Spending the past months reading op-eds, attending UN panel sessions, and engaging in conversations, a reoccurring theme whether in news print or verbalized, had left me unsettled. The new found debate on a country's morality in regards to the Syrian refugee crisis. Lobbyists dissecting each other's constitutions to prove that the other is a hypocrite, by the way it chooses to give humanitarian aid. Collectively, reducing us all, the international community as a lewd grouping. How did the debate shift so fast from the removal of Al Assad, to who is more moral?
The Syrian refugee crisis is a massive humanitarian crisis, due to the lack of action that has led up to it. It's an immediate issue that needs to be resolved, and for the most part, the international community has been acting faster than they had for a refugee crisis much larger; the Palestinian Refugee Crisis. The international community, whether through financial, medical, food, shelter, or by granting visas, have been contributing.
There is progress: schools for women refugees have been inaugurated, various borders have been opened, camps have been financed, and humanitarian aid has been given. Of course there is much more the international community can do, and give, and all countries should seek to strengthen their efforts in alleviating this refugee crisis, however, I would have to disagree that this be the focus of our attention; which unfortunately seems to be the case.
In order to end the refugee crisis, and for the families who desire to return to their homes in Syria, whether that be in five years or 20, a real solution is necessary. That solution takes political might.
Distraction from the Epicenter:
On international levels, governments have failed at length to respect and understand differing countries. Human rights organizations bolster support for certain efforts more greatly than others, depending on their interest. This imbalance in execution and condemnation, leaves the public frustrated, innocent victims stigmatized, and a problem frozen.
It is safe to say, that everyone has gone frustrated and confused with the meaning of humanity. Graying by the hair of each question on morality. Distracting farther from a solution.
Overshadowed by the darkness of media, the majority of leaders of the Middle East share a similar vision, and as much as actors would like to pit UAE against Qatar, Qatar against Egypt, and Egypt against Palestine, they all share a dream of development, they share the knowledge of their region, society, government and history, that the West among others, have failed at length to understand.
With the exception of a few, the majority of Arab countries, including Israel, would like the removal or transition of the Al Assad regime.
Whether Al Assad may be a man who was misunderstood, or a man who is not fit to govern, his record in his country and the distaste he left in the region is nothing short of dreary. His image is unfortunately greeted with negativity, humiliation, and frustration, from the people of Syria, the people of the Arab World, governments of the Middle East, and the majority of the international community.
How can a people and a region progress when the psychological climate is damaged? How can we look at all the Syrian refugees and say, you deserve to have Al Assad as a leader, and your genocidal experience is justifiable.
From he United Nations, to Foreign Ministries and State Department, condemnations and movements to remove Al Assad have saturated the field. But still, no answer. I can't wrap my head around how we allow genocide to be negotiated, because that is what silence and passivity mean; room to negotiate.
On Critiquing International Efforts on the Refugee Crisis:
I have faith that the refugee crisis will be resolved, so long as countries contribute what they can give, given each of their unique security concerns. Europe, blessed with greater stability and infrastructure, can foster refugees until Syria is up to par. Countries on the Mediterranean with less financial resources but various refugee camps already in place, can provide shelter for those displaced. As for the Gulf, most states are the ethnic minority, mass immigration and absorption would likely cause further instability - despite that drawback, they can contribute generously financially.
In sum, each country must contribute to the Syrian Refugee Crisis, and so far, whether that is financially, educationally, through food and humanitarian aid, medicine, or through physical shelter, they are doing their part.
As of 2014, The United Nations registered 619,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan. Spread out through communities and refugee camps in Lebanon, refugees make up one-fourth of Lebanon's population now. Germany has agreed to take in 800,000 asylum seekers. The European Union has collectively distributed $2.3 billion dollars for humanitarian aid as of 2014. The United Arab Emirates has provided over $72 million to refugee camps across the Middle East. Qatar has given $1.6 billion in aid since the Syrian Crisis began in 2011. Saudi Arabia has given over $700 million in efforts to sustain clinics in various refugee camps, in addition, and often ignored, Saudi Arabia has been the most generous country in the world in the field of development and humanitarian aid. For over the past four decades, Saudi Arabia donated $115 billion to over 90 countries around the world.
The one challenge that handicaps us from fluid progress and cooperation in this Syrian Crisis, is that grassroots to governments, are campaigning against each other, organizations rallying the media to challenge certain governments and institutes over others. Everyone pointing a finger of who is, and who is not moral, based on what they can give. Those passing judgment should understand, that they are only distracting from long-term solutions for the people of Syria and cooperation.
The Syrian Refugee Crisis, is becoming a distraction to the root cause of the country's turmoil. The Syrian Refugee Crisis can be resolved simultaneously with the question of Al Assad.
The problem is not corruption, the problem is not anything unresolvable, rather, the problem is to focus on what unites the majority of our foreign policies, and that is the peaceful transition of the Al Assad regime in the fastest time achievable.
To end, to each critic whether they criticize the United States, Germany, or various Arab countries on the refugee crisis, think if you were in the seat of their country, how and why each nation is choosing to provide in the way it has. Be that as it may, it would be inaccurate to claim that Arab governments are not doing enough, when in reality, the Crescent may be taking the most in, however the Gulf is financially out-funding most countries.
As an American, I always look to soberly understand foreign countries, by understanding my own country. In times of heightened security in the United States, there are more precautions taken to reassure that foreign issues will not affect the domestic of the country. If you look at Middle East countries, whether rich or less-off, they all face security threats from extremism, and are thus very cautious to a shift in their infrastructure, and understandably so.
This hesitation some may witness, comes from governments and alliances feeling that the US has neglected their views, and intelligence sharing has become one-sided. These countries want to see a political solution that will lead to a more stable region. This cry for a solution was ignored, which has led them to question how much should they keep sacrificing to the international community calls, in order to maintain stability.
From North Africa to the Gulf, many countries have grown overly-cautious on every appeal and concession asked of them, because they have yet to see their biggest modern appeal taken care of; Al Assad.
So when the international community asks for refugees to be alleviated, with the warmest of hearts they will be, however, a bitter taste of uncertainty plagues Arab World air, that the alleviation of refugees could signal that the removal of Al Assad, the continuation of genocide, can be procrastinated.
In Conclusion:
From that, let us not reduce our capacity to create a solution for Syria and the Syrian Refugee Crisis by relentlessly pointing fingers of immorality without reflection on the reasoning behind that. The last time the international community "arm raced" on morality was during the Rwanda Genocide; which produced nothing but displacement, destruction, and deaths.
The Syrian Crisis will turn into a Rwanda, if the refugee crisis becomes the outlet of our frustration. The Syrian Refugee Crisis will be resolved, so long as every country does their part, continues to develop solutions, and takes care of money flow in and out of their respected countries.
Syria will not be lost, so long as the United States, and the international community can listen to their counterparts in the region. Arab states need to listen to each other. Intra- and Inter- dialogue is essential in alleviating the Syrian Crisis, to the grander challenges of the Middle East. We need to listen to civilians, respect constitutions, listen to cries, listen to solutions, and listen to what is not being said.
If we zoom out, and observe the international community, our passivity and moral quandary, echo, that genocide is negotiable. It is not. And we should all work to change that by the common ground of our foreign policies. We have to.
You have to want to listen to it, and then you can hear it. It has a strange, beautiful texture. It doesn't always talk. Sometimes - sometimes it cries, and you can hear the pain of the world in it. It hurts to listen to it then. But you have to." - 'The Chosen' by Chaim Potok, 1967