A Breakdown of the Syrian Refugee Disaster

A Breakdown of the Syrian Refugee Disaster The Syrian Refugee Crisis The Syrian refugee crisis involves Syrian people who are fleeing their country to find safe places for themselves and their family to live. Syria’s civil war is the worst humanitarian crisis of our time and this social group is caught in the middle of a war where people are killed every day by their own people. They can’t risk staying in the war zone, so they are escaping to other countries, either illegally or with the help of other countries to enter camps. This has been going on five years now and there has been barley any improvement in Syria nor any improvement in the daily lives of these refugees. Besides not having a home anymore and the friends and family they lost, the biggest struggle for this social group is getting by every day. So how did this all start? The origin of this problem started in February 2011, when revolts to overturn Tunisian and Egyptian Presidents began, which was known as the Arab Spring. In Syria, it started as a peaceful protest until â€Å"15 boys were detained and tortured for having written graffiti in support of the Arab Spring† (Jazeera), and one of the boys even died from being so brutally beaten. After that the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, demanded that the Syrian government shut down the protests immediately, and did so by having his military kill hundreds of protestors. This sparked a group of Syrian soldiers to defect from the Syrian Army because they didn’t want to harm innocent protestors, especially when they agree with the protestors. These defected soldiers then formed the Free Syrian Army that promised to wage war until the Syrian government is overthrown, which produced a civil war. The reason the people wanted to overthrow the government was because the lack of freedom and economic security due to the Syrian government. Global warming has even played a role in this uprising because a severe drought has burdened Syria for three years which caused people to migrate into cities, which increased poverty and social unrest. The government didn’t do anything to help these cities in a desperate position. To add onto all of this, the United Stated and Russia are bombing Syria due to presence of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). Russia even sent weapons to the rebel groups in Syria. As you can see, there is extravagant violence going on, leaving the citizens right in the middle of a war zone. These citizens have no choice but to leave before they are killed, most likely by their own government. With growing violence, tension, and damage to their country, Syrian people have no other option than to seek a better life elsewhere. It is hard for them to leave Syria because it is a war zone in pretty much all areas, â€Å"the Assad government controls the capital, Damascus, parts of southern Syria, portions of Aleppo and Deir Az Zor, much of the areas near the Syrian-Lebanese border, and the northwestern coastal region. Rebel groups, ISIS, and Kurdish forces control the rest of the country† (Jazeera). Majority of these Syrian families are separated because the men go out and fight, or are killed in the attack by both sides, obviously women and children are part of the death toll as well. â€Å"60,000 people have died only two years into this war† (Thompson), causing the United States to send food and medical supplies, but no weapons. European countries were sending weapons, but this didn’t help, the rebels army actually weakened as time went on. In August 2013, hundreds of people were killed in a chemical weapons attack against the rebels, and Turkish governments continue to bomb Syria. There is talk about peace between the governments, but no solution is made, by February 2014, â€Å"140,000 Syrians are now dead and hundreds of thousands are displaced† (Thompson). The worst part about these airstrikes is that more civilians die than actual targets, and they continue to destroy homes and communities. In 2015, ISIS members blow up and destroy ancient temples, shrines, and artifacts that are considered to be priceless. Things went from bad to worse, and the remaining people in that their country realize it is a free-for-all in Syria, and they have lost hope and wish to find safety elsewhere. Families are struggling to survive in Syria and even if they’re lucky enough to escape, they are still struggling for basic human needs like water, food, shelter, and medicine. Most refugees are in camps but some go on their own and hope to find opportunity elsewhere. There are harsh winters and extremely hot summers, making the lives of these already distraught people even more difficult. The one’s in camps live in cubicles made of tarps or fabric, therefore, in the winter it is extremely hard for these refugees. They have received a lot of support from other countries and programs that assist them with needs but it’s not even close to enough, â€Å"13.5 million Syrian refugees are still in need of humanitarian assistance† (World Vision Staff). When these people decide to leave, they bring only what they can carry on their backs. They don’t have moving trucks or even cars to bring everything they want. They leave behind their entire life and even friends and family. The walk to safety is extremely dangerous as well, especially due to malnutrition and dehydration. These people are risking their lives staying in Syria and also attempting to leave Syria. Many of these refugees are heading for and living in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt, but these countries have poor infrastructure and limited resources. Some illegally cross the border in Turkey while others