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READ OUR OFFICIAL STATEMENT ON THE DETENTION OF REFUGEES AND ONGOING COMMUNITY VIOLENCE
SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES WITH DISPLACEMENT, RESETTLEMENT, DEPORTATION, AND ICE #ANONYMOUSAMONGUS
Stories

Religious Persecution

Ram Poudel
Ram Poudel  ·  Bhutan

My Son Asked Where Our Home was and I Didn’t Have an Answer to Give Him

Htay1
Htay Mo  ·  Myanmar

We Don’t Have to Run Anymore

A family flees from genocide in Myanmar
Hau Lian1
Hau Lian Saang  ·  Myanmar

I Want to Depend on Myself

A refugee from Myanmar works hard to learn English and get educated in the US
Claude1
Claude  ·  Democratic Republic of the Congo

I Will Work with Refugees for the Rest of My Life. They are Such Good People.

Finding joy in helping others by providing transportation, translation, and coaching soccer.
Anastasiia1
Anastasiia  ·  Ukraine

English is a Language of Opportunities

A lawyer from Ukraine describes her journey learning English
Handsinlap
Yasmin  ·  Iraq

Finding and Helping Others through The Collateral Repair Project

IMG 6262 2
Aws  ·  Iraq

LGBTQ Activist Risks Arrest and Deportation to Help Other Refugees

Larkpic
Lark Escobar  ·  United States

Veterans Support Afghan Allies When Government Fails

V3 A9755
Nigeria

One Family Gives Back

We can’t keep everything for ourselves. We pray that the foundation will grow because the people of Afghanistan, they need help now.
Godspower 2017
Godspower  ·  A West African Country

My Father Was a Society Man

I told him I was a Christian, that I could not follow him into secret society.
040 Mehrullah Zarghona LS 1915
Mehrullah  ·  Afghanistan

The Journey: We Were So Afraid

Our three-year-old boy was lost on the other side.
LIBYA PAT
Pat  ·  A West African Country

The Journey: My Heart Felt Dead

So the man started flogging me. See the scars? All over my body!
DEPORTATION WOMAN LOOKING OUT WINDOW
Norina - Afghan from Iran  ·  Iran

I Just Want to Be Free

I had no rights, no freedom to choose my path.
PHYSICAL HEALTH ROHINGYA BURN VICTIM
Rohingya Child - Unaccompanied Children  ·  Myanmar

Arrival: Physical Health

"Refugees have often known extreme hunger, sleeplessness, frostbite, sunstroke, ... various sicknesses and ailments that have gone untreated during long periods preceding their flight and during the journey itself..."
OUR LIVES BEFORE NO FAULT OF OUR OWN ROHINGYA CHILDREN
Rohingya Children  ·  Myanmar

Stateless and Homeless Through Birth

The first to see the magic - the last to lose hope
OUR LIVES BEFORE Leonard Bagalwa
Leonard  ·  Democratic Republic of the Congo

Our Lives Before: Born a Survivor

Forced to be a rebel then a spy, Leonard was protected by the pygmies
Linar and her family, from Afghanistan
Linar  ·  Afghanistan

We Were Stuck Between Two Patrols

We only had enough to get this far, here in Greece. Now we’re stuck.
Saheba, Afghan from Iran
Iran

I Only Want to be Treated Like a Human Being

I just want to be free and to live in peace and safety.
Roya, Afghanistan
Afghanistan

Women Have No Rights There

I look forward to having a calm life filled with great achievements.
Henna, Afghanistan
Afghanistan

I Have Never Known Peace

We have had war in Afghanistan since before I was born
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What would you do if you had to leave everything behind?

By the end of 2024, more than 123.2 million people worldwide had been forcibly displaced from their homes due to war, persecution, or human rights abuses.

An increase of 7.2 million over 2023, that’s more than 19,619 people every day — roughly one person every 4.4 seconds.

They arrive in refugee camps and other countries, like the US, seeking the one thing they’ve lost: safety.

Fleeing political imprisonment, ethnic violence, religious persecution, gang threats, or war crimes, they come with what little they managed to carry:

Legal papers – if they’re lucky.

A single backpack.

Sometimes a child’s hand in theirs.

They also carry the weight of what they left behind: fractured families, homes they’ll never return to, professions they loved, friends and relatives they may never see again.

They carry loss most of us can’t imagine – but also the truth of what they’ve endured.

At TSOS, we believe stories are a form of justice. When someone shares their experience of forced displacement, they reclaim their voice. And when we amplify that voice – through film, photography, writing, and advocacy – the world listens. Hearts soften. Communities open. Policy begins to shift.

That shift matters. Because when neighbors understand instead of fear…

when lawmakers see people, not politics…

when a teacher knows what her student has survived…

Rebuilding life from the ashes becomes possible.

We’re fighting an uphill battle. In today’s political climate, refugee stories are often twisted or ignored. They’re reduced to statistics, portrayed as national threats, or used to score political points.

The truth – the human, nuanced truth – gets lost, and when it does, we lose compassion.

We are here to share their truth anyway.

At TSOS, we don’t answer to headlines or algorithms. We are guided by a simple conviction: every person deserves to be seen, heard, and welcomed.

Our work is powered by the people we meet — refugees and asylum seekers rebuilding after loss, allies offering sanctuary, and communities daring to extend belonging.

Your support helps us share their stories — and ensure they’re heard where they matter most.

“What ultimately persuaded the judge wasn’t a legal argument. It was her story.”

— Kristen Smith Dayley, Executive Director, TSOS


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