Are we seeking refuge from a crisis of solidarity?

Published by

Lenny Appadoo

Jun 22, 2026

… Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…
–Emma Lazarus, The New Colossus

World Refugee Day 2026 passed quietly by this weekend, on June 20th. I’m convinced that not many noticed! A completely unnecessary crisis in the Middle East usurped an obscene amount of attention from those who, one could argue, are ultimately answerable for much of the world’s refugee predicament.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates that currently about 117.8 million people worldwide are displaced. A whopping 68% (38% of whom are children) are being hosted by low to middle-income countries, while the prosperous nations, which undeniably initiate much of the conditions responsible for the forced displacements through economic and geopolitical conquest, do as much as they legally can to keep as many out as possible.

World Refugee Day was promulgated in 1951 to serve as a reminder to us to have compassion and respect for the dignity of human beings who become displaced, often forcibly, as a result of war, internal conflict, violence and persecution. It is also a day meant to remind us that refugees require our protection, not contempt, as is so often the case.

I have seen a distinction being made between refugees and illegal immigrants, and this distinction is especially useful to politicians in wealthy countries like the USA and much of Europe. Technically, refugees are legally protected individuals who are forced to flee their native countries for reasons that are commonly grouped under war, internal conflict, or political or religious persecution. Illegal immigrants, sometimes referred to as undocumented migrants, on the other hand, are foreigners who enter another country without permission or who deliberately remain after their legally obtained visas expire. Illegal immigrants are more often than not assumed to be fleeing economic hardship or persecution, which is not an immediate threat to their lives.

As I mentioned earlier, the distinction is immensely beneficial to politicians who regularly abuse the misfortune of both refugees and undocumented migrants to animate their support base, who are desperately looking for a scapegoat for their own myriad problems. The distinction is not immediately obvious to a human being fleeing their country of birth to ensure either their own or their family’s well-being. Such distinctions are designed to be mused over by the privileged who have no lived experience of imposed suffering.

Currently, both refugees and undocumented migrants are being marginalised and persecuted in the U.S. by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), using a policy mandate from the Trump administration. In an ironic contrast, the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbour, which was a gift from the French, is meant to symbolise America’s democratic independence and the liberation of their slaves, while a plaque at the base is inscribed with a famous sonnet by Emma Lazarus that welcomes migrants.

As I write, a wave of xenophobic violence is being orchestrated against foreign nationals (documented and undocumented) in my own country, South Africa. It is led by an anti-migrant group calling itself March and March, and they are backed by ActionSA, a registered political party with links to Zionist funding. The group is demanding that migrants leave the country by 30th June. This is not the first time that migrants have been targeted in South Africa since the demise of apartheid. It’s not inconceivable that both political and oligarchic manipulation is at play behind the scenes.

Meanwhile in the Middle East, nearly 6 million Palestinians are living as refugees in camps across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank since the 1948 Nakba and the 1967 Arab-Israeli conflict. This travesty is the most blatant example of orchestrated mass displacement of human beings. Astonishingly Israeli propaganda initiated by successive Zionist administrations directed globally since 1948 in collusion with Western governments and the mainstream media, to conceal or minimise this catastrophic theft of land, persecution and systematic ethnic cleansing has been remarkably successful. As a consequence, large sections of the world now believe uncritically that the Palestinian refugees who are resisting their oppression are nothing more than terrorists.

The Zionist involvement in the Palestinian displacement saga is yet another cruel dose of irony because one of the first historically documented refugee crises occurred in 721 BCE when the Assyrian Empire conquered Israel, forcing tens of thousands of Israelites into exile. As in South Africa and elsewhere, are the oppressed destined to eventually become the oppressors?

Paul Millicheap, a British poet and author who writes under the pseudonym Brian Bilston, once wrote a brilliant poem in response to the hate and scapegoating directed at migrants. When read from top to bottom, it mirrors this hatred. When read from bottom to top, it exposes the bigotry while imploring us to be understanding and empathetic of the plight of refugees and migrants.

