Little Bee and the Refugee Crisis: A Comparison

...

flat.”(6) She would make herself look undesirable to protect herself from the men. Little Bee spent two years in the detention center only to be let out illegally. The detention center was a cold place with no luxuries. In fact, when Sarah talks to Little Bee they say in the book that in the detention center you had to apply to receive medication or a clean towel they “found the humiliating process excessive. We do not see how anyone could abuse an excess of sanitary towels.” Something so simple that we take for granted, such as towels, were not very accessible to them. That just shows how hard it can be to live like that for such a long period of time. Especially after the horror you have been through.

Refugees escaping aren’t as fortunate as Little Bee. Even though Little Bee’s journey must have been torture, it is nothing like real refugees are facing today. About 1.6 million refugees are traveling to Lebanon and Jordan, neighboring countries. Most of the refugee population are fleeing to Turkey. More than 2 million refugees are in Turkey right now. (Quick Facts: What you need to know about the Syria crisis - Mercy Corps - https://www.mercycorps.org/articles/iraq-jordan-lebanon-syria-turkey/quick-facts-what-you-need-know-about-syria-crisis) Many refugees they will live a better life if they reach Eruope. That is why so many refugees take the extremely dangerous path of crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Just last year alone 3,500 people have died or were reported missing from traveling across the Mediterranean. On an account of a survivor of this trip he had said that, “Some people fell into the sea and two men jumped into the water to rescue them. Panic ensued and people began to jostle and shove and, as a result, three women were crushed to death on the dinghy.” (Crossings of Mediterranean Sea exceed 300,000, including 200,000 to Greece - The UN Refugee Agency UNCR - http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/news/latest/2015/8/55e06a5b6/crossings-mediterranean-sea-exceed-300000-including-200000-greece.html)

This is one way that refugees have tried to escape their country. The most used method of escaping though, is smugglers. People pay other people to smuggle them out of the country. The pay them with whatever they have left. Sometimes these smugglers are not trustworthy. There was one story where, “about 70 suspected migrants… were discovered dead in the back of an abandoned chicken truck outside of Austria.” (Discovery of more than 70 bodies in truck highlights European migrant crisis - The Washington Post - https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/discovery-of-up-to-50-bodies-in-truck-highlights-european-migrant-crisis/2015/08/27/ef6efd82-4cca-11e5-80c2-106ea7fb80d4_story.html) Most refugees know the consequences and dangers of taking these trips. They know though that they won’t have much better chances if they stay. So they risk their lives and the lives of their families, and they escape.

Many organizations are trying to accommodate and aid these refugees. It is very hard to do this with so many people. There is not enough necessities like food, water, medicine, and shelter to sustain the large mass of people arriving at these camps. There are thousands of camps, most are in Lebanon. For shelter, people build make shift houses out of sticks, mud, and plastic covers. These camps have so many people that diseases travel fast and affect thousands of not millions of people. The little amount of health care systems does not help contain these illnesses. Many refugees seek to leave the camps, but they cannot. They must stay inside the camps because they are not sponsored or legal to leave. (Life In A Refugee Camp: What Happens To Those Who Flee Syria’s Civil War - Forbes - https://www.google.com/amp/www.forbes.com/sites/dougbandow/2016/01/04/life-in-zaartari-refugee-camp-photo-essay-on-what-happens-to-those-who-flee-syrias-civil-war/amp/?client=safari) They have to work with what they are given, even if it is not much. Children either try and work, which stops them from getting an education, or the try to learn and focus in one of the makeshift schools. A refugee camp is not a desirable place to live, but at least when you get there it means you survived.

Little Bee’s horror story is a reflection of what is happening to the masses of other refugees in many different countries. These refugees have been through a tremendous amount of horror, more to last a thousand lifetimes. They have battled through it, even though one choice was not much better than the other. Little Bee represents these people in her story. Though fictional it helps us connect to the refugees on a more personal level. Even though we can never begin to understand what it must be like for them, we can try to educate ourselves with what is happening. These millions of refugees who are leaving their life behind are escaping horror. And unlike horror movies as Little Bee says, “horror is a disease, and we are sick with it.”(45)

Bibliography

Cleave, Chris. Little Bee. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009. Print.

@WorldVisionUSA. "Syria Refugee Crisis FAQ: What You Need to Know | World Vision." World Vision. World Vision, 12 Sept. 2016. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.

Amnesty International. "Syria’s Refugee Crisis in Numbers." Home. Amnesty International, 3 Feb. 2015. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.

Sullivan, Kevin. "Changing Region, Changing Lives." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 2015. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.

Schultz, Heidi. "Nigeria’s Boko Haram: Who Are They and What Do They Want?" National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 8 May 2014. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.

Epatko, Larisa. "Surviving Boko Haram: Kidnapped Girls Tell Their Stories." PBS NewsHour Surviving Boko Haram Kidnapped Girls Tell Their Stories Comments. PBS, 19 Oct. 2016. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.

Mercy Corps. "Quick Facts: What You Need to Know about the Syria Crisis." Mercy Corps. Mercy Corps, 13 Oct. 2016. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.

Flemings, Melissa. "Crossings of Mediterranean Sea Exceed 300,000, including 200,000 to Greece." UNHCR News. UNHCR, 28 Aug. 2015. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.

Faiola, Anthony. "Discovery of More than 70 Bodies in Truck Highlights European Migrant Crisis." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 27 Aug. 2015. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.

Bandow, Doug. "Life In A Refugee Camp: What Happens To Those Who Flee Syria’s Civil War." Life In A Refugee Camp: What Happens To Those Who Flee Syria’s Civil. Forbes, 04 Jan. 2016. Web. 23 Oct. 2016.