Today, regarding Syria and beyond, human rights and refugee needs suddenly have not been at the center of foreign policy decision-making. James N. Purcell, Jr., challenges the wisdom and heart of such a change.
From his earliest years, Jim Purcell's life has connected with people often overlooked. From his parents' lives as Christians serving the poor in Appalachia and migrant workers in Florida, USA, Jim saw needs and the results of caring people reducing suffering. Personal as well as professional influences encouraged and helped him as he set up the U.S. refugee program of the 1980s.
It is a pleasure to announce this title, My Brother's Keeper, for the book about refugee help around the world that Jim Purcell has worked on during recent years. What began as a personal process to confirm memories of a significant and challenging time grew into a commitment to share, in writing, the record. It shows how civilized people respond to crises affecting "brothers and sisters" around the world - men, women, and children at risk due to persecution and/or war, from Indochina, Somalia, and other places.
However, today's failures regarding Syrian refugees and beyond show that human rights and refugee needs suddenly have not been at the center of foreign policy decision-making. Jim challenges the wisdom and heart of such a change. Even when late in doing so, the world's civilized people have always stood up for the persecuted, the defenseless--"the least of these."
There is no more descriptive phrase about human rights than "my brother's keeper." The meaning translates in any language to say that every person has a human connection to every other, and this connection makes us mindful of our human responsibilities to each other.
My Brother's Keeper - Refugees and Migrants: A Test of Civilization
by
James N. Purcell, Jr.
by
James N. Purcell, Jr.
The publication date will be posted when known.
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