As the world faces one of the largest
refugee crises in history, let’s look back at the story of one family that was
part of another influx of immigrants a few years ago.
The Immigrants
Along with hundreds
of other families who feared for their lives because of political battles in
the city in which they were living, the young couple fled with everything they
could carry in their hands… becoming immigrants and strangers in another
community.
During their
escape, they found that so many others had left their homes too, that there was
no place for them to stay. Refugee camps
had not sprung up yet, and people were packed into every area of shelter they
could find, the government was of no help, but an NGO directed them find a
corner to sleep in for a few days.
Along the
way, the pregnant wife gave birth in a dirty, crowded space where other people
would not live.
Shortly
after, they had to move again and the new mother, the baby and the husband
joined many others looking for a better place for the family.
They settled
in a small, rural town where the husband found some work.
Years later,
as the national government changed, they were still bothered by the authorities
who wanted to know where they came from, what their business was in this town
and whether their teenage son was going to cause trouble.
The couple
tried to blend into the community, make friends and teach their son right from
wrong.
It was tough
for them to adapt, they often thought about the homes they had left… the
families who could not follow them and finally the son, now a young man,
decided he did not want to go into his father’s profession and left home.
It didn’t
take long for the son to end up with a bunch of other young men who said things
and did things that brought them to the attention of the authorities.
The young
man got arrested, charged with things that he didn’t do because the government
thought the things he was saying were dangerous… thought he was trying to indoctrinate
others into beliefs it thought were wrong and undermined their way of life, so,
they put him in prison.
His mother
risked going to the authorities… after all she wasn’t born in that community
and was not sure her papers would be accepted… she could very well have been
deported. But, she went to the division of the government that was holding him,
and pleaded for his release.
But, the
government received some damning intel from an informant, and the young man was
convicted and executed.
