The Influx Of Syrian Refugees To Europe

For centuries Syria comprised various ethnic and religious communities live together peacefully. By 1970 Hafez Al-Asad seized power and started “cleansing” military and civil posts in the country from personalities of other than his own fellow-clan. Here started the discrimination, and since then on everything changed in Syria.  When people suffered, the opposition started asking for reformation, but Hafez Al-Asad preferred to be a dictator.

Before his death, Hafez Al-Asad made arrangements, so that his son, Bashar Al-Asad replaced him in 2000. He promised reformation, but his regime proved the contrary. He became worse than his father.

From January 2011 started the uprising against government corruption and human rights abuses. Instead of repairing his behavior by reformation, Bashar faced pacific protests with cruel police and military actions, which gradually transformed the conflict to an armed rebellion. The Free Syrian Army was created on July 29, 2011, and the struggle took the shape of an armed insurgency, with civil resistance disbanded and opposition members turning to arms.

Since January 2011 until now about 300,000 civilians killed, tens of thousand tortured in prisons, twelve millions of the population fled from their homes (about 3 millions in neighboring countries: Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, and 2 millions scattered in the world), most of them because their houses were bombed and devastated by Bashar’s left soldiers, backed by Iran and getting arms from Russia. And in fact, the destruction of Syria is caused by the tyranny of the Asad clan and partly by international conflict, because about one year after starting the revolution, many armed groups involved in the war backed by foreign countries.

In one year after the revolution it was clear that Asad cannot stay more in power, but the great effort of Iran and Russia to defend his position made him struggling until my writing this article, and in the opposite side (USA and Europe) in spite of their formal announcement of helping the opposition, but it is very clear that they prefer Asad’s regime than any party may replace it. We can understand why the “West” apparently pro reformation, as they are propagating democracy and condemning dictatorship, but practically Asad’s regime is preferred because of its soft policy towards “Israel”, beside its propaganda against that Western puppet. And Iran is aiming that Syria stays under its influence, and Russia is happy to sell a lot of arm, to kill more Muslims and gain a lot of money. So Syrian people are the victims of the big foreign conflict.

What is behind the influx of Syrian refugees to Europe recently? There are reports that the Syrian Regime facilitates people even from Damascus who intend to flee.

In the same time discussions between “Western Power” and “Russian-Iran” side shows possible political compromise to end the insane war, and talking about general election, considering that those who flee all or mostly are the Sunnis. Then they are probably thinking of changing demography to prepare breaking Syria into two or more states.   

Lately Europe became the favorite goal for the Syrian refugees. Hundreds of thousand undertook risks, went there through Turkey, Greece, Serbia and Hungary to go to Austria, Germany, Scandinavia, etc.

Here we see the confusion in Europe. Hungary opposes, Austria, Germany and France after some hesitation agreed to receive the Syrian refugees. Some regions in France refuse accepting Muslims, they will accept only the Christians. The Hungarian Prime Minister and some civil organizations in some European countries plainly refused the idea of receiving Muslim refugees, they welcome only the Christians among them, but most Europeans accept all refugees without considering their religious conviction.

The Hungarian N1TV aired on Tuesday, September 8, 2015, showing a Hungarian journalist, Petra Lazlo tripping Syrian refugees. She is a member of the anti-immigration group Jobbik in Hungary.

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow wrote in “Frontpage Mag” (September4, 2015) that what is happening in Syria is an Islamic war fought to determine which branch of Islam will be supreme. “It is not a war that started last week or last year, but 1400 years ago” he said. And of course this is absolutely a false accusation, as history proved that for more than one thousand years the “Middle East” (including Syria) is the land of various religious and ethnic communities, and they used to live together peacefully.

The best way to answer Daniel Greenfield is, what has been written by Robert Fisk in “The Independent” (also on September 4, 2015): “Europe and the West – what was once called Christendom – are supposed to be the bad guys in the Middle East. It is we who bomb, corrupt and invade the Muslims of the Middle East. It is we who support the vicious dictators of the Middle East (unless they are disobedient to our wishes). It is we who suck out the fossil treasures of the Middle East, its oil and its natural gas. We are, are we not, the infidels? And true Syria’s refugees, in their millions, have settled into the squalor of camps on the edges of Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan. But the hundreds of thousands of poor and huddled masses who wish to flee further from their tormentors are not sailing in leaking boats to where you might expect them, to go – to the “ummah”, to Islam’s beating heart, to the land where the Prophet lived, and where he received the word of God. No, the destitute of the Middle East are not heading for Saudi Arabia, the wealthy kingdoms of the Gulf, to pray for help from the builders of great mosques and the Keepers of Holy Places. It’s not because they think we’re a soft touch. It’s not because they want to scrounge on our generosity. I suspect it’s because they know enough about Europe and our history and about us – not our tin-pot politicians – to know that we are good people, that we are kind people. I think they know that, deep beneath our carapace of cynicism and materialism and our lack of religious faith, the idea of humanism is alive in Europe and that we can be decent, good, thoughtful, honest people”.

I quoted Robert Fisk’s writing above, as he is among the most knowledgeable European journalists on Middle East affairs. And he is a correspondent of “The Independent” since more than twenty years.

I suppose also that some European countries, like Germany, have a foresight that by accepting those refugees, most of them are women and children, and many good workers, by time will assimilate with local population and will cover the diminution of procreation there.

To conclude, I would say that the influx of Syrian refugees that started about three years ago and still goes on now, is not some voluntary and joyful event, on the contrary, people are fleeing from explosive barrels being launched by Al-Asad regime destroying houses with their inhabitants almost in every town and village. And there is no doubt that international great powers are co-criminals against the Syrian people, because they created many obstacles for the Syrian revolution and allowed Asad’s tyranny to continue for the purpose of guarding and protecting “Israel”.

Another reason for Europe’s actions is also a probability that Russia will defend Asad’s regime by bringing its arm forces to get an army base in Syria, because Russia needs to have a position on the Mediterranean.