Refugee
2001
acrylic, ink on paper
17" x 14"
(SOLD)

Refugees

A refugee is someone with a well-founded fear of persecution on the basis of his or her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion, who is outside of his or her country of nationality and unable or unwilling to return. Refugees are forced from their countries by war, civil conflict, political strife or gross human rights abuses.

Refugees often arrive at camps physically exhausted and in poor health after trekking for several days under harsh conditions. Others fare even worse, victims of rape or violence from security forces, or having desperately crossed minefields to reach their freedom.

For instance, in 1999, more than one million ethnic Albanians either fled Kosovo or were forcibly removed by Serbian troops. Though neighboring states sheltered most, like this man making his way to safety with an injured child in his arms, arrival in refugee camps was just one more step in a treacherous journey.

There are currently more than 12 million refugees in the world, housed far from their ancestral homes in countries such as Jordan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cyprus, the United States, Turkey, India and countless other destinations. More than seven million of these have been more than five years in their “temporary” homes. On top of this, another 21 million human souls are internally displaced, such as newly homeless in Iraq, the Middle East and the Sudan. To live stateless and far from home, often without even the basic human rights of access to education, health care and a manner in which to earn a living is an unfathomable hardship.

All images on this site are copyright © 2008 by Tom Block Arts. Please contact the artist for use of these images.