Refugee Lives Matter. My father’s side of my family escaped the North Korean communist regime before the onset of the Korean War. My grandmother, with her 3 children, made it past 6 military stations where soldiers were given instructions to kill any civilians that tried to pass. At each station, the soldiers let her and her children live.

As they approached the border and their pending freedom, North Korean soldiers opened fire on them. Bullets whizzed past them as they ran for their lives. Thankfully they survived and thus I (along with my brother and cousins) am here today.

My father’s family owned land in Korea, all of which was seized by the North Korean government. When they arrived in South Korea, they had to start life all over, all while enduring a war with over 2 million civilian lives lost.

Although they were homeless for a period, they had no chance of gaining refugee status, as they were designated with the status of ‘Internally Displaced People’ by the UN Refugee Agency.

Some years ago, I taught an Iraqi girl at Clarkston High School. All she could talk about was Iraq, how much she missed it, and how she wanted to go back. At first, I said to myself ‘Why would anyone want to live in Iraq?’

But as I thought about it, I realized Iraq was her home. The place where all of her memories took place, where most of her friends and family still were, and the country that raised her. Home. A word that means so much, if you really think about it.

Not all refugees want to come to America, or to relocate anywhere else for that matter. Many want to stay in their countries, but they know that doing so could cost them their very lives. Refugees are people like you and me, just trying to make it in this world. They are victims of evil rulers and circumstances outside of their control.

To deny refugees assistance and a safe haven is to tell them we don’t care if they live or die. But it doesn’t have to be this way. We can financially support refugees, receive them, and support countries that do. In doing so, we can help give people an opportunity to enjoy this precious thing called life.

(Just to be clear, my family did not cross the bridge in the picture. It was included to show the dire circumstances refugees face to survive.)