Délégué général aux droits de l’enfant
Rue de Birmingham 66
1080 Bruxelles
Tel. : 02-223.36.99
Fax. : 02-223.36.46
[email protected]
www.dgde.cfwb.be
Syria, young people express themselves / Let's hear what young
people have to say / Young people talk
As everywhere worldwide, the
Syrian issue has been much (widely)
covered in the Belgian news. A
specific point has held the attention
of the media (has been the focus of
the media attention): the departure of
tens of young Belgian nationals
(citizens) gone to fight alongside
rebel forces.
people, potentially on their way to
Syria, had the opportunity to express
themselves in the mass media on
their motivations, their possible
uncomfortable feeling in society,
their potential religious or political
claims.
The issue soon turned into a Belgian
internal debate on the integration of
young people of foreign origin and
Muslim faith, and on the pain of
living in unprivileged areas where
they mostly live (is numerous).
A lot has been said and heard about
those young people and their
turbulent history (difficult history),
about their school education filled
with obstacles (pitfalls), about the
bad influence they might be
subjected to by extremist religious
cells, about the impossibility for
them to access the job market, and
so on.
My institution has regularly been
questioned (contacted) to advice, to
try to explain what could have
motivated those departures for this
conflict, yet so far away, to relay
possible claims.
And yet, never during this long
period has any of those young
In collaboration with several
institutions including Médecins du
Monde and Amnesty International,
we took the initiative to give the
floor to those young people directly,
in devising a week-long participating
journalistic action so as to enable
young people to have their voice
heard on the Syrian conflict and its
repercussions on Belgium. Twenty
young people from different walks
of life thought and worked on that
war and raised their need to express
the horrors of it, to talk about the
human side of it, to tell about it and
to open the dialogue, without
stereotypes, on the state of their
(own) world.
To help them get a clearer view, we
mobilized sizable resources. The
young people were split into 4
groups guided (led) by a professional
facilitator: the written press, radio,
television and internet. The goal
(objective, aim) was not to turn them
into professional journalists but to
enable them to share their experience
with a large audience. For more than
a week they met tens of people from
various backgrounds: specialists,
journalists, NGO representatives,
Muslim community officials, young
people who went to Syria, parents,
male and female politicians...
Meetings resulted in publication of
articles
(were
reported
in
publications) and coverage (reports).
Their work got a lot of media
exposure (got a lot of media
attention/coverage). Thanks perhaps
to the credit (recognition/fame)
given to the Children's rights
delegate and A.I.
The assessment (result) is widely
regarded as successful (positive)
Young people got involved in the
project
energetically
and
dynamically. They asked a great
many questions and learnt a lot
about Syria's history, on the conflict
proper and the seriousness of the
present
situation.
The
question « Should young people be
prevented from leaving? » raised
heated debates. For some of them the
answer is « No ». On the other hand,
others stress the fact that Syria needs
help not fighters. But young people
were able to work together and that's
great! (That is what's important).
« Now, we are actors in that conflict,
Asmae points out. We have to pass
on the information that was given to
us and go further. We have been told
again and again that it's because it’s
a Muslim country that we are
involved. I feel like saying we are
concerned about any form of
injustice » As to Nadia, she refers to
the future: « We found cohesion
among ourselves. We could also
focus on broader subjects: go to a
refugee camp in Jordan, for
example, or collect medicines. For
my part, the 'young people talk'
operation was a first step that must
lead to concrete actions. »
Enough to shut up mean spirits who
maintain that young people no
longer have ideals!
The initiative impacted on the media
far beyond our expectations: the
free-sheet 'Metro' opened its pages to
an article written by the young
people everyday, the main radios
invited young people in their debate
programmes and several local
televisions broadcasted the whole
video made by the young people,
which was also used as illustration
for many subjects broadcasted in the
news of the main national channels.
The scheme was judged so relevant
(appropriate) that it will soon be
extended (renewed) during the next
school holiday, on a new issue:
« Poverty: what young people have
to say ».