Showing posts with label Lebanon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lebanon. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Monday, September 14, 2015
My rant on Refugee crisis (second one)
Few points were mulling around in my head after continuously reading comments & social media posts that Muslims & Arab countries are not doing enough to ease the refugee crisis from Iraq & Syria:
1. Muslim countries have taken millions of refugees:
Although, Muslim countries can certainly do more, they are/have done a lot already. Syrians are taking refuge in Turkey (1.9 million refugees), Jordan (650K), & Lebanon (1.3 million) for the past 3 years. That totals up to 4 Million refugees in 3 Muslim countries alone. Source: UNHCR
From a Sept 4th article on Bloomberg, "Nabil Othman, acting regional representative to the Gulf region at the United Nations' refugee agency, UNHCR, told Bloomberg there were 500,000 Syrians in that country [Saudi Arabia]. Saudi Arabia, like all of the Gulf states, is not a signatory to the UN refugee convention, so these displaced people are not officially designated as refugees." Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait & UAE have not taken refugees themselves, but UAE, Kuwait & Qatar, for example, are providing financial help to refugees through UNHCR. These countries have donated millions of $$$. These countries are smaller in size & cannot cope with a large influx of refugees. Those refugees will overwhelm their local economies & labour markets.
2. Quite a few of the refugees entering in Europe are actually just getting there to search for a better economic life. They are taking this issue as a perfect opportunity to enter Western developed countries without all the hassles of immigration process. They are not running away from Syria to save their lives. For example, the instigator of this issue, Abdullah Kurdi's family (Aylan Kurdi's family), was already safe in Turkey since 2012.
After all, why are Afghanis & even Pakistanis & Bangladeshis are in these refugee crowds who are trying to enter into Europe. Afghanis have claimed asylum in Pakistan & in Iran for decades, now. It's easier for Afghanis to enter into Pakistan & Iran as refugees than go all the way to Europe. Same question can be asked for Pakistani & Bangladeshi "refugees". These are not refugees. They are "economic opportunists." That's why, European government leaders are now trying to distinguish between the words, "migrants" & "refugees". Angela Merkel even said that all those "refugees" from Balkans will be sent back (which emphasizes my point that people into Germany & Austria are not all "refugees"). David Cameron emphasized that UK will only take "refugees," & not migrants looking for a better life.
3. Pope's call is similar to all those Christian missionary teams which used to go to Africa, South America, South East Asia. It was famous that these missionaries were brutal in their faith conversion tactics; accept Christianity & we will give you food & shelter or don't accept Christianity & you won't get anything. Of course, Pope's call is not that radical, but there are already stories coming out that some Iranians & Afghanis are converting to Christianity. (Source: Daily Mail) Their thinking is that as Christians, they can easily claim asylum in Europe by claiming that they fear persecution in Middle East.
4. Germany is taking almost 800K refugees because it has a hidden agenda: Germany is running a huge shortfall of labourers & it needs low-tech workers for its workforce. Every refugee wants to eventually work, & unlike, Arab countries, where the majority of population is young & educated, European countries are aging & need younger workforce. Although, Jordan, Lebanon, & Turkey are housing these refugees, these refugees are not allowed to work there. Most of the Western countries, depending on their own labour markets & economies, will either permanently resettle some refugees or send these refugees back to their countries of origins after a certain amount of time has passed.
1. Muslim countries have taken millions of refugees:
Although, Muslim countries can certainly do more, they are/have done a lot already. Syrians are taking refuge in Turkey (1.9 million refugees), Jordan (650K), & Lebanon (1.3 million) for the past 3 years. That totals up to 4 Million refugees in 3 Muslim countries alone. Source: UNHCR
From a Sept 4th article on Bloomberg, "Nabil Othman, acting regional representative to the Gulf region at the United Nations' refugee agency, UNHCR, told Bloomberg there were 500,000 Syrians in that country [Saudi Arabia]. Saudi Arabia, like all of the Gulf states, is not a signatory to the UN refugee convention, so these displaced people are not officially designated as refugees." Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait & UAE have not taken refugees themselves, but UAE, Kuwait & Qatar, for example, are providing financial help to refugees through UNHCR. These countries have donated millions of $$$. These countries are smaller in size & cannot cope with a large influx of refugees. Those refugees will overwhelm their local economies & labour markets.
2. Quite a few of the refugees entering in Europe are actually just getting there to search for a better economic life. They are taking this issue as a perfect opportunity to enter Western developed countries without all the hassles of immigration process. They are not running away from Syria to save their lives. For example, the instigator of this issue, Abdullah Kurdi's family (Aylan Kurdi's family), was already safe in Turkey since 2012.
