Longing for home, not a refuge from home

The humanitarian crisis brought about by tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing their war-ravaged country is a continuing story. Particularly because there is no end to the bloody violence in Syria, even as the political combinations and permutations take new contours.

But the surprising sub-text is the under-reported fact that there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of Syrians who have fled their country but aren’t interested in going either to Europe or North America.

Take, for instance, the huge Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, with 80,000 Syrian refugees. As the mercury soars, we learn from the UNHCR (through an Al Qaeda report) that many Syrians in this camp are patiently waiting to return home when the war ends.

Quoting statistics from the Canadian government’s programme to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees, Gavin White, the UN high commissioner for refugees, said that while 7,000 Syrian refugees in the Zaatari camp had qualified for the opportunity to go to Canada, one in four had turned it down!

“This contradicts the perception among some in the West that many refugees are moving abroad in order to find a better life and to stay and settle there,” he said.

This reiterates my perception from my only visit to Syria in 2011 that the people are proud of their country and are attached to it, having sufficient food, shelter and employment, the absence of which basics triggers aspirations among many in developing countries to seek greener pastures.

Syria wasn’t, nor can ever be, akin to Bangladesh where huge numbers are constantly seeking to migrate.

The channel quoted Ahmed Ali, a refugee at the camp, saying he wasn’t interested in going to Europe or elsewhere. “I love my country; I want to go back. We used to have land, houses, farms and cars. We were happy, and we had enough food.”

With the Paris and Brussels terror attacks turning locals against migrants/refugees, disenchantment has set in among some Syrians about being unwanted migrants, always be suspected of being potential terrorists. But the most interesting story from the camp is that of 18-year-old Muzoon Almellehan which I came across thanks to this tweet from the youngest ever Nobel Laureate, Malala Yusafzai.

On April 8, she tweeted, “Happy 18th Birthday Muzoon! We’re so proud of all your work supporting Syrian girls’ edu!” The two girls met and became great friends after Malala visited the Zaatari camp in 2014, and Muzoon was there to cheer her friend as she received the Nobel in Oslo last year.

In an article on Malala’s blog, Muzoon said that she and her family had fled Syria “giving up so much — our home, our community, our livelihood”. But she decided the one thing she wouldn’t give up was her education, or else she’d have no future.

But while she continued her studies in the refugee camp, she saw other girls were not doing so. “Many were being married off too young, because their parents hoped that having a husband would protect them.”

Distressed by this, Muzoon started a campaign, walking from one tent to another, telling parents that education was “the best protection” for their daughters, and urging girls to fight for their right to education.

Earlier this year, when Malala visited the Azraq refugee camp to announce the Malala Fund’s commitment to educating Syrian girls there, Muzoon was by her side. Now, after two years in the Jordanian refugee camp, the Syrian teenager and her family have got a “new home” in the UK, where she is continuing her education.

But she continues to worry about girls still in the refugee camps. “Every day, every month they miss school means we are more in danger of losing the gifts they have to offer to the world.”

Vowing to fight for the right to education of girls across the world, particularly Syrian girls in refugee camps, Muzoon says she’ll stand beside Malala for this crucial fight.

But for this proud Syrian, getting a home and education in the UK is not the realisation of her dream. That she spells out in the last sentence in her blog: “I am hopeful that one day my family and I will be able to return to Syria. Until then, I will continue to fight for all girls to go to school. Will you join me?”

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