Since the current world situation imposes that very difficult
issue of refugees on all countries and, yes, all individuals—and that means you
and me--, I devoted Post 72 to the subject. Today, more of the same, because it
is such a critical issue that refuses to go away out of our consciousness and because it is such an interesting
subject.
Did I say “interesting”? Yes, I did, but is that an appropriate
way of reacting to this immense human tragedy? I doubt you’ll find even one
genuine refugee who thinks of her situation as “interesting.” Perhaps the terrorists hiding among them and
using the tragedy for their own purposes will think of it as an interesting
adventure. That there are those, I have no doubt, though I would not venture a
guess as to their number.
The Vancouver Sun (VS) featured
an extensive sidebar under the title “Eight things to know about the Syrian
refugee crisis” by Ali Dharssi (26/10/2015, p. A10). Yes, these “eight things”
are interesting as well as vital for us to develop a realistic
perspective. “Interesting” does not have
to be trivial or emotionally distant.
Here are the “eight things:”
1
“More than half of
Syria’s prewar population of 22 million has been displaced.” Imagine that: over 50% of a nation!
2
“Tens of thousands of
Syrian babies have been born as refugees.” Estimates range from 60,000 to
150,000 born just to refugees in Turkey!
All these are at risk of becoming stateless.
3
“More than half of the
Syrian refugees are children.” Over 1.6
million are under 12 years old, all in danger of losing out on education.
4
“More than three-quarters
are women and children.” A very high
percentage of these women are widows struggling to feed their children. The
fathers and men are absent and in many cases killed.
5
“Terrorism does not have
deep roots in Syria” according to experts. Terrorism source groups have been
effectively suppressed by King Assad.
6
“Religious strife in
Syria was not as bad as you might think.” Religious relationships were marked
by “relative harmony,” though under an oppressive regime.
7
Syrian refugees are
relatively well-educated. Prewar Syria had a literacy rate of 96%.
8
“Syrians from all
socio-economic backgrounds are fleeing.”
If your church or other
organization is considering sponsoring a refugee, these facts are important to
remember not only, but they might just be interesting enough to convince the
members to act.
Another interesting
cluster of refugee facts is that the West is not the only continent to house
Syrians, though we would like to think we are. It strokes our moral pride. But,
according to Frank Elbers, “the Saudis and Qataris may be playing a more
constructive role than their critics give them credit for.”
Though Saudi has allowed few to enter as
refugees, it “has allowed hundreds of thousands to enter as migrant
workers”—nearly 2.5 million since 2011. They
also have issued 100,000 residence permits and provided $700 million (US) in
aid. An estimated 400,000 well educated
and skilled Syrians are in Saudi on temporary visas for foreign workers. “The
United Arab Emirates have welcomed more than 100,000 Syrians, who have joined
another 140,000 already living in the country.”
True, few classified formally as refugees will be found in those
countries, but the Syrians are there in large numbers (“A Gulf in Compassion?” VS, 26 Oct/2015, p. A10). Honour to whom honour is due.
One final point related
to Saudi, though not about refugees. The Western press often berates Arab
countries for not pulling their weight in helping poor countries. However, I
just read that the Saudi king has signed a contract with the UN to help
war-ravaged Yemen with $244 worth of aid. Though only in a side column as a
filler, at least the VS reports this.
It is something we do not often hear about. I have no particular need to defend
Saudi, but it does not help us if we hear only negative news about Muslim
countries. Again, honour to whom it is due.
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