After all, why are Afghanis & even Pakistanis & Bangladeshis are in these refugee crowds who are trying to enter into Europe. Afghanis have claimed asylum in Pakistan & in Iran for decades, now. It's easier for Afghanis to enter into Pakistan & Iran as refugees than go all the way to Europe. Same question can be asked for Pakistani & Bangladeshi "refugees". These are not refugees. They are "economic opportunists." That's why, European government leaders are now trying to distinguish between the words, "migrants" & "refugees". Angela Merkel even said that all those "refugees" from Balkans will be sent back (which emphasizes my point that people into Germany & Austria are not all "refugees"). David Cameron emphasized that UK will only take "refugees," & not migrants looking for a better life.
3. Pope's call is similar to all those Christian missionary teams which used to go to Africa, South America, South East Asia. It was famous that these missionaries were brutal in their faith conversion tactics; accept Christianity & we will give you food & shelter or don't accept Christianity & you won't get anything. Of course, Pope's call is not that radical, but there are already stories coming out that some Iranians & Afghanis are converting to Christianity. (Source: Daily Mail) Their thinking is that as Christians, they can easily claim asylum in Europe by claiming that they fear persecution in Middle East.
4. Germany is taking almost 800K refugees because it has a hidden agenda: Germany is running a huge shortfall of labourers & it needs low-tech workers for its workforce. Every refugee wants to eventually work, & unlike, Arab countries, where the majority of population is young & educated, European countries are aging & need younger workforce. Although, Jordan, Lebanon, & Turkey are housing these refugees, these refugees are not allowed to work there. Most of the Western countries, depending on their own labour markets & economies, will either permanently resettle some refugees or send these refugees back to their countries of origins after a certain amount of time has passed.
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Story of a Syrian refugee family in Jordan
It's one of many news stories profiling the lives of Syrian refugees in neighbouring host countries; Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon.
What's sad in these news stories is the attitudes of the host governments & the general public towards these refugees. Where is the basic human compassion for your neighbours? They all speak the same language (perhaps, a different dialect), may even believe in the same religion, & all are of the same ethnicity. The only difference between a Lebanese & a Jordanian & a Syrian is a line on the map (border), drawn up by British & French, dividing up the Ottoman Empire, back in 1920s.
I watched a news story a few days back that Brazil is issuing a large number of visas to Syrians to come start a new life in Brazil. Unlike, Syrians living in Jordan, those Syrians who go to Brazil, can start their own businesses or work under an employer. Imagine that. Syrians aren't allowed to work in Jordan but they can work in Brazil; a non-Muslim, non-Arab, non-neighbouring country is allowing Syrians to work & live in its country.
Who should be ashamed here? Believers of a faith, who so proudly say, that there are 1 Billion of them in this world, have forgotten what their faith tells them to do with their neighbours (irrespective of religion, race, ethnicity, language etc.); don't let your neighbour sleep hungry at night, & like for your neighbour what you like for yourself, & many many other commandments related to neighbours' rights.
Islamic history is full of Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) actions towards his neighbours; neighbours who were not even Muslims & who used to make fun of him & attack him (verbally & physically) at any chance they got, & here are these Arab states, which are predominantly Muslims, are not only awash in money (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Oman) & wasting that money to buy more weapons or build more artificial islands to build more dance clubs on them, while their brothers/sisters in every respect (religion, language, race) are sleeping hungry at night.
Then, we wonder why us Muslims are reviled all over the world? We can't even take care of our own, & then we want the world to help us out, which actually, does help us a lot more than our own brother in religion or language does. What happened to basic human compassion in us, Muslims?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three flights of unfinished cement stairs lead up to Mayadah Hammou's flat in east Amman's impoverished Jaba al-Nuzha neighbourhood. Fumes from a kerosene heater waft in the living room, where the family has gathered, huddling together for warmth.
At first glance, 34-year-old Mayadah, a mother of seven, does not look like someone who has lost so much in her life. She moves quickly around the house, welcoming guests with a big smile.
2 years ago, Mayadah, her husband Mohammad, & their seven
children fled their home in the Syrian city of Homs, eventually arriving in Jordan.
"We feared for the lives of our children & our honour," Mayadah told Al Jazeera.
Before arriving in Jordan, the family spent 2 years on the move inside Syria, searching for shelter from the constant shelling. They spent time in 8 different villages around Homs, but "wherever we moved, they began shelling", recalled Mayadah.
Mayadah was wounded in one of the air strikes, leaving a fragment of shrapnel in her back. Doctors told her that removing it may cause her to lose the ability to walk.
Despite the escalating violence, the family was determined to stay in Syria, hoping that President Bashar al-Assad's regime would end and security would soon be restored.
