Refugee: A Memoir

by Emmanuel Mbolela, Charlotte Collins (Translator)

Persecuted for his political activism, Emmanuel Mbolela left the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2002. His search for a new home would take six years.

In that time, Mbolela endured corrupt customs officials, duplicitous smugglers, Saharan ambushes, and untenable living conditions. Yet his account relates not only the storms of his long journey but also the periods of calm. Faced with privation, he finds comfort in a migrants' hideout overseen by community leaders at once paternal and mercenary. When he finally reaches Morocco, he finds himself stranded for almost four years. And yet he perseveres in his search for the offices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees--which always seem to have closed indefinitely just before Mbolela's arrival in a given city--because it is there that a migrant might receive an
asylum seeker's official certificates.

It is an experience both private and collective. As Mbolela testifies, the horrors of migration fall hardest upon female migrants, but those same women also embody the fiercest resistance to the regime of violence that would deny them their humanity. While still countryless, Mbolela becomes an advocate for those around him, founding and heading up the Association of Congolese Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Morocco to fight for migrant rights. Since obtaining political asylum in the Netherlands in 2008, he has remained a committed activist. Direct, uncompromising, and clear-eyed, in Refugee, Mbolela provides an overlooked perspective on a global crisis.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Africa, Democratic Republic Of The Congo

256 pages, Hardcover

First published April 20, 2021

About the author

Emmanuel Mbolela is a political activist who fled from his native Congo in 2002.

Reviews

[Jill Robbertze · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an eye-opening account of the sub-Sahara refugee experience, what they endure, not only during their often horrific journeys but also after arriving in their destination countries. The history and politics of the Democratic Republic of Congo is explained in some detail by the author and is compared to other countries in Africa which help one to understand the motivations of the migrants.
I did find the book a bit tedious and bogged down with acronyms of the many associations mentioned that are involved with this difficult issue. An informative and thought provoking book.

[Linda Bond · Rating 5 out of 5]

This first-person, translated narrative comes to us from a migrant who fled the Democratic Republic of the Congo and tells of his 6-year journey to freedom and safety. Beginning in 2002 when Mbolela had to leave his native land for political reasons, his steps are traced through camps where he seeks asylum (becoming stuck in Morocco for four years) until he finally obtains the papers he needs to get himself to Europe. This story is so revelatory, it should be used in classrooms. Anyone interested in the flow of migrants and immigration policies will be greatly instructed by this book and you’ll want to make sure everyone knows of its existence!

I met this book at Auntie's Bookstore in Spokane, WA

[James B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and FSG for the ebook. This is a harrowing journey that starts in the Democratic Republic of Congo and ends several years later in the Netherlands. The author fears for his life as a young political activist in DRC and escapes the country. The book is extraordinary in that we get the big picture and history of refugees trying to make their way into Europe and also a step by step accounting as the author takes us with him on his individual journey. Ultimately an uplifting story as our author makes it to Europe, while so many around him perished, and he picks up the fight of the current and future refugees through the various organizations that he tirelessly works with.

[Debfictionista · Rating 5 out of 5]

Refugee is a memoir by Emmanuel Mbolela, a Congolese activist. He describes his journey through the Sahara desert after he was exiled from his home country, D. R Congo.

He goes into details about the daily life and struggles of refugees who travel (mostly by foot) through Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Algeria, Morocco and Libya to hopefully make it across the Mediterranean sea all the way to Spain or Italy (by boat)! Many of them end up dying in the desert or often times drown in the ocean.

It was very sad and depressing ! 😢 but a good reminder to be grateful for what you have and where you are. I also learned a lot about the prejudice & maltreatment from north Africans towards “black Africans”.

I recommend it.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

An account of a man from Congo who becomes an activist hoping for change in his country. Because of his vocal criticism and establishment of a group, he fled. What this story is missing is the personal hook. I never felt as if I could mentally connect with him.

[Mike Mutschelknaus]

Good book. Unremittingly sad, from first to last page.

[Diener · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important and harrowing first-hand account of the global refugee crisis.

[Kyouko Mogami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great book, definitely puts things into perspective for me personally.

A memoir truly profound and heartbreaking.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blown away by this!

[Candance Doerr-Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as part of book group for Home: Refugee awareness at the Lynden Sculpture Garden. The discussion this book was very engaging and critical in terms of examining western readers’ expectations of refugee written narratives and memoirs. I’m not sure my experience with the book would have been as thought provoking without the book group.

Used 21 (Majors & Quinn Booksellers)