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Peter Capaldi Uses Jordan Camp Visit To Remind Us All Of The One Thing Syrian Refugees Want - To Go Home

Peter Capaldi Has A Very Simple Answer To Those Questioning Refugees' Motives
Eve Hartley
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Actor and philanthropist Peter Capaldi has recorded a powerful but simple message in support of refugees, after a visit to a camp in Jordan with the UNHCR.

The 57-year-old made a video, uploaded to YouTube on Wednesday morning by the UN body, after visiting families who had fled war-torn Syria.

"I think what a lot of people don't understand, is that the majority of the people who have been made to flee - they want to go home, it's all anybody wants to do is go home," he said during his emotional plea.

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Peter Capaldi met with Syrian families in Jordan

"These camps are not full of people sitting saying - you know - oh it would be great to go to Europe, or it would be great to go to London or America or whatever, they just want to go home," he continued.

The Dr Who star also met refugee families and helped communicate some of their extraordinary stories of escape and survival.

One family told Capaldi how their children had suffered nightmares from witnessing beheadings, and how their father was suffering from polio.

But the writer revealed despite this, the family had still managed to triumph over despair: "All this was awful and yet there they were, they had survived with great dignity - and had their goodness in tact.

"These people would open the door to other people, these people would help and even through the most terrible experiences, they remained generous in spirit."

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The actor then ended on a poignant note, clearly moved by the stories of the people he had met.

"It's really impressive what human beings can do, they do awful awful terrible things, but god they do wonderful things.

"And that's what you have to keep reminding yourselves, that we are incredibly lucky not to be in that position," he said.

According to the UNHCR there are some 664,102 refugees residing in Jordan, with Syrians fleeing the ongoing violence in their country still constituting the majority of this population.

Approximately 20% of Syrian refugees reside in refugee camps, while the remaining live in non-camp settings.

The Syrian Refugee Crisis In Numbers
45% of Syrians forced out of their homes(01 of08)
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More than 10 million Syrians have been forced out of their homes due to the conflict, becoming either “internally displaced” or fleeing altogether, according to Amnesty International. (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
7.6 million Syrians are displaced within the country(02 of08)
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The UNHCR’s latest figures show the crisis is getting worse. More than 7.6m Syrians have been displaced within the country by the conflict, fleeing to safer areas. (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
3.8 million have sought refuge in other countries(03 of08)
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By December 2014, 3.8 million Syrians had fled the country altogether. They sought refuge in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. A sizeable proportion then make the perilous journey to Europe.
These numbers may well have increased since the last count, given the advance of Isis and the continued battle between rebel groups and pro-government forces. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
33 applications supported by the UN accepted by Gulf nations(04 of08)
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The Gulf Cooperation Council's oil-rich states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates accept very few refugees and asylum seekers from Syria.
Since 2011, the UNHCR has supported 63 Syrians with asylum applications in the countries – but just 33 were accepted, despite the UN's support.
Amnesty International has called Gulf states’ contribution “shocking”, the states themselves say they are providing thousands of visitor visas for Syrians, but also protecting against the threat of Islamist extremist attacks. (credit:Buena Vista Images via Getty Images)
5,000 Syrians taken in by Britain since 2011(05 of08)
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Full Fact reports that Britain has granted asylum to just under 5,000 Syrians in the initial decision made on their applications since 2011.
In addition, 216 Syrian refugees have been resettled in the UK.
Resettlement includes transferring refugees from Syria to the UK – whilst a person has to be in a country to claim asylum there. (credit:shutterstock)
0.17% of Syrian refugees offered places to resettle in Europe (asides from Germany)(06 of08)
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Aside from Germany, the other 27 EU nations have pledged just 6,305 places to Syrians to resettle, last year. That’s 0.17% of the number of refugees that have fled Syria.
While EU nations are likely to significantly increase the number of resettlement places this year – Germany still takes a lion’s share of those seeking refuge. (credit:Jean Claude Meignan via Getty Images)
2.2% of Syrian refugees offered places to resettle this year(07 of08)
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Amnesty International says that – by June 2015 – only 2.2% of Syrian refugees have been offered places to resettle by the international community. That’s less than 90,000.
And money is short too. “The UN’s humanitarian appeal for Syrian refugees was only 23% funded as of the 3 June,” it wrote. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
145 countries signed the Refugee Convention(08 of08)
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In 1951, 145 nations ratified the Refugee Convention governing the treatment of those fleeing persecution.
Yet just a fraction of these have offered to help so far. (credit:SuperStock via Getty Images)
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