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Andrea Quaden, Iraq How to offer a decent life to refugees From Turkey to Iraq
We can no longer claim that “we did not know” How to offer a decent life to refugees
38 by Andrea Quaden, Humanitarian aid worker in Iraq
It started in 2011 with peaceful demonstrations demanding change, then developing into one of the worst wars of our time, forcing millions of Syrians to flee their homes. By 2014, over 6 million Syrians were displaced, 2.8 million of which fled to Turkey. I could not watch the humanitarian crisis unfold without doing anything. I moved to Turkey because I wanted to understand firsthand the plight of the Syrian people who were forced to experience the horrors of war and flee their homes. I also wanted to actively assist those refugees.
There is no line between them and us Sympathy alone is never enough. My mission in Turkey would also, eventually, help me return to Europe and shape a more humane and forward-looking refugee and migration policy. I would have never imagined that I would observe from afar how much my home – the European Union – struggles to defend its core values and norms of humanity, equality and the rule of law when it comes to supporting the most vulnerable amongst us. Never would I have predicted that we would rather close our borders and turn a blind eye to the suffering of people at our doorstep seeking protection and dignity. But we did, we all witnessed Alan Kurdi who drowned on a beach and all the other nameless souls…. The fate of others remains a headline in a newspaper, a tweet – numbers, words, pictures – until you are in the midst of an unfolding humanitarian crisis, or just simply sharing a meal with your colleagues and friends who are themselves refugees or internally displaced. All of a sudden there is no line between “them” and “us”; humanity prevails.
From Turkey… My objective in Turkey was to support Syrians who were forced to flee their country. The majority of refugees, across South East Turkey, did not live in camps, but in cities like Gaziantep, Kilis or Mardin. Unfortunately, people soon realised that the war in Syria would take years and they would not be able to return. Turkey struggled to provide the necessary services for the “guests”, as the Syrians were called, and heavily relied on assistance from the international community. Despite everyone’s efforts, hundreds of thousands of people struggled. Families lived in ruins, children were unable to go to school, work permits difficult to obtain. Resentment against refugees grew within Turkish society and social cohesion started to falter. Most refugees wanted to stay in Turkey in the hope of one day returning to Syria, but years passed and war continues on. This long wait and the uncertainty of the future of their children drove Syrians towards Europe. Thousands embarked on the perilous journey, and many died trying. It caught us by surprise. It shouldn’t have!
photo: Andrea Quaden
Andrea Quaden
has worked in Turkey and Iraq in various positions and NGOs, ending her
current position as Shelter Cluster Co Chair for Iraq with NRC. She was
born in 1985 in Roding, Germany. She has a BA in Politics & Law from
the Westphalian Wilhelms University of Münster and an MA in European
Studies from the University of Hamburg. Ms Quaden has been working with
Photo: private
and for refugees for the past 11 years starting in Germany. After 2 years in South East Turkey she moved to Iraq to be engaged in the Preparedness in
the Response for the “Mosul Operation”. She has worked for the Turkish NGO “ASAM”, German “Welthungerhilfe”, Czech “People in Need” and the Norwegian Refugee Council.
…to Iraq The European Asylum System (the Dublin Agreement) never factored in the realities of an influx of people in need of safety as we saw it in 2015. The wars in Syria and Iraq did not develop overnight, but were the result of many factors which were all well known by experts and politicians. The displacement that unfolded brought me to Iraq in 2015. This is a country whose people had to go through suffering and the massive military operation in the fight against extremist groups. The battle of Mosul was getting full media coverage. But behind every number quoted there is a human being with a life, dreams, fears, and rights. We tend to forget that – we never should! My biggest respect goes to the people I had the honour to serve. I have never seen so much strength and resilience in people! Despite the horrors of conflict and the losses endured; people’s ability to cope with their situation and stamina to strive for a better future has deeply moved me. They will do everything for their families and communities to survive in dignity and rebuild what they have lost. They deserve everyone’s respect! We should bow in front of their struggle and love for life.
Everyone should do their part Everyone should have an honest conversation with someone who was forced to flee due to violence, war, oppression, and persecution. Reach out to people who were forced to leave Andrea Quaden speaking with a Syrian women in Ganziantep, Turkey
photo: Andrea Quaden
their home and jump into an unknown future in an alien place. They might tell you that it was not really a choice. For many of us in the humanitarian world and with the very limited resources available to us, these stories are difficult to cope with. There is never enough funding to support people in need, nor political willingness to find humane and sustainable solutions. As humanitarians, it is our responsibility to continuously find solutions, alleviate suffering and save lives. In my view this is the responsibility of every citizen of the world, everyone can and should do their part. Humanitarians voluntarily go to places like Iraq. If we want to leave, we can. We are not the ones who had to witness the horrors of ISIL occupation or war, or who are dependent on
humanitarian aid and at the mercy of decision makers in this world. Some of the hardest moments in our line of work is witnessing the suffering of the people we want to support while knowing that there is so little we can do. Many of us are deeply convinced that the situation in Syria and Iraq could have been prevented at an early stage, but the past cannot be changed. Let us learn from it and find ways to deal with today and tomorrow. In a globalised world in which the war around Aleppo City was live streamed, we cannot claim ignorance. We all have a responsibility to support each other. There should not be “them” versus “us”. We can no longer claim that “we did not know”.
Why do we perform so badly? It is unacceptable, that in the 21st century, families have to use rubber boats to cross a few kilometers to safety, children drown in the Mediterranean, men die in refrigerated trucks and women are raped while escaping the very horrors of war! It is a disgrace for Europe to “welcome” those who seek protection with mistrust, fear and racism, depriving them of their basic right to asylum. It is unacceptable that families have to put their lives in the hands of smugglers as the only escape from their despair. It is abhorrent that places like the Moria camp on the Greek island Lesbos, or “The Jungle” of Calais, exist on the European continent. We – as a community – own the resources to support people who are fleeing for their lives with basic food, water, shelter, health and legal services, jobs, psycho-social support and education. We just need to put those resources to use. We have well-established resettlement and family reunification programmes to offer legal and safe pathways. We should use these to help those in need and not change our own laws to limit resettlement. We possess the means to support communities in post-conflict situations to rebuild their lives including the rehabilitation of basic services, livelihood opportunities and social cohesion. We just need to showcase our generosity. We have the decision making power to open safe passages to safety and to influence governments to reinforce peace and stability. Why don’t we see how these families, who are fleeing war, can contribute to our societies? Refugees overwhelmingly contribute positively to the asylum countries’ economies.
All this is in our hands With more than 65 million forcibly displaced persons in the world and almost 2,000 deaths in the Mediterranean in 2018 alone we should stand up and do something to restore dignity and protect human rights. Ghandi’s wise words are very pertinent today: “A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.” This is a collective responsibility. The people of Europe and its leaders can do the right thing. We should! But do we really want to?
This article expresses Ms Quaden’s ideas and opinion only and does not represent any of her former or current employers.
Informal refugee camp at the Turkish-Syrian border after 200,000 people were forced to flee the Syrian town Kobane in autumn 2014
European security and defence
A decade after the signature of the Lisbon Treaty, Europeans are finally dealing with security and defence matters. Aware since the election of US President Donald Trump that, in the long term, the US might no longer guarantee Europe’s security, initiatives like Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), a European Intervention Force (EI2), or the creation of a European Defence Fund have seen the light. How will this new European spirit forge new responsibilities, e.g. for the European Commission, the Parliament and the EDA? The authors of this chapter have some ideas.
