Refugee Quotes

• Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity. They are children, women and men who leave or who are forced to leave their homes for various reasons, who share a legitimate desire for knowing and having, but above all for being more

  Pope Francis

  Children, Home, Men

  Pope Francis (2015). “The Spirit of St Francis: Inspiring Words on Faith, Love and Creation”, p.129, SPCK

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• In countries where people have to flee their homes because of persecution and violence, political solutions must be found, peace and tolerance restored, so that refugees can return home. In my experience, going home is the deepest wish of most refugees.

  Angelina Jolie

  Country, Home, People

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• While every refugee's story is different and their anguish personal, they all share a common thread of uncommon courage - the courage not only to survive, but to persevere and rebuild their shattered lives.

  Antonio Guterres

  Courage, Common Threads, Different

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• Today, as yesterday, a nation is judged by its attitude towards refugees.

  Elie Wiesel

  Attitude, Yesterday, Today

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• This must be a world of democracy and respect for human rights, a world freed from the horrors of poverty, hunger, deprivation and ignorance, relieved of the threat and the scourge of civil wars and external aggression and unburdened of the great tragedy of millions forced to become refugees.

  Nelson Mandela

  War, Ignorance, Rights

  Nelson Mandela (2012). “Notes to the Future: Words of Wisdom”, p.170, Simon and Schuster

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• Migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity

  Pope Francis

  Humanity, Migrants, Pawns

  Pope Francis (2015). “The Spirit of St Francis: Inspiring Words on Faith, Love and Creation”, p.129, SPCK

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• I urge you to celebrate the extraordinary courage and contributions of refugees past and present.

  Kofi Annan

  Past, Philanthropy, Celebrate

  Twitter post from Feb 01, 2017

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• We are called to reach out to those who find themselves in the existential peripheries of our societies and to show particular solidarity with the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters: the poor, the disabled, the unborn and the sick, migrants and refugees, the elderly and the young who lack employment.

  Pope Francis

  Inspiring, Wise, Brother

  Pope Francis' Message to Cardinal Kurt Koch On The Occasion of The 10th General Assembly of The World Council Of Churches, w2.vatican.va. October 4, 2013.

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• If we cannot end the conflict, we have an inescapable moral duty to help refugees and provide legal avenues to safety.

  Angelina Jolie

  Safety, Helping, Moral

  Angelina Jolie's Address to UN Security Council on ongoing refugee crisis in Syria, www.unrefugees.org. April 24, 2015.

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• Freedom-loving people around the world must say . . . I am a refugee in a crowded boat foundering off the coast of Vietnam. I am Laotian, a Cambodian, a Cuban, and a Miskito Indian in Nicaragua. I, too, am a potential victim of totalitarianism.

  Ronald Reagan

  People, Nicaragua, Vietnam

  Ronald Reagan (2004). “Speaking My Mind: Selected Speeches”, p.265, Simon and Schuster

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• You know, those of us who leave our homes in the morning and expect to find them there when we go back - it's hard for us to understand what the experience of a refugee might be like.

  Naomi Shihab Nye

  Morning, Home, Might

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• Displaced societies are of value. Their issues are our issues.

  Cynthia Basinet

  Issues, Values

  "Biography / Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• No one wants for their child to become a refugee. It's an awful experience.

  Nguyen Viet Thang

  Children, Want, Awful

  "Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Viet Thanh Nguyen 'Never Stopped Being a Refugee'". Interview with Kanyakrit Vongkiatkajorn, www.motherjones.com. January/February 2017.

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• Banning refugees from fleeing west Africa is like shuttering up the windows while a house burns down.

  Sarah Hanson-Young

  House, Fleeing, West

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• If we do not change our negative habits toward climate change, we can count on worldwide disruptions in food production, resulting in mass migration, refugee crises and increased conflict over scarce natural resources like water and farm land. This is a recipe for major security problems.

  Michael Franti

  Refugee Crisis, Land, Water

  "Time for Passion and Strategy on Climate Change" by Michael Franti, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 26, 2009.

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• I simply don't understand the refugee crisis. The history of humanity can be told through a story of migration and settlement. If I can't protect my family, I'm coming to where you are; I'm just coming. It's a round world, and we've all got to get on with it and move on.

  Paul Bettany

  Moving, Refugee Crisis, Humanity

  Source: blogs.indiewire.com

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• Women have always been the primary victims of war. Women lose their husbands, their fathers, their sons in combat. Women often have to flee from the only homes they have ever known. Women are often the refugees from conflict and sometimes, more frequently in today's warfare, victims. Women are often left with the responsibility, alone, of raising the children.

  Hillary Clinton

  Husband, Children, Father

  Hillary Cinton's speech at the conference on domestic violence in San Salvador, El Salvador, clintonwhitehouse3.archives.gov. November 17, 1998.

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• Our power knows no limits, yet we cannot find food for a starving child, or a home for a refugee. Our knowledge is without measure and we build the weapons that will destroy us. We live on the edge of ourselves, terrified of the darkness within. We have harmed, corrupted and ruined, we have made mistakes and deceived.

  John le Carre

  Children, Mistake, Home

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• Every new refugee to a society, whether it's the United States or some other place, is subjected to fear. They are the new outsider population, the new other.

  Nguyen Viet Thang

  United States, Population, Outsiders

  "'The Refugees' Author Says We Should All Know What It Is To Be An Outsider". Interview with Ari Shapiro, wbgo.org. February 10, 2017.

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• A lasting solution, the possibility to begin a new life, is the only dignified solution for the refugee himself.

  Poul Hartling

  New Life, Life Is, Possibility

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• If global warming is not contained, the West will face a choice of a refugee crisis of unimaginable proportions, or direct complicity in crimes against humanity.

  George Monbiot

  Refugee Crisis, Choices, Humanity

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• Refugees have done more for my heart and my spirit than I can ever express in words.

  Angelina Jolie

  Heart, Done, Spirit

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• I'm now nearly 79. At 16 I took responsibility for Tibet and lost my freedom. At 24 I lost my country and became a refugee. I've met difficulties, but as the saying goes: 'Wherever you're happy, you can call home, and whoever is kind to you is like your parents.' I've been happy and at home in the world at large. Living a meaningful life isn't just a matter of money; it's about dedicating your life to helping others.

  Dalai Lama

  Meaningful, Country, Home

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• When we ignore the prostituted child, we actually lend our hand to their abuse. When we ignore the widow and the orphan in their distress, we actually add to their pain. When we ignore the slave who remains captive, it's us who is entrapping them. When we forget the refugee, it's actually us who is displacing them. When we choose not to help the poor and the needy, we actually rob them. Perhaps the only fair thing to say is that when we forsake the lives of others, we actually forsake our own.

  Joel Houston

  Pain, Children, Hands

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• Doesn't the world see the suffering of millions of Palestinians who have been living in exile around the world or in refugee camps for the past 60 years? No state, no home, no identity, no right to work. Doesn't the world see this injustice?

  Ismail Haniyeh

  Home, Past, Years

  "We Want Peace and Stability". SPIEGEL Interview, www.spiegel.de. June 12, 2006.

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