We Are Displaced

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | YA | Published in 2018

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-3

Part 1, Chapters 4-6

Part 2, Introduction and Chapters 7-9

Part 2, Chapters 10-12

Part 2, Chapters 13-15

Part 2, Chapter 16-Epilogue

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Themes

Civilian Experiences of War

In We Are Displaced, Yousafzai and the contributors document war from a civilian perspective. Their experiences demonstrate that most civilians flee violent conflict in a state of panic, and usually do not have access to reliable information or resources to help them. Yousafzai recalls that although her family was educated and lived comfortably in Mingora, they, like the rest of the population, fled in a panic when the government gave them just two days to do so. She remembers the chaos of the evacuation, writing, “The streets were flooded with people piled into cars and hanging out of buses. People were fleeing on motorbikes and trucks, in rickshaws and mule carts, all with the same wide-eyed look of shock” (Location 193).

Other writers have similar stories. Marie Claire remembers how she and her family fled violent militias in Congo, writing, “We spent the first four years of my life living in the bush, literally on the run” (Location 1044). Marie Claire’s family had few resources; she shares that they were often hungry and only knew that they should head south to Zambia to escape the militias. Maria and her family also had to flee as the situation in their Columbian village worsened. They did not know they should run from the guerilla forces until the guerillas murdered Maria’s father. She remembers, “We were rushing, and that scared me. I did not know then that we were running away” (Location 860).

Similarly, Ajida and her family only knew about the military’s genocide of Rohingya people through rumors they heard from others in their village. It was because of this word-of-mouth information that they knew to flee. Ajida explains that she and her family had no resources to help them escape, writing, “We had nothing—no food, just the clothes on our backs. My children were crying from hunger. I fed them green leaves from the jungle. There was nothing else” (Location 1253). In Iraq, Najla’s family was more aware that they may be under attack, as they had access to TV news. But when they lost their electricity, they had to assume that it was a sign of an impending assault and packed their car for a quick escape into the mountains. She recalls, “We ran fast without shoes to our car, which we had packed for our escape. As we crammed eighteen people into one car, we heard the explosions and bullets and fighting getting closer. We drove up the Sinjar mountains without headlights” (Location 821). These detailed testimonials provide the reader with first-hand accounts of civilian experiences of conflict and illustrate the ways people try to escape violence and persecution, and the conditions they cope with as they do.

Navigating Information and Bureaucracy

Another persistent theme in We Are Displaced is how government policies and access to information affected the contributors’ options for escape, the way they navigate legal and illegal immigration options, and their experiences as displaced people. Sabreen and Analisa’s stories illustrate how rumors and unreliable information can influence refugees’ decisions as they flee. Sabreen was convinced by smugglers in Egypt that her $2,000 passage fee to Italy would provide a safe and comfortable trip on a roomy boat. It was not until she was in the middle of the Mediterranean that she realized that all their promises were lies, and that her life was at risk. She recalls, “But three hours from land, the boat ran out of fuel. Someone suggested swimming, but none of us had life vests, and I don’t even know how to swim. I have never been so scared in my life” (Location 647). Sabreen benefitted from the Italian Coast Guard’s policy of rescuing refugees, who they transferred to a camp where they were provided with basic necessities.

Analisa’s passage often refers to rumors or common immigrant knowledge as her main sources of information. For example, she was very worried about crossing the river to the US because “...I’d heard lots of people say that crossing that river was particularly dangerous, the place where most were caught and deported before they even entered the United States” (Location 976). Relying on this common knowledge, she also relied on ‘guides’ to help her gain illegal entry to the US, and she describes the terrifying results of this decision. Analisa remembers, “Before the vehicle had even come to a full stop, more than one hundred people were being yelled at to get on as quickly as possible. I watched a little boy being thrown onto the truck bed as if he were a doll. A pregnant woman was crying as the men in charge shoved her and screamed. It was a cattle truck, and we were truly being treated like animals” (Location 965). Once Analisa successfully reached the US, she was subjected to US government facilities that the immigrants only knew as the hielera or “ice box”, because it was so cold, and the perrera or “dog pound” because of the windowless rooms and cages they were kept in. Analisa found these conditions very distressing, and because none of the border guards spoke Spanish, it was difficult to understand what was happening or try to navigate the immigration process. She remembers, “We would just sit and watch as some girls got bracelets around their wrists or ankles; others had chains. No one knew why or who was next. […] We did not know what they were saying. We would watch their body language and do our best to imagine what they wanted from us. It was impossible” (Location 1003).

