Tag: refugees

Syrian Refugees and the Earth Household, Part 2.

Posted on by kathiemm
Camp in Lebanon close to the Syrian border. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: Elgaard.

By Guest Author Dana Visalli

The second camp I visited in my visit to Lebanon was considered more hazardous than the first. It is much larger and has been in place longer; a raid there a year ago netted many guns. Some women will ‘trade sex for money’ at the camp—with both Lebanese and Syrian men attending the services.

Tarek and I never really quite obtained permission to enter the camp, so we spent our time standing on a road passing through it, talking with a gaggle of men and children that gathered around us until we were kicked out. There was general agreement among those gathered that the United States was behind the violence being perpetuated in Syria by the fundamentalist rebel groups, especially ISIS and Al Nusra. I asked them why the United States would want to destroy Syria, and an answer flew from the mouth of an old man almost before I finished the sentence: “Israel. Israel wants the Arab world broken up into small pieces,” he said, “and it wants to see the Arabs fighting against one another.” He probably had that about right; as I noted in a previous report, there is an Israeli action plan published in 1982 that calls for fragmenting the Arab world.

At just about that time, the Lebanese owner of the camp happened by. Upon learning that I was an American, and was there out of a sense of concern for the Syrian refugees, he said he had a story to tell me. It seems there was this very poor man, who complained to God about his poverty. God replied that he would give the man a donkey, a sheep and goat, and he could make a living with these animals. But soon the man was back, complaining that he couldn’t sleep at night, because the animals constantly made a racket. God advised him to get rid of the donkey and things would be better; but still the other animals were rambunctious and wouldn’t let the man sleep. So God advised him to get rid of the goat, and then to get rid of the sheep; then at last the man could sleep and he was happy; he had completely forgotten about the original complaint that had initiated the cycle of emotions.

“And you Americans,” said the owner, “are like this poor man. You create this enormous problem out of your own unhappiness, destroying the country of Syria with your weapons and ignorance and maliciousness, driving the Syrian people out of their homes. And then afterwards you look upon the results and ask with feeling, “My God what happened here, this is a terrible situation, how can I help.”

To take in the magnitude of this human diaspora, one has to take the story of any one refugee individual or family, and multiply that by the 12 million Syrian refugees that currently exist, or for full effect multiply by the 60 million people on the planet today who have been driven out of their homes, by far the majority of them by violence.

The impoverishment of these people’s lives is analogous to the impoverishment of the global biosphere that is currently taking place on the planet, with the widespread loss of plant and animal populations and species. Anyone willing to take this all in will see clearly that the human species is challenged to change behaviors and strive to learn what it means to live ecologically balanced lives. I find such an inquiry extends from where I get my food to whether I am willing to pay for a nation’s nuclear arsenal. It is a personal journey for each individual.

Dana Visalli

Charre, Lebanon

 

Dana Visalli is a biologist living in Washington State; he has visited Iraq and Afghanistan often and attempted to visit Damascus in Syria in March of this year. He has essays on Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam at www.methownaturalist.com 

Syrian Refugees and the Earth Household, Part 1.

Posted on by kathiemm

 

Camp in Lebanon close to the Syrian border. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: Elgaard.

By Guest Author Dana Visalli

 

With a Lebanese population of four million, Lebanon is currently hosting over one million Syrian refugees from the violence in Syria that has torn that country apart. I wanted to touch in with the human stories of these people, and so I traveled to Lebanon in hopes of visiting one or more of the refugee camps that have sprung up all over the country.

Most of the camps are humble affairs, taking in from one hundred to one thousand people. The dwellings are typically tent-like structures with large tarps thrown over a wooden frame. Despite the fact that these camps now dot the Lebanese landscape, entry into them is both tightly controlled by the U.N. and not particular safe once you are allowed in, so it was my good fortune to visit two camps and be able to walk around and talk with some of the inhabitants (with the help of a translator).

Both camps that I visited were in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon. The Al Jaraheya camp was a collection of about 30 wood-framed structures housing about 200 people. A dominant theme of the camp that comes to mind is emptiness. This small, lost world is not lacking in people, but it is empty of any social or cultural context or content. For example we took a tour inside one of the “homes”; there was almost nothing in it. There was a rug on the floor, a small stove (but no fuel) in the middle of an approximately 15 by 15 foot room, and a television; other than that it was just open space. An attached side lean-to had a simple sink, drainboard and a single-burner propane stove.

In a “community center” social area, there was just a small plastic table and four plastic chairs; nothing else. Four pepsis—which of course are devoid of any nutritional content—were brought and placed on the plastic table in this environment that was devoid of any cultural content. The devastation and the deprivation of any form of meaningful existence visited upon them in their home communities in Syria had followed them across the border to Lebanon. There is no work for these people, no books to read, no activities, just overwhelming emptiness in a sterile environment.

Abu Razak, young man of 25, has been in the camp for one and a half years. His village near Homs was razed to the ground by the Syrian government. People in his area were known to be critical of the Assad government; one of their major issues was the mass killing of perhaps 25,000 people in an uprising staged by the Muslim Brotherhood in 1982.

People in the area where this violence took place were deeply traumatized by the event, but they had never been allowed to talk about it; if they did speak publicly, they would likely be arrested by government agents. Abu Razak said his people “were not even allowed to think” for fear of reprisals by the government. (On the other hand, education was free in Syria and Razak dropped out of school after the 8th grade, to his regret now). How was life in the camp? His answer was similar to others I asked, “We are alive thank God, but life in camp is hard.”

