Numbers & Heroes
- Kathleen
- Jan 22, 2016
- 3 min read
So, moral and political arguments aside, about 6 weeks ago I started researching how I could contribute assistance to the refugee crisis because it's really bothering me. I did my bit, texted BLANKET to Unicef, gave coats, shoes, socks, blankets, and other warm woolies to a neighbour in my village who was collecting items for the camps and contributed a few quid left over from Christmas, as well as the £17 in pennies in my grown up daughter's penny bottle, with her permission of course (and I really didn't want to pack it for the house move either!).
But it's just not enough. It leaves me feeling sad, angry, frustrated and somewhat defeated - after all what can one person do that makes a difference in such a vast ocean of suffering? While speaking with the lovely Tanhania Sultana from Unicef who of course rang me for a donation after I'd texted 'blanket' to donate £5 (good list-building strategy eh?), I got some facts and figures from her that blew me away. Over the last 3 years, more than 7.5 million children have been affected by war and are refugees in one form or another. Too many of them are orphans or separated from their families. All are vulnerable to exploitation, sexual and physical violence, not to mention that most are traumatised by what they've seen and lost. This is staggering.
Now the skeptical part of me who employs a 'just the facts ma'am' strategy in life (after all the facts don't change regardless of who says what, or just because we don't like them) thought, 7.5 million? That can't be right! How is it that the general public or even the media either don't know this, or don't report it - or maybe we're all too desensitised now with so many charities asking for help - that it doesn't register? I dunno, but somehow I missed that. So I went looking...
According to MercyCorps, Syrians are the largest population of refugees in the world. World Vision states there are 4.6 million external refugees and a further 6.6 million internally displaced people, half of which are children. The UNHCR website states "Syria is the world's biggest producer of both internally displaced people (7.6 million) and refugees (3.88 million at the end of 2014)" half of which are children. The numbers are really too confusing - it all seems to depend on which source you take your data from, but UNHCR also reports that according to their data, there are now 1 million children who are registered as refugees. I wonder how many more are unregistered. And therefore undetected, unprotected, possibly orphaned and all are vulnerable.
I just can't get my head around it. It just leads to more questions. Like who is in charge of reuniting these kids with their families if possible? Where and how do parents file missing persons reports? Who takes care of the orphans? What's in place to protect them? Where do they get their shelter food, or clothing along the route to a safe final destination? Who is handling their emotional trauma? How are they kept safe from exploitation and further violence in the camps? What happens if they die en route? Who takes care of their identification, notification and burial or cremation? What about women without their husbands or brothers? Aren't they vulnerable too?
I have also been researching who is in charge of what and where, because an idea has been hovering in my mind's eye since summer. I've in contact with humanitarian leaders from Lesvos (Fred Morlet who heads up the Volunteer Coordination Agency and recently the Humanitarian Support agency) as well as Ifty Patel on Chios who runs the People's Street Kitchen there. I've discovered the Dirty Girls who clean wet discarded clothing from the beaches for reuse and Toula who appears to be a saint at the very least! :) All of these agencies are not NGOs, the volunteers do not get paid and yet freely give of their own time, energy, skills, fundraising, and money to support this influx of frightened and resource-poor refugees. As far as I'm concerned, every one of them is a hero.
Comments