“Our voices must be heard. Refugees are welcome here” Dashty Jamal Islington Refugee Forum AGM 3ed December

First I would like to thank the Islington Refugee Forum for inviting me to speak to you today on behalf of the IFIR;

I am going to speak about the new wave of refugees from Middle East as refugees, not as migrants. And, accordingly explain why they should be accepted and supported.

Since ISIS attacked the Kurdish part of Syria and Iraq FIR has been actively engaged in supporting Syrian and Iraqi refugees and displaced people. We are living through a time of chaos that has driven millions of people from their homes across the region. In particular the worse effected by this crises are the people from Syria and Iraq. ISIS is a disease that is spreading across the Middle East. Ordinary people have been forced out of their homes. We have seen scenes of people walking across Europe with nothing but the clothes on their backs. We have seen people with very young children being forced to flee for their lives. As the famous actor Benedict Cumberbatch stated people only put their children in boats to cross stormy dangerous seas if the land behind them is more dangerous. Against this background of severe fear and terror to refer to these people as migrants is just wrong and underestimates the terrible situation they are being forced to flee from. Migrants are people who make a choice to leave their homes behind to look for a better future. The refugees fleeing Syria have no choice. They are fleeing daily bombing, starvation and war at home.

 The Refugees fleeing the Middle East today are a world political phenomenon and the Geneva Convention is not sufficient to tackle the suffering of refugees fleeing Syria today. An active and powerful organization and movement to campaign for the rights of refugees is necessary and urgently required. This organization should include all human rights campaigners and humanistic activities to challenge the inhumane policies towards today’s refugees.

 Fleeing and seeking for asylum and a safe refuge is the outcome the violence and imperialistic policy of the US and the Western governments. Iraqi and Syrian Refugees have been forced to leave their homes due to lack of security, poverty and violent conditions which they have not chosen but have been imposed on them.  

 The warmongering policy of the American, European and Russian governments has directly led to military and political intervention in some counties in the Middle East and North Africa. This policy has caused carnage; death of hundreds of thousands; havoc; displacement and devastating any trace of modern and urban society in those countries.

I fear that the response of the Western Powers to bombard Syria in retaliation for the murder of Paris’ young people by ISIS terrorists will just make the current refugee crises worse. The Federation believes that the major reason for the displacement of people and becoming refugees and asylum seekers are governments that drive their countries into war without regard for the welfare, equality and security of people.

Today’s crisis is caused by the destruction of the infrastructure in Iraq and Kurdistan following the war to remove the tyrant Saddam Hussein, making Iraq an easy target for ISIS militants. At its formation ISIS was helped at first by the US in the mistaken belief that they could be used to topple Assad. The west’s intervention has so far helped fuel ISIS.    

The US and European countries and Russia are carrying out a war-mongering policy in the area. But at the same time, they roll out the red carpet for Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others for their own political and economic interests. This has led to devastation in the area and terrorism has grown more and more. Putting an end to terrorism and restraining murderous terrorist groups cannot be achieved by countries and governments supporting dictators and backward governments in the Middle East. Countries involved directly in war and aggressions cannot accomplish this task. The task of putting an end to state and non-state terrorism and war of terror is the duty of the victims of terror themselves, and the freedom loving people seeking economic and social equality, security, and stability. It is the duty of us all to speak against warmongering and stand against terrorism and racism we are the real owners of society.

 All this is the outcome of the intervention of the USA, Europe, Russia and its allies. Their aim is to have control over the world, and divide the world between themselves. They compete on having their hegemony over other countries to expand their capital markets. They do not care about the death of hundreds of thousands and destroying many parts of the world. It is not important for them to plunge the whole world in the blood of refugees.

It is crucial at this time for all refugee organisations to work together under one umbrella to fight for refugees’ rights: to call for the closure of detention centres and most importantly to ensure European countries not to close their borders to the refugees fleeing ISIS. Our voices must be heard. Refugees are welcome here.