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In Victor Hugo's epic novel, Les Miserables, the central character, Jean Valjean, is forever changed by a brief encounter he has with a humble bishop in a remote country village in France. Although time and place differ, Valjean possesses many of the characteristics and receives similar treatment from political authorities and communities as many asylum seekers and refugees today. Imprisoned for 19 years by an unjust government for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister and her seven starving children, Valjean is now marked for life. Upon his release from gaol, he travels through France, rejected and despised by all he meets, an experience which, Elie Wiesel has argued, defines the refugee.¹ All are suspicious of Valjean and refuse to provide him with food or shelter. Many even fail to recognise that he is a human being, instead calling him a dog.

DOI: 10.1057/9781137290007_7

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