Epilogue
7-2(55) Mass refugees
War or civil war creates many casualties of innocent
citizens. They are not only death or injuries in the battle, but also refugees
who lose their home and escaped to foreign countries.
After the World War II, the first refugees appeared in
the Middle East during 1948 Arab-Israeli War, so called Israeli Independence
War. They were called Palestinian refugees. They escaped to the Palestinian
Autonomous Region in Israel or refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon. The number
of Palestinian refugees registered in the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) reached 4.5 million. There were 12 refugee camps in Lebanon
and 450,000 people had to live in a poor living condition.
In addition to the Palestinian refugees, new refugees
were born in Syria. Triggered by "Arab Spring" in 2011, government
troops and anti-government forces confronted in Syria. Furthermore, extremist of
Islamic fundamentalism declared the independence of Islamic State (IS). The
number of Syrian refugees was much larger than Palestine refugees. Mass refugees
was borne in conflict zones across Syria and Iraq. The word "mass refugees"
sounds ridiculous and might hurt the dignity of humankind. But there is no proper
word except “mass refugees”.
Approx. 4.1 million Syrian refugees fled to abroad
and 7.6 million people were stranded domestically. It was about half of the
total population of Syria. They occupied one fifth of the total number of
refugees all over the world. The civil war in Syria became in a mire. Relief activities
for domestic refugees were stagnated. Food and medicines for refugees were
stopped. The refugees immigrated to the camps in neighboring countries such as
Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. But the camps in neighboring countries had no
enough room to accommodate new refugees.
Refugees, therefore, tried to immigrate to Germany where
was emigrant-friendly country. They started a long journey to Germany on foot. Many
Syrian refugees were from the middle class living in urban areas. When they
were in their hometown, they had enjoyed the peaceful and rich life of Western style.
Then, they knew brutal and non-civilized behavior of "Islamic State"
(IS). They scared and feared if their city was controlled by IS. As soon as
they heard the footsteps of the IS, they sold all of their premise and rushed
to Turkey. From Turkey they aimed to Germany.
Syrian refugees were not
However, the capacity to accept refugees in European
countries had reached to their limit. The reason why the government reject
refugees was not only the economic burden but also the anxiety of unemployment
by a huge number of immigrants or the fear of Islamic terrorism which had been
spread among society. There were many African refugees settled in suburbs of the
big cities in Europe. The unemployment rate of second generation of African Muslim
immigrants was high. Some of young guys were influenced by Islamic extremism.
They became desperate and carried out suicide bombings in the city. Native
European citizens supported the extreme right powers. They kept out immigrants
and became Islam phobia.
(To be continued
----)
By Areha Kazuya
E-mail: areha_kazuya@jcom.home.ne.jp
Home Page:
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