By Maydaa Abo El-Nadar
The five wealthiest Gulf nations, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, have been blamed recently for their silence on the Syrian refugee crisis, especially after several European countries interfered to solve this crisis.
Amnesty International has described the reaction of these five countries to the Syrian refugees’ crisis as shameful.
The European governments’ response to the refugee crisis was markedly different, as on Monday, French president François Hollande announced that France would take in 24,000 refugees. Hollande also called on the UK to take its fair share of the refugees.
From his end, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the UK would accept 20,000 refugees by 2020, a decision criticised by Yvette Cooper, a runner for the opposition Labour Party’s leadership. She commented that the 20,000 figure is inadequate; she has previously expressed that the UK should accept up 50,000 refugees.
A demonstration held in Austria last Monday is still echoing, as on Sunday, a Spanish citizen read in public some letters sent by Spanish citizens who offered accommodation to help refugees. The Spaniard expressed the strength of individuals to face this humanitarian crisis, and criticised the silence of public institutions.
Barcelona residents, considered one of the largest and most important of Spanish cities, also expressed their sincere desire to receive the Syrian refugees. On the walls of the city’s buildings, the sentence: “Refuges welcome, tourists go home, patriots fuck off, police kill yourself” appeared on the walls of the city’s building.
Under the hash-tag of #CiutatRefugi, and the slogan “Refugees Welcome to Barcelona”, a group of Spanish citizens assured their will and obligation to help and receive the refugees. This keeps in mind the economic crisis that Spain, which already has many Arab and African immigrants, is currently suffering from.
Magued El-Gebaly, Coordinator of the Portuguese Language Department at Aswan University, told Daily News Egypt that, according to the Brazilian Ministry of Defence’s website, Brazil also did not remain silent. A few days ago, the country’s Minister of Defence, Jaques Wagner, in coordination with the Brazilian Navy Commander, Admiral Eduardo Leal Ferreira, requested the rescue of a refugee boat which was on the verge of drowning in the Mediterranean. The frigate (V34), which operates for the United Nations peacekeeping near to the Lebanese coasts, has rescued 220 refugees so far, including 94 women and 37 children.
Last Saturday, many youngsters in the Swiss city of Zurich joined a demonstration held in solidarity with the Syrian refugees. Austrian aid is ongoing as, last Sunday, a convoy of about 140 to 170 cars driven by Austrian and German activists travelled to Hungary to pick up the remaining refugees and help them reach safely to Vienna and Western Europe, despite the announcement of Hungarian police spokeswoman Viktoria Csiszer-Kovacs announcing anyone taking migrants across the border was breaking the law.
Can Gülcü, one of the citizens who organised the convoy, under the name of “Convoy Budapest-Vienna”, told Daily News Egypt that it was not only aiming at rescuing the refugees, but it represented a protest against the migration policies applied by the EU. It also represented a protest against the Dublin III regulations, accused of failing in providing fair, efficient and effective protection for refugees.
Gülcü pointed out that he was there Monday night as still there are many refugees in Budapest Keleti-Station. The number of refugees in the camp of Röszke is increasing as the flow of Syrians jumping from the Serbian borders to the Hungarian ones continues.
Despite of the abovementioned signs of solidarity in Europe, some countries in the continent, such as Greece and Hungary, were blamed for their reactions.
An Austrian citizen, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Daily News Egypt: “I do not agree with the ill-treatment the Syrian refugees received in Hungary.”
This ill-treatment was one of the main reasons that pushed Austrian citizens to hold the demonstration held on 31 August in solidarity with the Syrian refugees.
On the other hand, Gülcü commented that regarding their convoy sent to Hungary: “We could perceive the solidarity of Hungarian civil society, which has also actively supported the refugees including Hungarian NGOs such as Migrant Solidarity Group and Migartion Aid.”
According to Amnesty International’s website, thousands of refugees, including children, remained in inhumane conditions on Greek soil, a situation that has forced the European Commission leaders to visit the Island of Kos only a few days ago, aiming to end the refugees’ suffering.
