"The United Nations refugee agency says that just over half are Syrians, followed by smaller groups from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iraq and elsewhere. Sixty-nine percent are men, 13 percent women and 18 percent children." http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/08/world/europe/migration-of-young-men-poses-risks-for-both-syria-and-europe.html?_r=0
Waves of Young Syrian Men Bring Hope,
and a Test, to Europe
By BEN HUBBARD OCT. 7, 2015
LESBOS, Greece — When the conflict in Syria began more than four years ago,
Mustafa Alabi was a 17yearold soccer whiz who had quit high school to sew
clothes in his father’s workshop. But the war soon consumed his life. The shop burned, and rebels occupied his home in Aleppo. Sheltering with relatives, Mr. Alabi rarely went outside, fearing the army would draft him and send him to the front line. Then, like many before him, Mr. Alabi fled to Europe, where he landed last month: 22 years old, with a backpack, a ninthgrade education and little idea what to do next.
“I have no specific hopes,” he said hesitantly, after struggling to buy bread
here because he speaks only Arabic. “But God willing, after I register, if there is a way to play soccer. ...” He added, “Maybe I can sew?”
Of the more than half a million migrants and refugees who have arrived in
Europe this year, many are young men like Mr. Alabi. While some are
educated or bring skills, many have lost critical formative years to violent
conflicts that have interrupted educations and aborted careers. Some have
borne arms, languished in prison or lived under radical Islamic groups like the Taliban or the Islamic State, experiences that have left them with physical and emotional scars.
The mass displacement of so many young men poses great challenges to
countries like Syria, homeland to more than half of those fleeing: The exodus deprives them of a demographic vital to reconstruction and economic growth.
There are also great risks for Europe, which has long struggled to
assimilate immigrants and could face the creation of a new underclass that
taxes the public purse. Many also worry that pockets of radicalization could
grow if the aspirations of the new arrivals end in isolation and poverty.
“We know on the positive side that migration can boost economies and
trade and lead to cultural exchange,” said Lado Gvilava, the head of the
International Organization for Migration in Turkey, the departure point for
most migrants. “But if it is mismanaged, it becomes a problem for both the
receiving states and the countries left behind.”
Aid groups say the chaotic nature of the human traffic has left them
without a full picture of the current wave of people reaching Europe. The
United Nations refugee agency says that just over half are Syrians, followed by smaller groups from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iraq and elsewhere. Sixtynine percent are men, 13 percent women and 18 percent children.
The largest single group appears to be young men, open to adventure but
woefully ill informed about what they are getting into. Among the dozens of
them interviewed recently in Turkey and Greece, only a few spoke any
languages other than their native tongue, and most knew little about the
countries they hoped to make their new homes. Some were surprised to learn that beer and pork are prominent in German cuisine.
“Our only hope is in Europe,” said Mohammed Atiyya, 21, a Palestinian
from Damascus who had been training as a metal worker when he was drafted into the Syrian Army.
After nearing the end of what was supposed to be a twoyear stint, he
realized he was more likely to end up dead than decommissioned, so he
deserted, later fleeing to Europe by raft. He is now in Hamburg, Germany.
United Nations officials report meeting with many educated Syrians,including engineers, civil servants and smallbusiness owners, who were solidly middle class before the war, but have since lost their homes and businesses.
A minority arrive with clear plans.
“My destination is France because I speak French,” said Fayez, 27, a
Syrian dentist who said he had fled Aleppo because he risked his life going to work every day. After he was detained by rebels, he submitted an asylum application to France, but it was rejected, he said, so he now planned to sneak in, register as a refugee and continue his career.
“We didn’t flee because we didn’t have the money, but because of
insecurity,” he said in Greece, giving only his first name to protect relatives in Syria.
The countries of Europe face a difficult task in integrating the migrants
into their work force so they can contribute economically instead of adding to the social burden. Many of the new arrivals lack transferable skills and speak no European languages. Even professionals like doctors and engineers are unlikely to have their foreign credentials immediately recognized.
To succeed, Europe must invest heavily in programs to teach migrants
languages, pair skilled workers with jobs and help everyone else find training and work, said Demetrios G. Papademetriou, the president of the Migration Policy Institute Europe. Countries like Germany and Sweden have organized economies and labor needs that could facilitate this, he said. But Austria has a small work force, and Spain, Italy and Greece have economic problems and high unemployment, leaving little room for migrants.
“This could lead to a serious set of troubles for Europe, politically and
economically, in the next few years,” Mr. Papademetriou said.
Many worry that migrant populations that fail to integrate could become
fertile ground for unrest or radicalization, especially if they find themselves
under attack by rightwing elements. And a terrorist attack linked to even a tiny group of migrants could change the situation for all. At present, there is little to stop jihadists from the Islamic State or other radical groups from covertly slipping in with other migrants.
The Greek authorities on Lesbos, where most migrants now arrive, have at
times been so overwhelmed with newcomers that they suspended
fingerprinting and photographing refugees to speed up registration, said
Djamal Zamzoum of the United Nations refugee agency on the island.
Others arrive with no documents or lie about their origins, making them
hard to identify, he said. And fleeing war traumatizes many migrants, further complicating their assimilation.
Mohammed AbdulHaq, a Palestinian from Damascus, was working in a
sweet shop when the Syrian government arrested him in a sweep aimed at
dissidents, he said. During three and a half years in prison, he was hung by his wrists and beaten during interrogation. Released in August, he rushed to Turkey to head for Europe with his wife and their 10yearold daughter, but he had thought little about what he would do once he got there.
“I have no idea,” said Mr. AbdulHaq, 38. “I just want to get there and be
safe.”
How the outflow affects Syria will probably depend on how and when the
civil war ends. Many of those fleeing to Europe have recently left areas controlled by President Bashar alAssad, saying that basic infrastructure was failing and that life had become dangerous. Some have deserted the army or are dodging service, deepening the personnel shortage of his army.
Scholars of human migration say that the longer conflicts last and the
farther away refugees settle, the less likely they are to go home.
After the conflict in Bosnia, many refugees returned, if not necessarily to
their home communities, which had been subjected to ethnic cleansing, said
Laura Hammond, the head of the development studies department at the
School of Oriental and African Studies in London.
Many refugees returned to Chechnya after the conflict there because they
had settled nearby in other parts of Russia, where they did not feel welcome.
But even those who remain abroad often retain strong ties with their
home countries, Ms. Hammond said, either by sending money to their
relatives or by returning occasionally with capital and experience acquired
abroad to invest and start businesses.
“We should think of these men as part of the work force who will
eventually help rebuild the country,” she said of the men fleeing Syria. “They don’t think of themselves as permanently gone.”
But with the Syrian war in its fifth year and no end in sight, few of those
heading for Europe plan to go back.
Waiting in a park in Turkey before catching a raft to Greece, Mohammed,
41, said the battle for Aleppo had chased his family from their home and
destroyed the body shop where he had worked. Now he was aiming to settle in Germany and bring his wife, their four children and his mother, he said, declining to give his last name because he feared for his family.
He would work wherever he could, he said, and he was carrying a book to
teach himself German. “The words are very heavy,” he said, unable to produce a phrase. He knew little more about his destination.
“It is a beautiful country, and the people are nice,” he said. “That’s what I
have heard.”
Karam Shoumali contributed reporting from Izmir, Turkey
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