They have no need of our help
So do not tell me
These haggard faces could belong to you or me
Should life have dealt a different hand
We need to see them for who they really are
Chancers and scroungers
Layabouts and loungers
With bombs up their sleeves
Cut-throats and thieves
They are not
Welcome here
We should make them
Go back to where they came from
They cannot
Share our food
Share our homes
Share our countries
Instead let us
Build a wall to keep them out
It is not okay to say
These are people just like us
A place should only belong to those who are born there
Do not be so stupid to think that
The world can be looked at another way

(now read from bottom to top)
-Brian Bilston

I don’t know how the call for violence against migrants who have not returned to their home countries by June 30th in my own country will play out. All I can do is hope that those who are being manipulated by the politicians and other interest groups to harm migrants come to their senses and reignite their solidarity with those less fortunate. I hope people everywhere come to their senses and realise that their anger against migrants and refugees is being nurtured by corrupt politicians and their wealthy overlords.

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16 responses to “Are we seeking refuge from a crisis of solidarity?”

Mary K. Doyle

Jun 22, 2026

It’s very sad. With all the destruction in Gaza, I don’t know how the people survive. No health care, clean water, shoes for the children. . .

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1. lenny unencumbered
  
  Jun 23, 2026
  
  It’s heartbreaking, Mary, when you think of the obscene amounts of money being squandered by both Israel and America to wage unnecessary war while people starve and live in tents.
  
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  1. Ark
    
    Jun 25, 2026
    
    How do think countries should deal with those illegal immigrants /refugees who seem hell bent on destabilizing the countries that admit them?
    
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  2. lenny unencumbered
    
    Jun 25, 2026
    
    Those who are admitted by a country can not be illegal immigrants or refugees. The act of admission confers the status of legality.
    The overwhelming majority of immigrants, whether legal or illegal, tend to obey the law. Immigrants of either status caught committing a crime are an exception and should be dealt with in the relevant manner, including deportation.
    
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  3. Ark
    
    Jun 25, 2026
    
    Thank you for the clarification. At least we are on the same page.
    What about certain die hard Muslims who take up residence in Western countries who demand Sharia Law etc?
    
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lenny unencumbered

Jun 25, 2026

Taking up residence implies they have the same citizenship rights as the incumbent population. They, therefore, have the right to demand laws be passed using the systems in place such as referendums, polling, petitions, canvassing, lobbying, etc. to convince elected officials to enact the relevant laws. If the law being requested is in conflict with the country’s constitutional values, then it won’t have a chance of success, unless corrupt politicians (as in the USA with the abortion laws) influence the change requested in violation of constitutional norms.
Sharia law is no different from any other religiously inspired law, be it Christian or whatever, that violates human rights.

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1. Ark
  
  Jun 30, 2026
  
  A democratic secular state by its very nature insists in the separation of church and state?
  
  Any religion (it’s followers) that demands religious priority is surely in violation (out of step) of this standard?
  
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  1. lenny unencumbered
    
    Jun 30, 2026
    
    I have said nothing that contradicts these values, which, needless to say, I am in agreement with.
    However, I wonder why you’re singling out Muslims for “demanding” laws in accordance with their religion when Christian colonizers have always done the same, and indeed, get a more favorable reception.
    
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  2. Ark
    
    Jun 30, 2026
    
    Agreed. However, these days radical Islamists are a different kettle of fish, and like their radical Christian counterparts, hide behind the moderates so as to further religious agendas.
    And it should to be noted, supposed religious freedoms only flourish in a secular democracy.
    
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  3. lenny unencumbered
    
    Jun 30, 2026
    
    Radical Islamism, although undesirable, is a red herring. We should be more concerned about twin threats of Christian Nationalism/Zionism or Christian Evangelicalism and the rise of the billionaire oligarchic class.
    The latter would like us to be fixated with islamic fundamentalism as it’s a convenient distraction.
    
