A Nation that One Time was Host to Refugees from all Corners of the World

News ID : #396
Publish Date : 09/27/2015 15:38
While these days there's news of Syrian refugees from corners of the world, and the disgraceful treatment of them by some countries, it would be very apt to remind that for decades the kind people of Syria had played host to refugees from all corners of the world.

Through strange and unbelievable claims some Arab and Western countries try to justify why they will not take in Syrian refugees through excuses such as cultural differences, economic repercussions, the Syrian people's inability to cope with difficult economic conditions etc. This is while the majority of countries that refuse to take in Syrian refugees, are directly or indirectly the main cause of the crisis, conflict and destruction in Syria.
Refugees who were guests in Syria:
The Greeks: 72 years ago, Syria, and specifically the city of Aleppo, was host to 12 thousand Greek refugees from war. This was during the Second World War. Greece was under attack by Italy and Germany, and as a result the people of the country poured into a number of Arab countries, and found safety in Syria. Huffington Post's website stressed that a photo of the event exists that was sold has been valued at 11 thousand dollars in Amazon website.
The Kuwaitis: During the first Persian Gulf War and the occupation of Kuwait by Iraq in 1990, a large number of Kuwaitis fled to neighbouring countries, some of them also sought refuge in Syria.
The Iraqis: With the launch of the US and British led military attack gainst Iraq in 2003, a large number of Iraqi families fled to neighbouring countries including Syria.
The Armenians: During the First World War in 1915, Armenian refugees from various regions of the Ottoman Empire arrived in Aleppo, until the Ottoman forces moved them to Deir Olzoor. Quoting Al-Alam, Jam-e-Jam writes: Many Armenians who had been on this path on foot and without the most basic facilities for months, died of cold, starvation and diseases. Most of them were women and children. Some of the Armenian refugees managed to stay in Aleppo undiscovered by the Ottomans. The people of Aleppo extended their hands in assistance and even married some of them and raised their children as their own. Today, there are no accurate figures for the number of Armenians in Aleppo but according to national census prior to 2011 and the start of he conflict there were approximately 60 thousand Armenians living in the city, all of them descendents of the original refugees.
The Circassians: In the second half of the 19th Century, the Circassians who had fled the genocide in their homeland sought refuge in the Marash region in Aleppo province. Later the task of protection of security in the Zeytooneh region was given to the Circassians. After a while a group of 1000 Circassians also in 1872 led by an individual called Golan went to the city of Samsun and from there they went to the towns of Hama and Homs and the Golan Heights and settled down.
The Lebanese: The Lebanese too in various stages sought refuge in Syra. In 1996 with the beginning of the IDF attacks, a group of Lebanese went to Syria. The war took 16 days and Israel targeted Lebanon more than 1100 times. The second wave of refugees poured into Syria in 2006. In this Israeli attack more than 100 thousand Lebanese were displaced most of which went to Syria.
The Palestinians: The first time Palestinians sought refuge in Syria was following the defeat in 1948 which is called Nekbah. The Syrians warm reception of Palestinians was such that the Palestinians became a part of Syrian society and their numbers reached to 581 thousand. Syria issued these refugees with special passports. Most Palestinian refugees in Syria, particularly those that sought refuge in 1948 enjoy citizen's rights like other Syrians in health, education, employment etc. and the only difference between Syrians and Palestinian refugees is the right to take part in municipal, provincial, parliamentary and presidential elections.