New Year, New Status?

For refugees the concept of 'the birthday',
a day and date that they were born,
being a special day is beyond absurd.

Each day they survive poverty
whilst living under a threatening regime
is a trail by hardship that they have
to make special in it it's own way.

This hardship extends to the absence
of any official recognition
of births, marriages and deaths,
and denying all rites of passage.

But when a refugee reaches the wealthy West
they will always be asked for the date and year
on which they were born, as part of their new registration.

For most of them there can only be one date;
the date that they know defines a fresh start-January 1st.