Königstein (Germany), 26.09.2016: Father Andrzej Halemba, Head of the Middle East Projects Department in the international Catholic Charity Aid to the Church in Need, just came back from Syria. In an interview with ACN he tells about the current situation in the war-torn country.
How does the situation look like in Syria right now?
Right now everybody is holding his breath because the situation looks promising, but on the other hand we are facing a humanitarian crisis of enormous scale. That is why people say “ok, we have hope, once again we experienced a little bit of peace”, but this is of course not a complete peace. Damascus, for example, during the time I was there was quiet for two days, but on Sunday there were eight explosions in the outskirts of the city. DAESH, Al Nusra and other Al-Qaida people want to destabilize the situation and to show that there will be no peace in Syria without their engagement.
Syria has changed completely in only 5 years. From a rich country, which was enjoying peace, and where the business was going very well, suddenly it became completely destroyed.
How did the war change the life of Syrians?
Now the population of Syria dropped from 24.5 million to little over 17 million now. Nearly 6 million people are outside the country. There are over 4.8 million Syrian refugees in the neighbouring countries and 13.5 million people in need of humanitarian help inside Syria. Many areas are extremely difficult to reach. Food is very expensive. For example, in the area controlled by the government the price of rice rose from 2010 nearly 250%, but in the rebel areas its price rose 28 times! So if basic food is so expensive, what a miserable life is it? Over 57% of people are not able to find any job. They live from begging and from humanitarian help. 4.6 million people are in hard-to-reach areas.
Everybody is afraid of the possible division of the country and of the prolongation of the conflict due to new factors like actions of Turkish army on the territory of Syria against so-called rebels and against Kurdish people. The situation is extremely complex, but certainly for the first time in several months there is a small flame of hope.
Which experiences during your trip to Syria saddened you the most?
First of all, the ruins that you can see around Damascus. It is a lovely city and still the people refuse to be in despair there. Despite the difficult situation they try to live a “normal life”. But the landscape of the surroundings of the city is terrible. When we went to Homs we had to use side roads because the motorway was blocked by snipers. The streets are dirty, people are poorly dressed, the prices are very high and there is a lot of suspicion. A growing number of checkpoints has definitely an impact on people’s mentality: “We are always in danger because there are so many soldiers checking on every car and every person”. Due to constant pressure on them caused by bomb attacks everybody is extremely tired, especially the police.
In Homs we’ve been passing through a place where few days before there had been an attack by Al Nusra. They drove the car into the city centre and at the checkpoint they triggered off the bomb, killing themselves and six soldiers. With this terror people are very deeply traumatized. “We are never safe” they say. And that makes them really tired.
The families are in a dramatic situation as they can’t sustain themselves. They have no work or are being very much underpaid. And the displaced people who had to leave their homes – 6.5 million of them to be more precise – need to rent rooms, but the prices of rental are enormously high. Without having the income this becomes a big challenge for them.
Last but not least the question of the young people who are very afraid to be taken by the army or by the rebels to fight. They are the most vulnerable, that is why they run away. That is also why amongst the refugees in Europe there are so many young people.
Were there any situations at all that you could describe as beautiful ones?
The moment they are coming to say to us: “We cannot thank more” or very often without words they burst into tears because nobody is helping them in such a way as they need, is very emotional for us. They are so grateful. But this help has not only a material aspect. It gives them so much more: strength through the gesture of solidarity which they experience. People in Marmarita told me: “Father, it is so important for us that we don’t feel forgotten”.
We should remember that ACN is one of the biggest donors who contributed emergency help in Syria, especially considering Christians. According to the analyses, we found out that at least 195,000 Christians and other people were helped by ACN. The help come in the form of food baskets, electricity, gas, medicines, scholarships… we could identify nearly 17 different ways of helping Syrian people in 2015.
I also always ask people in Syria to pray for benefactors and for their families. And they say, “we pray daily for them”. And in fact they are doing that. Very often they carry the rosaries, pray together in the churches, and also individually. This is in fact an exchange of love through a bridge of prayers.
Is there a story from a project partner you would like to share?
There is a teacher from Damascus. She went twice abroad: once to USA and to Europe and she says: “I cannot live over there. I have to come back to Syria. I have to help children in the schools. I want to grow old here and I want to die here”. This is a person who really loves her country despite the difficulties and despite the temptation of having an easy life.
I remember also two young people from the Valley of Christians. They are extremely well educated; they both speak very good English. With their qualifications they could easily find work in the Western countries. Furthermore their parents live in USA and call them daily to come. But they refuse to go there. They say: “We have to help others. There are so many who depend on us.” Indeed, they are helping few hundred families. They work as volunteers. This is amazing.
