Refugee Wales

Language is a beautiful and fluid thing, but it is horrible when persistent usage changes a word to become a social shorthand for something at odds with its actual definition, when users of a word seem oblivious to the counterintuitive distance between its literal meaning and its intended meaning. ‘Woke’ is a current example. Being 'woke’ simply means that someone is alert (awake/woke) to injustice, yet it’s taken now to be an insulting online shorthand for someone who ‘cares too much’. Yes, a signifier of care and compassion becoming an eye-rolling irritant. The term ‘refugee’ similarly has an almost Janus quality to it, with its use typically stirring rage rather than compassion. While a refugee is someone who has been forced to flee their home country due to war, fear of persecution, or other atrocity, the term is more commonly used not to elicit compassion or understanding, but with the inverse in mind. Looking at the news, ‘refugee’ can seem rarely to describe people; instead, the term is typically used divisively in headlines describing a problem. It’s always ‘Us vs. Them', and refugees are often framed as a problem to be dealt with, rather than humans in need. This is why Refugee Wales: Syrian Voices is such an important book, full of important stories. This beautiful book ‘de-tabloids’ the word ‘refugee’ and puts human voices front and centre. Refugee Wales is the product of a joint research project led by Cardiff University and Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales. Taking a core but disparate group of refugees from Syria who have all settled in Wales, the book is simple: it lays out the conflict and troubles of Syria in an easy-to-understand way and collates the group’s oral testimonies throughout its chapters. Collectively they paint a picture of conflict, fear, migration, community, friendship, home, achievement and much much more. The voices we hear from are a mixture of ages and experiences, and their stories are as unique as they are. Baher is an orphan who came to Wales as a teenager, while Halah is in her sixties and worked in Syria at the Ministry of Health. Khalid is in his late forties and took an eight-year detour to Jordan on his journey to Wales in the hope that war would end, while Sulaiman is a young father of two who studies alongside running a restaurant. All have their own stories to tell, and the fact that we rarely hear stories like this is significant. By focusing on people of one origin, who have ended up in one destination, yet with a multitude of stories, this book really finds its power. It is very much the story of individuals, but it’s also the story of Wales. As the introduction notes, ‘Their histories are now part of Welsh history’. The false ‘Us vs. Them’ dichotomy that we’re so regularly fed is broken down in the most human way possible, showing that migration is a complex, sad, yet beautiful thing. The faces and stories held within this book will be archived in the collections of Wales’s national museum, but through their publication in Refugee Wales they will hopefully reach far and wide. This is a beautiful and important book that deserves to reach a readership as varied as its contributors. -- Liam Nolan @ www.gwales.com