Living illegally in Spain, Siwar, a 25 year old from Syria, hasn’t been home or seen his family since 2008 and can’t get his brother out of the country. Since his student visa expired three years ago and his residence renewal was rejected, he repeatedly applies for political asylum, waiting and wondering what will happen.
Throughout my conversation with Siwar it was clear that his and many other families’ problems are exacerbated by the lack of answers and help which Syrian people are receiving from Western governments. Siwar wonders “where is humanity?” and “where are human rights?” as he and the rest of Syria suffer.
Siwar previously went to university in Syria before he was kicked out for teaching Kurdish to fellow students, something that we would consider “very normal” in Europe. He says of the judge for his case: “he treated me like a terrorist. I want to feel proud to be Kurdish and to speak Kurdish,” he says, but he now fears that the regime may target his family for his actions. Siwar says: “I am Kurdish and I am Syrian” but essentially “I am human” and that is what we must remember as Syrian people are killed in the streets and bombed by their own government.
Back home, his family waits to see what will happen. They were originally based in Aleppo but due to violence in the city they have relocated north to a small village. His mother recently returned to Aleppo and described it to him in a phone call as a place where “she can’t sleep because of the sound of the bombs in different districts,” that is full of “people in the streets from other cities and neighbourhoods.” There is no water and sporadic or no electricity. The schools are closed and no one knows when they will open back up again. She makes her own food over the fire “ready for any emergency situation and to escape out of Syria.”
In a recent report, Amnesty International openly urged for Syria’s new opposition leadership “to rein in armed groups amid spiralling abuses.” The same report “reiterated its call on the Syrian government, whose armed forces and paramilitary militias are responsible for most of the violations, to put an immediate end to the increasingly frequent attacks against civilians not involved in the conflict. Notably through indiscriminate air bombardments – including with internationally banned cluster bombs and artillery shelling.”
Civilian lives are increasingly threatened as the violence continues and densely populated residential areas are arbitrarily bombed. From an international perspective it is important that those responsible for commanding these operations are held criminally responsible as they violate international humanitarian law and fail to ensure against war crimes.
Currently, it is Siwar’s priority to get his twenty year old brother out of Syria, where he is in hiding from the Syrian government and into Europe. He was recruited two months ago to fight for the Syrian army and he would have been “killed if he didn’t go.” Many of his friends back in Syria repeatedly appeal to Siwar for help. Meanwhile, he is “stuck in Spain” where he was previously attending university. Days pass by as he tries to renew his visa and he is now stuck in limbo and waiting until February for further information. They have taken his passport and he remains uncertain as to whether the situation outside of Syria will be any better for his brother judging by his own experiences. “I don’t feel that I have a real place where I can have freedom and do what I want” he says.
Unfortunately, the escalating violence “has caused a refugee crisis. On November 9 the UN Refugee Agency announced a surge in the number of Syrians seeking refuge in neighbouring countries,. Numbers indicate that 11,000 have been leaving Syria in a 24-hour period and that already, over 300,000 Syrians have fled from their home country – Siwar among them. Additionally, more than one million others have been displaced by fighting and violence within Syria and have moved to other parts of the country – including Siwar’s mother, father and brother.
Despite the fact that so many people in Syria remain in terrifying situations and appalling living conditions, European countries repeatedly reject visa applications. In the case of Siwar’s brother, this forces him to remain in a life-threatening situation in Syria or become an illegal immigrant and then apply for asylum. It would cost 8,000 Euros to pay the Mafia to get him to Turkey but that solution is dangerous and expensive. Furthermore, once in Turkey, whether legally or illegally he risks being sent to a “Turkish camp for refugees which is like a jail. They don’t let you out.” Neither option is appealing.
Until recently Siwar used a false name as he didn’t want to endanger his family back in Syria. As “a regime which doesn’t have any humanity” he worried they would target and possibly kill them. However, since applying for asylum he has been using his own name and trying to rally support and help to get his brother out of Syria.
The Syrian people are losing their fear because they have nothing left to lose” he says. “Killing is very normal in Syria where the only language is violence. So far, the international community has failed to take effective action to stop the bloodshed in Syria”. So where is Europe and why aren’t they accepting refugees who flee from this brutal situation in their home country?