Thursday 21 December 2017

The Invisible Crowd by Ellen Wiles

What a thought-provoking book title, and a very astute way to describe this particular group of people.

The story is about a refugee fleeing a brutal civil war and the people he encounters on his journey to freedom. The process to remain and the interviews are quite frankly bordering on harassment.

There is being specific and then there is being insulting for the fun of it. Victim blaming is the least of it. I know it is their job to determine whether there is an actual threat waiting for them if they return to their home country, so a certain level of toughness is to be expected.

I'm not going to lie, the headlines from the ever so reliable and never objective newspapers are depressing. It also angers me that the masses are spoon-fed this over-hyped tripe as real news, and of course the majority believes the headlines are not only true, in their minds they also apply them to every single refugee.The masses are whipped into a frenzy and blame everything on any foreigner they can find, even if they are of the fictional variety. There are bad apples in every basket, regardless of which type or brand of apple they are.

Wiles has written an interesting all-round account of the political situation we find ourselves in. In fact she has probably barely broken the seal on the Pandora's box of trauma refugees go through. Human trafficking, profiting from the desperation of others, modern day slavery and just exploitation in general.

It's important that people comprehend the difference between an immigrant and a refugee. A refugee has bag full of trauma by the time they arrive in the safe haven they are heading for. They encounter discrimination, racism, neglect and pure dislike.

Hopefully this story will make a few readers reconsider their opinions on refugees and the personal individual stories behind each person.

Buy The Invisible Crowd at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

Follow @ellenwiles @HarperCollinsUK

Visit ellenwiles.com

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