Other forms: hegiras
A hegira is an arduous journey taken by people who are fleeing a dangerous situation. After what is often a difficult hegira, refugees then have to go through the long process of gaining asylum in a new country.
The word hegira is derived from the Arabic hajara, "to depart." The original hegira, or hijra, was the Islamic founder Muhammad's flight from Mecca to Medina in 622. He and his followers traveled to escape religious persecution, and the date of the voyage marks the start of the Islamic calendar. The word can also be used for less fraught journeys: "It was such a hegira getting to the beach, with all that summer traffic!"