they stop killing each other, there is no future. So I left everything there."

"I know for me, if I die it's all right, but for my children, what kind of life will they have?" he added. "So we had to start a new life for the kids."

The topic shifted to the refugees' feelings and opinions on the United States and life here compared to life back home.

"I don't believe any government in this world, there is no complete freedom," another Iraqi refugee said.

"Americans don't understand how Iraqis feel," he said. "I watch American television and news and for six months I don't hear about Iraq, just about a couple bombs here and there."

"It's just all singing, movies - the government doesn't feel what the people feel," he said.

One refugee compared Americans to refugees.

"In terms of the American people, I feel nothing. It's normal. All of the United States are refugees. It's just the Native Americans who are not. However, for government, Saddam Hussein has failed us; the U.S. army has failed us."

The most powerful moment of the discussion came when the five refugees were asked how distance from family affects them.

"I miss my mother; I don't know where she is," one said as she started to cry.

Another interrupted and said, "Excuse me, we are here to talk about the life of refugees, but I can't believe we are about to remember everything: our lives, our war, our pain," he said. "We don't like to talk about pain anymore. We are tired."

One refugee said he is looking to the future.

"For me and for all the refugees, we feel pain, we feel bad, but we change all that. We are now here, so please ask me or my friend about here, about our life here, about what we see here," he said.

Ilya Khazen, Global Union president, and Bill Hunter, director of the Global Union, discussed how the idea came about and the partnership formed to create the event.

"The Global Union has frequently partnered with Catholic Services to bring programs pertaining to refugees on campus," Khazen said. "These refugees have amazing stories of personal sacrifice and hardship, but have made their way to the Lehigh Valley."

Khazen discussed how Lehigh needs ways to connect itself to the global society.

"For the Global Union, it is the closest we can bring the campus to issues of global significance in places such as Iraq, Darfur and Burma," Khazen said.

The Global Union is offering more learning opportunities similar to this discussion throughout the year.