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  4. Ark
    
    Jun 30, 2026
    
    Red Herring?
    Interesting. The Syrian civil war is as good an example as any for the sake of this dicussion, and while certain political ideologies were present it was ultimately underpinned by religion, in a similar fashion as tbeinterbecine wars of early /medieval Christianity.
    An Islamist individual such as Choudary is regarded as a terrorist – which heis/was and I hardly think even you would regard his views as a “red herring.”
    In our country zionism and evangelism/Christian nationalism play practically no part, so I wonder why you would mention red herrings?
    
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  5. lenny unencumbered
    
    Jul 1, 2026
    
    Choudary, whose views are abominable, is a fringe radical lunatic. However, he’s small potatoes in the larger scheme of things and also a very convenient distraction.
    These fundamentalists don’t exist or spring up in a vacuum. There are causes and effects.
    Islamic fundamentalism is an organic response to British colonialism and the mess they create in the ME both prior to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and after. More importantly it continues to this day in direct retaliation to American imperialism that gained prominence as the British colonialism waned after WW1.
    Israel is a proxy and enforcer of American imperialism in the ME.
    I suggest you you do a deep dive of the history of American imperialism and the efforts of the CIA to destabilize the ME, including creating, arming and funding the very Islamist groups they now label as terrorists.
    While you’re at it, look up Pan-Islamism and Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and others like him who spearheaded the Islamic anti-imperialism movement.
    The biggest terrorist in the world is the U.S. Administration and imperialism is the policy of successive Democrat and Republican governments since WW2.
    The Israeli Knesset and their enforcement agency, the IDF are the next biggest terrorists.
    It’s no secret that Christian Nationalists/Zionists/Evangelicals are the backers and doe-eyed supporters of these imperialist terrorists.
    Fortunately, there are many others in the world today who don’t have a superficial (Islamophobic) view of the very real threats facing us, and we won’t be distracted by the likes of Choudary.
    As an aside, I was also once an ardent atheist, but I have since abandoned the label because I now realise that understanding is more important than condemning religion. I used to write another blog called LennySays which focused on atheism and humanist ideals but I abandoned that more than a decade ago. Besides, the people who inspired me such as Dawkins, Shermer, and Harris have all degenerated into such pathetic Islamophobes.
    
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  6. Ark
    
    Jul 1, 2026
    
    Unfortunately two (or more) wrongs don’t make a right.
    As it is with all religion, the extremists hide behind the more liberal or mainstream, who, inadvertently lend a degree of legitimacy to their fundamentalist diatribe.
    Where religion is present there will always be trouble.
    In fairly current terms consider Afghanistan, or the failed Arab Spring.
    Labeling someone an Islamaphobe is as productive as yelling anti-semite and quite often misleading and also flat out incorrect.
    The cloud/legacy of colonialism and imperialism still feature but to attempt to somehow blithely hand-wave the atrocities perpetrated by Assad or Isis for example by suggesting one must deep dive as a way to “explain” or worse, subtly justify why Islamists behave the horrendous way they often do or that the majority of Middle Eastern countries are authoritarian, many ruled by obscenely wealthy Arab families, where law and politics is largely based on Islam is little better than whataboutism.
    
    If you have “abandoned” being an atheist are you agnostic or have you decided to align with a particular form of god-belief?
    
