Our current unit in grade 7 Language and Literature is about inequality. We have been exploring a variety of social injustices and inequalities that occur in different cultures around the world. We have read fact based novels and discussed real world issues in class to analyse the core of this unit. Now, with more knowledge and understanding about this unit, we believe we can spread awareness and take action to help end these inequalities.

To extend our knowledge in culture inequalities, we invited a scholarly visitor, Audrey Courty Erk, a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) candidate with a Bachelor of Journalism with Honours from Griffith University in Queensland, Australia to CIS. Audrey visited on 14 February and spoke to all of grade 7 about her personal experience traveling to six different refugee camps around the world - to open young children’s minds to Europe’s greatest catastrophe of this century, the refugee crisis.

This is what we learnt...

The current European refugee crisis has been a subject of much angst and debate. The most intriguing aspect of this debate is that individuals of all age groups and communities are actively involved in expressing their opinions. The Syrian problem is growing into the biggest migration crisis in Europe’s history, and many people claim that these refugees are “migrants” and will do nothing but harm the nations from which they seek help. To better understand this problem, this article will discuss a little bit of background, distinction, consequences and how forces are joining two different sides.

By the end of 2015, approximately 21.3 million refugees had fled their home country, mainly from Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia. The main countries hosting refugees are Turkey (2.54 million), Lebanon (1.07 million) and Pakistan (1.56 million). In addition, records show that developing countries host 86% of the world’s refugees. There is peak coverage in Germany and with all these countries hosting so many refugees, people are beginning to refer to it as “Europe’s crisis”, whereas it is a matter of global responsibility.

The most common illegal crossing has been through Istanbul, Turkey-Lesbos and then Athens, Greece. Refugees have often continued travelling to Calais, France to cross over into the UK. Audrey shared that out of the one million asylum claims, only 300 of them were approved.

On 1 January 2016, Audrey Courty started her crowd-funded project “On the refugee trail” that focused on the refugee crisis as a humanitarian crisis. She travelled to Istanbul, Lesbos, Athens, Calais, Berlin and Munich for 4 consecutive weeks to find that most of the refugees are from high or middle class, and they previously held well paying jobs and can speak fluent English. So many were like Mohammed, a Syrian refugee from a refugee camps in Lesbos, who graduated from a veterinary school and was an intellectual in the true sense.

Moria camp in Lesbos, Greece

Also known as the Afghan Hill, Moria camp is a “makeshift camp” located in Lesbos, Greece. Because of its proximity to the Turkish border, many people have tried to sneak in the recent past and more than 4000 died in the Mediterranean sea. The camp is divided into sections, single males live in one area, families and women in another. While a bulk of the population of refugees are families and children, Moria camp is mostly populated by men. While interviewing the refugees in the camp, Audrey discovered that what the refugees disliked the most was the way they were given food, by queuing, which they found was very “dehumanising”.

Dani, a Syrian refugee at the Pipka camp

Dani, came to Lesbos as a refugee to seek freedom from being persecuted for his political views, taste in music (heavy metal), and absence of faith (atheist), after being shot multiple times and once kidnapped. He now volunteers in the Pipka camp as a translator.

Sam, an Iraqi refugee in Istanbul

On her trip Audrey also met and interviewed Sam, a Iraqi refugee in Istanbul, Turkey. He had worked as a translator for the American army, but being Christian and gay he was at the risk of being persecuted in Iraq, so he escaped from Iraq and became a refugee in Istanbul. Sadly he had no legal right to work, so he was only able to work “under-the-table” as a vendor at the Grand Bazaar. Sam was not officially recognised as a refugee.

Yamin, a Syrian at a refugee camp in Istanbul

Another refugee Audrey met at a refugee camp in Istanbul was Yamin from Syria. He was only 16 years old when he arrived in Turkey with his mother, both were truly terrified of the war. Audrey was surprised by Yamin’s fluency in English. He was a well educated bright child back home.

In conclusion, the points Audrey made in her talk were to help give a brief understanding of the conflict, how this crisis is creating different problems worldwide and the debate where all age groups and communities are involved. Audrey’s research and call for action has shown to us the two sides and how Europe is responding. Most countries are trying to help in their own sphere. The prejudices about refugees should be put aside and a multinational plan should be implemented in order to help this large group of displaced people.