Video Christmas Message; What it Means to Be a Refugee

My interview with the extraordinary Dr. Manuel Carballo, who works with refugees, and my essay on what it means to be displaced

Happy Holidays to all. I recorded a Christmas video message for you.

It introduces the interview I did with the extraordinary Dr. Manuel Carballo just two weeks after Putin invaded Ukraine. Dr. Carballo is an epidemiologist and Executive Director of the International Centre for Migration, Health and Development and was a refugee himself as a child. Here is an excerpt from this illuminating conversation:

“The issue of prime importance with refugees is loss of place. When I say loss of place, I do not mean simply losing house or your apartment, but rather losing everything that constituted your life, all the investments that were made in your future, the memories, the family experiences that went with those physical situations.”

A Ukrainian boy waits for his mother after being evacuated from Kherson and traveling 15 hours to Khmelnitsky in western Ukrain, Dec. 19, 2022. Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images

And here is the companion essay I wrote, also in early March 2022, on how the Ukrainian refugee crisis reminds us of authoritarianism’s devastating impact on populations around the world.

Stay safe and as always, stay lucid.

Ruth