Documenting Refugee Stories: Resettlement and Integration Challenges of East African Refugees

Abstract

Recently we have witnessed forced displacement and migration on a globalized scale and the human suffering that this creates. Since early 2014, events have escalated in Syria and other Middle Eastern countries as religious-based interest groups such as ISIS push to make territorial gains. One cannot escape media reports documenting the devastating impact this has as refugees try to reach safety, whether by crossing the Mediterranean Sea or European borders.

In this article, I present my personal experience of refugee life as a survivor of war and multiple forced migrations and as a professional service provider to immigrants and refugees who make Canada their new home. In many ways, my story is the story of other refugees who also encounter issues of race, religion and geopolitical locations as they migrate and resettle in a new country.