British actor and producer Theo James, known for roles including The White Lotus, which earned him an Emmy nomination, and his starring role in Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, is also a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
In that role, James described his family’s history, in particular that of his Greek grandfather, who fled to Syria during the Second World War. James’s full name reflects his Greek roots: Theodore Peter James Kinnaird Taptiklis.
As the UNHCR wrote in the caption of the related Instagram post: “75 years ago, the world made a promise: those fleeing to save their lives must be able to find safety. That promise has protected millions of people. But today, it is under threat. The story of our Goodwill Ambassador’s grandfather is a powerful reminder of why the lessons of the past matter, and why we must protect and defend the right to seek refuge.”
“75 years ago, the world made a promise: those fleeing to save their lives must be able to find safety. That promise has protected millions of people. But today, it is under threat.”
James warned that “a world of indifference, even cruelty, is returning. Xenophobia is on the rise. Humanitarian aid is shrinking.” He shared the following account in a post accompanied by images from his recent trip to Syria, the country that once gave his grandfather refuge.
“In 1941, the Nazis swept through Greece and seized Athens. My grandfather, Nicolas Taptiklis, fled to save his life.
“Under cover of night, he boarded a tiny boat with 12 others and crossed the perilous waters of the Aegean to Turkey. From Turkey, he travelled with thousands of others to Syria, where he finally found refuge in Damascus. The world had learned, at an unbearable cost in human lives, what happens when those fleeing a war have nowhere safe to go.
“During the Second World War, families were denied refuge, people were returned to countries where they feared for their lives, and millions remained in camps because their homes were no longer safe, or no longer existed at all.
“From that tragedy came a simple lesson: those fleeing war and conflict must be able to find refuge. They must not be forced to return to a place where they could be killed or tortured. Those fleeing to save their lives need a safe haven.
“That principle became the cornerstone of the 1951 Refugee Convention, adopted after the Second World War as countries sought to create a framework to prevent the atrocities of war from happening again.
“It is a promise that, over the past 75 years, has saved millions of lives, and proof that even in the darkest of times, we can choose to protect one another. Any one of us could become a refugee, at any moment. The right to seek refuge is a promise made to all of us, one that we must protect and defend.”
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