COMMENTARY: Don’t Call Them `Refugees,’ but Show Them Compassion and Much-Needed Respect

c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Call them displaced. Call them evacuees. You can even call them homeless. Just don’t call the thousands of people who once lived in the hurricane-stricken Gulf Coast “refugees.” Technically, they are internally displaced persons, known in the parlance of international humanitarian workers by the acronym IDPs. They, like 21 […]

c. 2005 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Call them displaced. Call them evacuees. You can even call them homeless. Just don’t call the thousands of people who once lived in the hurricane-stricken Gulf Coast “refugees.”

Technically, they are internally displaced persons, known in the parlance of international humanitarian workers by the acronym IDPs. They, like 21 million others worldwide who have been uprooted by a war or natural disaster, will be away from home for the foreseeable future. And like other IDPs and refugees (those who have actually crossed a country border while fleeing) they face issues that are common to anyone who has left home suddenly and traumatically.


As shocking as it is to see the thousands of people in our own country left with nothing, the world is dealing with a massive refugee and displaced persons problem that most Americans know little about. Like those we have seen on our own soil, the displaced persons of the world tend to be the poor and the powerless, those who must flee for their lives with little more than the clothes on their backs.

Once the threat of physical harm lessens, displaced people often experience a broad range of emotional trauma. Many are grieving the loss of family, friends, belongings and community. On some level, all will grieve the loss of their previous identity.

“There is a myth that those who survive such traumas feel `lucky to be alive’,” said Dean Owen, a spokesperson for World Vision, which works with displaced persons in nearly 100 countries in the world. “Often they are haunted by the loss of a loved one or the sense that they might have been able to do something to save someone else.”

Identity quickly becomes more than an emotional issue. Those who fled without anything will have to painstakingly re-establish their credentials if they hope to get a job, seek official assistance or even receive proper medical care. It will often be a laborious process made more frustrating if they have no permanent address. In international settings this process is further compounded by the lack of computerized data and centralized records.

While the kindness of strangers is appreciated, many people will soon grow uncomfortable depending on others and finding that their choices are made for them. They will be wearing clothes that do not reflect their taste or heritage, eating food that may seem strange, and passing time in what may become a frustrating exercise in guessing.

Finding refuge with people from a similar faith community can often help create some sense of continuity and offer a common thread of spiritual experience. Around the world, houses of worship often become the first centers of refuge. Owen says he believes the current situation represents “a great opportunity for the faith-based community in the U.S. to very tangibly show compassion.”

The loss of control will make some people irritable and will lead others to more extremes. There is a high rate of alcoholism and suicide among displaced persons. Parents struggle with the inability to make decisions or make plans for themselves or their families. Displaced persons long for respect and dignity.


“Parents want to nurture and protect their children,” said Jane Warburton, director of child protection at the International Rescue Committee, which works with displaced persons overseas and also helps settle refugees in the U.S. “Their anxiety grows when they don’t feel they are in control of the situation.”

A high priority in every displaced group of people is to get children back to school. Makeshift schools spring up in every refugee camp I have ever visited, providing some sense of continuity for the children. The ability to settle children into a school routine helps parents as much as the children by allowing them to feel they are providing for their children.

“Children need to find a safe place to be children again,” said Warburton. “School often provides that place in the midst of the trauma.”

And yet, no matter how nice the people are in a new location, most displaced persons will still long for home. As we watch our fellow citizens struggle with their displacement, we should also remember that millions of others around the world will continue their sojourn, out of sight of television cameras and many without hope of ever returning to the place where they belong.

MO/JL END RNS

(Dale Hanson Bourke is a consultant to humanitarian organizations, a former board member of World Vision and author of “The Skeptic’s Guide to the Global AIDS Crisis.”)

Editors: Search the RNS photo Web site at https://religionnews.com for photos to accompany this story.


Donate to Support Independent Journalism!

Donate Now!