The war in Syria has shattered lives but as millions try to find a way out of this hell, aid worker Karl Schembri tells Kurt Sansone he will not lose hope of a political solution being found.

When the lifeless body of a young Syrian boy in a red top was washed ashore on a Turkish beach earlier this year, the world stopped to watch in shock.

Aylan Kurdi could have been anybody’s child. He died on that journey of hope thousands of Syrians are taking to try and reach Europe.

And yet, empathy soon changed to fear in the months that followed as Europeans panicked when thousands of Syrian families fleeing a bloody war in their country streamed across borders seeking a modicum of normality.

Aid worker Karl Schembri. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

In this emotional see-saw hope is very easily lost but when I sit for this interview with Karl Schembri in a sanitised studio at the Times of Malta, he tells a different story.

“I have no right to lose hope,” he tells me at the tail-end of an hour-long interview dealing with the Syrian refugee crisis. His answer follows the longest pause in our discussion; but the hesitation only lasts a few seconds.

“The Syrian refugees I meet every day in the camps are parents who want their children to go to school. They are parents who worry about their children’s future. They are parents who look at us in hope and so I have no right to lose hope.”

The Aylan Kurdi incident, he says, was a brief moment of empathy but emotions are short-lived unless followed by rational discussion that leads to concrete action.

“Unfortunately, what we starting to hear in the aftermath of the Aylan Kurdi moment was discourse pandering to fear and a Europe seeing itself like a fortress, which became more evident after the Valletta Summit on migration last November.”

Mr Schembri has been based in the Middle East for the past six years. He started as a reporter in Gaza and moved to Jordan in 2013 where he joined aid agencies Save the Children and Oxfam. Since May he has been working as regional media adviser with the Norwegian Refugee Council. Based in Amman, his job has taken him to the various refugee hotspots across the Middle East.

He recounts everyday stories of refugee children talking about how they miss their school and friends in Syria.

He recalls the faces of concerned Palestinian neighbours when Gaza was under siege from Israeli rockets: “I had a passport and could leave anytime but my neighbours would come checking on me to ensure I was OK.”

He tells the story of refugee families asking him about his family and insisting he have lunch with them. These are not terrorists but parents worried about their children, he says.

The Syrian refugees I meet every day in the camps are parents who want their children to go to school

These people have experienced the worst aspects of humanity and yet they still want an ordinary life, he adds.

“It is these little incidents that do not make the headlines, which keep me hoping that a political solution can be found.”

But Mr Schembri is not naïve. He acknowledges the complexity of a Syrian crisis that has dragged on for five years, rendered more difficult by the rise of Islamic State and the involvement of regional powers with different allegiances.

The crisis has displaced millions of people and destroyed the lives of countless others. The massive people movement has led to many stateless children being born in refugee camps.

“Political leaders have seen the situation in Syria deteriorate and neighbouring countries go beyond breaking point in hosting millions of refugees.

“Unfortunately, they only started reacting in a knee-jerk fashion when the crisis started reaching Europe physically but with seven million internally displaced Syrians we always knew this was bound to happen.”

A negotiated political solution is hard to achieve but this is what political leaders are expected to do, he says, adding the UN-led Vienna process that started some weeks ago offers a glimmer of hope.

The Vienna talks bring together world powers and regional players in a bid to find a solution to the Syrian conflict.

“We have to hope in it because it is the only thing we have even though it is fraught with challenges,” Mr Schembri says.

I shift the debate to the Paris attacks in November and the almost immediate response by France and its allies to bomb Islamic State in Syria and tighten border controls across the continent.

Mr Schembri says it is legitimate for people to be scared as a result of terrorist attacks that targeted people going about their daily lives. But he cautions against a false sense of security. Closing borders would not have prevented the Paris attacks, he argues.

“The terrorists were Europeans. They were born and lived in Europe’s capitals. Their inspiration may have come from Islamic State but what guarantee is there that more bombs on Syria will prevent this happening again?”

His concern is that a fortress Europe will deny the rights to the thousands of refugees trying to seek refuge. He says the Syrian refugees are the first victims of violence by rogue armed groups and State organs in their country.This is the time when the values and rights championed by Europe are needed more than ever, he says. This is not a time to retract.

“It not about offering naïve solidarity. The rights lost in our generation will take decades to restore. And rights denied to others are rights denied to ourselves.

“The Syrian refugees used to lead comfortable lives in their country. They were middle class families who never in a million years believed this could happen to them. In many ways they lived as many in Europe do and yet today Syrians have had to witness the unthinkable happen to them and their country.”

The situation in Syria is “extremely grim”, Mr Schembri admits and yet he continues to harbour hope that a political solution will be found.

He owes it to the Aylan Kurdis he meets every day in overcrowded refugee camps yearning to play in their old neighbourhoods and going to school with friends.

kurt.sansone@timesofmalta.com