Young Selwa (she did not want to give me her name so I told her to just make one up; she laughed and said, ok, call me Selwa) has been in the camp for two and a half years; her home and entire village are also completely destroyed. Who destroyed it, the government or the rebels? She said the responsibility for the destruction was shared between the Assad government and the rebels. Both sides are constantly fighting, and the people are caught in the middle. She is 29 years old with two young children; her husband is stuck in Syria because currently no more Syrians are allowed to cross the border to Lebanon.

Surviving the economics of the camp is challenging. Most camps are on private land, and most landlords charge a month rent for each tent; at Al Jaraheya the rent is $50 a month per tent; multiply that by 30 tents and it seems the landlord is making a tidy sum off of the refugee’s misfortune. There are also charges for electricity and water. There is little work to be had for the refugees, but if the rent isn’t paid in a timely manner, tents and the people in them are removed from the camp. Each person in the camp gets a card for $27 worth of food a month; sometimes people sell this sparse supply of food in order to raise money to pay the rent.

My guide Tarek tells me afterwards that everyone in the camp is against the Syrian government. They are mostly from the poorer strata of Syrian society, who are the ones who often seemed to have felt most neglected by the government, while the more well-to-do people tend to support Assad (certainly not categorically true however).

Dana Visalli is a biologist living in Washington State; he has visited Iraq and Afghanistan often and attempted to visit Damascus in Syria in March of this year. He has essays on Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam at www.methownaturalist.com 

What do you have to lose?

Posted on by kathiemm
Donald Trump
Image by Gage Skidmore and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

“When the Syrian refugees are going to start pouring into this country, we don’t know if they’re ISIS, we don’t know if it’s a Trojan horse….it could be the great Trojan horse of all times

Question 1: what can a politician gain when he makes a comment like this?

Your answer (Select all that apply.)

  1. a sense of power from successfully manipulating people’s emotions.
  2. actual power through gaining votes by portraying themselves as tough on crime and terrorism.
  3. delight in the media attention and the endless money and fame it can generate.
  4. a quiet sense of satisfaction from recognizing that they are doing everything possible to promote peace and human rights.
  5. recognition that they may be nominated for the next Nobel Peace Prize.

Question 2: What would a politician’s followers gain from accepting such messages and using them to guide their behavior?

Your answer (Select all that apply.)

  1. the comfort that comes from finding a strong leader who will take on troublemakers and knock them out of action.
  2. pleasure in finding a leader who confirms your beliefs concerning what is right and what is wrong.
  3. confirmation that there are real and present threats to the American way of life that have been too long neglected by weak Presidents.
  4. reassurance that good people from all walks of life can work together to achieve solutions that make the world better for everyone.
  5. the ability to see themselves as good people who live by the Golden Rule.

Question 3: What could a politician’s followers lose or escape from by accepting such messages and using them to guide their behavior?

  1. anxiety related to not knowing whom they can blame for any current dissatisfactions or fears in their lives.
  2. unease related to the feeling that there isn’t anyone around who is tough enough to put a stop to the threats to the American way of life.
  3. the sense that they are increasingly powerless in a country where the government cannot be trusted to represent their interests.
  4. a sense of pride in knowing that they have reached out to people with different backgrounds and different experiences before making a decision regarding their future and the future of their country.
  5. recognition from leaders of the human rights and environmental movements concerning their sense of morality and concern for others and the planet.

Final Questions:

Who gains the most when politicians make statements like the one above? The politicians? Their followers? The American people? People around the world? Terrorists? Victims of terrorism?

Who has the most to lose when the message above is adopted by advocates of the message?  The politician? The politician’s advocates? The American people? People around the world? Terrorists? Victims of terrorism?

What do YOU have to lose?

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology

Shooting the right way at the Syrian border

Posted on by kathiemm

By guest author Deryal Yuksel

12506919_10205606700907547_409107148_nI am a photographer, and a few months ago I was travelling around the Syrian border. There is no way I can go there now. Most of the towns I have visited have turned into warzones.

However, while there, I had the privilege of meeting some Syrian children who lived in the village of Harran, extremely close to the Syrian border. I saw many tents while we were driving near the border, tents that the Turkish government had provided for the refugees.

What should be kept in mind is that refugees are also ­humans, humans whose lives have been destroyed. Thousands of Syrians are helplessly trying to balance a small sack on one arm and their children on another. If they are lucky, they can hop the border with some of their belongings and their children. Not everyone makes it.

Some Syrian refugees try to reach the Greek Islands through the Aegean Sea via illegal boats that are not very safe. Most of the boats sink, and fishermen try to save the refugees but are unable to rescue all of them. Current news reports indicated that many bodies have washed up onto the shore.

About 2 million Syrian refugees have fled to Turkey. Some of them are on the streets of Istanbul as beggars and sometimes even threaten people for money. I personally was attacked during the light of day in a crowded place by a refugee. Also, my dad was attacked by a refugee while waiting for an ATM machine. So, some of the Turkish citizens dislike the refugees, and some citizens feel bad for them.

Some Turks are racist towards the refugees, even though they are both Muslim, so it is frightening to think what kind of reaction the refugees would receive in other countries like the United States, where people may think that the refugees will cause violence and terror in their nation. If there is no voice for the Syrian refugees, how can they communicate with countries asking for help? I believe that countries should cooperate with each other to find ways to help these refugees, these 3 million refugees.

Deryal Yuksel is a Psychology major interested in street photography and the lives of the different individuals she shoots. Currently, she is particularly interested in the Syrian refugees in Turkey. There is a stigma in the country that needs to be broken, and she hopes to raise awareness with photography. She took the photographs in this essay in Harran, Sanliurfa, Turkey.