Life as a Syrian refugee in Turkey during the COVID-19 crisis
(Courtesy of İGAM)
15-year-old student Roula Mohammed writes about missing her grandmother, how she’s keeping up with her studies and why Ramadan isn’t the same without its ceremonies.
COVID-19 has entered our lives and changed a lot of things around us, from how we live to how we learn and interact. It is all that adults and even children talk about as we all try to understand what is happening.
Since my family fled the crisis in Syria in 2018, we have been living as refugees in Turkey. When the first case of the coronavirus occurred here, the government imposed many preventive measures to limit its spread. Almost everything has stopped. The government shut all public institutions, added a curfew and banned under 20-year-olds and over 65-year-olds from going outdoors.
Despite these precautions, Turkey is one of the top ten most infected countries in the world. The Turkish government is trying with all its means and resources to stop the virus from spreading but it might take a long time before life goes back to normal again.
My siblings and I have to stay at home because we are under the age of 20 and our days are the same thing on repeat. My mom has to wear gloves and a mask to go out of the house to buy what we need. When we see my grandmother, we can’t spend as much time as we wish with her and always keep our distance. My little brothers feel bored inside the house and my 5-year-old sister sometimes cries and asks my mom to take her to the playground because she wants to play. My mom is trying to explain to her why we have to stay at home and about the dangers of COVID-19 if we went out, but it’s hard for her to understand.
“I often think about the tens of thousands of displaced people and refugees who live in camps. If COVID-19 reaches the refugee camps, it is sure to spread because of population density and because the tents they live in are close to each other.”
Schools have been closed since mid-March, so the government launched a distance learning program online and on TV. I am studying on the internet, which is very helpful under the circumstances. With İGAM, a Turkish NGO that supports Syrian refugees, I am taking lessons with their volunteer teachers. The organization started holding private catch-up lessons for Syrian refugee students like me after they realized it was hard for us to keep up with our studies in Turkish without interactions with our teachers. My İGAM teachers are really patient and explain everything really clearly.
It’s sometimes hard to pass the time. Occasionally I sit at the window of my room and look at passersby on the street. I watch them in their gloves and masks as they try to keep a distance between them when passing. The internet is the only way to break the daily routine. We spend more hours following the news and developments of COVID-19 in Turkey and the world. Watching the news can make us feel better whenever we hear that the infection spreads slowly but it doesn’t take a long time before the virus finds a new area to spread and we are fearful again.
It is currently the month of Ramadan, which has a special meaning among us Muslims because it is one of the five pillars of Islam. The Tarawih prayer for Ramadan — which is a special prayer — was canceled because the mosques were closed as part of the preventive measures to limit the spread of COVID-19. I feel sad because of that. Ramadan is not really the same without all its ceremonies.
I often think about the tens of thousands of displaced people and refugees who live in camps. If COVID-19 reaches the refugee camps, it is sure to spread because of population density and because the tents they live in are close to each other. The results if this happens would be catastrophic for the people living there, people who are already going through nightmares in their everyday life.
I miss my normal life. I miss my school, friends and just being able to live my life with no worries. I hope that mankind gets rid of the coronavirus and life returns to normal as soon as possible.
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