There have always been people who have had to flee from wars, or natural disasters or severe persecution because of their ethnic origin or their political, religious or social activities. If we all had our DNA tested, few of us would not reveal traces of ancestors who have landed in these islands due to such circumstances; cold, wet, tired, with nothing but the clothes they wore – and traumatised by both the horrors that forced them to flee and the terrible travails that they had along the way.
The incredible will power, vigour and drive needed to make those journeys perhaps explains why refugees and their descendants have then often contributed so significantly to the cultures to which they have fled, all around the world.
There is a strong argument for saying that it was the arrival of Muslims fleeing the Spanish inquisition, bringing new mathematical knowledge, that triggered the Renaissance in Italy. Though the arrival of the Huguenots caused riots in London and Canterbury in Elizabethan times, now their descendants are woven through the establishment and elite of British society. Many Jewish refugees who fled from Europe to escape the death camps are now so rightly lauded for their achievements in the fields of medicine, law, music, art, and literature.
Continue reading and discover how an online service can link those in mental distress with culturally appropriate help.
Thanks to the Mind and Soul Foundation for pointing this article out.
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