ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

The Erased

Okay kiddo, do you know what erasing means? It's like when you use a pencil and you want to get rid of something you wrote. You use the eraser on the end of your pencil to rub it out.

Well, sometimes people talk about "The Erased". This is a group of people who have had their identities taken away from them. It's very sad, but it happens for a few different reasons.

One reason might be because they were living in a country where they weren't supposed to be. Maybe they crossed a border illegally to find work or escape danger in their own country. When they got caught, instead of being sent back to their own home, the government might just make them disappear. They take away their ID cards, their names, and their history. They become nobody.

Another reason might be because of something called discrimination. This is when people are treated unfairly because of their skin colour, religion, or where they were born. Some countries might decide that certain groups of people don't belong there, and they get rid of them by erasing who they are. They might not be able to go to school, get jobs, or even go to a doctor. They are invisible and forgotten.

It's a very sad thing, and it's not fair. That's why some people work very hard to help The Erased. They try to get their identities back so that they can live normal, happy lives. They fight for the rights of all people to be treated equally, no matter where they come from or what they look like.