David Miliband: Stop demonizing refugees

There is no excuse for a rich country like the U.S. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Sunday, July 8, 2018 [NYTimes.com/Kristof »]( I’m away on book leave, but a few people are helping keep this newsletter busy in my absence. Today’s author is David Miliband, the former British Foreign Secretary and now president of the International Rescue Committee, which helps refugees in countries worldwide. — Nick [A refugee from South Sudan at a camp in Uganda.] A refugee from South Sudan at a camp in Uganda. Ben Curtis/Associated Press By David Miliband It always makes me cringe when people refer to a “European refugee crisis” or an “American refugee crisis.” The truth is that both places, despite benefiting from generations of refugees, have fewer people fleeing there compared with much poorer parts of the world. For instance, the number of refugees arriving in Europe and America pales in comparison with the 700,000 Rohingya arriving in Bangladesh from Myanmar over the past year, or the million-plus South Sudanese arriving in Uganda over the past 18 months. Despite these staggering numbers, those countries are trying to address the situation in humane, practical ways, rather than closing borders and shutting out people seeking asylum. Their governments are encouraging aid organizations like mine, the International Rescue Committee, to provide health care and education for children, and offer business loans to help refugees work. When I met the Prime Minister of Uganda, Ruhakana Rugunda, and asked him why his country was determined to be so welcoming, his answer was one of humanity. He said they were Uganda’s brothers and sisters — Ugandans know what war is like — and it was their duty to help. The same day I met Alice, a young South Sudanese refugee in Kampala. When southern Sudan was fighting for independence from Sudan, Alice fled as a child to Uganda with her mother. Rebels raided the camp where she was staying and killed her mother in front of her eyes. A few weeks later her father went missing. She returned to the ruined village where she used to live with her family, but could not make ends meet. Although underage, she felt her only option was to marry for her own protection, and went on to have four children. This is a pattern we see in many places where the I.R.C. works. Then war broke out again. Alice and her new family fled to Uganda. She lost one child to a stray bullet. There wasn’t time to bury the body. Finally at the border they were able to board a bus to Kampala and find relative safety. There, Alice was permitted to work. She washed dishes at a restaurant, and though homeless, she was able to provide for her kids. Then she started a small business, selling peanuts in small bags. Eventually, she started selling to shops at wholesale prices as well. And with a small loan from the I.R.C., her business grew and she started to save. With her savings she has been able to send her children to school. When I met her she presented me with a bag of peanuts for the prime minister. I thought of Alice’s story over these past few weeks as parents and their children are torn apart at the southern United States border. Two thousand children are still separated from their parents. And those with parents deported to Central America, I honestly don’t know how they will be reunited. The human toll of such traumatic experience is something we are still learning about, but we know the toxic stress in children has devastating effects. There is no excuse for a rich country like the United States to make demons out of people fleeing for their lives. They deserve to have their cases assessed, and where it is not safe for them to go home (the test for refugee status), they should be allowed to stay and be given a chance to build a life. What we do know is that [refugees who do stay pay more in taxes]( than they consume in benefits and contribute to this country in myriad ways. Just think of Elie Wiesel, Madeleine Albright and Sergey Brin.  David Miliband (David.Miliband@rescue.org) is president and C.E.O. of the [International Rescue Committee]( ADVERTISEMENT David’s Recommendations [• Refugees Can and Should Be Good Business for Everyone]( [• Trump Wants to Finlandize the United States]( [• Authoritarian Challenges to the Liberal Order]( [• Displaced, by Vox Media Podcast Network]( ADVERTISEMENT FOLLOW NICHOLAS KRISTOF [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nickkristof]( [Instagram] [nickkristof]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »]( | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps. [Subscribe »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Nicholas Kristof newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2018 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018