Benjamin Zephaniah

When I hear politicians saying that we are being ‘flooded’ by refugees, I always remind myself that each ‘refugee’ is a person, a person who for some reason has left everything they know and love to find safety in a strange and sometimes hostile country. I wrote Refugee Boy because I realised that every day I was meeting refugees, and each one of them had a unique and usually terrifying story to tell.

Amhara tribe of Ethiopia.

Are you Ethiopian or Eritrean? Tell us, we want to know.’

‘You are a traitor.’

‘And she is the enemy.’

‘Leave Ethiopia or die.’

‘What kind of man are you?’

Please leave us! We only want peace.’

‘What kind of woman are you?’

‘Please leave us! We only want peace.’