This week, we had the pleasure of listening to Professor Holy Case, an associate professor in the History Department at Cornell. Her presentation regarded the refugee crisis that is occurring in Hungary today and the trends that have led to its movement overtime. What was most interesting was the way in which she presented the information to us. Throughout most of her first hand accounts, many of the story’s were told so sarcastically that it was hard to believe that these events were even occurring. But that was the point, the European government was addressing the issue in such an incredulous way that the country could only make sense of it through mockery. Professor Case informed us about one of Hungary’s joke political party called the Two-Tailed Dog Party, which solely exists to ridicule the government and its efforts to control the refugee crisis. Many billboards had messages on them with statements laughing at the government’s inability to control their party’s messages from getting out to the public; one billboard said “It is in vain that you tear down this message, for underneath you will find the same one”.

A lot of fear was attached to this crisis, to the point where walls and fences were constructed to prevent the refugees from entering Hungary entirely. Luckily, some groups did go out of their way to assist these families by providing them food and treating them as humans. It just seems so unrealistic for a government not to be interested in helping innocent, scared civilians find asylum in their country when they have nothing left to return to. Although there are various precautions that need to take place, I still feel as though is it our human responsibility to assist others when they most need it.

It was a pleasure listening to such a humble, incredibly intelligent, and compassionate professor explain her life work to us. I can only imagine how difficult it must be at times to have to witness the injustice that may be occurring in East Central and Southwestern Europe. Its relevance to today and the immigration issues that the United States faces each year has caused me to wonder how any government decides on who to take in, for what period of time, and for what reasons.