Wednesday, July 26, 2017

The Immigrants



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.

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