Hudea, a Syrian Refugee — Photo by Osman Sağırlı

The Unfinished Story of Hudea

This is what a Syrian child looks like, Chris Christie

On the most terrifying and chaotic night in recent French history, Parisians opened their own homes to strangers who may have been in danger by using the hashtag #PorteOuverte. In the aftermath of those attacks, however, we’ve somehow decided we’re afraid of admitting some refugees from terror into the United States in a calm and orderly fashion.

On the one hand, any sort of processing is calm and orderly compared to allowing random people into your private home on a night of violence, right? But the processing for refugees is actually pretty tough already. The Economist details this process:

Refugees apply for resettlement at American embassies or through the United Nations. If they pass that first hurdle, they are screened by outposts of the Department of State all over the world. They undergo investigations of their biography and identity; FBI biometric checks of their fingerprints and photographs; in-person interviews by Department of Homeland Security officers; medical screenings as well as investigations by the National Counter-terrorism Centre and by American and international intelligence agencies. The process may take as long as three years, sometimes longer. No other person entering America is subjected to such a level of scrutiny.

Still, many political leaders insist we’re not rigorous enough.

GOP Presidential candidate Gov. Chris Christie has even warned us against admitting Syrian children:

The fact is that we need for appropriate vetting, and I don’t think that orphans under 5 should be admitted to the United States at this point. We need to put the safety and security of the American people first.

Maybe it’d help to picture an actual Syrian refugee under the age of 5, Governor.

Photo of Hudea by Osman Sağırlı

That’s Hudea. She was 4 years old when this photo was taken. This image of her went viral earlier this year, but it was apparently taken in 2012. When photojournalist Osman Sağırlı trained his lens on her, Hudea raised her hands in surrender, thinking the camera was a gun.

I wish there was a happy ending to this short story. But I’m afraid there’s not. The last accounting of Hudea I can find online is from April 2nd. We learn there that her father was killed in a 2012 massacre. Her family is then believed to have moved to the city of Idlib. That city then fell to Al Qaeda.

I can’t find any stories listing further developments about Hudea. For now, at least, she has disappeared.

And Hudea isn’t the only Syrian child to be captured in time this way, sadly. Here’s another young girl of approximately the same age. She was photographed in a Jordanian camp by a Red Cross worker Rene Schulthoff.

Photo of a young Syrian girl by Rene Schulthoff

Schulthoff says he raised his camera and “she raised her hands to surrender because she thought it was a weapon.”

These are the children Christie and others are referring to. Children already scarred by war, confused and paralyzed by fear.

Maybe it’d help to picture them first before casually dismissing their lives.