Unaccompanied Minors: A Hidden Refugee Crisis
Major Sandra Pawar is a passionate and dedicated Salvation Army corps officer with more than twenty years of experience in serving and empowering others. She has a bachelor’s degree in social work, a master’s in international community development, and a professional certification in human trafficking response. Throughout her tenure with The Salvation Army in the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, she has directly engaged with refugees from Syria, Iran, Sierra Leone, Pakistan, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan. The narratives and relationships forged with these individuals have profoundly shaped her perspective, forming the basis for her first book, “More Than Just a Refugee.”
Southern Spirit: What motivated you to write this book?
Pawar: When we were in London, I learned about the refugee crisis for the first time. I didn’t know anything about refugees before then. And then I went to Greece and discovered what The Salvation Army was doing to work with refugees coming there. I went back three more times to Greece with The Salvation Army to work with refugees.
I met so many beautiful people and a lot of unaccompanied minors during that time. It affected me deeply to hear their stories. I was doing my master’s degree in international community development at that stage, and I was trying to decide what to do my thesis on. Because their stories affected me so deeply, I decided that I would do it on unaccompanied minors in Athens, Greece. When I handed in my thesis, I realized I had all this information that is important for people to know. So, I decided to turn it into a book.
Southern Spirit: When did you feel that a book would be a good way to convey your message?
Pawar: I really wanted more people to know about these people and their stories and how we as Christians can respond in a biblical and humanitarian way. I knew that talking about refugees or asylum seekers could often be political, and I didn’t want it to be political. I wanted people to know the heart behind it and God’s heart.
I thought that if I could write a book that was biblically focused, it’s what I wanted to do, because I didn’t feel like that was out there. It was often turned into a political issue when it was not supposed to be.
Southern Spirit: Who is the audience for this book?
Pawar: Christians, people in The Salvation Army, because that’s my home church. People passionate about issues of injustice, but in a biblical way, and those who care about people and the humanitarian issues that many around the world are facing.
How it became real was when I was invited to a memorial service for a young boy mentioned in the book, Alan Kurdi, who was three. He was washed up on the beach in Türkiye after his family tried to escape from Syria and the boat overturned.
After that memorial service, I felt I needed to find his story. That was the catalyst for me to find out more about the refugee crisis. I want other people to understand the situation that people are going through around the world, and that it’s not just on our borders. It’s not just in Greece. It’s in a lot of countries now. We have the highest number of refugees since World War II in the world right now.
Southern Spirit: Are there any success stories?
Pawar: There are some beautiful success stories. When I was in Greece seeing The Salvation Army working with refugees, some of those refugees becoming volunteers at The Salvation Army Refugee Center was beautiful.
There was a man and his wife who owned a very popular and expensive restaurant in Iran. They were Christians and had to flee with their daughters because of their Christian faith. I met them in Greece working for The Salvation Army, serving other refugees that had been in the same situation as they were. They were living in a place with no running water, sharing a small house with other refugees, yet they still found it in their heart to serve others.
I met some Pakistani refugees that had been thrown in jail for different reasons. One of them was charged with being a smuggler, but he was not. He was there for six months. He spoke about all the conversions that he had been a part of in jail by sharing Jesus with other refugees.
There were women who were learning how to sew and make things for their families. Even though there are a lot of sad stories, there’s also a lot of hope and good things that happen. When we moved to our corps in Australia, we had refugees from many different countries attending our corps. It was beautiful because there were conversions of Muslim people who had come on a boat, got arrested in the sea, and got put on Manus Island. Manus Island is an island in Papua New Guinea, where the Australian government placed refugees and asylum seekers. They met The Salvation Army on that island; the past officer of our corps, Major Paul Moulds, was working there. Then once they were released, they came and found him in Sydney at the corps. They became a big part of our corps. There are at least ten of them who still come to that corps working in ministry, volunteering, and processing papers to make them legal in the country.
There are a lot of success stories of people finding Jesus, finding ways to serve other people, of being able to share their story and then influence other people.
Southern Spirit: Is there anything unique that Christians bring to help unaccompanied minors?
Pawar: Christians bring compassion and kindness. And while that’s not unique to us, I would hope we have God’s heart—that we understand God’s heart for people in general— and that God wants people to flourish, that He has a deep heart for them to not have to suffer in the ways that they suffer. We bring His kindness and His compassion.
In Greece, being able to pray with people is something unique that we can do. We bring Jesus to them. On the other hand, they bring Jesus to us. Some of them have had such incredible conversion stories, including unaccompanied minors, where they have met Jesus for the first time, and they bring Jesus to the countries in which they go. Even though we bring Jesus to them, and we can share the gospel with them, I’ve also found that many of them share the gospel with me, share Jesus with me, and have a very personal encounter with Him that changed their lives.
So often, we feel like we must do something practical, which is great if we can, but sometimes we just need to sit by them and listen, just sit with them and not even say anything. That’s one of the stories in my book, which had a very profound influence on me when we met a minor in Athens, Greece. He was sitting down, crouched down next to the train station stairs. He was disheveled and had just a little plastic bag with him. I asked him if he needed anything, or if he wanted me to buy him a sandwich, a drink, or anything. He shook his head no, but he followed me to a seat with another volunteer, and he sat with us. We were trying to communicate with Google Translate, but it was not that successful.
We found out that he’d been there for over a year by himself with no family. He just sat with us. We were there for quite a while with him, but then we had to leave. I was sad when I left. I thought, “God, I didn’t do anything for this person. I’m only sitting here in silence.” But then I felt God tell me, “You noticed him. You saw him, and you sat with him. For almost a year, he’s gone unseen. The fact is that you were with him.” So, I think that’s something that we can do as Christians, just sit with people in whatever situations they find themselves.
Southern Spirit: What is The Salvation Army doing in the world in response to this crisis?
Pawar: The Salvation Army is innovative, doing some amazing things all around the world with refugees.
In the UK, some corps are finding places for them to live. One of the corps has a house attached to the corps. They house a refugee family there, and they worked with them to get the kids in school, to get the parents jobs. The church embraced them.
In Greece, they are not only giving out food, clothing, and diapers, but they also had sewing classes. Other places do English classes. That’s a big thing too in the UK with Ukrainian refugees.
In America, we’re working with people on the border, going into some of the detention centers, and visiting with people. The Salvation Army is on the front lines.
In Australia, they are housing them. They were inviting them into the corps. They were helping them be a part of the church family. They were helping them find volunteer jobs. They also had in Australia Salvo Legal, who helped them get their paperwork done. It’s helping, especially in Ukraine right now, and in Poland. I don’t know all the work that The Salvation Army is doing, but I know it’s more. What I saw firsthand was a lot of sacrificial service to refugees.
Southern Spirit: Is there anything you would like to add?
Pawar: I fear that people might not want to pick up a book like this because they think that it’s political, and I really want to let people know that I don’t get into any politics. It really is about God’s heart for His children around the world. We don’t have to be afraid to serve them; we don’t have to be afraid to be involved. This is God’s heart for us to do; we can set the example. Loving people, listening to their stories, being advocates for them, and offering them opportunities is something that as Christians we should do for everyone anyway.
I encourage people to read the book, to see for themselves that there is a group of people that are often forgotten, and that we don’t need to be afraid. Something that I said earlier: we often feel like we can bring Jesus to them, but I have found that they’ve shown me Jesus. They’ve introduced me to Jesus in a really beautiful way, and that they can do that for them too.