2020.05.11 “Every Person is A Potential Refugee”
Every person is a potential refugee, before I became one, I used to work in a Human Rights’ Organization which worked on the economic and social rights of the marginalized groups and I worked as well on the Syrian Refugees’ file.
Before I became a refugee I didn’t have any former image about refugees, they’re simply humans just like me nothing more or less that is what I used to think and feel imagining that everyone has the same perspective as mine, refugees should not be imaged as weak people coming from other countries to seek refuge in a new place. I had this image keeping in mind that one day I would be a potential refugee and here I am, being called a refugee.
No one knows how much we struggled and are still struggling, we had to undergo hardships at our own lands, going through wars that we had no hand in, living the fear of being killed, bombarded or even worst losing a child or a family member, we did nothing wrong to undergo such hardships and all because of the greed of people who got the power and rule, other people who also had to leave their lands and homes because they wanted to live freely and in dignity there which did not suit the plans of the dictators who rule their countries.
We have seen for ourselves the reflection of the refugee crisis in the Corona pandemic
We saw how the natural instinct of humans to survive moved in all legitimate and unlawful ways
Some of them tried to store needs above their needs to stay at home until the end of the epidemic
But even this privilege is not available in the case of refugees and war, because there is no home to return to and no goods to store.
Some people also tried to search the black market for face masks and hand sanitizers,
There are those who plan to flee with their family and their children to areas that the pandemic has not yet reached.
If people do not take the side of refugees and left us on our own, a catastrophe will happen, we will witness high death rates that we are already witnessing around the world where people are fighting to survive and eventually most of them lost their lives and now there is a pandemic that does not differentiate anyone and is more dangerous than war. So in war we know our enemy and where he comes from. But with this pandemic we do not know anything and certainly refugees are at greatest risk.
Refugees will help build your societies, they’ll enrich it with new culture, traditions, customs and languages. Why should people stay very hard-headed and introverts while they can open their hearts and welcome us among them, we can all learn from each other and gain a lot of new experiences.
Refugees will help grow your economy with new hardworking youth, factories will rise and companies will achieve more especially by hiring these people who certainly have new ideas and can show everyone how creative they could be if only given a chance and trusted. Our kids will be friends with yours, and they’ll all learn from each other and in this way we will be raising a new generation on love, compassion and tolerance, that despite all our differences we are born equal. Helping refugees and integrating us in your societies will ensure for all of us a better peaceful future where people are not judged by their nationalities or labeled as Refugees but where we all live in harmony and know that we all complete each other.
사진•글 | Darwish Musab/무열