Refugee plea (From Penarth Times)

Refugee plea

Concerning the disappointing lack of sympathy expressed by some of your contributors concerning the desirability of housing refugees in Sully, I would like to share with your readers the very different attitudes I have witnessed here in Central Asia.

Tajikistan is on the border of Afghanistan and has been the destination of many people fleeing the fighting and economic collapse.

Tajikistan is, and has always been, the poorest of the Central Asian republics, and people do not have a high standard of living.

Nevertheless, families here consistently take refugees into their communities and share what they have with them until they are able to return to their homes or build new lives.

This gracious hospitality extends towards all refugees who are compelled to live here; no distinction is made between those who come because their houses were burnt down, or those who come because they can no longer make a living to support their families in their home country.

We might call this second group economic migrants but to a Tajik the distinction is irrelevant.

A guest is a highly valued person in this part of the world, considered by Muslims to be a gift from God.

There is a saying, "a saint may come in the form of a guest' and so the people here feel a great need to welcome all guests, invited or uninvited.

There is a collective sense of responsibility for those who are away from home, and an understanding of the difficulties refugees face which puts to shame our reluctance to accept those less fortunate into our own community.

Visitors from different countries have much to offer and Sully could well benefit from an increase in diversity among its population.

Shelagh Martin Humanitarian aid worker Dushanbe Tajikistan