Syrian Crisis Demands Regional Humanitarian Strategy

More than 3,000 kilometers separate Damascus from Sharjah, and my relatively placid emirate on the Persian Gulf indeed seems a world away from the violence and misery of the Syrian civil war. But the humanitarian crisis posed by this terrible conflict is nonetheless my peoples' problem, as well as an opportunity for my region to respond with strength and unity.

The scope of the Syrian tragedy is beyond dispute but sadly, I am afraid, not beyond belief. Since March 2011 the United Nations estimates more than 100,000 have been killed in fighting. The UN High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) says at least two million Syrians have fled their country, most women and children. Four million more have been displaced inside Syria. Imagine the combined populations of Los Angeles and Chicago uprooted by cataclysms andfleeing their cities, many with only the belongings they can carry. Imagine all they would require, from food, shelter, and medicine, to toys and schoolbooks for children.

Owing to shared borders with Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey have borne the brunt of the refugee exodus. Since the onset of hostilities, Lebanon alone has absorbed three-quarters of a million Syrians. I have visited some of them as they grapple with rebuilding their lives; they are devastated.The border nations have stepped up nobly to help witha crisis not of their making. But geography has dealt them an unfairly disproportionate role. The challenge of comforting and caring for more than a quarter of the Syrian population must fall not only to those who are proximate but those who are able.

Many Americans may know little about Sharjah, or be able to find us on a map. But if you can locate Dubai, famed for its giant airport hub, you're in the ballpark, as Americans say; we are a few minutes up the road. We are the third largest of the United Arab Emirates; our 800,000 people are well-educated and keen on art, antiquities, and football. Were you to visit - and you are welcome - you would find a high-rise Hilton, Subway sandwich shops, Starbucks, and one more thing familiar to Americans: a generous charitable impulse.

Since the summer my countrymen have embraced the plight of displaced Syrians in a way that heartens me. In the Big Heart campaign for Syrian refugee relief led by Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Al Qasimi, wife of our ruling SheikhSultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, many stepped up to donate a day's pay.The Sharjah Ladies Club threw itself into innovative fundraising efforts. Our city buses and taxis bore stickers promoting the cause. Total public and private Big Heart contributions exceeded $15 million by August, and the decision was recently taken to extend the appeal until the Syrian conflict ends, no matter how long it takes.

When disasters occur around the world, the West in particular rallies and responds. Now, in the Middle East, it is our turn. Earlier in 2013 Sheikha Jawaher was touring UNHCR headquarters in Geneva. She found Swiss, French, and Americans huddled in a basement situation room, coordinating Syrian refugee aid. That there were no Muslim experts there to help manage a crisis in the Muslim world struck the First Lady as profound. The Big Heart campaign was soon launched, and Sheikha Jawaher has become the first Arab womanselected as a UNHCR eminent advocate.

As they are in other Gulf states, construction and tourism are booming in Sharjah and we are acquiring a higher economic profile. But prosperity is not a license for complacency or isolation; in fact it demands the opposite.Yourgreat American president, John F. Kennedy, was fond of saying: To those whom much is given, much is expected. Our good fortune naturally confers greater responsibility toward our fellow man.Humanitarian activism is healthy for Sharjah. It helps us recognize we are bound to Syrians by a common heritage and by simple humanity if not a common border. We too are a Middle Eastern nation, and we too have children we want to see thrive in a peaceful world.

The world's leaders gathered at the UN General Assembly have acknowledged the scope and challenge of the Syrian humanitarian crisis, which is heartening. But our region in particular, blessed with wherewithal, is called to do all it can. We and all able Gulf neighbors must unite to ease the Syrian refugee population through the current sad chapter and toward a happier future.

Millions of weary Syrians today have a right to ask, Who cares about us? If they will look our way, they will see the people of Sharjah care - and in fact regard the suffering children of Syria as their own. Perhaps the plight of the Syrian people can spark a new season of humanitarian accomplishment across our corner of the world.

About the Author

Ameera Bin Karamchairs the Sharjah Business Women's Council and is vice president of the Bin Karam Group of construction and engineering firms. She coordinates Sharjah's Big Heart campaign for Syrian relief and is with a delegation of Sharjah business leaders on an economic development mission to the United Statesin October 2013.

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