What was once a rather esoteric news item now has become a regular part of hourly news programs. We hear about it so often it has become white noise only gaining our attention when something particularly horrific becomes part of mainstream news. I write about it so often on my Facebook news feed no one looks anymore.
I am speaking about the refugee crisis. Most of us give it only a passing glance unless it touches us personally. Every single human in this great tragedy has a story, most are heartbreaking stories of death, loss, and lives shattered. All so far away none of us connect, that’s “over there”, I have what I have and I am comfortable so why should I care is a common refrain, right along with “they” want what I have so keep “them” away. Which is worse? Indifference out outright hostility?
News media outlets search for that image, that one story that will go viral in our media dense lives. A produce truck with 70 dead refugees, a three year old dead on the beaches of Bodrum, or girl drowned and recovered in a fishing net, 400 dead in the Mediterranean, which horrific story is the story du jour for today? The daily death toll has become mundane.
That said, until this awful tragedy touches you personally, it can be hard to connect to the magnitude of human suffering that is occurring daily. Social media has done more good in this crisis than any single agency. Social media keeps us aware, allows the facts of horror to be made public instead of pablum from government news outlets spun in ways to keep the public indifferent. Social media allows us to connect in very real ways with kindred souls we never would have made contact with in the past century. It is social media that changed my life and made this crisis very personal.
In 2010 a young man entered my life through social media. I was in the US he was in Iran and we shared a love of the Saluki. A friendship developed despite initial language issues, it was to prove a deep friendship. I listened to a young man fight against an authoritarian regime that was intent on extinguishing the very things that made him special, his intellect, his questioning, and his creativity. A little over a year ago this brave man walked out of Iran into Turkey and himself became another statistic in this great humanitarian crisis. He would tell you he is no different or more deserving that any other refugee trapped in Turkey, I will tell you that I disagree because HE is a part of my FAMILY. That is the crux of this issue, until it touches you personally; it is just words and pictures, not real.
For me, it is the hours fighting detention, the worry as he is moving from one bed to the next, illness that he is barred from getting treatment for, overcharging for basic services, be it food or taxis, that cannot be argued as there is no status. The inability to get the simplest of things I take for granted, a bank account. The visits and the realities of Syrians selling tissues to stay alive, coupled with the kindness and generosity of Turks every single day.
Through it all there is social media. The lifeline of WhatsApp, without which I think worry might have done me in and Skype which allows us to see each other in real time, Slack which allows a team to communicate globally in real time, Red Phone which is now Signal which allows communications secure from Government intrusions that can be life threatening. #VO a platform in development to tie all social media platforms together. All of this is a way of connecting that is beautiful. Social media has allowed me and my friend to directly communicate with volunteers on Lesvos as we try to assist those who sacrifice much to help. Social media has also left me in tears listening to the calls for help as Humans cross treacherous waters, and the hard reality that I know who to contact, the human who could get there to save lives. I witness social media saving lives every single day, telling me exactly what is going on where with no government media interference, from Turkey shutting down Twitter to calls for help from eastern Turkey, bombing runs in Syria, and gas attacks in Iraq. Nothing is secret if you choose to hear. Social media gives it to us in real time without filters.
As a refugee, social media is your lifeline, that phone holds your life, a thumb drive your history. WhatsApp allows you to talk to those you left behind and let them know you are alive, and contact those you are trying to reach. WhatsApp will let you know where is safe, where is dangerous. The only handicap is language and I have watched that change as people step forward to offer translation services at all times of day and night…yes there is a FB group for that now. Social media provides avenues for legal help in a world that changes the rules hourly, social interaction when you are far from home, avenues for safe passage.
Social media allows us to connect in more and more profound ways often providing a lifeline for those isolated by government policies, closed borders and rampant nationalism that says you are unimportant because your sex is wrong or your birth country is not the country of the moment in a crisis of 60 million+ refugees and internally displaced persons that grows by the hour. A 7.8 earthquake in Ecuador adds to the crisis and who do we help? Which refugee is serving and which one has to wait? Who gets to play God in this miserable game?
Look in the mirror, that person could be the next statistic in a global crisis as each of us is one minute from disaster, natural or man made. I will read about it on social media.
I will leave you with the words of my friend, trapped by this disaster as he could not be at a family members wedding or with the person he loves as she dealt with the loss of her mother. One man trapped by bureaucracy in place because of a war that is destroying the Middle East. Connected by social media.
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