"We thought it was a matter of days, weeks, or - maximum - months," Mohammad said. But as the war dragged on, the violence only increased. Reports of militias using sexual violence & rape as a weapon finally prompted the family to leave for Jordan.
In February 2013, the family, along with several others, were escorted through southern Syria to the Jordanian border by the Free Syrian Army, which has been helping Syrians enter Jordan since 2011.
At first, Jordanian authorities placed the family in the Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan, 80km north of Amman, where all 9 shared a tent for a month.
That month was the worst time during their 4 years of displacement. "In Syria, we chanted 'death rather than humiliation', but when we arrived in Zaatari we realised that we escaped death only to be humiliated," Mohammad said.
In the camp, refugees had access to food, shelter, schools & medical assistance. But the hot, dusty desert climate & poor hygienic conditions often caused tension & even riots in the camp. The Hammou children constantly suffered from diarrhoea & chest infections, & they found that medications did little to counter the effects of dust inhalation.
In search of better living conditions, they paid a bribe of 250 Jordanian dinars ($352) to be smuggled out of the camp, as tens of thousands of other Syrian refugees have also reportedly done. Since then, the family has moved 4 times within Amman & the nearby city of Zarqa, mainly due to disputes with landlords who raised rents significantly above the market rate. "They think the UN pays high salaries to Syrians," Mohammad said.
Back in Homs, Mohammad owned a truck used for selling vegetables. They had a house of their own, consisting of 4 bedrooms & a large courtyard garden. Mayadah even bought new furniture just weeks before the uprising began. Last year, she received news that their house had been demolished in an air strike.
Now, the family of 9 is living in a two-bedroom flat for 200 Jordanian dinars ($283) a month. Their living room is furnished with 5 foam mattresses. The floor is covered with several rugs & blankets donated by aid agencies & the Hammous' Jordanian neighbours.
The kitchen has several cupboards, but they are mostly empty. For months, Mayadah's family survived on 216 Jordanian dinars' worth of food vouchers from the World Food Programme, to which all refugees living in host countries are entitled. But that amount was recently cut in half.
As a result, Mayadah has had to reduce the size of the children's meals, & sells donated items like blankets & mattresses to pay for food & rent.
It is illegal for Syrians to work in Jordan, but about 60,000 Syrian children are believed to be working in Jordan, according to the country's Ministry of Labour.
"What breaks my heart is how they are wasting their childhood years," Mayadah said. Nasser wanted to become a doctor, whereas Ahmad wanted to become a teacher. But they have not attended school since April 2011.
The Hammou family finds refuge in visiting Mohammad's brothers, who also fled to Jordan. They rarely interact with locals.
"We are always afraid of problems because we are Syrians," Mohammad said. When they first moved to this house, neighbours rushed to donate blankets & cutlery to help them out. Their sole heater was given to them by a Jordanian woman.
But many other Jordanians, the family believes, resent them. Their 10-year-old son, Nayef, has been attacked by his classmates 3 times this year. "They call me Syrian & laugh at me for no reason," Nayef said. His mother went to the school to complain, but she, too, was subjected to verbal assaults from pupils taunting her for being Syrian.
The family's hopes for a quick return to Syria have dwindled. Nevertheless, they are determined to go back as soon as "Bashar falls down."
What's sad in these news stories is the attitudes of the host governments & the general public towards these refugees. Where is the basic human compassion for your neighbours? They all speak the same language (perhaps, a different dialect), may even believe in the same religion, & all are of the same ethnicity. The only difference between a Lebanese & a Jordanian & a Syrian is a line on the map (border), drawn up by British & French, dividing up the Ottoman Empire, back in 1920s.
I watched a news story a few days back that Brazil is issuing a large number of visas to Syrians to come start a new life in Brazil. Unlike, Syrians living in Jordan, those Syrians who go to Brazil, can start their own businesses or work under an employer. Imagine that. Syrians aren't allowed to work in Jordan but they can work in Brazil; a non-Muslim, non-Arab, non-neighbouring country is allowing Syrians to work & live in its country.
Who should be ashamed here? Believers of a faith, who so proudly say, that there are 1 Billion of them in this world, have forgotten what their faith tells them to do with their neighbours (irrespective of religion, race, ethnicity, language etc.); don't let your neighbour sleep hungry at night, & like for your neighbour what you like for yourself, & many many other commandments related to neighbours' rights.
Islamic history is full of Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) actions towards his neighbours; neighbours who were not even Muslims & who used to make fun of him & attack him (verbally & physically) at any chance they got, & here are these Arab states, which are predominantly Muslims, are not only awash in money (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Oman) & wasting that money to buy more weapons or build more artificial islands to build more dance clubs on them, while their brothers/sisters in every respect (religion, language, race) are sleeping hungry at night.
