JOB POSTING: REFUGEE
Written by Elizabeth Thayer
Photography by Kristi Burton
Qualifications: be a person that lives in a country. You may be in any profession, social status or income bracket.
Previous experience: None required, though most people apply having had years of violence, threats, warfare, natural disasters, discrimination, loss of family members, oppression, and/or limited freedom of speech, religion and happiness.
Education level: no minimum, no maximum.
Job description: Travel required, sometimes illegally, usually at night, in the cold, when you are sick, scared or lost, or crammed so tightly in a vehicle that you can barely breathe. You will have to carry all luggage on your back, and realize that it very probably will be taken or thrown in the water when crossing the sea.
You must be prepared to risk not only your own life, but that of your spouse, children and sometimes parents, siblings and other extended family. Be willing to sell all you have, leave behind homes, jobs, colleagues and friends, to pay all your money to unscrupulous individuals
that will take your whole future and gamble it on illegal chances. Understand that such individuals may have no qualms about leaving you to die, should their own safety be threatened.
Length of job assignment varies. In most cases, it will not be less than a year. It may last your entire lifetime. While holding this position, you may not at first assume any citizenship, have any guarantee of other job opportunities, be certain of consistent financial aid, schooling, or any
kind of permanency. Upon being granted asylum, you will usually be required to learn a new language and adjust to a new culture, climate, social customs, professional requirements, and health, transportation and education systems within a short amount of time. Your status will be
re-evaluated periodically.
Wages: There is no guarantee of a happy ending. Your life and the lives of your family are at stake. Your children may suffer lasting mental, physical, emotional and social harm. After all your risks, suffering and enduring you may be sent back to the danger you fled. If you are extremely lucky, you will be given the chance to start your life over, usually in the lowest income and social bracket, but with relative freedom and safety. And it will be worth it.
Official Statement on the Detention of Refugees and Ongoing Community Violence
With another death in Minnesota and continued violence toward individuals and groups standing up for their communities, we acknowledge the profound fear and uncertainty people are feeling--not just locally, but across the country.
On top of this, there are reports that refugees invited and admitted to our country through the U.S. Refugee Admission Program are now being detained, meaning that our new friends and neighbors feel that fear most acutely.
Refugees have already fled violence and persecution once. They came here legally, seeking safety. In moments like these, we reaffirm our commitment to building communities where refugees and immigrants can live without fear. Where they can go to work, send their children to school, and build lives of dignity and belonging.
We call for due process, accountability, and humanity in all immigration enforcement operations. We call upon our leaders to demand the demilitarization of our neighborhoods and cities. And we call on all of us to continue the work of welcoming and protecting those who have been forcibly displaced from their homes.