First of all, I have never met or seen a refugee in my life, so I think it is really interesting to talk and to listen to his experiences. He told his story with great details, and I like the fact that he included his dreams and goals rather than laying out the facts. I felt very sad after hearing that his dreams of being an artist and a teacher were interrupted by the war. Although I don't even have a goal now, I know how much it can cause if the dream disappeared or got interrupted. Luckily, he is able to keep doing what he likes in Lebanon.
My knowledge of refugee policies are basically zero, so I learned a lot from the one-hour-Skype. I was really surprised that Syria’s government didn't care about the refugees at all. I thought that even during conflict and war, the one thing that the government should care the most is the people in their nation. But what really happened is completely opposite. After the war, the government started to use propaganda to retrieve the refugees. In my opinion, the government doesn’t treat their citizens like people, and more like merchandise. The nation gave them up when they are useless and retrieve when they got their value back. This propaganda shouldn’t be the only way to appeal the refugee’s interests, and the nation should put more effort to develop the country and to give these refugees the actual hope that return is a better choice.
Another thing that I found shocking is the biases that are happening. I felt really sad after hearing that refugees are being discriminated in Lebaron. Really they are just like any other people who live in the nation. We shouldn’t judge them separately and blindly just because they have the label “Refugees”. This is very similar to how people these days blindly believe the certain connection between Islam and terrorism. All of us in the future should definitely try to eliminate the stereotypical belief in different groups of people and to establish a true understanding based on facts and personal experiences.
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