Syrian crisis-‘Refuge by defenestration’

Get thrown out of a window and expect to be hurt or even die not to be welcomed into a safety net or refuge!  Hence, ‘defenestration’ (being thrown out through a window) and ‘refuge’ (instead of death) are two concepts that would not normally go together. But that’s the crude pre-human mentality! Swipel will attempt to explain its choice for the above title to make a serious point about the sea of refugees from mainly Syria into Europe.

Historically, ‘defenestration’ refers to a 17^th century incident where someone was thrown out of a window (fenêtre-in French) of a castle in Prague. Having been thrown presumably into his/her death in that way ‘death by defenestration’ became a colloquial amalgamation of terms to symbolise that very incident but also the dire situations where people who, because of various reasons including war, are pushed to the fringes of society or a territory and expected to suffer and perhaps die. It happened during the 1^st and 2^nd world wars and the unprecedented scale of human exodus due to the Syrian crisis is the latest and you would hate to think that there might be others in future.

But as a human race, full of compassion and eager to make the world as liveable for everyone as possible, we have used our ingenuity and creativity to solve the situation. So in UN talk, we have come up with the term ‘refugee’. Refuge by defenestration therefore is and has been a noble idea or universal value that should be engraved in every person’s DNA. Caring for refugees is not without its critics who question its approach focussing on effects rather than fighting the causes of the crises in the first place. Social media and other news dissemination outlets have even started putting the blame on the West for starting the war, on Bashar al-Assad for belligerently clinging onto power and the list is endless. While people/organisations have to be held responsible for their actions, the blame culture is also a way of diverting attention away from what you and I individually, nationally and internationally can do to end what appears to be a human catastrophe. It’s not time for the blame game, nor is it time to give Syrians travel advice like: ‘don’t make the perilous journey in the first place’. Imagine how it would sound like telling someone whose building has been hit by a rocket, bomb, plane not to jump out the window!

Unless we have ditched the ‘Refuge by defenestration’ and gone back to ‘death by defenestration’ culture, the scale of the Syrian refugee crisis requires an adequate international response. While the Security Council met several times to discuss Syria (Bashar al-Assad, ISIL etc.,) and the impact of humanitarian crisis in the country (full story here), they are yet to meet and discuss the fate of the real people, the ordinary Syrians at this present moment! Now is the time to show leadership and share the burden as an international community.

If this call is heeded, Arab countries will not simply refuse them entry as reported by the refugees themselves, they along with Russia, Brazil, India, Japan, China, South Africa, the USA and many other countries would instead be offering to welcome them in their countries or even seriously engage with Egyptian billionaire Sawiris (full video here) and others wanting to buy a Greek island to host refugees (as long as it doesn’t become a dumping ground ghetto). The goodwill gestures from some world leaders so far need to be felt like an obligation not to stand back in the face of human horror. Where there is a will there is a way!