English 100 Spring 2019 Blogs

Syrian, to be or not to be a Refugee

Wolfgang Bauer, a man who knows what it’s like to be or not to be a Syrian Refugee!
Wolfgang Bauer is a free journalist, whos has extensive knowledge in Islamic Studies,
Geography and History. He has reported for the German magazine Focus, Zeit Dossier, Neon/Nido, Greenpeace Magazin, Geo and National Geographic. In 2011 he was awarded with the European Award for Excellence in Journalism Columbus. In april 2014 along with a college of his posing as english teachers, by choice embarked on a journey that most would have considered suicidal, if not at least crazy! There journey took them into the lives of Syrian refugees, giving them a direct experience of the smuggler gang brutality, process of detainment and deportation, crossing the sea in boats that mine as well been made from paper mache and toothpicks, and the politics of underground black market  human trafficking through Europe. So i recant, Syrian, to be or not to be a refugee…
If  it weren’t for great writers like Wolfgang who are willing to have a living experience of what they write about i wouldn’t be able to talk about what i’ve taken from his book Crossing the sea what I feel is important about  Syrian Refugees, what they go through, and in my opinion, most importantly what happens to them afterwards.  

First i’d like to touch on a couple of things I find interesting and important…. First probably the single most dangerous part of the whole journey, crossing the sea, since the ocean is an unpredictable force of epic proportion, well swells that have been know to swallow up navy vessels in the blink of an eye, and winds that have capsized and destroyed so of the most formidable seanearing ships. This is where the smuggler gangs come into play, some of the most disgusting people in this story. To take money from people in such context, where they have worked incredibly hard to get enough money together to embark on a live altering journey across the sea, putting there lives at risk, the wellbeing, and possible future of their families name and existence. Then to be put in categories based on the amount of money they are able to give, only to wind up in the same boat, exposing the outright inhumane mentality of these human traffickers is just apahling. Sadly enough though under the circumstances these human traffickers, smuggler gangs as they are referred to by Wolfgang are the very catalyst in which Syrian refugees have any shot at all at a better life not only for themselves but for the future of their families. At the same time these smugglers are just doing what they can to make a living to provide for their own families. I personally like to hope for the
best in humanity and give people the benefit of doubt, in particular in extreme cases like these, i would like to believe, hope,  that at least a boat or two among these people would have someone at the helm, doing in there hearts, what they believe is the best thing they can to make some kind of positive impact on the situation, contributing in some way aid to these people know Syrian Refugees. A life not chosen but forced to embrace and survive,  Syrian, to be or not to be Refugee…..

Second….. Syrian, to be or not to be Refugee…. It one thing to truly be a refugee and know constantly in the forefront of your mind and every action you take literally from moment to moment that you can and will die or be sent back at any given moment if you are caught or simply taken by misplacement of you travels in the right place at the wrong time or the wrong place at the right time. Verses the dare i say Luxury, considering the circumstances, although it is still a luxury, of knowing all the way in the back of your mind that should you get caught, political asylum will be granted the moment you reveal the truth of who you are, Wolfgang Bauer, a reporter. Don’t get me wrong i’m grateful beyond measure for what this man and his family have done, proving to me once again that there are good people in the world doing incredible things to expose the inhumane treatment of other human beings and living what i would consider an altruistic way of life and making a impact that will last and cultivate the kind of awareness needed in others worldwide to start really working together to create a world in which the well being of the human species is what we hold most valuable and not money, power, or self centered ways of life. I personally work diligently to live my life altruistically and work mindfully every day of my life to help cultivate this very way of life for the present moment and for our future, so i’m in awe of what has come from the book Crossing the sea in regards to public awareness, of what syrian refugees go through for freedom and further cultivating positive solutions to what’s happening to them and what we can continue to do to make life better for them, in particular long term sustainable placement opportunities. Something i find to be very important, something i will cover in the rest of this paper through my own research.

Women With Children First

I believe that women and children should have first priority towards needing help. This is because women need to take care of children and to also care for the children that travel  alone. Not only are the refugee children traveling alone but they are also left alone in camps. In these camps ,the children are not getting enough support they need as keiki. What happens to them when they get sent back to Syria and if their government will be willing to help them and support them. I feel refugees have to relocate because of the war.

