10 Most Amazing And Inspiring Refugees In History
As suffering dominates the headlines here are some of the most inspiring people who were refugees.
Recently a single shocking image of a drowned Syrian refugee has brought the word refugee to everyone's tongues and hearts. The outpouring of refugees from war ravaged Syria has become a topic of serious debate and action in the mainstream after months of stalling by the major powers.This single image of a dead child has solidified the problem in peoples' minds; no more as the masses of refugees just a mere annoyance or a distant, troubling tragedy, now they are a real and concrete concern and topic of discussion for world leaders.
Although most European countries have opened their arms and welcomed varying amounts of refugees there still remains, after this tragedy, those who refer to these people as an inconvenience, as swarms of parasites merely looking for this next place to shack up and support ISIS. We forget that, with all the disasters and conflicts in human history, many millions of people have fled regions in chaos and among them have been some bright minds and shining stars of human achievement.
In this list I'll discuss some of the most inspiring historical figures who also happened to be fleeing a place of terror and oppression, hoping for liberty, safety and a chance to give their gifts to the world.
10. Nawal El Saadawi
Feminism is not something often associated with the Islamic world, as public conversation focuses in on modesty codes and restrictive laws surrounding womens' rights, but in fact one of the most influential feminists of the past century was a Muslim from Egypt.
Nawal El Saadawi is a feminist speaker, activist and academic who was born in Egypt in 1931. Her father had criticised British rule during the 1919 Egyptian revolution and found himself exiled to a small village in the Nile Delta for his troubles. El Saadawi's father was a progressive minded man who encouraged her to value herself and care for others.
She would go on to examine the relationship between democracy, women and gender attitudes in Islam and her book Women and Sex was a foundational text for second wave feminism. However it also antagonised Egypt's dictatorial government who imprisoned her for years and eventually exiled her.
El Saadawi ended up becoming a respected academic in America where she has been an outspoken activist against the female genital mutilation which still takes place in many Islamic countries, as well as an enlightening speaker on women's relationship with Islam.