Refugee children
25/05/16 05:19
I watched a striking animation recently. It was posted on the BBC website. It tells the story of Omar, a sixteen-year-old unaccompanied minor who lives in the Calais “Jungle” camp. Omar is hoping to join relatives in the UK. He drew sketches of his life to date which wee animated by professional media artists from BBC.
The sun was just appearing over the hills when Omar was coming home from his uncle’s house when he heard an approaching jet. There had been so much activities in the skies, the even little children could distinguish the various aircraft: Sukhoi, Mig or helicopter. Soon he could hear the whistle of other jets as they flew by and the sound of explosions all around him. They were dropping barrel bombs and he did not dare to look to see where they were falling. There was no home for Omar to return to. Eventually, simply trying to get away from the war, he found his way to a refugee boat. It was the first time he had ever been on a boat. The smugglers from Turkey threatened the refugees with weapons. In the middle of the sea, the engine began to make strange noises. Then it fell silent. Everyone was very frightened, but then they saw two dolphins and they forgot about their troubles for a moment. After an hour of drifting, the engine was repaired enough to start once again and the journey continued. Omar and the others on the boat had traveled from Syria all the way to Greece. From there, he followed other refugees, walking, boarding another boat, walking more and finally boarding trains, which took him to Calais, in France. Always he was asking about Britain, where he has relatives. In Germany he was taken alone into an inspection room where he was made to undress. In his fear he attempted to hide his passport, but it was discovered by an officer who hit him for the offense. When he reached Calais, he became stuck in the camp. He’s been their for a year and a half now. There is no way out unless somebody on the outside helps one of the minors in the camp. He wants to get to Britain, where he has relatives. He wants to live, just like anyone else. Omar is still living in the squalid shanty town of blue tarps and a few boards in Calais, but his story has now made it across the channel to England, where there are people working for his release. He has helpers. He hopes to make it to England by September so he can start school.
For now, he is alone in the camp. He becomes frightened. Sometimes he cries out in the night, waking in fear. Sometimes there are rats in the room with him. Sometimes he wishes he could at least have a window in the tarp shack to let in a little light.
It is a story of courage and human survival against the odds, but it is just one story.
There have been various jungle camps around Calais since 1999, with migrants from as far away as Afghanistan. The “official” camp is composed of tents and tarps on a former landfill site. It is beyond capacity with over 6,000 residents. There are no proper sanitary or washing facilities. Food is supplied by charity kitchens. There is a fear in France that anything done to improve the living conditions will attract more immigrants striving to reach the UK with no way to cross the English Channel. Rumors that the land extends and one can walk all the way from France to Britain abound among refugees across Europe.
There have been numerous attempts to force the refugees out of the camps. In February the French government evicted 1,000 refugees from the camp. During the evictions, the southern side of the camp was demolished. Huts were set on fire. The French government has supplied 125 shipping containers to serve as housing units, but they remain mostly vacant because registration is required to live in the units and refugees fear that registration will prevent them from living in the UK.
Reports have come that hundreds of children have been raped and beaten in the camps. More than a hundred children have been reported as missing from the camps. Across Europe there are more than 10,000 unaccompanied minors who are reported missing.
No one is telling their stories.
The more children who die, the fewer remain to tell the story.
We live in a moment of history with an unprecedented refugee crisis. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports that there were 19.5 million refugees worldwide at the end of 2014. That number does not include an an additional 5.1 million Palestinian refugees registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Those are only the refugees who have reported to official agencies, a small slice of the total number. The Atlantic reported that the total number of refugees and internally displaced people worldwide is almost 60 million. Put another way, that’s as if the entire population of Italy were pushed out of their homes. Or to look at it in yet a different way that’s one in every 122 people worldwide. The number of refugees and internally displaced people has reached its highest point since World War II.
Omar’s plight illustrates something about the crisis that is often hidden in the media reports. War and migration have deep and long-lasting effects on mental health. The trauma witnessed by children remains with them for the rest of their lives. It affects their children as well. We, who live far from the crush of the crisis, will be affected by it. The world’s economy and culture have already been affected and those effects are just beginning to be known. The reach of this crisis is far into our future as a planet.
