Summary
Tan, Carol. The Syrian Refugee Crisis: Conflicts In The Making. Culture & Society. In IE Med.
The paper by Tan explores the growth of Syrian refugees as a result of the Syrian Crisis, the host countries of refugees from Syria, the effects of Syrian refugees on the hosting countries as well as the factors hindering the adequate solving of problems presented by the influx of Syrian refugees in those countries.
The war crisis in Syria is in its fifth year since it arose thus attracting a lot of attention from international communities .The attention from the human communities is due to the rising number of refugees from Syria fleeing to other middle East Countries due to insecurity in Syria and lack of amenities due to the unrelenting war . Secondly the influx of refugees to Middle East Countries poses a great to the stability of those countries due to the fact that most Middle East Countries are fragile in terms of governance (307).
Many refugees from Syria have been moving to countries like Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt. For instance, there are over one million refugees in Turkey and Lebanon and other neighboring countries. The rise in number of refugees is thus becoming a concern for the countries hosting the refugees (308). Additionally, the rise in refugee numbers in various countries has impacted negatively on the social and economical aspects of those Countries by causing “economic conflicts and social tensions”. According to Tan, some of the negative economic and social aspects include and are not limited to negative social interactions, intercommunity distrust, violence breakouts, and increased vulnerability of refugees.
With regard to negative social interactions, the refugees’ numbers are increasing daily in the host Nations. When the Refugees were hosted b y the countries neighboring Syria, the local people and their Governments was of the view that it was a right and noble thing to do. That is linked to the desire to help helpless and vulnerable persons especially the children and their mothers who had run from the war. However with time the number of refugees grew steadily and he local people started viewing them as a threat due to competition of resources. The viewing of refugees as threat led to a decrease of generosity and friendship from the locals thus leading to hostility. For instance, in Turkey the Locals demonstrate and demanded the Government should stop allowing more Syrian refugees on their country. Moreover, some of the Locals in Turkey proposed that the Syrian refugees in Turkey should be ordered to return back to Syria.
Regarding intercommunity distrust, the article notes that a study conducted by an American University in Lebanon in order to establish the social relationship between the Syrian refugees and the Lebanese locals revealed that the Lebanese locals viewed the Syrian refugees as threat. The reasoning behind their hatred for the refugees is linked to the competition of resources between the Lebanese who were of the opinion that they were entitled to have an edge over the country’s resources which they had to share with the refugees especially in the rural areas. Some of the locals felt that the refugees were favored by the Lebanese Government especially through donations and this stirred up hatred against the refugees.
On violence breakouts, Tan observes that some groups in Turkey and Lebanon have been formed to curb the influx of Syrian refugees through the boarders of the respective countries. For instance in the year 2014, there was a huge clash between Syrian refugees and Turkish and Lebanese locals who prevented the refugees from entering the Countries .The violence towards refugees by locals is due to the fear that the refugees might cause political instability due to radicalization which is experienced in Syria.
Consequently, about the increased refugees vulnerability, the article notes that locals in countries whereby there are calls upon the Government to send refugees back to Syria and to disallow entrance of new refugees to the countries. For instance, Turkey and Lebanon have constantly been discriminating the refugees. In Turkey the discrimination in school towards the refugee children is carried out by the fellow children as well as the teachers. The result is that the refugee children from Syria are discouraged from attending school an aspect that makes it hard for these children to improve their life and have a better life in the future despite being refugees.
The lack of an opportunity to improve themselves academically and economically increases trauma and stress to the refugee children and denies them an opportunity to contribute in the growth of Syria in the future after it regains peace (309). Lack of an education platform to refugee children from Syria makes them vulnerable to radicalisation in attempt to feel useful.
Rise in the cost of living -The refugees lives in the rural and urban areas of the “host counties”. The increase in settlement of refugees in these areas has led to an increase of costs in regard to housing, services and food an aspect that the locals blame on the refuges thus causing unrest within the locals. However, the refugees impact positively in the economic growth of the respective host Nations despite critics from the locals that they are responsible for the decline in the economy (309).
The host Nations of refugees from Syria have tried to solve the “economic conflicts and social tensions” presented by the refugees. However, that has been delayed due to various impediments. Some of the impediments include;
The impediment to solving the “economic conflicts” is the lack of extensive support by charitable organizations. The unending war in Syria has made it difficult for foreign countries to formulate policies to assist in the long term settlement of the crisis in Syria thus leading to formulation of unstructured strategies.
Additionally, there are some impediments to enhance the solving of social tensions. For instance lack of proper laws to govern refugees in host Nations. Some of the countries that host refuges are not part of international law that provide for frameworks on the protections of refugee rights .Although some countries accept refugees, some of them have legislations that free them for nay obligations towards refugees. Due to the lack of legislation, it makes it difficult for refugees to get adequate assistance from various countries whereby they are hosted as asylum seekers.
Lack of integration of refugees- Many countries are reluctant to integrate refugees in their countries due to fear of hostility from the locals. Many leaders fear that integrating the refugees might change the political and economic instability of the country thereby making it difficult to curb tension between the refugees and locals especially in regard to basic amenities such as work, food and water. Many locals develop hatred toward refugees due to the competition for resource and difference in cultures. Lack of integration of refugees implies that the problem of refugees and locals cannot be solved permanently and it will keep on recurring.
Work Cited
Tan, Carol. The Syrian Refugee Crisis: Conflict in the Making. Culture & Society. In IE Med.
Mediterranean Yearbook, 2015, pp 307-311.
