Life and Spirituality

 children shoes captured during refugees crisis.  Budapest, Hungary, Central Europe,  2015. CAUTION: This article is deeply emotional and discretion is advised before choosing to read it. Please scroll to end of note for a new Xmas song being sung by some I saw an image that has touched me deeply on TV. It was a small boy. It was a fleeting image that has appeared more than once on BBC World service in a collage of images that are used as signatures before and after programs and many thoughts have   gone through my mind as I have tried to imagine what the full story of this sweet little boy of less than five might be, not very different from my own grandson at that age. Little children everywhere are so much alike especially when they are less than five. The image touched me even more than that of Aylan Kurdi of about the same age lying face down in the sand on a Turkish beach, because this boy had not yet left for heaven. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CUXxB7

T here is a lot of misery around the world and a lot of refugees. America or any one country in the world cannot take them all, but perhaps America could take a few as its share, as long as the practice of hosting refugees continues around the world, a policy that America has actively supported and even encouraged in the past, as far as other countries are concerned. It is now America’s turn to host its share. There are about ten million refugees around the world and around 192 countries, discounting tiny city states. The share per country if divided equally comes to around 52000 for America, 10,000000/192 = 52000. However, if the division is done on the basis of size of a country the share of America would be much larger. The difference between illegal immigrants and refugees is that whereas the former arrive as a steady trickle, the latter come as a flood. A much larger number shall arrive in the near future until America assists affected Central American countr

  Child migrants from Central America     Little angels arriving on the American southern border in the thousands It must be mentioned at the outset that from every possible definition of a refugee, these unaccompanied children arriving on the US southern border are refugees and not immigrants, even though some in USA have been referring to them with the latter nomenclature. It may be mentioned that if a group of humans crossing an international border are refugees or immigrants is not determined by individuals but is an International determination. The UNHCR has concluded that a majority are refugees. The distinction is important because different laws apply to different groups. According to vox.com these children are fleeing from a situation that is twice as dangerous as Iraq , 2008-12. A report on these children by UNHCR is here http://unhcrwashington.org/children   For a formal definition of a refugee please see http://ashokmalhotra.wordpress.com/2014/07/03/who-is-a-re