Up to 600 people drown off Pylos, Greece - only days after EU leaders agreed to further erode the right to asylum • Sea-Watch e.V.
sea-watch.org
Open letter by over 180 human rights organizations and initiatives together with Tima Kurdi, aunt of Alan Kurdi.   Today on World Refugee Day, we jointly demand full and independent investigations into the events, clear consequences for those responsible, an end to the systematic pushback practices at the European borders, and justice for the victims.…

We live in a world where 500+ refugees just drowned off the coast of
Greece while the global north took photos from afar and just let it happen.

We live in a world where even a democratic president in the US is shutting the doors to asylum seekers in the U.S. and not receiving any significant political blowback for it.

We aren’t refugees for having to find a new website.

I am NOT saying this to scold people or to talk condescendingly down from some high horse as if I am more righteous than others, I just don’t want this word to catch on because there is so much pain and suffering happening to refugees in this world.

Imagine you were a refugee and you joined the fediverse because you were curious about it and the first thing you saw was people calling themselves refugees for having to… make an account on a new website. Would you feel welcome or like this place was for you?

  • indigojasper@kbin.social
    3·
    2 years ago

    black people are actual refugees from virtual spaces like twitter, as are queer people…

    as the language landscape changes, so does language usage. and this whole notion of trying to police speech in such a way is bit too prescriptive for me tbh. it may be a virtual home but it is still a home in a very real sense where real connections and community are made, so the word refugee definitely applies.