Abir Fekih
In a conservative society like Syria, it would be evident that women are the most desired by such traffickers being; It attracts them more for being a woman who does not have any family that protects, a teenager, a young girl, all these profiles serve to form part of a profitable trading network for mafias.
Before the revolution in Syria of 15 March 2011, the Arabs said “Whoever does not marry a woman of Levant, would die unmarried” because they considered marrying a woman from the Levant (just a Syrian woman) was a challenge for any Arab because of hers beautiful, sensual and cultured she is. Today, Syria’s war has destroyed everything in the country, even dreams. That same woman, as desired escaped death inside Syria looking for a very low life expectancy everywhere it is, with the minimum resources to survive.
According to the latest statistics, of the 23 million Syrian population, more than 11 million people have been forced to leave their homes; about seven million people inside Syria and more than four million currently seek refuge abroad, most in Turkey (about 2 million), Lebanon (1,150,000), Jordan (650,000), Iraq (250,000), Egypt (133,000) … Hundreds of thousands have also fled to Europe, throwing the Mediterranean or the borders of some EU countries.
Barbaric response against civilians
On the other hand, the response of the government of Bashar Al Assad has been and remains very barbaric. A year later appeared DAESH (Islamic State, in its meaning in Arabic) and other armed groups, leaving a large part of the Syrian population without remedy. The only possibilities were or escape the bombing and daily threats, or cope with the fewest resources weaponry. This confrontation has come so far with the lives of some 250,000 people, more than 65,000 arrested for demonstrating, express their views going against the regime or by belonging to the health sector that heals the revolutionary wounded or also be part of the journalism network that transmits the crimes of the Syrian army to a media not allowed.
Obviously, most civilian martyrs and those who are part of the free army are men. Each of them has left behind a wife and a sister or/and a mother or/and children. Given in mind that Syrian society is a conservative society, where man carries a lot of responsibility for being a father, brother or son. In fact, thousands of families were left without fixed financial resources and sometimes out of their own home (by threats to arrest other family members) to lose the ‘keeper of the family’. According to statistics until the end of 2015, we have more than 5,300 mothers who lost their children and 69,000 widows and more than 19,000 children without parents.
Abir Fekih, a la dreta de la foto al costat de Rawan Al bash en la trobada de l’IEMed. Foto Lídia Vilalta
First runaways in neighboring countries
Towards the end of 2012, most of Syrian families who fled the country did not have this situation so complicated inside and outside Syria. In fact, if you look at the areas of the refuge of the first waves, it is clear that concentrated on neighboring countries, so that no cost goes back when the agreement between the government and the opposition is restored. After the slaughter of Guta in August 2013, that has been the worst chemical attack in the last 25 years and so cold reaction of world governments, the Syrian people had it clear: there is no return, or wait for death under any type of bombardment or escape.
Within all this destruction, trauma, necessity, depression can grow very unpleasant; the mafia of the consequences of war on level citizenship and weaker being, is the one who cannot resist their abuse so cruel. In a conservative society like Syria, it would be evident that women are the most desired by such traffickers being; it attracts them more for being a woman who does not have any family that protects a young girl, all these profiles serve to form part of a profitable trading network for mafias. Given that under these circumstances, the Syrian refugee suffers the same may suffer any refugee from the Middle East.
The truth, to clarify this phenomenon had to distinguish 5 types of violence that can be committed against women at risk refugees: the scam, the abuse, the exploitation; false marriages by interest, absence or loss of identification papers (family book, birth certificates…) and threats/social pressure for any initiative towards independence.
Abir Fekihis Degree in Library Science and Journalist of opinion; Tunisian freelance in some magazines Oyoun, ????????, and Al Jazeera Mubasher. He lives in Barcelona since 2008
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