Din iunie 2013 vecina noastra Bulgaria adaposteste refugiati din Siria (in tabara Voenna Rampa). Mass-media din Romania s-a facut ca nu vede subiectul refugiatilor vreme de doi ai si a inceput sa il acopere timid abia dupa ce Italia si Grecia atrageau atentia ca Mediterana se transforma intr-un cimitir. Dupa ce imigrantii au ajuns in numar mare in Macedonia si Serbia tema a devenit si in Romania un subiect pentru presa mainstream.
De cand imigrantii au ajuns in garile din Ungaria si mai ales de cand ungurii au scos armata si au construit garduri la granita cu Serbia foarte multi romani (in special pe Facebook) au devenit experti in problema. Cu studentii mei am discutat la cursurile si seminarele de Politologie, Comunicare politica sau Sociologie tema in ultimii doi ani academici, asa ca cel putin pentru ei valul de imigranti din ultimele luni nu reprezinta deloc o surpriza.
La conferintele stiintifice la care am participat in Vestul Europei si la bursa din SUA, din Ohio State, am intalnit si m-am imprietenit cu profesori si cercetatori din Liban, Turcia, Algeria, India, Mozambique, Chile, Ucraina etc. Unii sunt musulmani, altii sunt crestini. Am decis sa fac interviuri cu ei (pe Fb sau pe Skype) pe care sa le public pe blog si sa le ofer presei mainstrem interesate de abordarea subiectului refugiatilor din Orientul Mijlociu si din Africa din perspectiva unor specialisti (neangajati politic si aparatori al valorilor laice) din regiune.
Am realizat primul interviu cu Sleiman El Bssawmai, un coleg profesor de la Lebannes University din Beirut.
Dear friend, Sleiman El Bssawmai, please let me know how is the Syrian refugees’ situation in Lebanon! I hope you and your family are ok!
The situation is catastrophic. No one is safe in Syria, regardless of their religion. Refugees are fleeing their country massively and Lebanon is receiving more than 2000 individual daily. The number of Refugees in Lebanon right now is around 1 million, keeping in mind that the whole population of Lebanon is 4.5 million so you can imagine how bad the situation is right now for both refugees and Lebanese. Many NGOs are working here in Lebanon to help, but the number of refugee is approximately reaching one third of the initial population. I hope that this stupid war gets to an end. But it is a very sad and agonizing moment in history of the Middle East.
I know that over 4 million refugees have fled to Syria’s near-by neighbours: Turkey (almost 2 million), Lebanon (1,5 million), Jordan (630,000), Iraq (250,000) and Egypt (130,000). Under 150,000 Syrians have declared asylum in the European Union, but the ones who are coming are asking for asylum only in Germany or Sweden…. Why do not they want to stay also in other European countries?
Germany, Sweden and Britain are the Promised Land to any refugee coming from the Middle East. They think that these countries do not export any refugee due to the respect these countries have towards human rights issues. Unfortunately the road is long and risky from Syria to Germany.
Here in Romania or in EU countries some populist politicians are claiming that some of the refugees might be terrorists. What do you think about that?
Concerning the fact that some EU officials are afraid that the Refugees are terrorists, well this is a very funny statement. A man fleeing with his family and seeking shelter is not a terrorist. A terrorist without a weapon is not a terrorist…. But what is far more catastrophic is that, Gulf countries – Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Emirates – (financing the rebels and ISIS in Syria through Turkey), didn’t even bother to lend any kind of help.
Even though these people are Sunni too… Why don’t the Gulf countries still help them?
Because they don’t wanna shake their already fragile status-quo. In fact, they want to get rid of Bashar al-Assad regime at any price. Sure, they are sending money to Turkey to help the Refugees… (Unfortunately) ISIS is the wining horse that everyone (Saudi Arabia, especially) is beating on to break the Assad-Iran-Russia team.
Sleiman El Bssawmai, profesor de la Lebannes University din Beirut este crestin-ortodox, doctor in stiinte sociale si preda cursuri de Jurnalism si Comunicare.