Reverend CJ Hawking, Executive Director of Rise Chicago and Harry F. Ward pastor of “Achieving Social Justice” at the United Methodist Church in Oak Park
I received a generous invitation from the Executive Director of the American Zakat Foundation, Mr. Khalil Demir, to witness the work of the Zakat Foundation to help the Syrian refugees present on the Turkish-Syrian borders, in addition to welcoming the American Congressional delegation who came specially to learn about the work of the Zakat Foundation in that region. Here I would like to tell you about my personal experience of that visit.
We can never understand everything that the meaning of asylum or being a refugee refers to. It is almost impossible for most of us to understand the true meaning of asylum or the experience that refugees live. We just have to imagine things to approximate that picture. Imagine that half of your country’s citizens are leaving their homeland and fleeing Fearing for their lives, as well as imagine the death of all your family and friends and the destruction of cities and villages, imagine all those things that forced you to make such a sinister decision and to abandon and abandon all that you are used to in your life.
Imagine that you have to choose the things and things that you will carry with you, knowing that you are carrying them on your back or in your arms, Imagine that you will say goodbye to your home, your neighbors, your school and all the things that were part of your life - such as your doctor, your faith group, your school, and your favorite bread shop Imagine that all the means that bring you peace of mind, the daily routine that you are accustomed to and the individuals who give a sense of belonging to the place, imagine that all of this disappears from your life in a short period.
Imagine the presence of your young children with you, how can you explain to them everything that is happening and all the instability they see in their lives and how they can absorb it, as well as how can you explain that to yourself?
Or imagine having elderly parents you were caring for, a pregnant sister, or a disabled teenage boy that you were supervising.
Nothing is certain except for not knowing what would happen to them or the total chaos their lives might prevail because of it.
So the question arises: Where and how can refugees find hope for a bright tomorrow in the midst of everything that happens to them?
A great responsibility has been placed on Turkey, and in particular, the city of Gaziantep, to bear more than what is reasonable or what is expected of any other city or country.
Gaziantep, which has a population of one and a half million, is the largest city in southeastern Turkey and is the closest city to the Syrian-Turkish border, and at the same time there are many refugee camps scattered in the countryside near it.
In addition, about three hundred thousand people have been displaced to the city of Gaziantep, which means that there is one refugee for every five indigenous people of Gaziantep, which is equivalent to the residency of six hundred thousand refugees in the city limits of Chicago.
As a result, rental prices will rise by thirty-three percent as the demand for rent becomes very high, as is the case in similar cities such as Chicago.
This will negatively affect employment in the city of Gaziantep, just as it can happen in Chicago, because refugees do not hesitate to accept any profession and any wage, no matter how small, which leads to a reduction in the employment of local workers and leaving large numbers of them from work.
All of this can generate and inflame feelings of resentment and anger, leading to divisions between citizens and refugees, which, if left untreated and not addressed in a balanced manner, can lead to dire consequences.
Moreover, although most of the residents are Turks and Syrians in that region follow the same religion, their languages, cultures, and customs differ.
I have learned that there is one city with a population of fifteen thousand, while it has received about twenty thousand refugees
This situation is not limited to the Syrians, I believe, but extends to include the original inhabitants of the city. The two groups of residents will suffer from profound psychological trauma, as the lives of the residents have changed in a short period and at all levels.
For most of us, gradual change is difficult, and for the refugees they receive the impact of the level of change they face is profound and hard to imagine, which can cause major psychological trauma.
Here, we also ask: Where and how can societies that receive and welcome refugees find hope for a bright tomorrow?
The work that the Zakat Foundation does in Turkey is pivotal and crucial to achieving stability in people's lives, and thus throughout the region.
The Kurdish village of Sirtab, which is inhabited by 300 people, is located thirty minutes from the city of Gaziantep, and it belongs to the Urfa region, where Khalil Demir, the Executive Director of the Zakat Foundation, grew up.
Mr. Demir's knowledge of that area and his extensive personal contacts helped the Zakat Foundation to be at the forefront of responding to the refugee crisis, and the Foundation was able to reach refugees before other agencies such as Red Cross teams arrived.
The emergency aid distributed by the Zakat Foundation has resulted in the realization of the necessary relief and brought comfort and reassurance to the refugees, but despite this there are still many other stages of the refugee journey.
The arrival of refugees to a safe camp for them is the first step in achieving stability in their lives, and everything that comes after that will have a significant impact on the following years.
There is another question that poses itself: What might happen after three hundred thousand refugees entered the city of Gaziantep?
Mr. Demir has benefited from his wide relations and contacts in addition to his good and praiseworthy reputation in the Gaziantep region, the reputation that led the citizens of the region to name a school there. Mr. Demir took advantage of all this to ask the leaders of the city of Gaziantep to allow him to establish schools to teach the children of Syrian refugees. On the basis that Syrian teachers teach Syrian students in the afternoon and after.