Bring our people home

THE EDITOR: The Anjuman Sunnat-ul-Jamaat Association, Ladies Section, joins with Human Rights Watch, other ladies groups, NGOs, religious bodies and other organisations that are calling on the Government to speed up the process to bring back the 99 women and children who are in camps in Syria.

The conditions in which our women and children have been living for the past four years or more are horrific and we wish to have them brought back home as soon as possible. The longer they remain there the effects of their incarceration will be exacerbated and more difficult to resolve. Most of the children are under 12 years old.

A woman and children returned home six years ago without any need for legislation or foreign policy issues. They are now at home and reintegrated into society without any problems.

Why is the process of bringing back the women and children in Syria being stalled, why so much procrastination? These are our people and the treatment meted out to them by the Government is disgraceful. We are singled out internationally for not caring for our own people. Many countries have already taken back their people.

We urge the Attorney General and the Minister of Foreign Affairs to please handle this matter with utmost haste. Arrangements to deal with their issues – health, security, financial aid, etc – are being put in place to facilitate a smooth return.

These are women and children who are vulnerable and depend on us to assist them in returning their lives to normalcy. As Muslims we know that Allah will treat us how we treat the vulnerable among us.

Let us as a country demonstrate that by action we are serious about our women. This also symbolises the true appreciation and meaning of International Women's Day.

On another note, we must realise that if we do not recognise and appreciate the abilities of our children (for example, refusing to recognise the top SEA students), we will be forced to deal with the violence and indiscipline of youth in our secondary schools, as is happening today.

ASJA

Ladies Section

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