A child is very sick. Her parent refuses to bring her to a hospital, despite the risks of staying home. The child dies. We might blame the parent for being reckless. This is not because the parent neglected to save the child's life by acquiring medical skills to do so. Rather, the parent had a duty to be in a particular place, at a particular time, so others could save the child's life.

A hospital is a very narrow space. We might imagine a broader geographical location where children have a higher likelihood of being saved if they are in danger. It may be reckless for a parent to be in a particular neighborhood, region, or country if they are exposing their children to greater risks than parents are permitted to take. Should parents be able to live wherever they please? More specifically, should parents be able to migrate to any country they desire?

There are many reasons that parents may choose to live in an unsafe country, but perhaps the most common is that they wish to return to their countries of origin. In some such cases, refugees are returning to countries unsafe for children due to ongoing violence, insufficient food security, and a lack of public services. Such unsafe repatriation was common when parents returned from Australia to Afghanistan in the early 2000s, from Norway to Iraq in the late 2000s, and from Kenya to Somalia in the 2010s. In these cases, parents left countries with relative security, education, and healthcare, traveling to countries without these basic necessities. Though some parents had savings, many did not. And of those who did, it was not clear how long their money lasted, nor if it helped.

As noted in previous chapters, when refugees repatriated from Israel to South Sudan, the country lacked basic safety and healthcare. Despite the risks, parents returned with their children, wishing to raise them on their ancestral land, or feeling there were more opportunities in South Sudan compared to staying in Israel.

One returning family was comprised of Mary, Dak, their six-yearold son and their two newborn twins. They landed in Juba in the summer of 2012 and took a taxi to the neighborhood of Tong Peng, where friends awaited to host them until they found work. As weeks passed they failed to find jobs and were unable to pay for their children's schooling.