Finding a Path to Peace: Reflections on the Syrian Refugee Crisis

Somewhere else in the world, families hastily leave their homes, forced to face a future filled with uncertainty because to stay could mean worse. Take a look at your own home now and your family. Do you have your belongings packed? Are you ready to flee to another country? You might have heard in the news of people having to flee to other countries, but we don’t see that happening in Thailand. However, as reassured as we may be that we will never be forced to leave our country, it is not out of the question. We only have to look at what has happened in Syria to see how a little rampage can lead to devastating civil wars.

The Beginning

The current Syrian refugee crisis erupted after a government crackdown on protests in March 2011, in support of a group of teenage boys; they were arrested for scrawling anti–government graffiti on a high school wall in the southern city of Daraa. The detention of teenagers and a death case of a 13-year-old boy marked the beginning of the Syrian uprising. Pro-democracy citizens were determined to defy the government with demonstrations. These anti-government ideas swept through the Middle East and North Africa, threatening to overthrow the Syrian government. The government responded with force–exacerbating the conflict drastically. For all that, the critical factor which aggravated the situation was foreign involvement through the financial and military support provided to both sides of the conflict. Eventually, Syria was plunged into a full-scale civil war, causing the world’s worst and largest refugee crisis in 10 years.

The Tragedy

Syrian families have sought refuge while risking death, seizure, and banishment. Several thousand have drowned as their rafts capsized in the perilous sea of the Mediterranean. Others perished along the journey. Plenty of young children–including a toddler, age one–have suffocated in the back of a chicken truck abandoned on a highway in Austria. Many impulsive people attached hundreds of balloons to their bodies and came to lie buried under the Syrian sand, dismembered. Casualties are still escalating, with a death toll of more than 600,000 in mid-2021.

“We felt death upon us, and we accepted it. I can’t describe it in words,” expressed Faez-a, a young Syrian refugee in the US.

“We used to live in peace,” cried Nadia, a mother of three daughters and a Syrian refugee.

Approximately 13.5 million people are displaced, half of which have found refuge in neighboring countries: Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon. The burden of sheltering refugees has become severe in these countries. Some wealthy nations, for example, the USA, Germany, and other EU countries, have rendered assistance. Still, a substantial number of refugees are without shelter, food, or any financial aid. But the worst is not over yet; the COVID-19 pandemic has further aggravated the turmoil. Immediate support worth nearly $808 million is required for basic needs: tented settlements, nutrition, medical treatment, and hygienic supplies.

Our Helping Hands

For ten years, an uprising-turned civil war has entirely torn Syria apart. This decade-long crisis has forced half of the population to flee their homes. While we still have a home to rest in and food to eat, the surviving Syrian souls struggle to seek peace. Life won’t stop for either of us and how it ends up depends on our actions. There is no doubt that even small contributions on our part might dramatically change their lives. The following are organizations supporting refugees that we can aid financially or sign up as a volunteer. The question is: are we up for it?