Younes, Abi E. “Displacement, Deprivation and Hard Work among Syrian Refugee Children in Lebanon.” Relief Web, 13 Dec. 2018, https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/e001122.full_.pdf

This very informative article provides information about Syrian refugee children who are involved with child labor in Lebanon. The article provides useful statistics collected from cross-sectional studies done. They randomly selected 153 informal tented settlements and interviewed many working Syrian refugee children living in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon.  The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has registered 5.6 million Syrian refugees, half of them are under the age of 18. Hundreds of Syrian children, as young as just four years old in Lebanon are being forced to work and endure harsh and harmful labor. Many children who are being forced to work in harsh conditions as well, which harms their health. Both young boys and girls were forced to work, however they discovered that working conditions were usually more intense for the girls, and compared to the boys, the girls had to work longer in the sun and cold and were more likely to report health symptoms at work. It was reported that 79 children said they witnessed another child die while working. The saddening truth about the living and working conditions of the Syrian refugee children was revealed through this study and research.

Close your eye’s and imagine screaming, gun fire, bombs exploding, building crumbling down and people crying now open your eyes. Do you think it’s over? Well so did these young children but now they are scarred. Not just from the violence but because they are risking their lives day by day. These children are still facing violence even as we speak they are being abused physically mostly by their fathers. Their suffering doesn’t end they have witnessed multiple deaths of friends and families and say the violence take away everything they cared about even the places they felt most safe.

There are many aspects of the Syrian Refugee crisis that many U.S. citizens aren’t aware of or educated on. One of the aspects being the issue of Syrian Refugee children and specifically their mental health and the emotional trauma that they have endured. Many Syrian Refugee children are suffering from mental heath issues such as PTSD, depression, anxiety, etc. and sadly, they rarely get the help that they need. Having these mental heath issues at such a young age not only affects their future but also makes it difficult for these children to integrate smoothly into a new social setting.

Most people have heard in passing or follow closely the Syrian Refugee crisis that is happening abroad. A lot of US citizens aren’t well informed on the happenings in Syria and would like to know more about the root cause of this situation and how it will impact their country or other countries.  When we hear about a large group of refugees seeking asylum in another country, there are some rational and irrational fears that come along with the news. I hope to provide both pros and cons to what impact an influx of refugees can do to a country.

Writer argues that children are the most affected group out of all the refugees. I am supportive of this thesis. I am not educated enough on the topic to be sure about it but i know that children are an important factor of any society and the children of the refugees are going to keep their culture alive. Using individual examples of affected children would make this an interesting paper.

The main issue of this thesis is about Syrian refugee children and all they have to endure. I am supportive of this thesis because I am also writing about the Syrian refugee children and what they have been through and even still going through. I know a lot about this issue because I have done a lot of research about this topic so I am well informed. I don’t think that I can care more about this issue because I am fully invested in this topic and I also want more people to be well informed and I think the author has the right idea.

It is unbelievable to me how the captains of these smugglers boats are running their so called business. It seems everyone who helps to smuggle Syrians are straight up crooks. They are constantly scamming to make more money. Threatening to not deliver on their word unless they are paid more money. I can’t imagine what it feels like to be a passenger on these boats and to not be told anything. They are living on pure hope that someone will hold on to their end of the bargain and bring them to Italy like they were told.

When the passengers realize they have been trolling the Benghazi coastline for days because their captain is trying to get more money, my heart broke for them.

An overall reflection for a moment.

We all come to a fork in road from time to time, the direction we choose greatly determines our experience. Kim Jung II was born into a life constantly faced with a new fork in the road. A big difference between his and most peoples is that his choices affected an entire country and everyone in it. No pressure…….

So he did what everyone does at the moment of decision, make what he felt was the right one and move forward, with what he felt was in the best interest of his people and country.

As you know i like to look at things with a different perspective than most, today is no exception to my rule.

I don’t see that much that Kim did in his rule that is different from any other ruler in the history of man kind, and at the same time the few things he did do that few others did not, put him in the “light of disapproval”

More elaboration on this point of view in the coming blogs, but for now i pose this question to all who judge others for there actions. If your families very life and future depended on your every action, would you not do whatever it took to insure there survival to the best of your ability?