The Human Face Of The Refugee Crisis
Unless you have
been living in a box or under a rock you will have undoubtedly heard about the
humungous scale of the refugee crisis sweeping through Europe, mostly from
Syria. There have been so many tragedies happening to these people that it
would be near impossible to write about all of them. Therefore, I want to talk
about one of the positives that has come from the situation.
One of the main
positives that I have noticed is that much of the mainstream media are finally
treating refugees like human beings. Instead of the constant bigoted, inflammatory
nonsense about how, 'PEOPLE ARE COMING HERE TO STEAL ALL YOUR JOBS', I'm
actually seeing lots of reporting and news stories that are instead focusing on
stories of the difficulties that these people are going through as well as ways
in which people are trying to help them and suggestions on what we can do to
help.
How have we
finally got to this point? I think that part of it is that the crisis is now so
huge that people and the media have had to face more truths about what is
actually happening. The situation in Syria not getting any better, charities
not having enough resources and people getting increasingly desperate to find
somewhere safe to live have all contributed to the truth of the situation
becoming more obvious. The other reason is the story of a little boy who
drowned on a beach, Alan Kurdi, going viral. The incredibly powerful and upsetting
image from the story gave many people a focus for compassion and empathy over
the situation.
Obviously, not
enough is being done by our countries to help these people. However, some of
the truthful and sensitive reporting towards this crisis is a step in the right
direction for the media.
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