Page 4 - Finding Refuge: Real-Life Immigration Stories from Young People

I NT R O DU CT I O N
Do You Ever Wonder?

hen you read about war in your history book or hear
Wabout it in the news, do you ever wonder what happens
to the families and children in the places experiencing war?
History books and news reports usually focus on government
leaders, not the people caught in the middle of the conflict.
In our own daily lives, we have routines: getting up in the
morning, eating, going to school or work, spending time with
our friends, and sleeping at night. For a child living through
war, nights are filled with the sounds of gunfire and bombs.
Getting food to eat and water to drink can be difficult. Gro-
cery stores and markets may be unable to get supplies. Fields
and gardens may not get planted or cared for. Sometimes there
is no electricity. Leaving home to go to school or to hang out
with friends can be dangerous. Knowing whom to trust is hard
if one group of people decides that another group is too dif-
ferent to live in their community. Many families in these situ-
ations decide that they must leave their homes to stay alive.
What happens to them? Some of these people become refugees.

What Is a Refugee?

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) defines a refugee as

. . . someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because
of persecution, war or violence. A refugee has a well-founded
fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality,
political opinion or membership in a particular social group.

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