THE REFUGEE’S MESSENGER lost storıes retold Second Edition Edited by Dr. Tarek Cherkaoui Project Coordinator Hajira Maryam Project Ideation Zümrüt Sönmez beyaz zemin siyah zemin turkuaz zemin THE REFUGEE’S MESSENGER lost storıes retold Second Edition Edited by Dr. Tarek Cherkaoui Project Coordinator Hajira Maryam Project Ideation Zümrüt Sönmez beyaz zemin siyah zemin turkuaz zemin © TRT WORLD RESEARCH CENTRE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PUBLISHER TRT WORLD RESEARCH CENTRE SEPTEMBER 2019 THE REFUGEE’S MESSENGER LOST STORIES RETOLD Second Edition Edited by: Dr. Tarek Cherkaoui Project Coordinator: Hajira Maryam Project Ideation: Zümrüt Sönmez Photo Cover: Anadolu Agency Design: Ekrem US Acknowledgement: Special thanks to Jackie Starbird for her comments and helpful feedback. TRT WORLD İSTANBUL AHMET ADNAN SAYGUN STREET NO:83 34347 ULUS, BEŞİKTAŞ İSTANBUL / TURKEY www.trtworld.com TRT WORLD LONDON PORTLAND HOUSE 4 GREAT PORTLAND STREET NO:4 LONDON / UNITED KINGDOM www.trtworld.com TRT WORLD WASHINGTON D.C. 1620 I STREET NW, 10TH FLOOR, SUITE 1000, 20006 WASHINGTON DC / UNITED STATES www.trtworld.com researchcentre.trtworld.com www.trtworld.com Printed by: Mega Basım Yayın San. ve Tic. A.Ş. Cihangir Mah. Güvercin Cad. No:3/1 Baha İş Merkezi A Blok Kat:2 34310 Haramidere / İstanbul Certificate Number: 12026 ISBN: 978-605-9984-28-7 THE REFUGEE’S MESSENGER lost storıes retold beyaz zemin siyah zemin turkuaz zemin 4 THE REFUGEE’S MESSENGER LOST STORIES RETOLD FOREWORD There is no doubt that the refugee phenomenon is a global issue. The se- verity of the crisis has escalated to such levels that it is almost automatic to speak of it in structural terms, which is perhaps justified. As this point will be addressed later, let’s first look at an oft-ignored aspect of the matter at hand: the problem of missing the trees for the forest. Each individual is a universe. Yes, we share innumerable features with our countrymen, colleagues, family, and friends but, each human being is unique. One problem with the dominant refugee narrative is that refugees are reduced to numbers, or they are affiliated solely with large groups where their individualities are trivialized. Most academic and journalistic works use heuristics and easily expressible mental schemes to present their con- dition in general terms. Therefore, even when the stories of individuals are told, they are often presented only as side stories to the conflict that pro- duced them. By focusing on the general conditions they find themselves in, their individuality is glossed over and their agency taken away. This book is important in this sense. In the contents of this volume, my col- leagues from TRT World try to restore this lost notion of individuality and also the agency of each refugee. It is true that being a refugee is part of their identity. However, while this is the broad class they are subsumed un- der, an overlooked fact is that there is much more beneath the surface. They are women, aspiring footballers, scholars, mothers, fathers, children, fans, inventors and musicians. THE REFUGEE’S MESSENGER LOST STORIES RETOLD 5 When we first devised the project of TRT World, we pledged to keep this fact in mind with every step. In our coverage today, we attempt to honour this pledge as much as possible. We believe in the responsibility of the story teller; we are the ones that hold the microphone, we are the ones behind the camera. Yet, we are not the stars of this story — they are. Before I leave you with this book, it must be stressed that the need for a new global regime to address the refugee phenomenon is long overdue. Ref- ugees around the world are plagued by similar circumstances that create their condition and leave them to the mercy of societies that are all too often unwelcoming or altogether hostile. As the problem is truly global, we need a global solution. Intolerance and barriers between people and societies are rising, it is imperative that the international community reach a common understanding that counters these negative trends and facilitates global cooperation primarily on the urgent phenomenon of refugees. We have no other way to move forward. Accordingly, I am honoured to present you with the urgent and most recent work of the TRT World Research Centre and the vivid stories presented by our journalists. İbrahim Eren, Director General and Chairman of TRT 6 THE REFUGEE’S MESSENGER LOST STORIES RETOLD PREFACE A major interest of TRT World is to devote time and coverage to the most sensitive issues of our time that many media platforms neglect. We take it as a duty to be the voice of the voiceless. Chief among those issues is the refugee phenomenon. This book is a fruit of that effort. It presents a number of stories that TRT World journalists tell about their experience