Masha Gessen in the New Yorker –
The defining condition of being a refugee is waiting. Some people wait in order to leave—they wait for papers, for the opportunity, or for the sum of money they need to save. Others leave in a hurry, with bags packed overnight or not at all.
But, after leaving, everyone waits: to be processed as a refugee, to be allowed entry, to be granted asylum. Ireland has created a system that boils the process of seeking asylum down to its essence: waiting.