Then, we wonder why us Muslims are reviled all over the world? We can't even take care of our own, & then we want the world to help us out, which actually, does help us a lot more than our own brother in religion or language does. What happened to basic human compassion in us, Muslims?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three flights of unfinished cement stairs lead up to Mayadah Hammou's flat in east Amman's impoverished Jaba al-Nuzha neighbourhood. Fumes from a kerosene heater waft in the living room, where the family has gathered, huddling together for warmth.
At first glance, 34-year-old Mayadah, a mother of seven, does not look like someone who has lost so much in her life. She moves quickly around the house, welcoming guests with a big smile.
2 years ago, Mayadah, her husband Mohammad, & their seven
children fled their home in the Syrian city of Homs, eventually arriving in Jordan.
"We feared for the lives of our children & our honour," Mayadah told Al Jazeera.
Before arriving in Jordan, the family spent 2 years on the move inside Syria, searching for shelter from the constant shelling. They spent time in 8 different villages around Homs, but "wherever we moved, they began shelling", recalled Mayadah.
Mayadah was wounded in one of the air strikes, leaving a fragment of shrapnel in her back. Doctors told her that removing it may cause her to lose the ability to walk.
Despite the escalating violence, the family was determined to stay in Syria, hoping that President Bashar al-Assad's regime would end and security would soon be restored.
"We thought it was a matter of days, weeks, or - maximum - months," Mohammad said. But as the war dragged on, the violence only increased. Reports of militias using sexual violence & rape as a weapon finally prompted the family to leave for Jordan.
In February 2013, the family, along with several others, were escorted through southern Syria to the Jordanian border by the Free Syrian Army, which has been helping Syrians enter Jordan since 2011.
At first, Jordanian authorities placed the family in the Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan, 80km north of Amman, where all 9 shared a tent for a month.
That month was the worst time during their 4 years of displacement. "In Syria, we chanted 'death rather than humiliation', but when we arrived in Zaatari we realised that we escaped death only to be humiliated," Mohammad said.
In the camp, refugees had access to food, shelter, schools & medical assistance. But the hot, dusty desert climate & poor hygienic conditions often caused tension & even riots in the camp. The Hammou children constantly suffered from diarrhoea & chest infections, & they found that medications did little to counter the effects of dust inhalation.
In search of better living conditions, they paid a bribe of 250 Jordanian dinars ($352) to be smuggled out of the camp, as tens of thousands of other Syrian refugees have also reportedly done. Since then, the family has moved 4 times within Amman & the nearby city of Zarqa, mainly due to disputes with landlords who raised rents significantly above the market rate. "They think the UN pays high salaries to Syrians," Mohammad said.
Back in Homs, Mohammad owned a truck used for selling vegetables. They had a house of their own, consisting of 4 bedrooms & a large courtyard garden. Mayadah even bought new furniture just weeks before the uprising began. Last year, she received news that their house had been demolished in an air strike.
Now, the family of 9 is living in a two-bedroom flat for 200 Jordanian dinars ($283) a month. Their living room is furnished with 5 foam mattresses. The floor is covered with several rugs & blankets donated by aid agencies & the Hammous' Jordanian neighbours.
The kitchen has several cupboards, but they are mostly empty. For months, Mayadah's family survived on 216 Jordanian dinars' worth of food vouchers from the World Food Programme, to which all refugees living in host countries are entitled. But that amount was recently cut in half.
As a result, Mayadah has had to reduce the size of the children's meals, & sells donated items like blankets & mattresses to pay for food & rent.
It is illegal for Syrians to work in Jordan, but about 60,000 Syrian children are believed to be working in Jordan, according to the country's Ministry of Labour.
"What breaks my heart is how they are wasting their childhood years," Mayadah said. Nasser wanted to become a doctor, whereas Ahmad wanted to become a teacher. But they have not attended school since April 2011.
The Hammou family finds refuge in visiting Mohammad's brothers, who also fled to Jordan. They rarely interact with locals.
"We are always afraid of problems because we are Syrians," Mohammad said. When they first moved to this house, neighbours rushed to donate blankets & cutlery to help them out. Their sole heater was given to them by a Jordanian woman.
But many other Jordanians, the family believes, resent them. Their 10-year-old son, Nayef, has been attacked by his classmates 3 times this year. "They call me Syrian & laugh at me for no reason," Nayef said. His mother went to the school to complain, but she, too, was subjected to verbal assaults from pupils taunting her for being Syrian.
The family's hopes for a quick return to Syria have dwindled. Nevertheless, they are determined to go back as soon as "Bashar falls down."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)