I had a email last night that asked why Survivors of the hurricanes Katrina, and Rita were being classified.. (ya gotta love it).. as REFUGEES. She wondered how they had gone from being displaced people to refugees.
There seems to be a common misconception .
Katrina and Rita Survivors, ARE AMERICAN CITIZENS they are NOT refugees.
This doesn’t sit well with me, in fact its rude and demeaning,these folks are Americans, and unless they choose to leave the USA and denounce their citizenship because of the incredible ineptness and blatent failures of the United States government,they continue to be Americans, regardless of their wealth, race, or personal means.
Refugees:
“A refugee is defined as a person outside of his or her country of nationality who is unable or unwilling to return because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion”
Every year millions of people around the world are displaced by war, famine, and civil and political unrest. Others are forced to flee their countries in order to escape the risk of death and torture at the hands of persecutors. The United States (U.S.) works with other governmental, international, and private organizations to provide food, health care, and shelter to millions of refugees throughout the world. In addition, the United States considers persons for resettlement to the U.S. as refugees. Those admitted must be of special humanitarian concern and demonstrate that they were persecuted, or have a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social groupRefugees
I wonder how our Leaders,( yes we do have leaders for whatever that’s worth) would feel being classified as refugees.
I expect that term would be clarified and replaced in the media quite promptly.
Socially Acceptable tern is displaced Survivor, or how bout AMERICANS IN DISTRESS.
