For me, Shire did not at all live up to its 'bad' reputation. It is a nice small town, with lots of great local food options. I loved being able walk around easily from place to place, and being able to get easily out into the countryside for a run or hike. Our team for this trip was pretty stellar too, very fun folks. The airport was also interesting- we literally just landed on an airstrip, walked off the plane, and loaded our stuff onto the bus that had driven out to get us.
Shire is very near to the Eritrean border, and so we again dealt almost exclusively with Eritrean refugees. Because Ethiopia and Eritrea have historically poor relations, they are not welcome to assimilate into life there, and that's why resettlement is the most viable option for them.
They had many different reasons for leaving Eritrea: Some wanted to escape forced military service, some had been imprisoned for disagreeing with the government or for practicing their religion openly, and others were unfortunate enough to have accidentally crossed the border while taking their animals out to pasture!
Regardless for their reason for leaving, they all now face the same problem: it is against the law to cross the border, and once you have left Eritrea, you can expect prison time up to the death penalty if you return. Many people crossed the border because of pressing danger, with no time to say goodbye to loved ones. Their only hope of ever seeing their family members or their country again might be if the government changes.
I'm not going to say much about that regime here...suffice it to say that they don't do autocracy very efficiently... If you look at the number of actually loyal people who had to leave because they were falsely accused by the 'intelligence' of being spies, and the number of folks who escaped from detention by pretending to use the toilet it's pretty mindboggling! In my next post, I'll paste in an article one of my colleagues sent me. Given the testimony of the 60 refugees that I personally spoke with, I can only roll my eyes at some of what it has to say!
I also promised that I would say something more about the whole issue of irritability with the refugees (and interpreters!) When I first started, I heard others using an impatient tone of voice, or saying harsh things to refugees, and I was pretty taken aback. However, all too soon, I found myself doing it too!
If you can tell someone's lying to you, or you are just not able to wade through their convoluted logic, or you can't pin them down on their basic biographical data, or you can't get them to say what you know they need to say in order to have a viable case, or the interpreter is just not communicating information clearly, it can be pretty frustrating. This is especially true when there is time pressure, something I hate in any job!
I would really feel disappointed with myself after getting snippy with a refugee, because here they are, having already been through some really traumatic and dehumanizing experiences at the hands of others. With my snapping my fingers and telling them to speed it up, I'm adding another layer of insult on top of all that. I have had some good discussions with colleagues about this, and have come up with a few coping mechanisms that seem to work well for me:
- If we're getting bogged down in one area, like past education or address data, leave it, move on to something 'easier' for awhile and come back to it later. You'll just keep getting more frustrated if you keep hitting a brick wall and losing valuable time.
- If the interpreter is not getting the job done, send them out and get a new one! Seems harsh, but this is the refugee's life we're talking about, and it's better to hurt the interpreters feelings than have the refugee not be understood. If I suspect the interpreter might not be very strong, I've even taken to telling the refugee up front that it is their right to request that they be changed out (and many often do!)
- Control the conversation more tightly. If someone is getting off on a tangent, it's important to politely reign them in, and just start asking very closed-ended questions to ensure you get the information you need. This can be hard, because for many of these people, it's their first opportunity to be able to share their story, and every detail is important to them. I overheard one of my colleagues using a great phrase that I think I'll steal, "I would really like to listen to every detail, but I can't do that right now. Could you please just tell me..."
- If all else fails, and you do get a little snippy, it's not too late to salvage the situation. One of my other colleagues suggested even stopping the interview right where you are, apologizing to the refugee for getting impatient, and explaining the source of your impatience (ie I need you to give me more information about xyz so that you have a strong case.) This just lets the refugee know that you respect their dignity as a person, and while the process can be difficult, you're just trying to help them as much as you can.
Pic - check out the cute kid playing in front of the plane at the Shire 'airport.'
Pic - Our work trunks being loaded onto the bus. We all held our breath and closed our eyes as the guy climbed the ladder with trunk balanced on his neck!
Pic - Me during a hike of the pretty surrounding countryside.
Pic - Cute kids in the market
Pic - Nice view of Shire town from the hotel rooftop
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