Careless handling of the 2015 Middle East refugee crisis
The Western world wakes up suddenly to weep over the plight of Ukrainian refugees
Europe's doors are open for Ukrainian refugees, unlike other refugees from the Middle East.
From the source
Columns of Ukrainian refugees enter Poland.
From the source
The 2015 Middle East refugee crisis reflects the differential treatment of refugees.
archival
picture
Two parallel images came to mind after witnessing the human flood heading towards me on the border between Ukraine and Poland.
The first picture shows large hands holding their young, little heads resting on weary shoulders, and the hum of the constantly rolling bags.
I see dazed frozen faces, streaks of shock that will never fade.
Their eyes glittered in utter despair, minds unable to comprehend reality.
These scenes evoked a second image that flashed through my mind during my coverage of the 2015 refugee crisis. At that time, crowds scrambled toward the barbed wire on the border between Greece and Macedonia.
A mother holds her child under a plastic cloth in the pouring rain, and a father holds his young daughter, who suffers from fever and apathy, telling us: “Look at her, look at her condition, she was a princess in Syria.”
Other people's lives are worth nothing
Today, it seems that the world has finally woken up to the ruthlessness and danger of the Russian government.
It is as if the Syrians for years have not been subjected to extermination under the same Russian bombs.
It is as if the voices of a huge number of Syrians, begging the world to help them, did not reach the ears of the Western world.
The refugees asked me at the time: “Why does the world not care about us?” But I never dared to answer the question, so as not to inflict more pain on them.
How can you tell someone that their life is not part of a geopolitical calculation, that life in the grand scheme is for puppeteer, and that other people's lives are worth nothing?
Today we are painfully witnessing the selective welcome of refugees, and the selective punishment of war criminals. It is not only the biased Western media, but the entire Western world.
In the rhetoric of politicians, journalists and world leaders I hear phrases such as: Ukrainians are “a prosperous middle-class people,” “neighbors,” “civilized,” as if skin color determines who deserves to be saved and who does not, or the language they speak. What he owes, what religion he owes, or where he was born are criteria for saving someone from perdition.
favoritism and flattery
Today in Poland I see a shining picture of what a refugee should find in terms of welcome, kindness and compassion.
Hundreds of volunteers and buses waiting for the refugees, bus after bus offering free trips, to warm accommodations, host country security forces facilitating their movement, providing information and shelter for them, as well as anguish “It’s okay, you are safe.” Now, what can I do for you?”
Heartbreaking ugly truth
Once again, I go back to what happened when refugees from the Middle East did not find such a welcome.
In 2015, none of the restaurants or cafes around the Hungarian Budapest train station allowed refugees to enter.
The security forces were hunting the fleeing like cattle, queues of refugees stretching for miles, walking and hoping, and asking God to make fun of them who have mercy on them.
There was a lot of anti-refugee rhetoric from European governments and residents at the time, fearful of an ISIS infiltration, but those on the road were "very different".
Yes, this was also at the height of the ISIS bombings in Europe.
But it was also the culmination of attacks by ISIS and other terrorist groups on citizens in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond.
In the midst of this sad reality, many in the Western world considered that all these refugees - who came from the Middle East, North Africa and Afghanistan - were considered "others", adding to their pain and suffering.
At the time, I told the world on CNN that Syrians, like everyone else, had dreams, homes, and a sense of safety that they lost.
I felt that my words did not find an echo or penetrate the feeling of the Western world.
For the vast majority of our Western audience, they have remained "other" people.
As a journalist, I often ask myself: Did I somehow fail at that time to get the message across?
How could I tell the stories of these refugees, so that the world could care about them?
I felt this guilt and carried it inside me for years, and I still carry it today.
for I had, of course, to find a way to draw the attention of the Western world, that same world which now stands on the side of the Ukrainians;
Although the Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans and others took the same path through Europe, they were just like them.
I'm an Arab-American, but my appearance - light skin, green eyes, blonde hair - doesn't suggest Arab stereotypes, and no one asks where I belong.
Now I see the feeling of the Syrian and Iraqi faces in the faces of the Ukrainians.
This week I have been watching Ukrainian women and children queuing up waiting buses, but I am relieved that they are so welcome and that their refugee story is different.
different welcome
There have already been some heartwarming moments in 2015. On the highway linking Hungary with Austria, the refugees have stopped, men, women and young people resting in prams, being given food and water.
They apologized for their government's behavior by saying, "We are not all like that."
At temporary assembly points, local efforts eventually combined with larger charities to provide basic shelter.
But none of this I can compare to what I am witnessing here in Ukraine and Poland.
In every refugee resettlement center and border crossing, there are mountains of clothes, food, baby carriages, and much more.
The entire government apparatus and an army of volunteers are working side by side to help the fleeing Ukrainians.
I remember when the German chancellor at the time, Angela Merkel, said that her country would take one million Syrians.
The refugees I was with in Hungary started crying with joy.
They finally felt welcome and no longer feel like they are being treated like trash.
But in the end, as the months passed, Europe's biggest solution was to strike a deal with Turkey to close the migrants' route, freezing the entry of those on the road to oblivion.
Seven years later, many of them are still in the same camps and temporary centers, and their situation remains the same.
Some children born in the camps have never known a real home.
It is likely that many in the Western world are unaware that many Syrians still live in these makeshift camps.
comparison
I compare these memories with what is happening around the world today, when many countries announced that they would welcome all Ukrainian refugees.
I see Western countries offering these refugees residency for years, work permits, and free transit to other countries.
I see how Western and other powers express their anger at what is happening in Ukraine, the very countries that, at best, have been rants when it comes to Syria, and those that have kept their mouths shut.
I see one Western country after another uniting in pressure on Russia, imposing tougher sanctions than ever before.
I see credit card companies refusing to stay in Russia, airlines stopping services, and products being boycotted.
No matter where they come from, the refugees' feelings are very similar: their inability to understand how their reality has suddenly and violently changed, and the survivors' guilt for not rescuing those who died there, even if they tried to save their children.
Every war is drawn up by forces greater than the individual, fueled by the greed and cruelty of geopolitics.
But the pain of humanity trapped within this game remains the same, it is the pain generated by the feeling that the homeland is not only safe, but does not exist at all.
Places in villages and towns, where little feet used to run and chase each other, are now reduced to rubble.
The kitchens and living rooms, where families gather for meals and couples quarrel beneath, are covered in gray dust.
This is a pain that all humanity must feel, and the reaction to it must be equal.
• In 2015, none of the restaurants or cafes around the Hungarian Budapest train station allowed refugees to enter, and the security forces were hunting those fleeing like cattle.
• We are painfully witnessing today the selective welcome of refugees, and the selective punishment of war criminals, and it is not only the biased Western media, but the entire Western world.
Arwa Damon ■ CNN correspondent in Istanbul, specializing in Middle East affairs
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