A True Refuge

The Refugee crisis across Europe and beyond is among the most complex topics in the world right now. Most of the refugees are coming from Syria, but why? Why can’t they just stay at home? Within the last 5 years there has been a mass exodus of civilians in Syria; other countries have experienced very similar scenarios with civilians leaving. With so many are leaving, it is quite difficult for refugees to find safe places to stay. About 6 years ago Syria was among the most stable countries in the Middle East (though ruled by what can be described as a dictator). However, civil war and economic problems have severely affected them. Their President Bashar Al-Assad has made many extremely controversial decisions. Two causes of the Syrian

Imagine this. You’re rapidly fleeing your home country, sprinting as your life depended on it, which it did. The memories of the terrible war, still pounding in your head. The piercing roar of the gunshots. The gruesome red blood, glistening in the sunlight. You need to go, go to a free country, a land where everything is safe and sound, and not demolished like your home. You need to go, you need to leave Syria.

As a normal American citizen, we are not accustomed to being forced out of our homes and having to live as nomads like the people of Syria have been living like since the Arab spring of 2011 the event that started what is now known as The Syrian Civil War. This war has literally been tearing apart Syria and displacing 6.3 million people (Mercy corps). This crisis affects a lot of Syrian individuals including one Doaa Al Zamel. In the book “A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea” we get a firsthand account of what life was like before the start of the war and also a view during the civil war and gives insight to life in the current state of Syria. Doaa’s life in “A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea” had her moving around the Middle East for most of her early adulthood. Throughout her moves to different parts of the Middle East she had many experiences both good and bad. The government, daily life in the Middle East, and family problems that arose during the moves affected Doaa’s life greatly.

Over the past four years, the situation within the Syria has become more and more dangerous. As many as 6.7 million people, have been displaced from their homes within the country alone. Another 4 million have fled the country entirely, in order to get away from the incessant fighting. An estimated 200,000 people have been killed over the course of the war, but the country is so

of Syria have a lot of struggles in their daily life. Some of the people have no home and they can’t do many things because of the bombings that occur.

Tears have filled my eyes as I am writing this paper. Words cannot express how disable I feel toward these innocent refugees. I have visited Syria once. I have seen how beautiful it is. I have met its people. I have never seen more generous people than Syrians. Also, I am a refugee myself and I know exactly what it feel like to be one. As a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon, I have lived a miserable life without any human rights. Only when I have moved to the United States the condition has changed. As a human being, I am respected here. I am valued and treated equally to others. I never want anybody to be in the same shoes I have been in. They do not deserve what is happening to them. All they are asking for is freedom and they have the full right to have it. All they are protesting for is a life free of Mukhabarat and people spying for

Syria has been in war for four years. The rebels versus the president, Bashar al-Assad, and his loyal troops. But in 2016, the war has worsened. One of Syria’s major cities, Aleppo, has been getting bombed relentlessly by Russia. Innocent people die everyday. Children are left hurt and parentless. People that survive unscathed try to flee the city, only to find they cannot. They are prisoners in the city they once loved.

More than two and a half million people have been displaced as villages are raided and burned to the ground. The defenseless villagers, if caught, are slaughtered mercilessly. If they are fortunate, they might run fast enough to escape the Janjawid soldiers. The refugees seek sanctuary in expatriate camps in Chad and others hide within the Darfur region among the fallen trees and in make-shift shelters. In the camps alone, two hundred and fifty thousand survive on less and less as resources are depleted. Even in the camps, the people are not free from the fear that haunts them. Many of the camps have come under rebel attack and thousands have died as a result. Unfortunately, no one is out of harm's way. Any non-Arab is subject to Janjawid attack with little or no chance to flee.

Attention getter- Have you ever been forced to leave your hometown without committing any crimes or doing something wrong? Imagine yourself waking up one day, seeing that you are in the middle of the war with people running around and screaming for their lives. Such incident may seem very unlikely to happen to you however, the people of Syria have been experiencing it for almost everyday of their lives. .

In the article, the Syrian Crisis shows how other countries aren’t as safe as the United States since there are many bombings and children dying. The Syrians need help but are not getting much from others, “When we turn away from suffering that exists outside of our personal realm, we stop making informed decisions and we disconnect from humanity” (Derhally 2). A picture of a five-year-old boy from Aleppo changed how people viewed the Syrian Crisis. At first, everyone ignored the problem but then people started to realize they need some help. To his day, the people still do not get the help they need but the society has changed a little.

“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” These are the words inscripted on the Statue of Liberty, the same words that have welcomed millions of refugees to our shores. In the past we had opened our doors to thousands of Soviet Jews and hundreds of thousands of Cuban and Vietnamese refugees. now that legacy of compassion and acceptance falls to us. The Syrian people are in the same situation as the millions of refugees that came before them. They are not the terrorist, but in fact the victims of terror. It is only out of paranoia and fear of the latest attack that we confuse the two. In the words of

They also have to live in terrible situations such as a tent per family, and winter is coming and they don't have very good shelter. There are 20,000 people against 1 million 54,00 of them are adult males that are fighting in the war. On their dangerous trips across the ocean to get to another state a three year old boy had drown to death they had found his body washed up on shore that why it is a dangerous journey. The Syrians are fleeing for their lives because of Isis they do not want to risk death because someone is forcing them to do it so they are trying to get to a safer much more calm place but now no where is

People don’t understand why Muslim’s migrate to the USA and we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. A lot of people from Syria leave because they don’t have the necessities to live. “Blocking access of food, water, and health services through sieges” (Fitz 20). This evidence is telling us that they leave because food, water and health is a huge issue where they live. To sum everything up people from Syria leave because they have to not because they want to so we shouldn’t judge them or tell them to go back to where they are from because if they could they would most likely have left if they wanted

billions of the world’s poorest, where safety is secured only for those with money, and where much of our well-intended aid is lost in the daily chaos of violence. (Boutros V. and Haugen G., 2014).

The Syrian refugee crises is the massive increase of refugees coming from Syria and fleeing or requesting asylum to neighboring countries in search for safety and a place to stay where they won't be fearful that rebels will break into their houses any moment and cause harm to their families. Overall, about half of the country has ended up as refugees. To look at the raw statistics the UNHCR, or The UN Refugee Agency has stated, “4.8 million have fled to Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq, and 6.6 million are internally displaced within Syria. Meanwhile, about one million have requested asylum to Europe.” Almost five million Syrian refugees have fled to neighboring countries in the Middle East like the small country Jordan which has accepted 655,675 refugees according to UNHCR. About one million more has requested asylum to Europe which is sadly not accepting many refugees. The United Kingdom has pledged to take only twenty thousand refugees and France is only taking thirty thousand. Thankfully Germany is stepping up and have agreed to take all refugees which is good in theory until it's found out that the refugees are being held in refugee camps. Those who don’t die on their journey to different countries or who allowed in despite the UN bolstering their borders have to live in overcrowded and underfunded refugee camps. A