Tag: refugee
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From genocide to dream: The journey of a Rohingya refugee student
Mohammed SirajKutupalong Refugee Camp-7, Bangladesh I was born in a small village called Nanther Daung, near the Myanmar-Bangladesh border. My family and the entire Rohingya community have faced discrimination, persecution, political exclusion, and genocide in Myanmar for more than seventy-five years. Following the 1962 military coup by General Ne Win, the regime institutionalized racism. The…
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Rooted in exile, growing through medicine
Tenzin TamdinConnecticut, United States I was born in a Tibetan refugee settlement in India. My parents were farmers who worked a small piece of land with a few cows. I remember my mother borrowing rice from neighbors when we had none. I remember cleaning cow dung before sunrise, my school uniform folded beside me. Out…
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International adoption of Greek “orphans”
Howard FischerUppsala, Sweden “He’s only a pawn in their game.”1—Bob Dylan Between 1950 and 1962, 3,200 Greek children were adopted by American couples. The Greek Civil War (1946–1949) had begun after Nazi occupation of Greece ended. Western countries supported the Greek government against the communist rebels.2 After so many years of war, there were orphans…
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“Do I look gay to you?”
Elena HillNew York, United States When I first went to Tijuana to the US-Mexican border to volunteer as a physician, I was expecting to see women fleeing abuse, men escaping gang violence, and families pursuing a better life. I was not expecting to see a large LGBTQ population. In retrospect, it makes perfect sense that…