The terms
refugee and asylum-seeker are common in today’s world. The crisis of displaced
people is worldwide. At the end of 2017, more people experienced displacement
from their homes internally and externally than at any other recorded time in
history. The United Nations High Council on Refugees (UNHCR) recorded 68.5
million displaced people by the end of 2017. Of these, 28.5 million were
refugees and asylum-seekers.
A series of
articles began this year to give voices to some of these externally displaced
people. Refugees and asylum-seekers from Serbia, the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Burundi, and Sudan answered three questions about their lives. This
article will tell us the story of a woman from the DRC and her quest for peace
and safety for herself and her family.
Question 1: What was life like in your home country?
My name is Alicia Makumba. I’m from South Kivu, DRC. My life
in my country was good. I was a street vendor. I also made clothes for many
local people. I loved my country. It was beautiful. I had family and friends
there.
Question 2: What made you decide to leave your country?
I left my country because my husband was
almost killed by gangsters. They wanted him to do corruption at work, but he
refused. They hurt him very badly. Added to that, I was raped while I was two
months pregnant. The rapists left me severely hurt. I still have scars today.
My sisters and father were murdered. My
husband was kidnapped. I was left hurt, broke, and alone with my six children.
Because of these things, I decided to leave my country and go to South Africa.
Question 3: What has life been like in your host/adopted country?
Life in South Africa is very hard. My family
and I face hatred, discrimination, and violence almost every day. Our accents
are different even though we speak English now. Our accents give us away as
refugees. People here are afraid we will take their jobs, so they hate us. I do
not have any peace of mind.
I am constantly stressed because of fear, and lack
of money and food. My family did not have enough money to pay rent on a room in
the township and to buy food. We got a loan from a loan shark to pay the rent.
We begged from people to eat one meal a day.
I am emotionally drained by the suffering and
crime of this country. I’ve been victimized many times here. Is living as a
refugee any better than living in my home country? Sometimes I wonder.
