How a special UAE visa helped change lives of refugees

Syrian expat in Sharjah, Majd Al Khatib poignantly recalls the day when her family fled their Damascus home overnight, making their way safely to the UAE.
Reminiscing the day for Khaleej Times on the occasion of the World Refugee Day - held every year on June 20 - Majd explains how she can still feel the severe tension even after seven years. "I was in Abu Dhabi at that time. My parents, brother and sister had to flee our family home in Damascus. They rented a car and travelled through Beirut in Lebanon before they reached the UAE borders safely after undertaking a 16-hour long journey from Syria."
With armed conflicts everywhere and anti-government protests escalating into a full-scale civil war, Majd's parents were forced to leave their home country when high-voltage demonstrations were a lane away. "It was terrifying for my family. My brother tells me they could hear the bombings that were happening just one street away and there was fire everywhere with military barricades. They could only grab some important documents, little money and left everything else behind. They just escaped in time to save their lives. "
After arriving in the UAE, initial uncertainties in a foreign country crowded their minds. However, thanks to the kind-hearted gesture by the UAE government, soon, those worries were put to rest. "My parents and my other family members were among the lucky people who got the short-term conditional visa that was granted for refugees back then. Granting amnesties and renewable visas to those from conflict-affected countries helped us get back on to our feet. I am so grateful for this. My father is no more, but my brother and mother now live here peacefully in Sharjah and my sister lives in Canada."
Volunteers talk about their experience
Nyla Khan, who has worked closely with displaced people during her time at the Unicef Kyllini camp for Syrian and Iraqi refugees, said that there were many lessons that she learnt. "The trauma of seeing your house burnt, losing family members, taking dangerous trips through treacherous seas and entering unfamiliar countries vulnerable to starvation, crime and homeless are immense. Being a refugee is not just about the trauma of the past. It's the trauma, you go through in re-integration, migration and entering a whole new society leaves a mark."
The one thing that has stayed in her mind during her regular interaction with these people is that most of them spoke about the nostalgic days of the countries they came from. "Community and support is everything. We must treat them like anyone else, by having conversations about everyday life, reassuring them just by establishing a stable and consistent routine of visiting. World Refugee Day is not just about acknowledging the crisis, but the recognition that millions suffer each day and we can all play a part in easing that pain."
Stepping up for the cause
The annual event honours the courage and determination of those who have been forced to abandon their homes and flee persecution and conflict. It is said that by the end of 2018 more than 70.8 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes globally - indicating a staggering 26.8 million jump in less than a decade.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)'s pick of this year's slogan to mark World Refugee Day, 'Every Action Counts', reiterates that the power of individual actions cannot be understated.
"Let 2020 be a turning point in the way we approach the refugee crisis and World Refugee Day be a reminder that our response to it must first begin with compassion, followed by the creation of targeted and diversified humanitarian initiatives, which will safeguard the basic rights of displaced communities and meet their needs sufficiently," said Mariam Al Hammadi, director of The Big Heart Foundation.
"Humanitarian work must be an integral part of every community's culture and must be supported and promoted through institutional policies and programmes," she added.
nandini@khaleejtimes.com