I am a first generation American who grew up in Lebanon, which is where my parents still live, and that is why I returned there for part of my summer. Lebanon has been suffering from a great number of problems which have their roots in the ongoing Syrian Civil War. One of the main issues that is affecting the country is its refugee crisis. Lebanon, with its population of roughly 4.5 million people, has taken in over 1.1 million Syrian refugees fleeing the conflict in their war-torn country. This, coupled with the 500,000 Palestinian refugees already in the country, means that around one in three people in Lebanon is a refugee. In addition to the strain on Lebanon’s economy and functionality, the greater tragedy is the country’s incapability to care for the needs of its refugee population. The refugees have thus relied on donations and non-governmental organizations’ efforts to try to live with dignity during these troubled times.

I volunteered in a mobile clinic with the worldwide agency Malteser International for six weeks during my summer break. Our job was to provide Syrian refugees in the Akkar district of North Lebanon with free medication and consultation, as well as paying for any necessary operations they needed to have in a nearby hospital. My personal role was organizing, filling out and sorting the refugee family files, and as the mobile clinic has attended to the needs of over 3,600 families during its 11 months of operation, this was no small feat. We would see between 60 to 80 patients on an average day, and my experiences and conversations with these people were unlike anything I had previously encountered.

It was not the work itself but the human tragedy that affected me the most during and after my time spent at the clinic. Talking to the refugees made me realize much clearer than before the hardships that they had to suffer to make a living for themselves and for their families. Poverty was rife and education was scarce. Families were renting garages to spend the cold nights in. Girls were marrying young and getting pregnant in their teens, sometimes for the second time. The lack of men due to war casualties promoted polygamy. Men with arthritis were working as builders to feed their families. People were eating raw meat during a heatwave. One woman arrived, crying because her daughter’s head was bleeding. Further questioning revealed that her father had hit her head against a wall in a fit of rage, and not for the first time. When we called the police to her house she refused to turn him in, fearing repercussions. Yet another woman left in tears after discovering that her first child was blind. Many children were diagnosed with the flu in July and August due to their lack of adequate clothing and sleeping outside at night.

The reason that I wanted to share this experience is to connect it to current events, namely the refugee crisis occurring in Europe, which has been occurring for far longer in Lebanon and other countries with far less media attention. Up to four million Syrians as well as others from countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Yemen have fled their nations in search of a better life, with tens of thousands placing their lives in the hands of smugglers and the sea in order to build a future for their families. They are being shepherded across Europe like animals as they try to rebuild their lives, fighting techniques that are meant to discourage the further migration of refugees. The risk that these people take to reach asylum proves their desperation in a world that has turned its back on them, yet countries build barriers and try to chase them away as if they have a home to return to, as if they would not return to the land that they were born and raised in if it were safe and sustainable enough for them to do so.

We have a duty as human beings to look out for each other, and to demand that our governments do their utmost to help those who require aid on our behalf. We should not feel immune to the suffering of others, no matter where they may live. I have seen the tragic suffering of these people, felt the pain in their eyes and their hearts, and seen that they do not really care about the political struggles that have led to their abandonment, although they are regularly associated with dictators and Islamists. All they want is safety, respect and the chance to work toward a stable future for them and their children, and we should be going out of our way to provide them with just that.

Kevin Makhoul is a Collegian contributor and can be reached at [email protected].