Some governments offer visas for refugees, opportunities which are highly sought after and often take years of paperwork, interviews, and waiting. Zaynab describes this stressful process as she recalls how she was granted a visa to the US while her sister Sabreen was not. She remembers trying to understand how she could have received approval while her little sister did not, writing, “The agent shrugged and said, ‘All I know is that your application has been approved.’ As I left the embassy that day, my head was full of questions: What had gone wrong? Did we make a mistake in the paperwork? […] Why me and not her?” (Location 539).

Navigating the visa process is also a central aspect of Marie Claire’s story. She explains that her mother heard that the UNHCR was helping to process refugee visas, and applied in Lusaka, Zambia. Sadly, Marie Claire’s mother was murdered by the time the family was interviewed for their visas. Marie Claire explains, “I remember that we got a call to be interviewed when she was still alive, and we were all so hopeful. But then we heard nothing for years-and in between we lost her. I was sixteen when they called us again: They wanted to interview everyone in our extended family who was applying.” Marie Claire shares that the process continued for three more years and included five more interviews. In her testimonial Marie Claire impresses the importance of having “papers,” writing, “I was excited-I was finally going to have papers. A home. A life. A new beginning” (Location 1100). Without this government permission to reside and work in a certain country, her options would have remained limited.

Sabreen, Analisa, Zaynab and Marie Claire’s chapters reveal how many displaced people seek out information from other immigrants and do the best with the resources they have to navigate both legal and illegal processes to successfully emigrate.

Girls’ and Women’s Rights

We Are Displaced showcases how in both peacetime and wartime, many women around the world must advocate for their rights, often to the men in their families, to enjoy the same rights and resources as men. A crucial aspect of Yousafzai’s testimony in We Are Displaced is that both she and her father publicly opposed the Taliban’s efforts to close and destroy girls’ schools. Yousafzai’s stories about growing up in Pakistan reveal that even the girls who did go to school were often taught to not stand out in the classroom. She remembers attending her cousin’s school in Shangla and observing how there were very few girl pupils in class, and that did not speak up and acted submissively to teachers and male students. She writes, “...There were only two other girls in the room of more than a dozen boys. I was shocked to see my cousin and the other girls cover their faces when the male teacher entered. […] Neither she nor the other girls spoke throughout the lesson” (Location 251).

In Najla’s chapter she explains that even before her region came under attack by ISIS, her access to education was restricted and women in her community were denied the same rights as men. Her father felt it was unimportant for Najla to go to school, since he expected her to focus on being a wife and mother rather than pursuing further education and a career. She remembers, “He wanted me to be a housewife, like other Yazidi girls my age. It was not just my father, but the Yazidi community. They decided this together” (Location 798). Although Najla’s father eventually relented and allowed her to attend primary school, he was determined to prevent her from going to secondary school—she had to run away for five days to change his mind. Najla shares that other women in her community were also suffering; she recalls the trauma of seeing her friend commit suicide out of fear that her father would punish her for having a boyfriend. Najla recalls, “She was so scared that she said she had no choice but death” (Location 810). Najla also documents how the community’s circumstances worsened dramatically when ISIS invaded their town, as the terrorists’ methods included mass kidnapping and rape of girls and women.

The matter of women’s rights is also central to Analisa’s testimonial. She recounts how her half-brother inherited her father’s business after his death. He became controlling towards her, limiting her mobility and financial independence. She shared in her passage, “He took over the shop and my life. It was terrible: He did not want me to leave the house or go to work” (Location 927). It was this persecution that prompted Analisa to leave Guatemala and pay smugglers to transport her to the US, demonstrating how a lack of rights at home can influence women’s decisions to undertake dangerous voyages to different countries that they hope will have better opportunities for them.