Category: Thinking about

To my fellow Americans who may not have noticed… Angela Merkel swung open the doors to refugees in Europe with her invitation to Syrians. That reminds us of what the Statue of Liberty has meant to most of us: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” It seems like a lifetime ago, but it was only 2 years ago. Her speech, now captured for posterity on YouTube gave millions of hopeless refugees hope. Men, women and children took dangerous routes to Europe, many drowning and dying on their journey, kept going by the thought that they would eventually be welcomed in a safe place. Little did we know that the generosity of one leader and one country would be the end of the world that we once knew, the almost inevitable end of the European Union, that gave fuel to growing populism all over Europe. In the last year those of us working to help refugees find peace and safety in Europe have felt helpless and hopeless as we watched country after country closing their borders to migrants.