A Syrian Refugee Just Handed This Heartbreaking Note To A UN Worker

This letter was handed to Nasser Touaibia of the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) by a 21-year-old man at the Za’atari Camp in Jordan on Monday.

In it, the Syrian refugee from Deraa talks of his and his family’s struggle since entering the camp.

He describes how he and his sister were forced to give up their studies in Damascus and his despair at their current plight.

“Aren’t we human beings?” he asks. “Aren’t we worthy of honourable life?”

Read the full transcript here:

I am a miserable Syrian refugee in Zaatari camp now.

I am working as a dustman at [name redacted], Zaatari camp to support my parents and my sister.

Before coming to Jordan I suffered greatly from the dreadful and catastrophic events that took place in my country, Syria, and are still taking place, air raid, shelling, bombing, tanks, sniper and killing everywhere.

Our house was destroyed and thousands of people were killed. These terrible and this affected us negatively.

My sister and I quit our university study and lost our dreams and ambitions thereby we were both outstanding students studying English literature at Damascus university, Syria.

We have been living in Zaatari camp for two years. This long period of false promises to continue our study and to make up for the lost time made us really hopeless and despaired.

My sister, who has spent three bitter successive years without study, sheds tears day by night. She is a pitiful state lying in the caravan.

Both of us have lost the most precious thing in our life, our study we are helpless… no one supports us.

We address you and everyone as representatives of humanity, justice and civilisation to helps us by any possible means to get ride of this bad situation.

Our request is to help us as possible as you can through registering my family’s name and number in the lists of immigration related to the high commissioner for refugees to contact us for immigration to any European country, U.S.A, Australia or Canada in order to continue our study there and to live peacefully and happily for life.

If we have the chance to live there, we’ll fulfill our dreams.

Aren’t we human beings? Are we born to eat, drink and sleep only?

What’s our sin and fault? Aren’t we worthy of honourable life?

Our life has become unbearable hell. Please help us.

This is our UNHCR ration card.

A UNHCR spokesman told BuzzFeed News the man has won a DAFI refugee scholarship to study at a university in Jordan or Lebanon, but initially asked if it could be given to his sister instead.

He told the UNHCR: “I can’t go to uni and leave my sister in the camp – it is also her dream, and it will break her heart if I went without her.”

He has since been persuaded to accept the offer.