I've heard several people -- politicians, city workers, some plain folk on the streets -- complain about the use of the word "refugee" in regard to the citizens of New Orleans displaced by the tragedies in their city. With all the important issues regarding the care of the city's residents, the least important is what to call those people forced to flee -- whether by fear, floodwaters, or the mayor's evacuation order. They're refugees, plain and simple.
From Merriam-Webster Online:
ref·u·gee
Pronunciation: "re-fyu-'jE, 're-fyu-"
Function: noun
Etymology: French réfugié, past participle of (se) réfugier to take refuge, from Latin refugium
: one that flees; especially (emphasis theirs): a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution
The term "especially," as far as I'm concerned, is insignificant here. The average New Orleanian (so I made up a word!) who finds him- or herself transplanted to Pocatello, Idaho, might as well be in a foreign country. The important phrase in the definition, in fact THE definition, is "one who flees." These people have fled. They've left their homes and have washed ashore, as it were, in lands foreign to them (Minneapolis?! That's about as opposite from New Orleans as you can get!)
They're refugees, plain and simple. Everybody else just deal with it.
dassall
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