Patrick Lyon, Staff Writer


The Center for Social Concerns hosted a discussion on the rising crisis in Syria titled “Dignity and Justice for Migrants and Refugees: the Case of Syria” on September 2 in Geddes Hall.

Professor Asher Kaufman, formerly of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, began by giving a brief history of Syria over the last 100 years.  He spoke of how, according to the Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916, France was given what is now Syria after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I.  In 1946, Syria gained independence and promptly became a very exclusive Arab State.  Decades of coup d’états followed this until the Alawites and Hafez Al Assad seized control around 1970.  Assad’s rule brought a solidification of the Alawites, a strong centralized government and a brutal regime, but nonetheless achieved a stability that had not been seen in Syria for years.

“From a weak country, he turned Syria into a regional sort of a superpower,” Kaufman explained.  “Syria slowly but surely enjoyed a stability that it did not have before 1970.”  This regime  remained in power after Assad’s son, Bashar, came to power in 2000.  In 2011, the mass rebel movement known as the “Arab Spring” broke out in protest to the Assad regime, and civil war has been escalating ever since, with many neighboring countries being drawn into this conflict.

The next speaker, Mr. Kevin Appleby, works with the United States Council of Catholic Bishops in migration and refugee policies.  His presentation focused on the refugee crisis in particular, and he drew attention to several telling estimates and projections to put this crisis into focus.  For instance, there are approximately 1.8 million refugees from Syria, and estimates point to there being as many as 3.5 million by the end of 2013.

This outflow into neighboring countries has overtaxed the refugee support systems to the breaking point, as these institutions are in need of about 5 billion dollars to accommodate this number of refugees.  International aid has been sluggish in providing support, as only 1.1 billion has been collected so far, primarily from the United States.  This lack of support is likely to further escalate the already critical problems in Syria, as neighboring countries may well have to close their borders to refugees for lack of a sufficient aid system.  In addition, although the support is already spread thin, many of those who need aid are dispersed in local communities rather than refugee camps, making it difficult for them to receive anything.

Furthermore, those fleeing Syria are not the only ones who need care.  Many refugees in Syria from Iraq and other war-torn Middle Eastern countries are unable to be relocated due to the ongoing war.  The Christian minorities in the country are caught between the rebels and Assad’s forces, as they were protected under Assad’s regime but are currently left to fend for themselves.

Appleby concluded by calling attention to a few bright spots in the crisis.  Although international aid has been slow at best, non-profit organizations such as Catholic Relief Services have played major roles in providing aid to those that local relief services cannot help, and are for the moment able to help an insufficiently funded system provide aid to those who need it.

Father Dan Groody, CSC, spoke last and presented the issue as a theological meditation, reflecting on details of his own journey through Syria.  He told of his discussions with the refugees themselves, and how they agreed that the most difficult part of fleeing their country during a crisis is the knowledge that there may be no home to which to return, if indeed they ever do return.

Fr. Groody shared the story of a woman he encountered who had just lost her husband and three sons; the despair she felt and the look in her eyes reminded him of the Pieta that he had seen only once before, but which now seemed to be a living image before him.

Fr. Groody offered a final reflection on the experience of climbing and standing atop Mount Nebo, where, according to the Bible, Moses looked out on the Promised Land just before his death.  Moses saw the land toward which he had spent his life journeying but was ultimately unable to enter.  His people were waiting to cross the Jordan into their new home, led by Joshua.

Father Groody noted that, from atop Mount Nebo, his mind was focused on the human condition.  The world has the same issues now that it did in the time of Moses, albeit on a grander scale.  When he looked out over Mount Nebo, Fr. Groody realized “that we are still waiting to cross the Jordan.”

These three men did an excellent job of presenting these issues from different perspectives, and their exhortation was well received by an inspired audience.  They fleshed out a problem that has taken a backseat to the Syrian civil conflicts, and offered the audience a clear picture of the emigration crisis and how crucial it is to help these embattled refugees.

“We’re debating these cruise missiles going into Syria, which is a serious issue, but there’s really no discussion of this major humanitarian crisis that’s occurring,” summarized Appleby.  “In that way our priorities are backwards.”

Patrick Lyon is a freshman who plans on majoring in the Program of Liberal Studies. He enjoys juggling and singing for fair maids, or discussing anything that happened before the 20th century. Contact him at plyon@nd.edu.