What Can You Learn When You Interview a Syrian Refugee?

Robina Ahmad

Imagine your home, your dreams of continuing your education was all taken away from you.Rather than learning words and mathematics, children are forced to learn different types of weapons and how many bullets can be used in each of them.Instead of achieving the dreams of heading to University to study biology and do amazing things, you are pulled back into the chaos of war and corruption by the hands of people.Children born in a warzone have little knowledge of what it would be like to live in a place where they don’t need to duck their heads each time leaving the house to avoid getting shot.Rather than trying to heal the physical and mental wounds inflicted on these innocent civilians, some countries have been neglected to enter into other countries including the U.S for which we now have a dictator leading this country who can’t spell, talk, and refuses to shake hands with strong, highly educated women.

One would question, why is it that refugees would be considered a threat when they are only seeking for a new home after all they have faced?If you look into the hearts of mothers and fathers who only want the best of their children then why would they consider the ocean far safer than their own land?We see it every day on television and on the internet; a young boy was just dug out of the rubble of his home after it was bombed by an airstrike.A son sits beside two bodies laid on the ground that have been covered with a cloth; they were once his mother and sister who died from an airstrike that landed nearby.Recent studies show that the children who have faced the war in Syria are suffering something far worse than PTSD and many more are dying from curable diseases.Children are the most venerable victims of war and no longer remember anything else in this time of crisis. They can’t sleep nor can they see the comfort of their stuffed animals they used to carry around.Its times like this we need to avoid being illiterate and understand how easily ignorance can be absorbed by people.

When you think about it for a moment, does it really make sense?Doctors, biologists, teachers, students, mothers and fathers and their children are all arriving on crowded boats after facing war only to find isolation and somewhere to live; be safe from the horrors of extremists and the airstrikes that crushed their homes and their schools.Why would any of them want to come here and cause trouble?How could a refugee escaping from terrorism be considered a terrorist when they once had a gun pointed at their head?There have been sessions where people of other countries have sat down and spoke with a refugee; all of their stories were similar.Yes, they would say, our homes were raided and things got bad.So we had to leave.The ocean was horrible and many people drowned.We all just wanted to find a place where we could call home and be safe from it all.That’s all we want.

Many children who have been asked questions all said that when the war is over, we want to return home and rebuild it.That is their biggest dream.