Syria from warm abode to cold evictor

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SYRIA was part of the great Ottoman Empire from 1516 until around 1916. It has been under the governance of various Arab governments up to this day, despite the role played by the Ottoman Empire and the governments that followed in terms of shelters found in Syria. Nevertheless, the most important role was that of the Syrians who always opened their country for immigrants.

• Bosniak migrants after the Austria-Serb massacre in 1699
• Ibrahim Basha’s Egyptian soldiers in 1839
• Druze and Christian refugees from Lebanon during the 1860 war
• Circassian, Chechnyan and Dagestan refugees in 1860, after the Russian occupation
• Migrants from Kosovo, Albania after the Serbian occupation in 1912
• Armenian refugees from Turkey in 1914
• Migrants from Albania in 1922, the transformation into secularism
• Kurdish migrants from Turkey in 1933 due to the new secular regime
• Turkish refugees due to new secular regime in Turkey and annexation of Alexandria Command with Turkey in 1939
• Palestinian refugees in the 1948 Palestinian exodus war
• Palestinian refugees during the six days war in 1967
• Refugees from Lebanon in the civil war since 1975
• Refugees from Lebanon in 1996, Qana massacre
• Iraqi refugees during the US occupation in 2003
• Lebanese refugees during the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006

I received this information from a good friend through WhatsApp. The contents shook my emotions toward the current condition of Syrians who are still cited as an example of kindness and generosity by Arabs and Muslims up to this day. How can these civilized people be forced to exile and political asylums in European countries where they are being aggrieved and chased while facing risks constantly; whereas other countries welcome and embrace them like Germany, Austria and Iceland, among others?

The stances of two global blocs on the predicament of our Syrian brothers stirred emotions. The first bloc is composed of the Arab and Islamic nations. We recently heard about the suffering of Syrian refugees in some of these countries … I do not want to mention names due to the sensitive nature of the issue.

Nonetheless, there are kind and generous countries hosting Syrian refugees; such as Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey while the rest are either financers or spectators. Some oil-rich countries provide financial support to the people of Syria. On top of the list of these countries is Kuwait, which has hosted more than once the donors’ conference to help the Syrians.

Other oil-rich countries, including certain individuals and groups from Kuwait, have supported Syria financially not for humanitarian purposes, but for the Syrians to kill one another.

Meanwhile the second bloc includes major countries that have not exerted tangible efforts in supporting our Syrian brothers like the United States of America. The US, which deafened our ears with calls for freedom and human rights, turned its back to Syria. It neither helped Syria in getting rid of its dictatorial regime nor supported it when Islamist savages like ISIL, Qaeda and Nusra, interfered in the conflict. It is strange for the US to reconsider the issue.

Also, the oil-rich Arab countries should change the politics of their financial bags; such that they should start helping and hosting the aggrieved Syria. In spite of being proud of this step as an Arab element, it will still appear behind schedule once the refugee crisis in Syria worsens. Syria, which used to be a warm abode, has become a cold evictor.

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By Ali Ahmed Al-Baghli – Former Minister of Oil

This news has been read 17728 times!