look for an entirely new start in Europe. Even when away from the violence, they still struggle to live a normal life. The people in the camps really struggle, but even refugees who have access to human needs and a good daily life can’t find jobs to support themselves and their family. For example, a man named â€Å"Adnan Almekdad is a former veterinarian from southern Syria, where he ran a large-animal clinic†¦spent another decade as a manager at several pharmaceutical startups. He also published two books† (Grant). This same man who has been so successful in Syria, cannot find a job in Canada and has been in Canada as a refugee for over a year, the reason for this is the gap in his resume. This gap in his resume is due to fleeing Syria to find a safe home f or his family, and all the time it took him to be able to settle in Canada, 4 years to be exact. He is a lucky man to be with his family in shelter and safety, but for others, they are not so lucky. In the refugee camps these people live in dirt and find heat through burning trash. The only source of income they have is when the children sell items they find, like cardboard or bottles. Some children sell new products like tissues, but could you imagine seeing a child on the streets all alone selling tissues, of all things? Children affected by the Syrian conflict â€Å"are at risk of becoming ill, malnourished, abused, or exploited. Millions have been forced to quit school† (World Vision Staff), this includes women as well. These people are barely getting education therefore even if they are safe, they have no way to contribute to society and support themselves. In Freire’s â€Å"Pedagogy of the Oppressed,† I learned that human development is the process by which an individual develops self-respect and builds self-esteem through working with others and acquiring new skills and knowledge to participate in the economic, social, and political development of th eir community. It also says that the people should refuse to participate in their own exploitation, but these people can’t really develop themselves because they barely have the knowledge or resources to do so therefore how can they be confident in themselves? Parts of the world realize that even if the war is stopped, they’re still going to have millions of people who can’t contribute to society, so they help educate the refugees, especially the children in any way they can. Another big problem and disagreement between the people across the world is why aren’t we helping and sending aid, like food, water, and medicine to these refugees? We are, in fact we are sending a lot, but a lot of countries don’t want to send all their aid because of the fear that something might happen in their country and they won’t have the supplies for their own people. Also, there is enough food in the world to provide to these refugees, but the in the world we live in, the food only goes to the markets that can pay for them. It is estimated that it will take â€Å"$7.7million billion to meet the urgent needs of the most vulnerable Syrians in 2016† (Mercy Corps), that’s just for the people who are the most vulnerable! That statistic shows why they aren’t receiving food, they can’t afford it. A lot of countries also refuse to let Syrian refugees into their country due to fear and/or not wanting to have to take responsibility nor pay for these people’s food, shelter and healthcare. Countries have their own internal problems, and adding anywhere close to $7.7 billion will set back any country in what programs and things they are trying to achieve. When thinking about what I’ve learned in class, I think a great way to help some people to mimic CIDICCO and create a bank that gives out loans to these people and/or they can keep their money in there and grow interest. The problem with this though, is that there are too many people to give out money to all of them. Therefore, my solution isn’t realistic. These people just need some sort of spark to get their lives going and be able to live on their own. These camps should be made into communities instead and have huge farms where the refugees can work themselves and will barley need food aid. Currently, Syrian refugees have not been able improve their situation, sadly. Children will do anything to distract themselves from hunger, which usually includes playing with other children with the ruble around them, the refugee camps do not have a safe place for children to play. A lot of these children lost their parents in Syria and are on their own. Mother’s cook in unsanitary conditions, and barley have the supplies to support their children, let alone themselves. This situation is a depressing and horrible experience that no one should have to face in their lifetime, but there are so many of these refugees that it’s making it impossible to care for all of them. There have been several meetings with Syria and other governments to make peace, but they all failed. A ceasefire was announced in February 2016 and stopped the fighting in some parts of Syria, but with other governments continuing to bomb them, I’m not sure how long that will last. Syria is mostly ruins now, and millions have fled the country due to a traumatizing war. Fleeing isn’t easy, it involves a lot of smuggling and human trafficking, it also means risking their lives traveling in unsafe trucks and boats. Once they are out, they now have to fend for themselves. Even if they’re lucky enough to be in a camp, they still face hunger, lack of education, thirst, overcrowding, traumatization, and malnutrition. All things considered and in the final analysis of Syria, even if the war ends, rebuilding this country and its people will be a lengthy, extremely difficult process.

