What to read (and watch) to understand refugees
An introduction to the problems of forced migration
The numbers are grim. Around the world, last year, the stock of people forced from their homes
reached nearly 90m, more than at any time since the Second World War. That tally included many
people displaced within their own countries. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has added millions more
this year. And whereas fleeing Ukrainians have mostly received warm welcomes, many refugees are
compelled to follow ever more perilous routes in search of safety, or blocked by borders that are
increasingly hard to cross. Fully 83% of the world’s refugees land in poor and middle-income
countries. Politicians in rich countries mostly want them to stay there. Most offer too little help to host
countries. To understand why and how people flee, turn to these seven books and one documentary.
This slim volume is an excellent introduction to the history and politics of forced migration. What are
its main causes? What is the difference between a refugee and an asylum-seeker? Why is a victim of
political persecution more likely to receive protection than a victim of climate change? Gil Loescher, a
giant in the field of refugee studies, worked for decades to advocate for refugee rights. A suicide
bombing in Baghdad in 2003 left him a double amputee. Loescher nonetheless continued to work until
his death in 2020. Loescher was wary of becoming an “armchair academic”; his book is grounded in
decades of fieldwork and interviews. His writing is clear and persuasive: in the concluding chapter, he
warns that climate change could displace some 200m people by 2050.
Refuge. By Alexander Betts and Paul Collier. Oxford University Press; 288 pages; $18.95. Penguin; £10.99
The term “refugee crisis” refers to the miseries of mass displacement. But it also, say Alexander Betts
and Paul Collier, describes inadequate policy which needs to be rethought. Take the idea of dumping
refugees in big camps—which is neither effective nor humane. These are not temporary places of
shelter: many refugees stay in camps for years; many children grow up in them. Instead, they say,
refugees should receive more long-term help, in the form of education and jobs. Without better help,
they say, “lives become focused more on survival than hope.” (Read our full review, from 2017.)
Go, Went, Gone. By Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Susan Bernofsky. New Directions; 320 pages; $16.95.
Portobello Books; £14.99
Jenny Erpenbeck was born in East Germany. So too is the narrator of this novel, Richard, a retired
professor and widower. Both know something about being from the wrong side of a border. Yet when
Richard encounters a group of African refugees protesting, he is surprised and discomfited to realise
how little he knows about them. They are men who have survived hardships and now want the right
to work. The German government, on the other hand, wants them out of sight and out of mind. Since
the book’s publication in 2015, Germany, to its great credit, has been more welcoming to refugees than
most rich countries. (Read our full review of the novel.)
The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You. By Dina Nayeri. Catapult; 368 pages;
$16.95. Canongate Books; £10.99
The Undocumented Americans. By Karla Cornejo Villavicencio. One World; 208 pages; $17. Swift
Press; £12.99
Both these books blend memoir and reportage. Each also tells the story of a person who fled hardship,
made it to America, then prospered. Dina Nayeri, an Iranian refugee, attended Princeton and Harvard.
Karla Villavicencio, originally from Ecuador, became one of Harvard’s first “undocumented” students,
meaning she was allowed to study there even though her legal status in America had not been
confirmed. Yet both authors focus their attention on the difficulties that even the most successful
refugees and economic migrants face. Ms Nayeri writes that she was bullied, abused and resettled in
homes for the “destitute and underprivileged”. She argues that refugees should not feel compelled to
express gratitude for the help they receive. Ms Villavencio uses her privileged position to turn
attention to those less fortunate, who find only menial and low-paid work. Both write movingly about
the individual lives affected, such as Leonel Chá vez, an Ecuadorian man who manages to remain in
America by refusing.
My Fourth Time, We Drowned. By Sally Hayden. Melville House Publishing; 448 pages; $29.99.
HarperCollins Publishers; £20
Sally Hayden, a journalist, began investigating a massive human-rights scandal in August 2018–after
she received a message on Facebook from a man held in a Libyan prison for migrants. European
taxpayers, she learned, were bankrolling terrible abuse. The Libyan Coast Guard, funded, trained and
given operational support by the European Union, intercepted migrants who were trying to reach
Europe by sea. They were then sent to detention facilities in Libya, where murder and rape were
common. The book is filled with grim details. Detainees’ relatives shared photos of their tortured
bodies on social media in hope of raising money for them to bribe their way out. Ms Hayden claims
that the ill-treatment of the refugees was well known to European officials. “What happened to
refugees forced back to Libya was not a secret”, she writes.
Captains of Za’atari. Directed by Ali El Arabi, starring Fawzi Qatleesh and Mahmoud Dagher. Ambient
Light; available to stream on Hulu and Dogwoof
The Za’atari camp, in northern Jordan, is the largest camp for Syrian refugees, hosting some 80,000
people. Jordan, a country of 10m, has over 3m refugees. Ali El Arabi’s documentary tells the story of
two teenage football fanatics, Fawzi and Mahmoud, who are offered a shot at leaving the camp by a
Qatari football academy. Its protagonists are typical teenagers who tease each other about girls and
marvel at their football heroes. “Captains of Za’atari” opens a window onto life in a camp: when
Mahmoud’s father rebukes him for skipping school, Mahmoud retorts, “Even if I have a degree, I’ll still
be a refugee.” When dozens crowd into a small room to watch Fawzi’s and Mahmoud’s first televised
match, the television dysfunctions. Za’atari was created as a temporary home for displaced Syrians.
Ten years on the camp remains, with no better future in sight for its residents.
