Queen Rania of Jordan visited the Kara Tepe refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos on Monday in her capacity as advocate for the humanitarian organization International Rescue Committee (IRC). She met with several refugees who told her their own personal stories of tragedy and despair.
Stressing that this growing refugee crisis needs a collective global response to the growing refugee crisis, Queen Rania said that “This is an exceptional crisis and it requires an exceptional response. It requires a response that is collective and that is value-based, a response that is built on burden sharing not burden shifting.” She underlined that “Refugees are not numbers. They are human beings like you and I, except they have seen unspeakable horror and have experienced unthinkable tragedy and hardship. They risked everything, their families, their possessions just to make it to safety.”
She was apparently deeply touched by the refugees’ personal stories and she said: “it is very difficult for me to decide which story is more harrowing than the other because each one seems to be an incredible tragedy.”
Queen Rania met with two Syrian families and one Afghan family, who described the stress they are under while anxiously waiting for news about the fate of their asylum applications. Some said they sold all their belongings in order to flee Daesh-controlled territory in Syria. She also met with a group of Syrian women, who told her about the fear and grief they have experienced. Two of the women the Queen met lost their husbands, who drowned when their boat capsized while trying to get to Lesvos from Turkey last month.
The Queen also highlighted the urgent need to find legal and safe alternatives for refugees, who have fled their war-ravaged countries and are struggling to seek asylum.
The wise queen warned that desperate refugees will not stop trying to reach safety and security in Europe, adding that new and dangerous smuggler routes were already expanding.
She thanked the Greek government and the Greek people, who have shown “remarkable empathy and kindness towards refugees” despite six years of economic hardship.
source: jordan news
doesn’t the ‘queen’ know how to take her shoes off inside?