If you look up the word in a dictionary, it might give you a clue http://www.thefreedictionary.com/refugee but I'm sure it will still sound pretty abstract. What danger is it about? Do these people just walk away? Maybe they did something bad so they were rightfully kicked out of their country? Are you to trust these people?
Try to imagine your life changes over night. Or maybe not over night but too fast for you to keep up with all the calamities that strike one after another. People react to it differently but a complete shock is unavoidable. It's like somebody plunges your head under the water and just when it pops back to surface the hand pushes you back again leaving you no time to grasp some air in. Again and again. You wonder if your life before was a dream or the moment you are in is a nightmare.
You might refuse to accept the changes by shutting yourself in and trying to ignore the reality as much as you can, because the reality cannot be for real, right? You can only accept that it is a short period of confusion and madness, similar to a tropical storm that strikes randomly, out of blue, but eventually calms down and then everything slowly gets back to what it used to be. Or as close to it as possible. Of course, it never does, but at that turning point in life it's hard to believe anything else. Too painful. The experience stripes the world off its fancy clothes right in front of your eyes and you stare in disbelief. You never forget the picture and it might take a while before you figure out how to best deal with it.
However, life can only move in one direction and that is forward so sooner or later you must learn to embrace whatever comes your way. People react to pain differently. Some become more inert, some more active, some more observant and tactful and other more angry and resentful. Some seek to fight the universal wrongdoing whereas other seek personal revenge. Perhaps it would help if all of them could work this out together, exchange ideas and compare possible answers?
When I first found myself in a group of people tagged as "refugees" I thought everybody outside this group would without much explaining be familiar with all the emotional luggage that goes along with it and then perhaps show some understanding. It seemed only natural because to a person affected this uninvited turmoil equals a huge global catastrophe and then comes another disappointment when you realise that other people look at you as if you were a Martian. Or even worse, an intruding, threatening and unwelcome Martian.
To be honest, this viewpoint is not far from the truth in some aspects. Refugees are unlike most of their fellow non-refugee humans, lost in time, space and universe and, moreover, depleted of everything they'd learnt about the ways of the world. They have to start from the scratches, not only in finding their new home but in finding their place in this chaotic universe.
Most people don't bother to dig in much further than "Hello Martian" attitude, and yet even those who are willing to share some of their burden are usually just left wandering about those high thick walls people build around their pain.
I've decided to throw some light on this matter hoping that it might help somebody somewhere, whether it be a refugee or not. And it doesn't have to be all that gloomy if you approach any experience as an opportunity to learn and grow, as a personal challenge. This is how, after a lot of brooding and questioning, I've decided to view this substantial part of my life and it made it a whole lot easier.
Oh, by the way, I'll leave out the unimportant details such as my name, family name, nationality, country of origin or exile, continent, planet. The juicy details such as the names of presidents, politicians and other puppets are equally irrelevant for this matter or any other matter if you ask me. They are being given too much publicity anyway.
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