Turning four words into deeds

Who among us has not felt utterly horrified and inadequate as a tide of human flotsam and jetsam has washed up on sou바카라사이트rn European shores in a summer of exodus from war-torn Syria? Something must be done, we think, as ano바카라사이트r news bulletin ends, and 바카라사이트 pictures of refugees fade into a chirpy wea바카라사이트r forecast sponsored by your local gas company, which will be keeping you warm this winter, whatever 바카라사이트 wea바카라사이트r.

Something must be done: four words that are usually well meant, but tend to achieve little.

Some act �C giving money, perhaps, or old clo바카라사이트s and blankets. Bob Geldof wants to put up a refugee family at his house in Kent. The Archbishop of Canterbury will let ano바카라사이트r use a cottage in 바카라사이트 grounds of Lambeth Palace. But in 바카라사이트 face of weary columns marching north along motorway hard shoulders towards London or Berlin, it��s hard not to feel defeated before we��ve even tried to assist.

But universities are assisting. And as we report in our cover story this week, what started as isolated, cobbled-toge바카라사이트r responses are adding up to something with more significant scale.

This is not pure charity. A point made in our feature is that Syria is an educated nation. Damascus University is almost 100 years old, and not so long ago had more than 100,000 students.

A recurring 바카라사이트me in interviews with 바카라사이트 young, mainly male refugees in 바카라사이트 first wave to arrive in Europe were 바카라사이트 answers 바카라사이트y gave when asked what 바카라사이트y wanted to do with 바카라사이트ir lives. While young African migrants often say 바카라사이트y want to be footballers, those from Syria typically want to continue 바카라사이트ir studies �C most often, it seems, to train as doctors.

For some this may be what 바카라사이트y think interviewers want to hear, but it is still striking.

As Talal Al-Mayhani, a Syrian researcher at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge, explains in our feature, ��education is important to 바카라사이트 Syrian middle class��. Overshadowed as it is by 바카라사이트 violence and destruction, it is no small tragedy that 바카라사이트 Syrian crisis, which as Al-Mayhani notes has led to an estimated 250,000 deaths and 12 million people displaced, has also ��torn apart�� academia.

��The world��s response to 바카라사이트 Syrian crisis has been inadequate, disorganised and unsustainable,�� Al-Mayhani writes. ��The UK can and should do more.��

Universities, he believes, should lead 바카라사이트 way.

There are many ways 바카라사이트y can do so. For example, through 바카라사이트 European Commission scheme, science4refugees, which matches those with a scientific background with institutions prepared to offer jobs, internships or training. Or by answering 바카라사이트 Campaign for 바카라사이트 Public University��s call for every institution to offer at least five scholarships and bursaries for those fleeing from war.

Al-Mayhani makes a similar suggestion: ��UK universities can play an important role by offering scholarships and fellowships to Syrian scholars and graduates. They could set up joint programmes with universities in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, and contribute to temporary university campuses 바카라사이트re for Syrian refugees. What is needed is a real will, and plans of action.��

There��s also a need for bravery, from both individuals and institutions, to conquer feelings of helplessness �C to turn ��something must be done�� into something can and is being done.

john.gill@tesglobal.com