[imagesource:befunky]

In an age where we seem to only give attention to big tragedies, we forget that there are tiny injustices that happen all the time, and although a story about a refugee squirrel might not feature in our ‘mass-tragedy’ headlines, it is important to sometimes see the tiny actors in the bigger picture.

A man who fled Venezuela with his pet squirrel, travelling thousands of miles together and spending months living in a tent in Mexico, may soon have to bid farewell to his little friend since it is unlikely that it would be allowed to cross the border into the US.

Niko the squirrel has made the 3,000-mile (4,800 kilometres) journey with his owner, Yeison, from Venezuela to Mexico, across from the Texas border city of Brownsville.

Yeison, 23, says he will be “heartsick” if he has to leave Niko behind. The little squirrel made the dangerous journey nesting in a knitted cap inside his guardian’s backpack.

Yeison is just one of the millions of South Americans who have fled across the continent in the hopes of finding some semblance of happiness in the land of the free. These people are often forced to flee their homes with nothing but the items they can carry, which in Yeison’s case was his pet squirrelly.

There was no question of leaving his pet in Venezuela though, and Yeison says that starting a new life without the furry little creature “would be like starting with nothing”.

With Niko hidden in a backpack, their incredible journey took them through the jungle hellscape of the Darien Gap, where Yeison often saw bodies lying next to the road. Once they reached civilisation, they had to board bus after bus as they made their way through Mexico.

At one point Niko was discovered, and Yeison was forced to sell his phone to pay for the little passenger’s fare.

The pair have lived in a tent in Mexico for six months now, waiting to make an asylum case in the US. They are among hundreds of other refugees waiting to cross the border. While here, Yeison is making some money by cutting hair at his tent, but every night, he and the little squirrel share a pillow as they spend another day waiting.

But the day they may be able to cross brings tears to Yeison’s eyes as he knows that his little buddy might not be able to cross with him. Lucky for the unusual travelling companions, there are volunteers at the encampment who are not giving up.

Gladys Canas, the director of the nonprofit organization Ayudandoles A Triunfar (roughly translated as “helping to succeed”), claims to have come across other migrants who had cats, dogs, and even a rabbit at one point, but Niko is the first squirrel though.

The group is now helping Yeiso get vaccination papers for his pet through a veterinarian, which might increase his chances of getting Niko into the US. “There’s a connection between him and the squirrel, so much that he preferred to bring it with him and face the dangers that come with the migrant journey,” she says. “They gave each other courage.”

Yeison discovered Niko when he was just a newborn after almost stepping on him one day. He took the baby squirrel home and gave him yoghurt until he started chowing on pine trees, and later lived on tomatoes and mangos.

“I don’t want for him to be separated from me, because I know that we’d get heartsick,” he says. “I’m sure of that.

If they do get separated though, Yeison says that he hopes Niko will stay healthy and happy.

“I hope he gets to be happy. And that he never forgets my face.”

[source:sky]