I ended the previous vlog by sharing with you "another truth" - that of Lebanese citizens feeling restricted in their daily lives by the presence of Syrian refugees in their country. Yesterday's experience further amplified and jumbled up my thoughts, to such an extent that rhetorically I am asking myself: "Who Should I Pity?"
A coin has two faces; heads and tails:
Heads - the refugees side. Families who have escaped the Syrian war and have set-up camp in different places across Lebanon, living with the bare essentials in what were supposedly temporary camps to host families from Syria. The war started in 2012… fast forward five years to 2017 and these temporary camps are still present here in Lebanon; (should we start thinking twice before making use of the word "temporary"?). Even though the situation in Syria has calmed down recently, the Syrians in Lebanon still feel hesitant about going back to their country for various reasons; For starters, they have nothing to go back to (houses destroyed, jobs lost… etc). Secondly, they seem to be settling in quite smoothly in Lebanon...
Tails - the Lebanese citizens. Five years ago they were the first point of reference to the Syrian refugees - they offered a helping hand by opening the doors to their homes, provided resources and comfort. Fast forward to the present day, and the Lebanese feel suffocated by the presence of Syrian camps all over the country, confronting problems such as the overflowing garbage system. Moreover, Syrians are nowadays getting jobs here in Lebanon and are not contributing by paying taxes, but the benefits for Lebanon are pretty much in the negative.
With these two faces of a coin pictured quite clearly in our heads, who should we pity? Shall we flip a coin and see whether it's heads or tails?
Such thoughts emanated from two moments I experienced today.
After delivering our first lesson of the week, we were hosted by a family in a refugee camp residing in Majdal Anjar, close to the tuition centre where the other group is giving classes. The family welcomed us in their camp and treated us like one of their own… literally! They offered us all their best snacks (even Ice-Cream!), cleaned their camp, and the mother even baked a cake after a day's work simply because she knew we were visiting the camp. Once there, we sang songs with the family and spoke in both our native languages - a truly joyful and intimate experience.
From the refugee camp, we headed straight to a physical border set-up to control the flow between Syria and Lebanon. Discipline and a sense of coldness was felt at the border where tight scrutiny is carried out by Lebanese soldiers on each car entering or exiting Lebanon. A spontaneous conversation came up with 'Wakie', where the Tail side of the coin was expressed by himself - genuine concern could be seen on his face especially when relating this problem to his kids.
Their future is at stake, especially if this problem persists.
Adrian Cassar + Paul Asciak
from The Malta Independent http://ift.tt/2tZq1r2
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