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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

Ukraine

Photography25of58
Kyrylo Burlaka  ·  Ukraine

When the War Started, We Thought It Was Fake

How Can It Be Possible? We Live in the 21st Century
Oksana
Oksana  ·  Ukraine

I Don’t Understand How This is Possible

I don’t recognize my city. It’s like films from WWII.
Yuliia Pylypenko
Yuliia Pylypenko  ·  Ukraine

Keeping My Promise: How I Found Safety for My Family and Started Helping Others

Anastasiia1
Anastasiia  ·  Ukraine

English is a Language of Opportunities

A lawyer from Ukraine describes her journey learning English
Ievgenii Shulga “Eugene”
Ievgenii Shulga “Eugene”  ·  Ukraine

A Ukrainian Scientist on the Russian War, Hard Work, and Human Rights

Alla Mashkey
Alla Mashkey  ·  Ukraine

I’m in a Strange Country with Strange People

A Ukrainian grandmother tells her story of escaping Kharkiv at the start of the Russian invasion
Katya 1 1
Katya Niporka  ·  Ukraine

I Will Stay in Kiev

Seyi Ajani-Oyebanre
Seyi Ajani-Oyebanre  ·  Ukraine

We Took Our Own Path

A Nigerian couple, medical doctors, living in Ukraine tell their harrowing story of how they fought to stay together with their three kids.
Julia
Julia  ·  Ukraine

In France, We Were All Greeted Very Warmly and Cordially

Marina illustration
Marina  ·  Ukraine

As We Crossed the Border There Were Warm Tents and Food

MYKOLA
Mykola  ·  Ukraine

I Had Only Five Minutes to Say Goodbye to My Family

I don't know how to shoot. I’ve held a gun once in my life and shot two times, which was a long time ago.
PHOTO 2022 03 18 14 29 52
Anna Sehal  ·  Ukraine

We Needed to Act to Save Our Lives

We didn't want to be brave. We just had no choice.
Mariia
Mariia  ·  Ukraine

We Are a Welcoming Community

When a choir becomes a family
Hep 6175 1024X682 1024X675 Tsos
Vitalii and Lidiia  ·  Ukraine

Safety. Kindness. Security.

With the annexation of Crimea, there was a great deal of fear and fighting. Vitalii and Lidiia wanted a better life for their children.
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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