Margaret McDonald |
Does anybody really know the true reasons for the conflict in Syria? Do we really understand the political and social issues that plague the country? Admittedly, from frantic news articles to tragic scenes of desperation and violence, some of the context is lost.
So why are people fleeing?
Forget the government for a moment. Forget the politics that lead to inevitable confusion: I’ll paint a scene.
Syria is a country of corruption, brutality and inequality. Protestors march the streets, and the government kills those who speak against it. Now, even innocent civilians, who have remained silent, are being bombed and massacred. Half of the whole country’s population has been displaced, with nearly 4 million people fleeing for their lives.
So imagine this; your country is under attack from those who are supposed to protect it. It isn’t safe to go outside, to see your friends or live your life. Your family decides that to move to another country would be the best option; to escape the violence and try to find a safer world. But you can’t. The surrounding countries won’t accept you into their land, borders are being put up to lock you out and leave you to fend for yourself. Nobody is going to come and save you. In desperation, you try to get out any way you can – illegally being transported from boats, swimming to the shore. But desperation breeds violence, and the millions of people trying to enter into another country sink the boats, and many people are trampled in the haste.
300 migrants reportedly drowned after attempting to cross rough Mediterranean seas, a shipwreck off the coast of Italy was estimated to have taken 800 and two boats have sunk carrying 500 migrants from Libya. Horrifically, 71 bodies were found in an abandoned lorry travelling from Syria.
Imagine how desperate, how terrified, you must have to be, to take such extreme measures to escape. Migrants run as though running for their lives, as though running from a monster. And they are.
