The Refugee Crisis Isn’t About Refugees. It’s About Us”

Student Name Instructor Course Date Topic Ai Weiwei's essay "The Refugee Crisis isn't About Refugees. It's About Us" presents a humanistic view of an issue that is often considered through the lenses of politicization and detachment. Weiwei seeks to challenge the common discourse that the refugee crisis is a result of the people feeling their homes, demonstrating that on the contrary, the current refugee problem is due to failings in affluent societies. The writer draws from his childhood experience when the Chinese government purged more than 300,000 intellectuals who were criticizing the newly established communist government. Weiwei's father, being a renowned poet was among those purged and forced into a remote area with their families, where inhuman treatment took place. This response seeks to build on Weiwei's that the problem of refugees especially in the west is a result of a failed global capitalist system and cannot be blamed on refugees themselves. Weiwei rightly critiques the tendency of wealthy nations to consider refugees an economic burden, while overlooking their desperate need for assistance. Westerners tend to view immigrants as people wanting to take unfair advantage of their prosperity. According to Coy (1) labor shortages in the US have increased calls for immigration to expand the labor force. Surprisingly, individuals continue to be worried about immigrants and immigration which facts justify (Coy 2). Weiwei exposes the West for ignoring the plight of refugees, despite the violence of the global system, which benefits a few at the expense of the majority. The global capitalistic system with its inherent disparities plays a major role in exacerbating conditions that displace people and cause forced migration. Weiwei argues the need for the West to consider that refugees are driven by the need to meet necessities. At the height of the refugee crisis, Weiwei criticizes the West for abandoning its belief in humanity and the ideas contained in the declarations on universal human rights when handling refugees and immigrants. In particular, Weiwei speaks against cowardice and greed that has invested the US to the extent of dehumanizing refugees. Markham (1) demonstrates the gravity of the problem, indicating that more than 25,000 immigrants are imprisoned in US detention facilities with more in Mexico looking for a chance to cross, where most of them will be summarily locked up. The aim of locking up immigrants is to deter them by making life unpleasant to force them to go home on their own accord and never to attempt crossing again. Using the experience of a young Honduran (referred to using the initial M) detained in Ferriday, LA in 2019, Markham (1) indicates how an immigration ...