There has been no shortage of striking stories of human drama as the refugee crisis has unfolded.
Throughout the summer, as the crisis developed, there have been numerous accounts of the desperate conditions refugees are attempting to escape. Last week, the shocking pictures of Alan Kurdi caused a public outcry and outpouring of support for refugees.
At the same time, the children and grandchildren of refugees from crises past have been sharing their own stories:
My family also came to the UK as refugee's from Amin's Uganda- same level of dehumanisation + fearmongering also. https://t.co/5gKd0qAWAT
— Hussein Kesvani (@HKesvani) September 3, 2015
Three of my grandparents were #refugees. Also Einstein, Bob Marley, Freddie Mercury... The opposition is virtually the same every time.
— Eva Infeld (@evainfeld) September 6, 2015
My OH's grandparents came here as refugees in 1947. He was conscripted to the German army, she had been in a labour camp. #RefugeesWelcome
— Put up with Mane (@jessikart) September 6, 2015
My great grandparents were welcomed into Britain as refugees from the pogroms because that's what good people do.
— jonronson (@jonronson) September 3, 2015
My family came came to the UK as refugees over 100 years ago. We need to open our doors again https://t.co/defX0z29Ov
— Adam Wagner (@AdamWagner1) September 3, 2015
My name is Sheila, I was born in the UK, and my family were refugees. I'm not alone am I?!
— Dr Sheila Kanani (@SaturnSheila) September 3, 2015
This was like the Beirut I grew up in when my family had to flee. #refugees https://t.co/Ktc7WeHy0G
— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) September 6, 2015
Julian Borger also wrote for the Guardian about his father, who fled Nazi Germany when he was 11, and what he has learned about being the son of a refugee:
There are all sorts of statistics about how refugees do better in school, are more productive, create more jobs than the average person. That’s hardly surprising, from people capable of such desperate journeys. What I know, as a refugee’s son, is that they do not tend to take citizenship and education lightly, but as hard-won treasures. The politicians who claim our prosperity is under threat from having to be shared with refugees have forgotten it was refugees who helped build that prosperity in the first place.
We’d like to hear from people with similar backgrounds. Was someone in your family a refugee? How has it informed your view of the current refugee crisis in Europe? And how has it affected your life in the country you live in?
You can share your experiences, photos or videos with GuardianWitness by clicking on the blue “contribute” button on this article or if you prefer you can use the form below.
