24/06/2022
🇸🇾 Just under 6 years ago, the first Syrian families began to arrive in Westport. A small number of families have now been living in Westport since that time. They have left behind a country that is still struggling with conflict.
Today, during World Refugee Week, it is timely to reflect on a conflict, which in the West has become the forgotten war as our attention is drawn to the invasion of Ukraine, and the dramatic impact it has made in terms of displacement, and the numbers of refugees seeking sanctuary in Ireland.
The crisis in Syria remains, and as a result there has been a serious deterioration in living conditions. The World Health Organisation reports that 6.9 million people remain internally displaced in Syria, and 5.6 million have fled the country as refugees, many of them living in horrendous conditions in refugee camps in Lebanon.
Over 12.2 million people are in dire need of health assistance. The essential health service infrastructure requires extensive maintenance and rehabilitation. There is a chronic shortage of health care staff driven by displacement, death, injury, and flight of health care workers, particularly in northeast Syria.
In Turkey, Syrian refugees have been subjected to racist attacks, with many young Syrians having survived the scourge of war, have now died at the hands of gangs. Anti-migrant protestors have attacked houses, shops and cars owned by Syrians. Anti migrant sentiment in Turkey has been rising in recent years with a number of politicians campaigning for harsher immigration restrictions.
In Westport, we continue to reach out to our Ukrainian neighbours who are fleeing the invasion of their homeland, and the attempted annexation of their territory.
In Westport we also stand in solidarity with our Syrian neighbours who have family and friends living in Syria and Lebanon, and we reflect on their ongoing struggles to secure safe passage, and a safe place to call home.
To learn more about the war in Syria, please see graphic below.
