Since the second world war, Syria has seen the biggest humanitarian crisis with 6 million Syrians displaced. Like the ancestors of many Brits today, Syrians were, and are still being bombed out of their neighbourhoods – and those who suffer are civilians who once lived normal lives. Alisha Jackson gets looks at how small pockets of people are working to challenge and change hardened British attitudes towards refugees.
News of the war in Syria that once had the impact to grab the attention of the world and hold it still in a moment of shocked silence, such as the viral image of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi washed up on a Turkish beach resort, now holds less charge when as Brits become enthralled in the political affairs of home. As the country is divided by politics, great British moral values conflict with the economic insecurities of families bearing the brunt of austerity measures.
The government has been criticised for it's slow intake of refugees and research by the Guardian found that the least wealthy council constituencies have resettled the most refugees. Freedom of Information requests seeking to find the number of resettled refugees under the constituencies of senior cabinet ministers reveal a similar trend. They show some truth to the viewpoint that the councils with the least budget struggles have resettled very few refugees.
Despite the power of the government in holding back on the country's intake of refugees, members of communities work hard with limited resources, in the effort to make a difference at a local level. Having addressed some community issues with refugees in the City of Sunderland, Reverend Chris Howson works as Chairman of the City of Sanctuary, an organisation that helps provide support to refugees in Sunderland. He believes that to get to the route of the problem with intolerant attitudes towards refugees is to start at schools, by having refugees share their stories with the children.
He said: "When we talk to young people in schools, their views about refugees are extraordinary. I don’t believe they can come from anywhere else but the bit of media and their parents, so what they’re hearing is awful.
“But when you get them to actually hear the story of an asylum seeker, and they will often be the first person they’ve ever met who is an asylum seeker, they’re shocked."
Reverend Howson dedicates a lot of time to supporting refugees and asylum seekers, helping them to integrate into Sunderland communities. Though he has encountered countless experiences of abuse to the refugees, which inspires him to educate younger people. He said that refugees have been asked to leave pubs, have experienced people banging on the windows of their house, and in extreme cases, beaten up.
“Most is low-level intimidation, 'you’re not welcome here’, and making people feel unwelcome really,” he said. “There’s a feeling that since Brexit happened, the far-right are a bit more emboldened, so we’ve had either three or four marches by the EDL [English Defence League] and there’s a big demonstration, Justice for Chelsea, a campaign basically saying that migrants are all potential rapists.”
He believes that it is problem specific to Sunderland, where the far right are “flexing their muscles,” in comparison to more refugee-friendly cities such as Darlington an Newcastle. He maintains positive about the Sunderland community, however, strives to introduce members of the public to the refugees.
“When you meet refugees, the people we play sports with or chess club with, you realise these are good folk who are here for a very good reason and had to flee their homes being destroyed, from people they know being murdered, who may have face political or religious persecutions,” he added.
Annie Gavrilescu, who works at Help Refugee, a small charity that started up accidentally when a group of students decided to raise money. Working on a more international level, across Europe in aid of the refugee crisis, she shares the same sentiment to Reverend Howson.
“It’s become apparent that every single one of them has dealt with such trauma and such horrible things happening to them that they had to flee,” she said.
“Exists because of poverty, persecution, war and calamities. It’s our responsibility to make them feel as welcome as possible so that they can fulfil their potential and integrate properly.
“There’s a lot of rhetoric around pull factors to the UK and there’s a fear that if we make this country too welcoming to refugees, then more will come and somehow invade. Obviously, we couldn’t possibly disagree with the statement more,” she added.
Eid Badr Aldin is a refugee from Damascus, Syria who was given a second chance at education at Edinburgh College. He is studying English and hoping to continue onto university, but worries about the children back in Syria.
“There are lots of children without any school. I’m now 20-years-old and it’s been six years since the war. We don’t now for how long it will stay and I wonder about the children – what they will do in their life without education, because they grew up with the war situation,” he said.
“It is not easy to go out of Syria, for me it was not easy,” he added, recounting his journey to the UK from being stranded in Jordan, travelling through Egypt, Turkey and the Europe. “I didn’t want to go out of Syria. I wanted to stay. But my family pushed me to go out. They told me just to go out for a few months to see what would happen,” he said.
Help Refugees are taking on the aid load that governments are not. They are currently campaigning for the rights of resettled refugees to work an earn an income, and for children to get education, after potentially years without it.
It's a concept that is supported by many experts working in the charity sector under the refugee crisis. Dr Mohammad Nasreldin, the Director of North of England Refugee Service believes in the importance of integrating refugees into a normal lifestyle. The man who was one a refugee himself supports refugees having the right to education and to work.
He said: "With the right kind of support, the refugees can integrate into the community very easily.
“They need direction because if you can imagine yourself in a totally different culture and you don’t know the system, it will be very difficult for you to find your way without support. So with the right kind of support, I think that the time they take to settle, it depends on the support available to them."
