The Hallifordian - 2016-2017

41 are leaving their homes and becoming refugees. Here in Britain we often see images of refugees flee- ing from their devastated homeland on boats. Did you know that more Syrian refugees have drowned at sea than those poor souls in 1912 on the Titanic? Makes you think doesn’t it? And what a journey it must be for those people fleeing their country! Let us imagine ourselves walking miles and miles through towns and villages where there is no water, no fresh food and often no shelter. You reach the coast. There, you find thousands of desperate people like you trying to find a way across the sea to safety. You hear about a boat. The fee is practically everything you have. You pay. You’re desperate. Like an 18th Century slave you are crammed into the dark and musty hold. The hatch door is locked. Only then do you realise the real nightmare has begun. Perhaps people are sick down there. Probably there is no toilet. The stench must be in- describable. And then somebody realises water is slowly but steadily seeping into the hold. You bang on the hatch door, you beg to be released. But no- body is listening. The cold water begins to rise until Many Syrian refugees lose their lives trying to reach safety. you are all scrambling over each other to get one last desperate breath. And then…. And then….? Well, you handed over your cash. You made your choice. Today the choice was death. But some people make it. And that’s a miracle. How would you feel getting very little help and taking this dreadful journey to safety? I look around at my fellow students and our judging pan- el. I ask you to consider this: In 1939 an ambitious man called Chancellor Hitler invaded the country of Czechoslovakia the British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain stepped back saying that these were a people who were far away which we know nothing about. By ignoring the Czech people Chancellor Hitler decided he can grab more and more land. And this led us into the wholesale devastation of World War Two. Syria is a place which is far away and full of people we know little about. I wonder, do YOU wonder what might happen next? Or shall we sim- ply bury our heads in the sand? Finley Broekhuizen, Year 7