The Syrian struggle has been ongoing for almost nine years now. About 5.6 million refugees have fled their country; most of them now living in extreme poverty, and their destiny continues to be unclear. Will they be able to go back home again? If they can’t, where else will they go?
The American Actor and Activist Ben Stiller, who has been appointed as UNHCR goodwill ambassador last year, recently visited the Syrian refugee camp in Bar Elias, Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. In an interview with CBS news, Stiller stated that he met with the refugee children saying that “they are living in limbo”, urging the U.S to take more refugees in and not think of them as the enemy or mere statistics.
The UN has estimated that about 2.6 million children have, unfortunately, been forced to flee their homes but are still inside Syria. Also, more than 2.5 million Syrian youth are living as refugees outside of their country.
Stiller used his high profile to shed light on this crisis, to let the world know more about it and how matters are only getting worse. The restrictions on those refugees are higher than ever, most of which is actually against the law. Syrians are literally struggling to survive!
However, it’s actually a relief knowing that the UN agencies including UNHCR, as well as the World Food Program, provide assistance to the displaced Syrians. That includes education, shelter, and social services; but it’s not enough, it’s still not safe for them to go home. “Those people are suffering through no fault of their own,” Stiller said. “These are innocent victims of war and conflict”.
He added saying, “refugees are additive to the society, they help us, they always contributed to the economy and they should be welcomed as we’ve always welcomed refugees into our country.”
