Editor’s note: The author is writing anonymously for fear of possible retaliation by human trafficking gangs. The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has acknowledged the risks he and his family face, but say they cannot help him. He is receiving some assistance from Amnesty International, but currently there is no long-term solution to his case.
Being in a safe house has taught me one painful but undeniable truth about the humanitarian protection system: Safety is not always protection, and silence is often the price of survival.
I am a refugee living in a safe house because I helped expose a human trafficking network operating within a refugee camp. That decision has put my life at risk. The threats are real, the fear is constant, and the consequences are ongoing. I did what the system tells refugees to do: report crime, cooperate with authorities, protect others. Yet the outcome has been abandonment, isolation, and pressure to disappear – not justice or protection.
The government and the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, are institutions mandated to protect refugees. They are entrusted with enormous responsibility and funded by governments and donors worldwide to provide food, medical care, security, and dignity to people who have already lost everything. On paper, the system is designed to protect the most vulnerable.
In practice, however, I have learned that when a refugee’s suffering exposes uncomfortable truths, the system begins to retreat.
A safe house is not a privilege. It is...
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