How To Define a Refugee
![Mountain Pass](https://assets.tsosrefugees.org/blog/MountainPass.jpg)
CONTRIBUTOR: Claire Crossland Naujoks, TSOS Team Member
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the word refugee. A word that has crept into our media and minds more and more in recent years, a word that is loaded with connotations, a word that has been repeated and politicised until the meaning has almost become lost in the confusion of opinions and facts and fake news that surround it.
So let’s go back to those seven letters. Refugee. According to google, ‘a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution or natural disaster.’ Things that I hope I never have to endure. Things that I know I would flee from. Things that may seem unimaginable to those of us safe and warm at home.
A refugee is just someone seeking refuge. And a refuge is a place to survive.
I’m sure we all know by now that there are record numbers of refugees in the world at the moment. All of them with a story, all of them fleeing, all of them survivors of experiences that have left scars, be they physical or mental.
And now let’s take a minute to think again about what the word refugee really means.
Someone seeking refuge.
Someone seeking life.
Someone just like you.
My First Asylum Case: An Attorney's Perspective on Asylum in the United States
I took my first asylum case in 2016, when our national dialog on immigration took a decidedly negative turn. As a corporate attorney, I had no experience in immigration law, but my license allowed me to represent individuals fleeing severe persecution and I signed with a local non-profit to offer my help. My first asylum client was a young mother and her two small daughters. I could see myself in Saba.
Their Story is Our Story Applauds the Signing of Virginia House Bill 995 and Continues Efforts to Open Doors for Foreign-trained Medical Professionals in Other States
Their Story is Our Story (TSOS), a non-profit organization that collects and shares the experiences of refugees to deepen understanding and influence action, applauds the signing of Virginia House Bill 995 into law by Governor Glenn Youngkin, after its unanimous passage through the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate. It will create a pathway for foreign-trained doctors who have immigrated to the state, including those whose careers were interrupted by forcible displacement, to fill workforce gaps in medically underserved communities.
Idaho One Refugee Conference
Last fall I was able to attend the 1Refugee Conference in Idaho. The event was well organized and everyone who approached our table was interested in what we did and wanted to know how to get involved. There were at least 100 students majoring in a variety of things who attended the event and we had 20 students give us their contact information. Most were interested in our internship programs.