The refugee and migrant crisis is unfolding all over Europe. Terre des hommes (Tdh) provides assistance to thousands of children and families crossing borders in the West Balkans. At the same time, Tdh has reinforced its action in the Middle East to help the populations affected by the Syrian conflict. In south Lebanon, hundreds of poor families units are now fragmented with fathers, young adults and children on the move to Europe. A “left behind” mother narrates the tragic story of her family to Tdh social work team.
“Last month my husband decided to go to Europe, he left with Samir our six years old son. I stayed in Tyr with my older daughter and son. It was easier for my husband and my young son to travel only the two of them. And then, once they would have reached Sweden, we could have tried to join them with the rest of our family.*
Fifteen days ago, they embarked by night on an inflatable boat from Turkey’s shore towards Greece. The little boat was drawn in the swirl of a cargo ship and sank. My husband was hugging Samir on his chest but he lost him in the sea. The survivors were rescued by the Greek coasts guards. My husband is now in Greece. He does not realize that our son is dead. He is now mentally unwell; he is wandering by the coast looking for Samir in the sea. He is being taken care of in a psychiatric hospital. All that I want now is the body of my son. I want him to be buried here. I don’t know what to say to my husband, I am very afraid of his reaction when he will understand that Samir is dead.”
Niven Bedawi, an experienced social worker of the Tdh team in Tyr, south Lebanon, tells the rest of the story. “They are Palestinian refugees from Syria. They left home and fled war three years ago to settle here in a Palestinian gathering. They are the poorest among the poor. The father had to borrow a great amount of money (CHF 4’000) from a money lender for his trip to Europe. The family is now torn into pieces and they do not have any income any more. The daughter is still at school but the older son dropped out and he might want to leave as well. We will provide more assistance to the family and we will try to assist in the repatriation of the body of the young son.”
Mohammad Kaddoura, Tdh project manager, confirms that there are more and more separated families in this small region of Lebanon, both in Syrian and Palestinian refugee communities. “Everybody wants to leave to Europe, they sell all they have and try their chance. Usually a part of the family stays here while few members leave to Austria, Germany or Sweden, hoping for family reunification a few months later. The “left behind” families are in dire situations. Fathers and young adults are not here anymore to protect them and bring money for the rent or daily food. Since this summer, we registered tens of new high risk cases like this one.”
Tdh provides assistance to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon since 2009. Tdh emergency response to the Syrian crisis started in 2012 and now delivers services to more than 20’000 persons affected by the conflict per year. Find out more about our projects in Lebanon.
*The name has been changed to preserve confidentiality.