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INSIGHT: Plight of international refugees
The UNHCR has come under pressure for having to handle more than 60 million refugees worldwide.
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In this picture taken in January 2017 and provided by UNICEF, a Syrian child rides his bike while carrying manuals distributed by UNICEF volunteers in the area following an information session on identifying and reporting unexploded objects, at Al- Sakhoor neighborhood, east Aleppo, Syria. The UN's child relief agency says at least 652 children were killed in Syria last year, making 2016 the worst year yet for the country's rising generation. UNICEF says schools, hospitals, playgrounds, parks, and homes across the country are unsafe for children and come frequently under attack. (AP/Khudr Al-Issa)
L
ast month, Dato’ Sri Prof. Dr. Tahir, owner and chief executive of the Mayapada Group and chair of the Tahir Foundation, went to Jordan for the second time to visit Syrian refugee camps in his capacity as an eminent advocate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
A few friends, like Radius Wibowo, Mediarto Prawiro and myself, were invited to join him on the trip. He told us about his first visit, about how much he was moved, in particular, to see the children, who looked so sad. He has adopted a family and made its children his grandchildren. He granted funding for their university education, putting it into a trust managed by the UNHCR.
(Disclosure: Tahir is the majority owner of the license to publish Forbes Indonesia.)
When we first arrived in Amman, we saw a public school that teaches both Jordanian and Syrian children. He has donated 20 schools, each with a US$60,000 photovoltaic system for their electricity. The systems generate power for the national grid, for which $12,000 is annually paid by the government. Thus, in addition to free electricity, the schools get $12,000 every year to help cover operational expenses.
That evening we attended a party with the Indonesian community, with speeches by Tahir, Arcandra Tahar, the deputy minister for energy and mineral resources, and Nico Adam, acting Indonesian Ambassador to Jordan. Tahir took this opportunity to help the Indonesian Embassy by granting funds to Indonesian workers stranded at the Embassy, paying their return airfare and the outstanding salaries withheld by their former employers.
The next day, we visited Tahir’s adopted family, which has four girls and one boy. The meeting was moving, especially when Tahir led a prayer for the family and other refugees. After some other visits, we celebrated Tahir’s birthday with the community.
The UNHCR local leadership treats the refugees well. This camp is inhabited by about 67,000 refugees.