covering ref- ugees all over the world. Each chapter is a narrative presenting a particular branch of the refugee phenomenon that aims at being informative without flooding the subject with abstract details. These personal stories serve to show the human condition which we believe to be the most essential ele- ment of the phenomenon. While our colleagues try to be objective about the nature of the events and be fair to the truth, they do not deny the inher- ent subjectivity in every story. They cover the particulars of the story while drawing parallels between cases to show the major currents in the broader scheme of things. Although we present stories from all over the world, we are closest to Is- tanbul, our headquarters. We live in a city which is populated by families with memories of movement from either the near or distant past. Istanbul has been gentle to all those who made it here, and has embraced them with its arms stretching from Europe to Asia. This city has been our inspiration. When the civil war in Syria began, Turkey implemented an open door pol- icy which provided a respite to those who managed to escape the horrors of war. Many cities in the country, along with Istanbul, provided shelter to those who were driven from their homelands. We dedicate this book to those who yearn for their homes as well as to their hosts, who have whole- heartedly welcomed them. THE REFUGEE’S MESSENGER LOST STORIES RETOLD 7 Our book has three main purposes. First, we want to harness the power of stories. This is why we do this job. We believe that stories have the power to end the global stigmatization and dehumanization of refugees and the victims of war. Moreover, our purpose is not to present their plight and show them as subjects of misery. We believe that the reader will find the liveliness and joy in their story as well. We are confident that our stories will exhibit a wholesome picture of the refugee phenomenon. Secondly we want to give the stage to the main figures: the refugees themselves. We are not in this to try to impose meaning on their experience; we are all for letting people tell their own stories. Finally, we believe that our work will help bridge people and their presumed differences. It will emphasize our common humanity and spread peace and love rather than building walls between them. This book is a confluence of several journeys. It is a tale of distinct, but nev- ertheless similar, stories. We have learnt a lot while preparing this. More than that, we have felt and gained insights. I thank every single journalist who took part in our project, and also our team at the TRT World Research Centre which has put a tremendous effort into it. Their passion made this work possible. I also thank those people of conscience who do their best to show that evil does not roam free in this world, and that make us retain our hope for a better future. Pınar Kandemir, Director of Research, TRT World 8 THE REFUGEE’S MESSENGER LOST STORIES RETOLD TABLE OF CONTENTS Contributors 9 Editor’s Note 14 The Rohingya Refugee Crisis: 22 A Textbook Case of Ethnic Cleansing by Shamim Chowdhury Women of War - Boko Haram Wives by Josh Adesewa 36 Gaziantep, Southeastern Turkey– 56 A Reporter’s Perspective by Sara Firth The Objectification of Refugees: Why We Must Not Lose Our 70 Humanity in Search of a Headline by Tanya Goudsouzian My Refugee My Teacher by Francis Collings 86 The Migrant Caravan: The Story of Central Americans 98 Fleeing Gang Violence by Ediz Tiyansan Broken Messengers 120 by Ali Mustafa Refugee and Migrant Reporting: 142 A View from the Frontline by Myriam Francois My Journey as a Journalist by Ahmet Alioğlu 154 Syrian Brides of Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley by Mary Saliba 174 THE REFUGEE’S MESSENGER LOST STORIES RETOLD 9 CONTRIBUTORS AHMET ALİOĞLU Ahmet Alioglu/Al-Burai is a Palestinian Turkish aca- demic and journalist. He holds a PhD degree from Istanbul Technical University in Political Marketing. He taught in Palestinian and Turkish universities. He is the Editor-at-Large of TRT World. He worked with BBC World Service Trust and LA Times in Gaza. He is currently based in the UK and mainly interested in the Middle East issues. DR. TAREK CHERKAOUI Dr. Tarek Cherkaoui is the manager of the TRT World Research Center in Istanbul, Turkey. He is the author of ‘The News Media at War: The Clash of Western and Arab Networks in the Middle East’ (I.B. Tauris 2017). He holds a master’s degree in strate- gic studies from the National University of Malaysia, and a PhD in media and communication studies from the Auckland University of Technology (New Zealand) - His broader research themes include in- ternational communication, public diplomacy, news framing, and media-military relations—specifically within a Middle Eastern context.