To those escaping bloodshed, welcome to my country

Having lived in the UAE my entire life, I couldn’t possibly understand what it must be like to be exiled from your own country.

I am lucky enough to be surrounded by my family, and to have friends that I can hang out with whenever I miss them.

But that is not the case for those who have been forced to leave their homeland to survive.

My assignment this week was to interview Syrians who came to the UAE to start a new life after uprisings in their own country.

They were all thankful for the opportunity to come here, and for their opportunities I too am thankful.

I am grateful that some people were able to escape the horror surrounding them, and the bloodshed and killings that were obliterating their every hope of a happy life.

I cannot begin to imagine the horrors they have been through; the things they have heard, seen, gone through, and lived alongside are heartbreaking to anyone who has a heart.

Having them settle in my homeland, in my safe haven, and for them to feel safe, makes me even more grateful that they are here.

I have always loved gruesome stories, and I have read many autobiographies of women who have been kidnapped and raped, or men who have been abused emotionally, physically or sexually growing up.

But speaking to people who are experiencing misery is completely different to reading about it.

Speaking to these people, I noticed how emotional and upset they were, despite their best efforts to remain calm.

One of my interviewees was extremely upset – I thought he would start screaming and at one point he was fuming with such anger I felt sure he was about to cry.

I didn’t know how to react. Should I be a journalist, whose job is to document such anguish, or a human being with feelings of sympathy and a wish to help?

Being a journalist, all I could do was my best to portray accurately what these people have gone through. Perhaps in so doing, others would realise how much they need help.

I don’t know how to describe what they must go through on a daily basis, or what they must feel waking up daily to find their homeland in chaos and their dreams shattered.

But I do know that what I have heard is enough for me to want their nightmare to end.