Refugiados sirios: ¿hijos de un dios menor?

أبناء الله الأقل؟

WORDS AND PHOTOS: NUSRAT DURRANI

The Western World has done an appalling job of responding to the biggest humanitarian emergency in modern history. The thirteen million people affected by this massive tragedy deserve our attention, compassion and help, not cynicism, apathy and cruelty.

In 2016, from an estimated pre-war population of 22 million, the United Nations (UN) identified 13.5 million Syrians requiring humanitarian assistance, of which more than 6 million are internally displaced within the country and approximately 5 million are refugees outside of Syria.

Estimates of deaths in the Syrian Civil War, per opposition activist groups, vary between 353,593 and 511,000. On 23 April 2016, the United Nations and Arab League Envoy to Syria put out an estimate of 400,000 that had died in the war. UNICEF reported that over 500 children had been killed by early February 2012.

Where Are the Leaders of the Free World When They Are Needed Most?
For all of the cacophony, debate and acrimony around the subject, and the political exploitation of the Syrian refugee “problem”, the world’s most powerful nations are at the bottom of the list when it comes to taking in refugees. It is a shameful fact that the imperial powers responsible for some of the most protracted and bloody conflicts in the world have been the least generous in responding to this massive humanitarian crisis, while those already burdened with problems have been the most responsive.

The USA admitted approximately 16,000 Syrian refugees by the end of 2016.  On September 20, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the USA will accept only 30,000 refugees in 2019 while still remaining “the world’s most generous nation”. The number accepted in 2016 was approximately 85,000. This cruelty to the most vulnerable is not exclusive the USA. France and the United Kingdom are at the bottom of the list, along with Russia and Australia. India and China don’t even make the list.

Which Countries Have Taken the Most and the Least Syrian Refugees?
As of March 2018, according to Wikipedia
1. Turkey- 3,541,572
2. Lebanon- 2,200,000
3. Jordan- 1,265,000
4. Germany- 698,000
5. United Arab Emirates- 242,000
6. Iraq- 230,000
7. Kuwait- 155,000
8. Egypt- 117,702
9. Sweden- 122,087
10. Sudan- 100,000
11. Yemen- 100,000
12. Saudi Arabia- 500-1,000,000 estimates
13. Hungary- 72,000
14. Canada- 62,000
15. Croatia- 55,000
16. Greece- 54,574
17. Qatar- 54,000
18. Austria- 45,000
19. Algeria- 43,000
20. Netherlands- 31,963
25. United States- 16,218
31. France- 11,694
32. United Kingdom- 10,583
35. Russia- 7,000
36. Australia- 6,000

Have You Ever Met a Syrian Refugee?
In the summer of 2016, after listening to an incredible TED Talk by Alexander Betts, Director of the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford, I traveled to Beqaa Valley in Lebanon to volunteer in Syrian refugees camps through Salam LADC, a non-profit organization that facilitates aid to the most vulnerable segment among them. It was one of the most moving and uplifting experiences of my life.

I did not encounter an angry, bitter or desperate people. In fact, the refugees I was exposed to, living in harsh conditions inside UNHCR-provided tents less than an hour away from the Syrian border were some of the most resilient, gracious and generous people I have ever met. Perhaps because our politicians and media have demonized refugees to the point of rendering them abstract and inhuman, one expects the starving, vicious multitudes to attack at first contact with those who are indirectly responsible for their terrible plight. Instead, I met elderly survivors taking care of orphaned children, tough and gracious men and women who had not let the terrors and loss of war and displacement strip them of their dignity. And then there were the children.

The Syrian Children of Beqaa Valley
The refugee children in Beqaa have a special light that glows inside them. As if they have been equipped with magical powers to deal with the trauma and torment that no one, least of all children should have to deal with. They come flying to you in a joyous flock as soon as volunteer trucks roll into the camp. They climb on to your knees and play with your camera and ask about life outside. Teenagers want to know about football and music. Little girls shyly accept the candy you brought and look at you with limpid green eyes with a love and sweetness you had long forgotten. Boys want to see photographs of the motorcycle you talked about last time. They wanted me to teach them how to ride. It is hard to imagine that some of these kids have seen their parent’s heads get blown off, their houses collapse on them, or rockets explode inside their classrooms. Unimaginable horror and hopeless, endless journeys in search of safety. You can see the trauma still untamed inside some of them- Mohamed, the boy who never speaks; Nilofer, the girl who never stops talking, whose manic energy makes her run around in circles, unable to rest or sleep…

Champions of Humanity
While the “leaders of the free world”, the USA and most of the Western world, should be ashamed of the way they have responded to the biggest humanitarian crisis in history, I also met some of most magnificent, generous and courageous people from around the world in Beqaa, most of them were volunteers and staff at Salam LADC. The tireless and infectiously energetic Martin Kvernbekk, a Norwegian engineer, and Igor Kubat, a young Swede, who expanded the organization into a scrappy, nimble organization laser-focused on servicing the needy, restored my faith in humanity. As did the students, lawyers, human-rights activists, beauticians, nurses and others who came from Germany, Sweden, U.K, Poland, Iraq and around the world, to give their time, money, energy and emotion to this selfless enterprise that is fraught with danger.

What Can YOU Do?

Empathize
UNHCR
World Vision 
Mercy Corps

Volunteer
Salam LADC

Give
Salam LADC
Save The Children
UNHCR