I Am Refugee

Lyrics

On a train in 1940
A kinder-transportee
In ’45 we were millions
Displaced by war and poverty
I’ve been expelled from Uganda
Run out of Palestine
(My) brothers and sisters taken
Time after deadly time

(When) Your world comes crashing all around
I am refugee

Wars I never started
Leaders who just wash their hands
Call us ‘swarms’ and ‘aliens’
Those invaders fresh from foreign lands
But out there in their stadiums
They raise the welcome banner high
Cos you can’t turn back the clock
You can’t just close your eyes

On a train in 1940
A kinder-transportee
Even then they called it ‘outrage’
Aliens with no right to flee

Song Description

This is just a song. It does not propose a solution to the refugee crisis, though I guess that would involve serious and generous aid to existing refugee camps, humane and well-managed acceptance of refugees throughout Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere, and an acceptance that some refugees will be temporary and others permanent.

But nothing will be easy, especially as both main sides in the Syrian civil war (where most refugees are from right now) are guilty of terrible acts of murder and mayhem.

But there is still a reason for the song – against those racists who reject them on ‘principle’, and those others who try and insinuate that many of these people are not really refugees and are tricking us out of aid.

History constantly creates refugees—people just like us who have to escape their homeland because, like us, they want to live and see their family and friends live. It’s a crisis no one wants, and it creates problems that no one wants. But it is a crisis we have to face, a humanity we have to find.

Versions

• AStudio Version (3:00)
• BStudio Version (3:00)

Appears On