Today's Youth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Today's Youth - Essay Example This includes the following: connectivity, interactivity and access (Sipe & Pantaleo, 2008). Interactivity pertains â€Å"to the dynamic, user-controlled, nonlinear, non-sequential, complex information behavior and representation in or† associated to print materials and other media (Sipe & Pantaleo, 2008, p.41). Connectivity on the other hand â€Å"refers to the sense of community or construction of social worlds† which develops from changing ideas (Sipe & Pantaleo, 2008, p.41). Access refers to the disintegrating of long-standing information barriers which creates an entrance â€Å"to a wide diversity of formerly inaccessible† opportunity and opinion (Sipe & Pantaleo, 2008, p.41). In this context, when the theory is applied to explain the behavior of the digital age youth, the following changes could be made clear: (1) changes in their perceptions (2) changes in how they analyze and learn (3) changes in the information and ideas to which they have access. Two Te xt Based Today’s youths are described to be fearless. They are not afraid in voicing out their ideas and concerns; they speak their mind (Anon., 2001). They are never tired asking questions (Anon., 2001). Stated otherwise, the youths of today are very courageous and idealistic. They are not afraid of public scrutiny. It seems that what is important for them is that they are able to express their idea and be heard by everyone. It is contended that the digital age has triggered this kind of attitude. The youths have mastered the use of many types of digital equipment which could show and relay their beliefs and ideas. Nonetheless, their being too vocal has a known disadvantage. Some would perceive their boldness as being disrespectful (Anon., 2001). The adults believe that there are topics which are ought to be discussed privately and not publicly. Nevertheless, they have not admonished the youths regarding this matter. According to Momma Hawks, the adults are afraid of the eff ects of such action (Anon., 2001). They are specifically afraid of the sanctions that the government would impose against them (Anon., 2001). To note, when the parents admonish their son or daughter, there is a possibility that their child will report such action in a negative way to a government agency. According to Connor and Crane (2008, p.155), the younger generation of today has been raised to adhere to the idea on individualism. They have been thought to think of themselves first before anything else. In this sense, they learn to disregard even the advices of the people surrounding them. Sometimes, they even defy the authority. This attitude has led some of them to be an activist. One Web-based Nigel Davies has expressed his amazement on how the youths of today adopt to new technologies. He observed that the youths use the technologies with speed and ease (Davies, 2010). Some of the youths could even â€Å"type their names long before they could write† (Davies, 2010). I t seems that they find it easy to learn the basic functions of these technologies especially computers. This is due to the fact that these new technologies are usually user-friendly. Being user-friendly means that a technology could easily be used by anyone. This presupposes that the use of such technology is founded on simple and understandable instructions. Relevance to Gramsci’s Notion on Hegemony Gramsci actually believes that hegemony is an organising principle, one that is permeated by socialisation process into every aspect of daily life

Role of Social Workers in the UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Role of Social Workers in the UK - Essay Example In addition, such social workers can assess the effectiveness of their interventions. Significant value is attached by service users to the variegated approaches employed by social workers. Some of these approaches are; first, providing advice, advocacy and information; second, assisting people in their negotiations with state agencies, such as those in the areas of financial support and housing; third, making available counselling and other forms of psycho – therapeutic support; fourth, providing practical help and guidance; fifth, obtaining access to financial support for service users (Beresford, 2007). User engagement can be promoted by social workers, by either assisting users to access advocacy or by acting as advocates. Advocacy does not always consist of conflicts of interests and in case where this is true, the social worker has to protect the interests of the user (Gallagher & Smith, 2010). The various advances in the involvement of service users in social work have been amalgamated in legislation. This establishes a basis for forging a novel relationship between service providers and service users. Several benefits have accrued to service users and services, due to the involvement of service users in the planning and delivery of services (Service User Involvement, 2007). Some of these benefits are enumerated in the sequel. Service users develop new skills, improve their self – esteem and efficiency, enhance service ownership and adapt services to conform to their requirements. On the other hand, social work benefits in the following manner. The services provided acquire a user orientation, greater efficiency in the services provided, recruitment of appropriate personnel, and promotion of the social reintegration goals of the services.