By: Emily Pate Staff Writer
This past summer, Eriqa Hermen backpacked across most of Europe, where she saw the Syrian refugee crisis first hand. On Oct. 19, 2015, she hosted a talk at Western entitled Across Borders: Europe and the Syrian Refugee.
Though originally Dutch and Finnish, Hermen has recently become a Swedish citizen. She spent the 2013-14 school year in an exchange program at Western.
While visiting this month, Hermen was asked by Dr. Gudrun Hoobler, a German professor Hermen met in her time at Western, to share her experiences of the refugee situation.
“I want people to see the other side of it, so to speak,” Hermen stated. “I want to show you these are the human beings who live there, who are not part of the [Islamic State], who are just trying to have a life.”
After listening to Hermen speak, Alyssa Chiampi, junior Public Policy Administration major said, “It was really eye-opening … to get information that was real and raw.” After hearing about first hand experiences, she said, “[It] made the issue a lot more real.”
Jena Liebscher, first-year and ASL Interpreting major, also stressed the importance of awareness. After listening to Hermen’s talk, she said that the best way to help is to “find out exactly the facts and information about the situation.”
Hermen showed Seeking Asylum, a “60 Minutes” clip that aired Oct. 18, 2015, which documents refugees’ experiences. The video can be found on CBS News’ website.
On the United Nations Refugee Agency’s website, it states that there are 4,180,631 registered Syrian refugees as of Oct. 19, 2015. The UN estimates the funding requirement for the refugee crisis at just over $4.5 billion, but states that they have only received 41% of what is needed.
Hermen shared her personal experiences of the refugees’ impact on Europe, largely seen in the growing presence of the police, the unreliability of transportation, and protests both for and against immigration.
On her travels, she met people who had given up their apartments or even entire hostels as housing for refugees.
One of the ways Western students can offer aid, Hermen says, is to find and spread knowledge about the refugee situation. Hermen also stated, “You can always give money. It’s cliché, but it’s true.”