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lenny unencumbered

Jul 1, 2026

You are sorely mistaken if you think I condone acts of religious bigotry or extremism.
I don’t label myself as liberal or leftist or centrist or moderate. They’re all part of the problem. I seek only enlightenment and understanding.
Like a lot of people you’re obsessing over the breakout of ugly sores and boils while the virus grows stronger.
The wealthy despots in Arab countries who rule with an iron fist over their vassals are in bed with the imperialists who provide the arms and diplomatic protection at the UN with their veto power. The imperialists have never batted an eyelid at the human rights violations as long as their Arab proxies toed the line. Anyone who transgressed, like Iraq, found themselves being invaded on manufactured pretexts to bring them to heel.
Iran’s Islamic revolution found favor with the rank and file because they refused to continue to toe the imperialist line or watch as their resources were plundered. American presidents have since always been wary of Iran. Netanyahu has been trying to get an imperialist president to wage war on Iran since the 90s. He finally managed to find someone corrupt and dumb enough in Trump to do their dirty work for Israel. It’s worth noting that Trump was installed as president mainly because of the Christian Nationalist/Evangelical vote.
You ignore the history of these countries, including Afghanistan, at your own peril. The Taliban were armed by the American imperialists to fight the made-up communist scare. Then America spent twenty years there trying to destroy their own creation… and failed miserably.
The ME countries are very young and formed as a result of the colonial division of the spoils resulting from the collapse of the Ottoman empire between mainly France and England following Sykes-Picot. They are the brainchild of imperialism, not religion.
Islamic extremists have never threatened the chief prosecutors of the ICC investigating war crimes. America and MOSSAD have threatened both the former chief, Fatou Bensouda, and the imcumbent Karim Khan. They have even been sanctioned in an effort to prevent them from carrying out their mandate of policing international law.
You will have to excuse me for refusing to get sidetracked by the Islamist sideshow while there is a very real and vicious elephant in the room.
As to your final point, I’m ashamed to be identified or labeled as an atheist after the betrayal of Dawkins and company.
I am just content with being a non-believer. I don’t feel the need to continually bash religion because I don’t feel any form of insecurity about my stance. I will, however, continue to call out and expose any bigotry of the adherents.

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Bob Lynn

Jul 10, 2026

Lenny, your piece on World Refugee Day strikes a necessary, albeit uncomfortable, chord. You’re entirely right that the bureaucratic distinction between a “refugee” and an “economic migrant” is a luxury invented by those who’ve never had to flee. It’s a neat little trick politicians use to outsource their empathy while dodging the geopolitical messes they’ve helped create.

I read your exchange with Ark with great interest, as it highlights the friction between historical context and immediate accountability. You’re spot on that we can’t treat the symptoms of radicalisation while ignoring the disease of centuries of imperial meddling, from Sykes-Picot to modern proxy wars. However, I’d gently push back on your dismissal of religious extremism as merely a “red herring.” While it’s undeniable that blowback from Western imperialism fuels it, ideology eventually takes on a lethal life of its own. We must hold both truths simultaneously: the West bears immense historical responsibility, but local actors still make conscious, often horrific, choices.

Brian Bilston’s poem is a brilliant mirror, but it’s deeply frustrating that we need a literary parlor trick to remind people of their basic humanity. It shouldn’t take reading a poem backward to realise that building walls doesn’t stop the tide of human suffering; it just drowns the builders in their own hypocrisy.

Your compassion for the displaced shines through, especially when discussing the Palestinian crisis and the xenophobia in South Africa. Keep asking the hard questions and challenging the narrative. True solidarity isn’t just about offering temporary refuge or feeling sorry for the huddled masses; it’s about actively dismantling the global architectures of exploitation and imperialism that force people to seek it in the first place. We can’t just read the poem backward; we have to rewrite the ending together.

Bob

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1. lenny unencumbered
  
  Jul 10, 2026
  
  Thank you once again for an insightful response, Bob. It’s nice to encounter someone willing to engage as opposed to rationalizing their own ideological beliefs. I do believe I may have strayed down that path in the past on another blog I used to write.
  
  If I came across as dismissive of religious extremism, I can assure you that was not my intention. I think I stressed that in my response to Ark when I said it was undesirable. Perhaps it wasn’t a forceful enough rebuke.
  
  The point I was making is that the denouncement of Islamic religious extremism has become all too banal. Every act of Islamic extremism is now commonly used to smear the entirety of the Islamic faith. There are over two billion Muslims in the world and we can’t seriously be thinking that are all representative of some of the more extremist members of their faith.
  
  Pointing out these incidences of violent and extremist behavior, while necessary on the whole, is also being exploited by the agents of imperialism to distract from their complicity. That’s what I meant by red herring. They want to force you to see the “boils, sores, and oozing pus, rather than the festering virus underneath.
  
  I hope that clears up any misunderstanding.
  
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