I try to respond alertly when a student tells that he crossed the border into Bosnia on foot when he was four, especially when classmates react with a laugh that he was certainly in a pram. Yes, that’s true. I see a good reason to talk about refugees, until a twinkle in his eye betrays my mistake: the car had broken down during a family holiday and help had to be sought a little further, over the border. He’s only 15.
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A version of this article also appeared in NRC Handelsblad on 12 March 2022
A version of this article also appeared in NRC in the morning of March 12, 2022