The Syrian War & The Struggles of Syrian Refugees

In 2013, I had the opportunity to teach an Intensive Arabi Course at the University of North

Georgia (It is a military school). During my time there, I had many discussions with my students about

the Middle East in general and Syria in particular. The majority of the students believed that Syrians were

backwards people: they were not educated; women were physically and mentally oppressed; every

woman had to wear the head cover; there was no music, activities, restaurants, bars; and that all people

were radicalized religiously. The first time they questioned what the media here tells them and the belief

systems that their families and friends had was after I showed them a video of a band that was playing in

one of the streets of Damascus. Girls were among the musicians and singers. My students were able to see

the passersby and how diverse they were: veiled and unveiled women, women walking with men, modern

style clothing and markets and the like. This made them question the war that was taking place and the

truth of what the media claims. They learned that Christians and Muslims celebrate their holidays

together, that not all Muslims, especially Muslim women, were conservative. Most importantly, they

learned that there was more to the Syrian war than the news was telling them.

Many Syrians were anti-regime when the riots began, including members of my own family like

my mom, my aunt and my aunt’s husband. Just like the “many”, my closest family members believed

that finally, they were going to get rid of a regime that hogged power for over forty years. Soon, their

one-sidedness changed when they experienced the violence that “those who wanted freedom” were

inflicting. Year after the riots started, Nasra Front and what later would become ISIS fighters/rebels took

hold of some neighborhoods in a district called Qudsaiyya in Damascus. One of these neighborhoods was

where my aunt and one of my uncles lived. Just like in many neighborhoods in Damascus, Homs, Aleppo,

Idlib and the other conflict cities, the rebels would hide in the houses or forcefully break into them and

make them their stronghold to fight the Syrian Army. My aunt and uncle’s family (as well as many other

families in that area) abandoned their homes out of fear of the rebels. The latter tried to break into my

aunt’s house but could not because she had the door fortified with a sort of a panic-room metal door. The

fighters were able to occupy my uncle’s house among the many other houses they broke into. They set up

operation centers in those houses and made them fortresses from where they would launch attacks against

the Syrian Army from. In retaliation, the Syrian Army would bombard those houses. My uncle’s house

was bombed to ashes, literally. Everything in their daughters’ bedroom, to their kitchen appliances, to

their son’s room turned to cinder. Thankfully, no one was there during that time. But my uncle was one of

the lucky ones. Others who could not leave their homes were caught between the two sides and ended up

being killed either by the rebels’ fire or by the Syrian Army bombing. This pattern repeated in other areas

like el-Hameh, ‘Ayn al Wadi, Jobar, Sit Zeinab and other places. The Syrian people suffered and are still

suffering from the consequences of this war. It was not enough that they became homeless in their own

country and lost their homes, but they are vilified as immigrants or refugees as well.

I will speak here only in the case of the United States. The United States Government issued an

executive order in 2017 (order #13769) suspending the entry of Syrian refugees indefinitely and issuing a

travel ban on the families of those who are already in the United States. In other words, the government as

well as the media which relays the news have demonized everyone that comes from Syria. The problem is

that the people they are banning are the same people who are being bombed and displaced by all sides

every day. But they make it sound like any Syrian who is allowed entry is a threat to the security of the

United States, henceforth making life even harder for the Syrians who are already in the United States.

Many Syrians are on a government program called TPS (Temporary Protected Status). The program

offers temporary residency to people escaping natural disasters, civil wars, and the like from different

countries. Many countries like Sudan, Haiti, El Salvador, Syria, Yemen and more are on the TPS list. TPS

is a precarious program. It expires every year and half and those under it have to submit applications for

renewal and pay around 500$ each time. In light of the travel ban, TPS for Syria might be terminated and

thousands will be sent back. So about 10,000 Syrians under TPS, some of whom have started businesses,

some are graduate students, and many working jobs like Uber or Lyft drivers and working warehouse jobs

to make ends meet are threatened to be extradited, their entire life turned upside down after they finally

began to settle down. As for those who have asylum cases, many since 2016 have been denied cases and

had to leave going back to live under fire. Many others still have their cases backlogged. What this means

to them is that they cannot leave the country to see family until their case is decided. I am one of those

people who are both under TPS and asylum. My sister got married, gave birth twice and her eldest

daughter is 4 years old now, and I was unable to be there with her in all of these special moments, and it

is what is happening to many Syrians. They are deprived of the basic rights, feelings and experiences

which other people have just because they were victims of radical groups taking over their houses,

livelihood, hopes and dreams. With the travel ban, it became harder for families to meet. I have a friend

who is a doctor in New Hampshire who has not been able to see his parents for over five years. They

applied to come here and see both him and his brother but were rejected by the embassy twice. Another

friend of mine could not even travel to be with his mother on her death bed or to be at her funeral.

To make matters worse, the civilians in Syria and the internal refugees (those that moved from a

conflict zone to other areas) are suffering poverty, lack of nutrition and medication, lack of basic needs

like bread and flower under the Caesar Act which was issued in 2019 under the title “Caesar Syria

Civilian Protection Act”. 80% of people in Syria now live below the poverty line. Women with their

children are sleeping on the side of the streets because they have no shelter and no money to buy their

kids bread. Many parents started selling their kidneys in order to use the money to keep food on the table.

The situation of refugees is inhumane not only in countries they migrated to, but even more so in their

own country.