If we want to stop the refugee crises and exploitation of children, we need to stop the war — not to close the border.

My name is Mayar. I am a Syrian journalist and I have been living in the Netherlands since 2014.

It is a great honor for me to have this opportunity to speak on behalf of every man and woman who have lost their loved ones, their homes, their jobs, their businesses and their lives they once knew — to became refugees all over the world because of a war that has torn their country to shreds and separated families. Becoming refugees was not a choice but a salvation for us in order to seek a better life for ourselves and our families. To live a normal life that we have the right to lead.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Dutch parliament will decide on the fourth of December to extend the mission war in Mali, Afghanistan and later in Iraq. The government wants to raise the annual defense budget, while many Dutch families are waiting in line at the food bank to receive food. If we want to stop the refugee crises and children exploitation, we need to stop the war — not to close the border.

Most of these soldiers that are being sent to fight will either come back home broken and scarred for life or will never come back to their families. They will not be going to give the roses.

Allow me to tell you a little bit about what the war in Syria did to me and my family. Before the war in Syria, which started in 2011, we were almost a perfect family. Now, my whole family has been relocated to different parts of the world in order to survive the war. My two sisters relocated to Turkey to start a life there, my mother and father relocated to Germany to be with my brother.

My father passed away seven months ago from severe depression and had lost his will to live due to not being able to understand this new life as a refugee after being labelled as one of the best doctors in Syria. He had to give everything up in order to find some normality to life again, but sadly he couldn’t handle this change.

As for myself: I ended up as a refugee in the Netherlands with my ten year old son.

There are thousands of tragic stories as a result of war.

There’s no justification for war. PEACE is the best solution to all problems. In the end, there’s one message I want to share: “A Good War Doesn’t Exist”.

Toespraak op de manifestatie Stop de oorlogsmissies van het Amsterdams Vredesinitiatief (AVI) 3 december 2017 op het Spui in Amsterdam.