I will ask you another question. I am 70 years old, and in a way, I am a refugee - a dual South African/German one.

I am a refugee because of the extreme chronic abuse I lived with for the first 42 years olf my life, completely ostracized by the society I grew up in, as a result of a mother with a malicious narcisistic personality disorder and Asperger;s Syndrome.

My daughter, like me , is disabled. We have lived in so many countries. In all these countries, we are given the bare minimum to live in, e.g. 60 or 70 euros a week to live on, and if we earn anything more, we have to subtract it from that amount. It is incredibly difficult to get out of a poverty trap.

We are not welcome. We are white, and, at least, once upon a time, were considered stunningly beautiful. We are gifted, and I think we are nice people. Can we get help? Well, no. Neither of us had unviersity degrees in our youth, and by the time we got them, they were pretty worthless because we were too old, the economy had changed, and we didn't have great working history.

I spent three months in Germany trying to get help as a 68 year old. I was asked to give up all the things in my three suitcases, because I couldn't move into a shelter with three suitcases. There was also very little accommodation at the price available that the state would pay for (about 450 euros per month), so I would need to stay in the shelter with other homeless people, despite the fact that Covid was endemic and I was in my late 60s.

I was looked down upon because I couldn't speak German, and nobody would look at my specific situation. I kept telling people that I was an excellent writer (I am) and that when I was safe enough and wasn't fighting every moment for basic survival, I would be able to work.

Nope. I must still live in a shelter, get rid of all the money that was given to me in order to relocate to Germany, and get rid of all the contents of my suitcases.

I left Germany and went to Portugal. That was just as bad. I am now in Ireland. I know that there isn't a hope in hell that the State will help either my daughter or me. We're white trash.

So, I don't know if it's so much that people are white or black as much as if they don't have the right qualificaitons, are of some use to the country, have the right status, etc.

I can only survive now because some very kind readers on Medium have donated enough for me to survive and hopefully I can write a book and a series that will enable me to earn enough to care for me (and my daughter) for the rest of my life.

People do not accept those who are not like them. When you are different, they reject you.