In the midst of the numbers and the statistics, it is refreshing to read a single story and be reminded that the crisis is about individuals with hopes and dreams and aspirations all their own.
I just wonder about all of the children with no one to help them tell their stories.
The sun was just appearing over the hills when Omar was coming home from his uncle’s house when he heard an approaching jet. There had been so much activities in the skies, the even little children could distinguish the various aircraft: Sukhoi, Mig or helicopter. Soon he could hear the whistle of other jets as they flew by and the sound of explosions all around him. They were dropping barrel bombs and he did not dare to look to see where they were falling. There was no home for Omar to return to. Eventually, simply trying to get away from the war, he found his way to a refugee boat. It was the first time he had ever been on a boat. The smugglers from Turkey threatened the refugees with weapons. In the middle of the sea, the engine began to make strange noises. Then it fell silent. Everyone was very frightened, but then they saw two dolphins and they forgot about their troubles for a moment. After an hour of drifting, the engine was repaired enough to start once again and the journey continued. Omar and the others on the boat had traveled from Syria all the way to Greece. From there, he followed other refugees, walking, boarding another boat, walking more and finally boarding trains, which took him to Calais, in France. Always he was asking about Britain, where he has relatives. In Germany he was taken alone into an inspection room where he was made to undress. In his fear he attempted to hide his passport, but it was discovered by an officer who hit him for the offense. When he reached Calais, he became stuck in the camp. He’s been their for a year and a half now. There is no way out unless somebody on the outside helps one of the minors in the camp. He wants to get to Britain, where he has relatives. He wants to live, just like anyone else. Omar is still living in the squalid shanty town of blue tarps and a few boards in Calais, but his story has now made it across the channel to England, where there are people working for his release. He has helpers. He hopes to make it to England by September so he can start school.
For now, he is alone in the camp. He becomes frightened. Sometimes he cries out in the night, waking in fear. Sometimes there are rats in the room with him. Sometimes he wishes he could at least have a window in the tarp shack to let in a little light.
It is a story of courage and human survival against the odds, but it is just one story.
There have been various jungle camps around Calais since 1999, with migrants from as far away as Afghanistan. The “official” camp is composed of tents and tarps on a former landfill site. It is beyond capacity with over 6,000 residents. There are no proper sanitary or washing facilities. Food is supplied by charity kitchens. There is a fear in France that anything done to improve the living conditions will attract more immigrants striving to reach the UK with no way to cross the English Channel. Rumors that the land extends and one can walk all the way from France to Britain abound among refugees across Europe.
There have been numerous attempts to force the refugees out of the camps. In February the French government evicted 1,000 refugees from the camp. During the evictions, the southern side of the camp was demolished. Huts were set on fire. The French government has supplied 125 shipping containers to serve as housing units, but they remain mostly vacant because registration is required to live in the units and refugees fear that registration will prevent them from living in the UK.
Reports have come that hundreds of children have been raped and beaten in the camps. More than a hundred children have been reported as missing from the camps. Across Europe there are more than 10,000 unaccompanied minors who are reported missing.
No one is telling their stories.
The more children who die, the fewer remain to tell the story.
We live in a moment of history with an unprecedented refugee crisis. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports that there were 19.5 million refugees worldwide at the end of 2014. That number does not include an an additional 5.1 million Palestinian refugees registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Those are only the refugees who have reported to official agencies, a small slice of the total number. The Atlantic reported that the total number of refugees and internally displaced people worldwide is almost 60 million. Put another way, that’s as if the entire population of Italy were pushed out of their homes. Or to look at it in yet a different way that’s one in every 122 people worldwide. The number of refugees and internally displaced people has reached its highest point since World War II.
Omar’s plight illustrates something about the crisis that is often hidden in the media reports. War and migration have deep and long-lasting effects on mental health. The trauma witnessed by children remains with them for the rest of their lives. It affects their children as well. We, who live far from the crush of the crisis, will be affected by it. The world’s economy and culture have already been affected and those effects are just beginning to be known. The reach of this crisis is far into our future as a planet.
In the midst of the numbers and the statistics, it is refreshing to read a single story and be reminded that the crisis is about individuals with hopes and dreams and aspirations all their own.
I just wonder about all of the children with no one to help them tell their stories.