The X-Files – Issue 6: Came Back Haunted, Part 1

I love when graphic novels explore current and relevant themes. This issue begins with an Arabic refugee who blows himself up, not as an act of terrorism, but because of some unseen supernatural forces. Hey, this is an X-Files story. But what I found most fascinating was the exploration of what it is like to be a refugee, to pack up what little you can carry, and flee with your family into the unknown.

But I feel it is important for people to understand these are people fleeing from extremism and war. A man like Qasim packed up his family before dawn and prayed they wouldn’t be discovered by fighters on the road, or bombed from the air as they ran. He risked all he had, trading pride for survival like so many before, as he led them toward what he hoped was a better life.

Many of the people my organization helps have endured incredible hardships. Crossing the Aegean Sea to reach Greece, many refugees fleeing middle-eastern strife witness children drowning when the overburdened boats their parents traded all they had of value for passage on capsize and sink. Those who survive the passage are soon met by overwhelmed local populations, stretched economies and resources—as well as the patchwork of international-aid distribution struggling to keep up. From there, they travel thousands of kilometers across the continent—mainly on foot—where they are met by protests and abuse and all manner of terrible conditions. For those who endure this journey, only hope sustains. Only the want to provide and do better for his children moves a man to undertake such a trial.

I lived in Florida during the Haitian refugee crisis, and I still vividly recall the hostility with which they were met. I knew someone who bragged about throwing rocks at a boatload of Haitians as their boat approached the shoreline. I personally had the utmost respect for the Haitian people and went with them to demonstrate at the INS office against the forced repatriation.

Most of us have no idea what it must be like to risk everything to escape a situation that is so dire that remaining is not an option. I hope that I never have to experience this in my lifetime.