“Everybody can be a refugee. It only takes one of two things, natural disaster or man-made.”
Walking about the downtown streets of Mogadishu Somalia, this was the saying plastered on the United Nations office for refugees in the ’80s. I would stand there and reflect on that statement and I could never imagine myself actually being one. I am heartbroken to see what the Ukrainian people are going through at this time. The unnecessary suffering they are subjected to because of a preventable conflict that truly has nothing to do with the Ukrainian civilians. The drums of war are beating loudly in Europe. Dangerous rhetoric and movements of deadly weapons and troops are at their highest levels since 1945. Considering the nuclear war chest in Europe, there is no room for error. Just one mistake can cause a significantly disastrous situation for all.
World War III can start easier than we all think it could. You could say all wars have come unexpectedly, unasked for. We look at World War I beginning with the sudden assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. With the drop of a pin, the world had seen the bloodiest conflict it had ever experienced. World War II began with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, soon after the allies joined the fight to fulfill their treaty obligations. Ending with the loss of life and bloodshed exceeding even more than World War I.
It is innocent people that carry the burdens of the war. The result of this conflict has already resulted in a tremendous loss of life and injury. This includes the destruction of important infrastructures such as hospitals, schools, and homes. War is an easy thing to start but a hard problem to end. War does not come alone accompanied by, chaos, torture and rape. The most damage done by war is to the mental health of its victims who deal with warplanes, bombs, ethnic cleansing and mob justice. All kinds of horrors are inflicted on innocent people, especially children. There are still places in the world where children get hurt by landmines while playing innocently, the result of war many decades ago.
Let me share with you what I witnessed in the horrors of war. When I was running for my life as a war refugee from Somalia in January 1991, the drums of war echoed loudly but nobody heard our suffering. It seems as if there can only be one major tragedy allotted time in a given time frame. At the time of the civil war in Somalia, the U.S. was busy putting together coalitions from Europe, the Middle East, and other parts of the world, its focus on Iraq and Kuwait. On the 24-hour news cycle, CNN and other news outlets did not have the time to notice our suffering. In a time before social media, news sources were limited.
As I fled the country these were the four people I saw. One, the elderly, some of them having been physically carried on the backs of their children or other family members. Number two are people who are ill, some of them ran away from their hospital beds or had family members carry and help them walk, but many were left in the destroyed buildings. The third example is pregnant women, some of whom were in their eighth or ninth months of pregnancy and still they had to fight for their lives. Lastly, the children who are young and vulnerable, not understanding the violence around them.
Everyone suffers immensely in wartime. Now imagine being in these four vulnerable groups with no mental security, no food, and no water. There is no doubt in my mind that they will carry the scars of war for the rest of their lives. When I see Ukrainian people fleeing today, the images of these four groups come flooding back to me. I see Ukrainian families including children gathering in the underground train stations to hide from bombs and warplanes, and it gives me goosebumps.
Europe has a vast and long history of violent conflicts. From religious wars and genocide to gulags and concentration camps. As well as torture chambers, ethnic cleansing, and a dangerously high level of nationalism. As we saw in the Bosnian war as late as the end of the 20th century, there is no guarantee that the horrors we promised “never again ” in 1945 might happen again.
If World War III does happen in Europe, it will spread all over the world and no place will be safe. I urge the world leaders and every citizen of the world to work to stop the suffering of the Ukrainian people and prevent more disasters. We must stop the war as soon as possible before we let unnecessary harm and suffering be inflicted on the world.
Mahamoud Wardere is a former war refugee who now lives in Minneapolis.
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