Peace and People

19

Sunday 06 December, 2015 by Uncle Spike

Like any conflict on the world stage, everyone of us has very personal views, and the situation in Syria is no different. This post isn’t about political debate; that’s not my thing. But however you want to look at it though, ordinary people are yet again the victims of brutal oppression, war, and terrorism on a scale hardly imaginable.

There are 4 million Syrian refugees outside of the country, 2 million of which are in Turkey, and 7.6 million internally displaced. The war just entered its fifth year, so far claiming the lives of around 250,000 civilians. 

See “Travelin’ Kait” below for attribution of this quote

We have so many refugees living on the streets here in Türkiye. To put the numbers into perspective, we have a refugee population that equates to over half the population of Ireland, Norway, or New Zealand, or that which would exceed the entire populous of countries like Namibia or Qatar, or twice the residents of Bahrain or Estonia. Irrespective of our views on tackling the war(s) in this region, the level of human displacement is staggering.

That’s just within Türkiye. Total displacement of Syrians amounts to FIVE TIMES that.

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Recently I came across a small mosque (image above) in the backstreets of Izmir, the third largest city of Türkiye, situated about half way down the western coast. The concrete grounds that surrounded the mosque was packed with refugee families. There were barefoot children, blankets shared by whole families, and an air of hopelessness. I chose not to photograph the people; that’s not my thing. I believe they have a right to privacy too. We helped a bit, and my son was able to see first hand how grateful the kids were (as was the teary-eyed ‘elder’ we chose to seek advice on how best to distribute what we had).

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And then this week I read this…

“It is so hard to see how much they [have] gone through and how poorly they are being treated in the countries they are fleeing to. The Syrian people have already gone through so much already, I wish the rest of the world could realize that they are all people just like us and should be respected and loved like anybody else.

My wish for all people around the world is that the refugees could be looked on with eyes of mercy and compassion. They have been through unimaginable things and are only hoping for a brighter future. I hope one day the world can come together to realize that behind the label ‘refugee’ are people who just want to be treated with respect and love.

For one month we volunteered with the Syrian refugees in Bodrum, Turkey.”

Source: Travelin’ Kait

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The words quoted above are not from some multinational charity, they are not from any left-wing/ liberal politician either. These are the words of a 16-year old. A young woman travelling the globe with her family and is making an effort to understand humanity for what it is.

It sometimes seems that the world has a lot to learn from our younger generation, if only we’d listen. For all the military action and political inaction out there, it’s all about people, isn’t it?

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#BloggersUniteForPeace

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