Atom Araullo believes in Filipinos' capacity to help refugees worldwide

Filipinos have the capacity to be sympathetic with the predicament of thousands of refugees around the world, award-winning journalist Atom Araullo underscored on Wednesday.

"I understand the sentiment of some people when they say ask: why we should even bother with the problems of other countries when we have problems of our own. But I believe in our capacity to empathize and be compassionate to the plight of people, not just from the Philippines but all over the world," Araullo said in an interview with GMA News Online.

Araullo, a high profile advocate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), believes that the Philippine government can actually provide assistance and shelter to refugees from other countries, noting that it can always seek international support when necessary.

"Masalimuot na usapin 'yan, pero ang masasabi ko lang kakayanin. Bakit hindi? Marami naman sa mga bansang tumatanggap ng refugees hindi naman mayayamang bansa 'yan eh. Hindi kakayanin ng Pilipinas on its own pero it can always rely support from other countries.

Fresh from his mission in Azraq Camp in Jordan, Araullo cannot help but notice the similarity of Filipinos and Jordanians when it comes to being generous, not only with tangible things, but also with moral support.

"Filipinos are very kindhearted, generous people, very welcoming... interacting with Jordanian people, they reminded me of Filipinos. Jordan is not a rich country, they import a lot of their needs but they've been so generous in receiving refugees," Araullo said.

According to UNHCR, the said camp was established in 2014 after the larger Zaatari Refugee Camp already reached its maximum capacity.

Azraq Camp, which presently houses 36,000 Syrian refugees, has four villages, in which schools, hospital and a marketplace are situated to provide the basic needs of refugees.

Jordan has welcomed more than 667,000 Syrian refugees since conflict erupted in March 2011, the UNHCR said.

The television host hailed how Jordan, Syria's neighboring country, has accepted displaced individuals following years of turmoil, stressing the country's scarce resources.

"It's hard to overstate the wealth of information we got from our visit to the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan dahil for me, I thought the operation was remarkable, how they receive Syrian refugees in such an efficient and orderly manner and maintaining the dignity of the refugees," Araullo said.

"It's not perfect and there are many ways to improve the living condition there but at the same time, given the scale of the conflict, the scale of the problem, it's worthy of applause," he added.

Araullo further pointed out that disruption can happen to any country at any given time. That is why it is important to get involved with this kind of issue in order to get learning as to what needs to be done when things get chaotic.

"Importanteng makialam kasi iisang mundo lang naman 'yung ginagalawan natin, bukas makalawa hindi natin alam, baka tayo ang malagay sa alanganin. Hindi naman puwedeng magbulag-bulagan tayo. 'Yung ganon klaseng sitwasyon eh puwede rin nating harapin," he said.

"When we stand in solidarity with other people, we really learn lessons about our situation, about ourselves and how we should respond to the needs of people in the Philippines," Araullo added. — LA, GMA News